BENSON, N.C. (Sept. 12, 2025) – Less than 24 hours after winning the rain-delayed PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown presented by Larry Jeffers Race Cars, three-time Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin backed it up with his second consecutive No. 1 qualifier award Friday night at ProFab DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts. Behind the wheel of his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro at GALOT Motorsports Park, Franklin recorded a 3.623-second pass at 207.34 mph to take his fourth No. 1 qualifier award of the season at the seventh of eight races on the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour.
Low qualifier awards also went to Ty Tutterow in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Fletcher Cox in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports, Jordan Ensslin in AED Competition Extreme Pro Stock presented by 3V Performance, Mike Fiorelli in PDRA Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters, and Dan Whetstine in PDRA Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
After two qualifying sessions, low qualifiers in the sportsman classes were Bryan LaFlam in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Josh Duggins in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Dan Hill in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 32, and Bill Burrow in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster 48 presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking.
The Jr. Dragster classes completed two qualifying sessions, with a third session set for Saturday morning. The provisional low qualifiers are Ashton Halas in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Kylie Varnier in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. Halas, who won the rain-delayed Thunder Valley Throwdown on Thursday night, followed up the performance by running a 7.900 to lead the 40-car list of drivers attempting to qualify for the 32-car field. In Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies off of reaction time, Varnier cut a .005 light to head into Saturday as the provisional No. 1 qualifier.
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PRO NITROUS
Over the course of his 10-plus-year PDRA Pro Nitrous career, three-time world champion Tommy Franklin has battled back and forth with home track hero Jay Cox. While Cox stepped away from driving after the 2023 season then switched to Pro Boost this season, he’s still active in the class tuning for another local standout, Marcus Butner. On Friday, Franklin added a notch to his column on the Franklin vs. Cox scorecard when he laid down a 3.623 at 207.34 in his Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro to edge out Butner for the top spot by just six thousandths of a second.
“Marcus is a great guy with a great team. I tell him all the time, I don't know why he hangs out with Jay Cox, but that's besides the fact,” laughed Franklin, who credited his Jeff Pierce-led team and supporters like Pat Musi Racing Engines, Jerry Bickel Race Cars, Red Line Oil, and Menscer Motorsports. “Jay's a home run ball hitter, so he goes out there and throws for it. You always know what you're going to get with him. It was cool to be able to go out and run a 3.62. We both went .62 finishing up last night for the running of the Bristol race. We knew it was there. We were struggling a little bit earlier and got it put together.”
With Cox on the keyboard for his Musi-powered Butner Construction “Heartbreaker” ’69 Camaro, Butner powered to a 3.629 at 207.37. Tim Paap, driver of the Jeffrey Barker-tuned Paap Auto Body ’16 Corvette, qualified in the No. 3 position with a 3.659 at 204.35.
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PRO BOOST
Years of racing with his father, two-time Pro Boost world champion Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, prepared Ty Tutterow for Friday’s cutthroat final qualifying session, which saw six drivers dip into the 3.50-second range. By speed, Tutterow took the No. 1 qualifier award with a career-best 3.559 at 209.92 in Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro. Two-time and reigning world champion Jason Harris matched his E.T., but he was slower by around 1 mph. Tutterow will try to go back-to-back on Saturday, as he won Thursday night’s rain-delayed Bristol race for his second victory of the season.
“It's incredible. Set a personal best right there,” said Tutterow, who thanked the Smith family, Quik Fuel, the Wyo Motorsports team, and partners like Red Line Oil and Ty-Drive. “Jason Lee is in the other lane, takes out the cones, then you gotta wait for the moment of suspense for Harris to come behind me, run the same exact elapsed time, and then I just get it on mile-an-hour. It's pretty unreal. Honestly, it couldn't be better. The guys are working hard. The car's running good. We've got four more runs tomorrow to try to improve and hopefully chase after another trophy.”
Harris, who’s also the defending event champion, recorded a 3.559 at 208.97 in his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company “Party Time” ’69 Camaro to qualify second. With a 3.591 at 207.85 in his ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro, Johnny Camp qualified third.
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PRO STREET
Retired NFL star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox added another No. 1 qualifier award to his Pro Street rookie scorecard Friday night at GALOT, as the former Philadelphia Eagles player drove his Musi-powered “Training Day” ’69 Camaro to a 3.855 at 190.57 in the final qualifying session. Cox, who credits his team’s Killin’ Time Racing brain trust that includes tuners Phil Shuler, Jeffrey Barker, and Stevie “Fast” Jackson, has now qualified No. 1 three times in the last four races. He also earned his first career win as a driver in the rain-delayed Bristol race on Thursday night.
“Man, I’m so proud. It gets emotional because we know how hard we work and it all pays off,” said Cox, who thanked his team and sponsors. “You've gotta want more, but at the same time, this sport can humble you at any minute. Just stay cool and calm about it, and then confident at the same time and not cocky, and believe that what you've created is a competitive car. It can run in the daytime now. At nighttime it runs good, so the car works. I've just gotta do my job.”
Richard Reagan, who’s thrilled fans with wheels-up passes in his screw-blown ’91 Mustang, ran a 3.899 at 196.50 to qualify second. Points leader Blake Denton will roll into race day in the No. 3 spot after recording a 3.926 at 194.86 in the Musi-powered “Bonnie” ’69 Camaro formerly piloted by the late Lizzy Musi.
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EXTREME PRO STOCK
Extreme Pro Stock young gun Jordan Ensslin’s career-best weekend continued Friday when he picked up his first career No. 1 qualifier award. A day after hoisting his first career PDRA 660 Man in the class in the completion of the weather-delayed Bristol race, Ensslin threw down a 4.050 at 176.42 to top the qualifying sheet. He displayed bracket-like consistency over two days of competition, setting him up for another long day with his Allen-powered Poke County Pro Stock ’09 Mustang.
“This weekend's been amazing,” said Ensslin, who thanked his family-based crew, which includes his wife Jacie and grandfather Larry Ensslin. “I never would have thought we'd be here. This is uncharted waters for us. Allen Competition builds the horsepower. We're just able to put it to the ground. We figured something out. Coming from winning last night to this is just surreal. I told everybody back in the pit they need to pinch me because I'm still dreaming.”
Elijah Morton, based in Swansboro, North Carolina, followed Ensslin in second with a 4.064 at 177.70 in his Allen-powered Morton Brothers Motorsports ’19 Mustang. Points leader and 2023 world champion Alan Drinkwater wasn’t far behind in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets ’08 Mustang, posting a 4.065 at 177.14 to sit third.
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PRO 632
Hollywood, Florida’s Mike Fiorelli has found success in Outlaw 632 races in his home state, but his Pro 632 No. 1 qualifier award Friday night was the first of his PDRA career. In one of the quickest nights of qualifying in class history, Fiorelli wheeled his nitrous-fed Chassis Engineering ’68 Camaro to a 4.123 at 168.96 in the final session to claim the top spot.
“I can't tell you how special this is,” said Fiorelli, who thanked his family, his team led by crew chief Clayton Murphy and engine builder Ronnie Viccaro, and partners like Wilson Manifolds, Rossler Transmission, Induction Solutions, and Hoosier Tires. “I love coming to the PDRA races. I'd like to do more. We're trying to get some sponsorship. I have an awesome crew. It’s so nice to come here. It's a beautiful facility. Track prep was awesome. We work hard. In the beginning of the year, we won the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, and we've been working hard on the car. We've got a good hot rod, and if it wasn't for my guys, I couldn't make it happen.”
Rookie Carson Hoyle, who came up through the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster ranks, set a career-best 4.127 at 170.26 in his Musi-powered ATI Performance Products ’69 Camaro to qualify No. 2. Points leader and 2023 world champion Jeff Melnick qualified third in Alan O’Brien’s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro with a 4.129 at 171.79.
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SUPER STREET
For the second year in a row, reigning Super Street world champion Dan Whetstine qualified No. 1 at DragWars. With two-time Pro Street world champion Tim Essick calling the shots on his ProCharged “Red Velvet” ’91 Mustang, Whetstine rolled to a 4.561 at 159.23 in the final session to take the top spot by just two thousandths of a second. It’s Whetstine’s first No. 1 qualifier award of the season.
“This is big,” said Whetstine, who thanked wife Michelle and supporters like ATI Racing Transmissions, Maxima Oil, Billet Atomizer Injectors, UPR Products, and Menscer Motorsports. “It’s bigger than normal because we really fought some issues in the beginning of the year, hurting the motor, and thought we were chasing a tune-up problem and it turns out we had an electrical problem, but we fixed that. The last two or three races, we've really been able to put the power back in the car. That's a testament to my crew chief, Tim Essick, who's got tons of data on small tires. We tried something there. We have never, ever been that fast to the 60-foot and it liked it.”
A pair of young guns, Austin Vincent and Matt Schalow, also posted 4.56s to follow Whetstine in the top three. Vincent ran a 4.563 at 157.89 in his nitrous-fed Vincent Performance ’88 Mustang and Schalow recorded a 4.567 at 155.76 in his nitrous-fed, Knieriem-powered ’68 Camaro.
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TOP SPORTSMAN
After a trio of drivers ran into the 3.70s in Elite Top Sportsman qualifying, points leader Bryan LaFlam was the quickest of the three to take his first No. 1 qualifier award of the season. The driver of the supercharged BigStuff TPM ’67 Mustang posted a 3.749 at 194.24 to fend off reigning world champion Glenn Butcher and veteran driver Jamie Fowler. Butcher in his Albert-powered Butcher & Son Demolition ’69 Camaro ran a 3.751 at 199.08 to qualify second. Fowler ended up third with a 3.793 at 196.99 in his Fulton-powered Pee Dee Fleet ’69 Camaro.
Connecticut’s Dan Hill just missed out on making the 16-car Elite field, but his 4.098 at 174.57 in his ’69 Camaro put him in the top spot in the Top Sportsman 32 field.
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TOP DRAGSTER
Josh Duggins was the lone Elite Top Dragster driver to dip into the 3.60-second range, putting him in the top spot of the 16-car field of the quickest dragsters on the property. The Inman, South Carolina-based driver laid down a 3.688 at 202.64 in his ProCharged PAR Racing Engines ’15 Maddox dragster in the final qualifying session. Points leader Alan O’Brien charged to a 3.719 at 197.91 in his turbocharged Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’23 Race Tech dragster to qualify second. Brian Anderson qualified third with a 3.734 at 193.10 in his ProCharged ’23 Race Tech dragster.
Sitting just outside the Elite field, Bill Burrow in his Mountain City, Tennessee-based ’09 Cressman dragster qualified No. 1 in Top Dragster 48 with a 4.013 at 177.93.
ProFab DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts at GALOT Motorsports Park will wrap up Saturday starting with Jr. Dragster final qualifying at 8:30 a.m. and sportsman eliminations to follow. Pro eliminations will kick off at 11:45 a.m. The FuelTech Winner’s Circle celebrations are set for 8 p.m.
PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through www.FloRacing.com.
Photos by Tara Bowker
