PDRA at Benson, SC

TOP SPORTSMAN

Aaron Glaser (far lane) got the Elite field win over Cam Clark.

Armed with a new Albert-powered Glaser Collision Centers ’68 Camaro, Aaron Glaser marched through a stacked Top Sportsman Elite field to meet Reidsville, North Carolina’s Cam Clark in the final round. Glaser had the quicker reaction time and posted a 3.932 on a 3.91 dial-in to Clark’s 4.036 on a 4.00 dial-in. Glaser defeated Top Sportsman standouts Tim Lawrence, Glenn Butcher and Dewayne Silance on the way to the final, while Clark defeated low qualifier Billy Albert, Scott Duggins and John Benoit.

With a total of 44 Top Sportsman cars on the property at GALOT Motorsports Park, a Quick 32 ladder was added to accommodate the cars who didn’t qualify for Top Sportsman Elite. The Top Sportsman Quick 32 win went to Kris Gilbert (far lane) over Donny Urban.

TOP DRAGSTER

Points leader Jose Gonzales drove the turbocharged El General Racing/Q80 Racing ‘67 Mustang to the top spot Friday night in Pro Boost, running the eighth mil in 3.673 seconds at 215.55 mph, setting the Pro Boost records.

EXTREME PRO STOCK

Past PDRA Extreme Pro Stock world champion Cary Goforth secured his second series title when he beat Jeff Dobbins in the final round. Both drivers ran identical 4.055s in the semifinals, but the final round would be decided on the starting line, as Dobbins left the line .007 too soon. Goforth was ready for a race, though, as he recorded low et of eliminations, a 4.051 at 177.95.

“It felt good to get the win because you know if you win the race, you’ll probably seal the deal,” Goforth said. “I’m happy. I’m tickled to death. I don’t jump up and down and go wild, but I’m awfully proud of this one. This is our eighth championship and second with the PDRA. We just took care of our business and let it all play out.”

Goforth qualified third in his Dean’s Casing Service/Dewayne Higgins Trucking ’14 Camaro. He took out spring race winner Chris Powers and No. 2 qualifier J.R. Carr before the final round.

John Montecalvo qualified at No. 1 in the Jerry Haas-built 2017 Camaro he first brought to the Indianapolis race in July. “My only regret is I didn’t buy this car sooner,” said Montecalvo. “It’s a great car with big Sonny’s Racing Engines power. We’ve got Tommy Lee, Wayne, William, Cory – we’ve got a really good team, an intelligent team, and our old car wasn’t making us look that intelligent. It was a very fast car, but it was a little bit on the inconsistent side. I think we gained that consistency back with this new car. We’ve got a little bit of a wider tuning window, and man, I’m just looking forward to finishing the year in good shape, and I can’t wait for next year to start.”

Racing out of the fourth spot, Dobbins used .014 reaction times and quick passes to beat defending world champion John Pluchino and low qualifier John Montecalvo earlier in the day.

PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE

For the first time this season, someone other than defending world champion Eric McKinney or points leader Travis Davis won in Pro Extreme Motorcycle. However, Brad McCoy had to race McKinney and Davis on his way to the PDRA Drag Wars winner’s circle. McCoy rode his Q80 Racing Hayabusa to low ET of the event, 3.998 at 176.49, to beat McKinney’s 4.04 at 178.50 in the final round.

“We struggled all day,” McCoy said. “We had to change motors going into the semifinals, so we had to start all over with the tune-ups and try to figure out where we needed to be. We were way underpowered for the semifinal round, so we just took a chance for the finals and hoped for the best, and it fell in our favor.”

McCoy’s win had serious implications on the championship situation, as Davis is trying to hold off McKinney from winning his fourth consecutive PDRA world championship.

“I had to race Travis first round. He really needed that round win. He’s a great racer. He even came over and helped me put the motor in our bike after we raced first round. You can’t get better sportsmanship than that. I felt I did him a favor – that final round (over McKinney) was payback for him helping me,” McCoy laughed.

McKinney, the No. 6 qualifier, rode his McKinney Motorsports entry to round wins over Chris Garner-Jones and teammate Ashley Owens before meeting McCoy in the final.

EXTREME OUTLAW 632

Darlington event winner Dillon Voss showed no signs of “new-car blues” as he brought out a new ’17 Camaro for Extreme Outlaw 632’s third of four races with the PDRA. Built by Suncoast Race Cars and powered by a Voss Racing Engines 632-cubic-inch bullet, the car carried Voss to a personal-best 4.282 at 166.93 in the final round to defeat Michael Naumann. It was just the fifth pass on the car.

“I was nervous going into this weekend,” Voss said. “We were supposed to be here Thursday. We missed testing getting the car ready. We missed first round of qualifying getting the car ready. Showed up for Q2, first hit off the trailer, first time driving it, and it goes a 4.40, good for No. 2 qualifier. That eased the nerves a lot, then we just put our racing tune-up in it once we knew it would go straight. We set our personal best by half a tenth in the final, so we’re very happy.”

Voss defeated Mike Oldham and No. 1 qualifier Ken Quartuccio prior to the final. Naumann’s previous opponents were Lakeland, Florida’s Jordan and Jeff Ensslin.