PDRA at Budds Creek, Maryland

Wesley B. Jones (far lane) took the Pro Extreme win over Terry Leggett.

The Professional Drag Racers Association crowned a pair of first-time winners Saturday night, June 3, at the PDRA North-South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway.

Pro Extreme driver Wesley B. Jones and Pro Boost competitor Tylor Miller claimed their first PDRA wins. Also scoring wins in the pro classes were Jay Cox in Pro Nitrous, Cary Goforth in Extreme Pro Stock and Travis Davis in Pro Extreme Motorcycle.

In the PDRA’s sportsman classes, Randy Perkinson won Top Sportsman and Jerry Langley won Top Dragster. Junior Dragster was won by No. 14 qualifier Bailie Zepp, who ran 7.925 on a 7.90 dial-in to defeat AJ Jenkins. Top Junior Dragster No. 2 qualifier Josh Pribble Jr. ran 8.017 on a 7.99 dial-in to win over Gayge Farrell. The Edelbrock Bracket Bash win went to Rising Sun, Maryland’s Tim Heaps.

PRO EXTREME

Supercharged Pro Mod racing veteran Wesley B. Jones had to face off against some of the most formidable competitors in Pro Extreme to earn his first PDRA event victory. First, Jones drove his Batman-themed ’41 Willys to a 3.609-second pass at 213 mph to defeat teammate and past world champion Jason Scruggs. He improved to a 3.598 at 214.66 in the semifinals over José Gonzales.

In the final he used a holeshot advantage and 3.601 at 212.46 to overcome the 3.551 at 217.25 laid down by No. 1 qualifier Terry Leggett and his Leggett Logging & Trucking ’71 Mustang.

“This feels pretty darn good,” Jones admitted. “I’ve been racing Pro Extreme for three or four years and Pro Mod racing for at least 15 years. I’ve won some other races, but to win one of these PDRA races is pretty impressive. It still hasn’t sunk in that I’ve won yet. I’m used to coming to the winner’s circle with Jason (Scruggs), and now it’s the other way around.

“To beat Terry on a holeshot means a lot to me as a driver. I knew he ran a .55 and his car was just bad to the bone all day. I’ve struggled to get my car going down the racetrack and running good since I wrecked it last April. Today, it was just stuck on that .59-60 number. We tried to make it go faster in the final; I don’t know why it didn’t. But we got the win and that’s what matters.”

PRO NITROUS

Jay cox (far lane) was the Pro Nitrous winner over Tommy Franklin.

No. 1 qualifier Jay Cox came to Maryland to prove a point, and his barrage of 3.6-second passes from qualifying through eliminations certainly made a statement. While it wasn’t his quickest pass of the evening, Cox’s 3.681 at 200.86 mph was enough to defeat defending Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin’s 3.691 at 202.42 in the final round.

“Tommy is a good racer and I figured he’d run a .67 or .68, so I wanted to match him and let the race go to whoever had the better light,” Cox said. “We made a change to make it go straight and we actually backed it down. I wanted the (ET) record for (engine builder) Charlie Buck, but we did what we had to do to win and get the points.”

Cox started eliminations with a 3.698 at 200.17 on a bye run. His 3.677 at 201.55 over Jim Laurita in the second round was one-thousandth of a second off the Pro Nitrous et record. Cox slowed to a 3.716 at 180.48 on another bye run in the semifinals before ramping up his RJ Race Cars-built Clements Mechanical ’69 Camaro for the final round against the Pat Musi-powered “Jungle Rat” ’69 Camaro of Franklin.

“I haven’t always done so well at this track, so I wanted to come out here and dominate,” Cox said. “We’ve been low of every single round except the semifinals, but I went 3.71 lifting at 330 feet. I went out there on E3 and that thing was on a .66 run, it just went left. I couldn’t get it to go straight and I didn’t want to give it away. That means a lot to me to go low.

“Pat and Lizzy (Musi) and Tommy (Franklin) by far have some strong cars, and for us to be able to go out there and outrun them speaks volumes. I talk a lot of junk, but I have a lot of respect for those guys. It’s going to be a dogfight until the end of the year.”

PRO BOOST

Tylor Miller (near lane) got the Pro Boost win when Ty Tutterow turned on the red light.

When it came to Pro Boost competition, it wasn’t possible to find two cars paired closer in performance than No. 1 qualifier Tylor Miller and No. 2 qualifier Ty Tutterow. The two young Pro Boost stars met up in the final round for what was sure to be an epic battle. The win went to Miller at the starting line, though, as Tutterow left just a tick too soon. Miller recorded a career-best 3.70 at 197.91, while Tutterow’s 3.702 at 200.41 was negated by the red light.

“It was definitely a wild night for us,” Miller said. “This was the result of a lot of long nights working until 3 a.m., maintenancing everything so it was perfect for the race. My first light today was terrible. I just kept going shallow because I went red at Darlington and didn’t want to do that again. I just kept nailing the tree harder and harder, chewing it down 10 numbers at a time. I assumed Ty would be on top of it, so I wanted to cut at least a .020 light and that’s what I did.”

Miller, 27, and Tutterow, 22, were nearly even through eliminations. When Miller ran 3.775 on a first-round bye run, Tutterow ran 3.779 over Jeremy Ray. Miller’s Pee Dee Fleet ’69 Chevelle posted a 3.726 over Ric Fleck second round while Tutterow’s GALOT Motorsports ’69 Camaro went 3.724 over Casey Stemper. The pressure-packed final round was set up when Tutterow improved to a 3.717 over José Gonzales and Miller ran 3.72 over Brandon Snider in the semifinals.

“I work really well under pressure,” Miller said. “It seems like the more pressure you put on me, the better I do. Pressure doesn’t bother me. My biggest technique is to not think about the car next to me. I try to block out the other side of the track, focus on my lights, wait for the tree to drop and do my thing without worrying about what the other car is doing.”