Race Crew Media

BENSON, N.C. (Oct. 4, 2024) – Four-time Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey raced to his sixth No. 1 qualifier award of the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season Friday night at the ProFabrication PDRA DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts at GALOT Motorsports Park. A mechanical failure in the final qualifying session led to a frightening crash for the nitrous Pro Modified icon, though, taking him out of competition for the weekend. Halsey, the points leader going into the seventh of eight races, was uninjured in the incident.

Defending WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive world champion Jason Harris also qualified No. 1, along with Jeremy Huffman in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition, Amber Franklin Denton in PDRA Pro 632, Scott Kincaid in Menscer Motorsports Pro Street presented by Afco Racing, and Dan Whetstine in Afco Racing Super Street presented by Menscer Motorsports.

In the PDRA’s sportsman categories, the No. 1 qualifiers are Tim Molnar in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Frank Falter IV in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Jeff Pittman in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman presented by Corbin’s RV, and Lauren Freer in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV.

The always-competitive Jr. Dragster classes continue to show off with 7.900-second passes in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and quick reaction times in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. After two of three qualifying sessions, the provisional low qualifiers are Tristen Brown in Pro Jr. Dragster with a 7.900 and Allen Buczkowski in Top Jr. Dragster with a .013 reaction time.

PRO NITROUS
With two wins and two runner-up finishes in the last five races, Jim Halsey rolled into DragWars with confidence and the points lead. That confidence only grew when he laid down a 3.611-second pass at 209.72 MPH pass in Thursday’s final test session. He then fired off a 3.645 at 208.68 in the opening qualifying session Friday morning to take the provisional No. 1 spot. Halsey suffered a parts failure in the rear of the car, though, that forced the Brandon Switzer-led team to sit out the second session to make repairs.

Halsey was on a straight and smooth pass in the third and final qualifying session when another parts failure caused his Fulton-powered “Daddy Shark” ’68 Camaro to make a hard left turn across the center line. Halsey narrowly missed the rear wing on Tommy Franklin’s car before impacting the left retaining wall and rolling over. The four-time world champion got out of the car under his own power and was uninjured. The PDRA rulebook doesn’t allow replacement vehicles after qualifying has been completed, so Halsey won’t be able to take his first-round bye run.

Franklin, the three-time and defending world champion, made his best run of the day in the final session next to Halsey, posting a 3.649 at 206.26 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 2. Fredy Scriba, who is third in points behind Franklin, qualified third in his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro with a 3.653 at 206.95.

PRO BOOST
Six months after GALOT Motorsports Park hosted one of the quickest Pro Boost fields in series history, the North Carolina eighth-mile facility saw an even quicker field at DragWars. Defending world champion Jason Harris drove his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company “Party Time” ’69 Camaro to a 3.598 at 207.91 in the final session to earn his first No. 1 qualifier award of the season. He’ll take on multi-time winner Melanie Salemi, who qualified No. 16 with a 3.676.

“Brandon Stroud [tuner] and I talk about every run, we get everything ironed out best we can, we look at every single detail of the race car, my crew does their job, and the car does its job,” said Harris, who thanked team partners like Pro Line Racing, Southern Diamond Company, Alliance Racewear, and Hoosier Race Tires. “I’ve got one of these unicorn cars that kind of just responds every time you give it something. We knew we could run the .60 flat [in Q2]. I really thought it would probably repeat the .60 flat. The .598 is an awesome run out here in this kind of air. It’s the first No. 1 for me this year, so it feels good.”

Johnny Camp, whose ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro is also tuned by Stroud, qualified No. 2 with a 3.614 at 206.61, lining up the potential for a third consecutive final round between Harris and Camp. Two-time world champion Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, who won the season opener at GALOT, took Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro to the No. 3 spot with a 3.622 at 208.62.

EXTREME PRO STOCK
Former Pro 632 contender Jeremy Huffman’s career-best season in Extreme Pro Stock continued Friday night when he locked in his second No. 1 qualifier award of the season. His 4.076 at 175.71 in the final qualifying session came after making a bold move to replace the newer-style clutch in his 3V Performance-powered Patriot Axe Throwing ’10 Cobalt with his older clutch that hadn’t been used in two or three years. Huffman and team made the switch between the second and third sessions, and it paid off. Next, Huffman will attempt to earn his first career win in Extreme Pro Stock.

“We've been so close so many times,” said Huffman, who thanked his team and Pat Norcia at Ram Clutches for his guidance. “We've been blessed so far and thank the good Lord for where we're at. I feel like one day he's going to bless us with a win whenever it's in His time, and maybe tomorrow will be our day, right? We’re going to give it our best shot like we always do and we’ll hope the cards fall the way they may and we finally get us one. We're definitely ready, and we're gonna give it everything we’ve got.”

Points leader and past world champion Chris Powers ran a nearly identical 4.078 at 176.28 in his Sonny’s Racing Engines ’21 Camaro next to Huffman to qualify second. Swansboro, North Carolina’s Elijah Morton wasn’t far behind with a 4.091 at 176.70 in his Allen-powered The Lakes RV & Cabin Resort ’19 Mustang to end up third.

PRO 632
Past Pro 632 world champion Amber Franklin Denton, who recently married longtime partner and reigning Super Street world champion Blake Denton, charged to her fifth No. 1 qualifier award of the season, further padding her substantial points lead. Driving her Musi-powered “OG Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro, Franklin Denton recorded a 4.138 at 172.36 in the final qualifying session to take the top spot. The past Pro Jr. Dragster world champion has a shot at locking up another world championship during Saturday eliminations.

“We’re coming into the last two races and points have been on everyone's mind,” said Franklin Denton, who thanked her team and partners like Pat Musi Racing Engines and Red Line Oil. “We just want to stay consistent and keep putting up good runs and hopefully lock it up at this race and not have to wait until World Finals. All the glory goes to God. My team gives me a fast car and we’re just trying to keep going one round at a time, turn on win lights, go as far as we can, and hopefully get that last win at the end of the night.”

Walter Lannigan Jr., currently second in points, laid down a 4.148 at 169.34 in Chris Holdorf’s Nelson-powered Freedom Grow ’10 GTO alongside Franklin Denton to take the No. 2 spot. Andy House, who won in his Pro 632 debut at the season opener at GALOT, qualified third in Meade Baldwin’s Southern Diamond Company ’69 Camaro with a 4.202 at 167.16.

PRO STREET
Pro Street young gun Scott Kincaid made waves when he won the season opener at GALOT, capping off a five-race win streak. Six months later, he added his first career No. 1 qualifier award to his list of accomplishments Friday night when he drove his screw-blown ’69 Camaro to a 3.969 at 194.60 in the final qualifying session. The Tennessee native is hoping to sweep the GALOT events on Saturday.

“It was a tight field,” said Kincaid, who thanked his father and crew chief, Tim Kincaid. “The air got a little better and made it to our advantage and we took advantage of it. We made a good run second round and made a good run in the third round to stay No. 1. We were definitely happy with that. We've been in a little bit of a slump, but I believe we're on our way out of it.”

Ethan Steding, the 17-year-old rookie and points leader, qualified second with a 3.986 at 190.92 in his roots-blown P2 Contracting “College Fund” ’24 Camaro. Reigning world champion Bill Riddle also dipped into the 3-second zone with a 3.999 at 189.50 in his roots-blown Corrigan Race Fuels ’89 Camaro to qualify third.

SUPER STREET
Super Street points leader Dan Whetstine tested between the most recent event on tour just over a month ago and DragWars to stay sharp for the final two races of the season. Determined to claim as many points as possible to pad his points lead, Whetstine and tuner Tim Essick threw down a monster 4.611 at 161.00 in the opening qualifying session to jump to the top of the qualifying order. No one passed Whetstine in the following two sessions, giving him his second No. 1 qualifier award of the season. Whetstine, who went on to win the last time he qualified No. 1, is eager to do the same thing on Saturday to keep that points lead rolling.

“The most important thing on my end is to not mess up between these two ears,” said Whetstine, who thanked Maxima Oils, Menscer Motorsports, ProCharger, UPR, Visner Engine Development, and Brodix Heads. “I’m trying to make sure I don't make mental mistakes. That's the good thing about qualifying. You get a couple of laps behind the car, and that's why I wanted to make a couple of laps a couple weeks ago, just to not get rusty. I'm pretty confident with what we’ve got going on here. I’ve got such good people around me that keep everything running well and making good decisions.”

Connor McGee, the most recent winner on tour, qualified his nitrous-fed, Fulton-powered ’90 Mustang in the No. 2 spot with a 4.637 at 156.79. North Carolina’s David Knight qualified third with a 4.662 at 160.06 in his turbocharged ’72 Nova.

TOP SPORTSMAN
A trio of 3.70-second runs claimed the top three spots in Elite Top Sportsman, with 2021 world champion Tim Molnar picking up his fourth No. 1 qualifier award of the season on the strength of his 3.747 at 200.17 in his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro. Bryan LaFlam drove his supercharged BigStuff EFI ’67 Mustang to a 3.766 at 203.65 to qualify second. Glenn Butcher in his nitrous-assisted, Albert-powered ’69 Camaro qualified third with a 3.778 at 197.71.

Outside of the 16-car Elite field, another 41 drivers attempted to qualify for the Top Sportsman 32 field. Jeff Pittman ended up the No. 1 qualifier in his nitrous-fed Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales ’68 Chevelle with a 4.088 at 178.85.

TOP DRAGSTER
For the third time this season, Frank Falter IV took his supercharged “Candy Man” ’22 Miller dragster to the No. 1 spot in Elite Top Dragster, posting a 3.708 at 201.55. Canadian Kyle Harris qualified second with a 3.741 at 194.27 in his supercharged ’19 Horton dragster. North Carolina’s own Kellan Farmer, the 2019 world champion, rounded out the top three with a 3.764 at 194.77 in his ProCharged ’20 Race Tech dragster.

North Carolina-based sportsman standout Lauren Freer just missed the 16-car Elite field, but her 4.112 at 170.67 in her ’19 Miller dragster put the Mooresville resident in the No. 1 spot in Top Dragster 48.

Saturday’s racing action will begin at 9 a.m. starting with Jr. Dragster final qualifying, Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams time trials, and the first round of sportsman eliminations. Pre-race ceremonies and pro eliminations are set for noon.

Fans at home can watch the full event live on the official livestream through www.FloRacing.com.

Photos by Tara Bowker