Drag Illustrated Issue 121, May 2017 | Page 108

TOP SPORTSMAN / TOP DRAGSTER The Top Sportsman final round was won on the starting line when Jacksonville , North Carolina ’ s Dwayne Silance cut a perfect . 000 reaction time alongside John Benoit . Silance posted a 4.11 on his 4.10 dial-in , while Benoit broke out with a 4.086 on his 4.09 dial . Silance previously defeated Bruce Thrift , Cam Clark and Jordan Wood before the final .

NITRO IS COMING TO PRO EXTREME

The world ’ s premier eighth-mile drag racing association has not forgotten its outlaw roots . Pro Mod was birthed by asphalt desperados , and while the class has evolved and expanded to its current sophisticated and perhaps even exclusive state , the PDRA has not lost its first love . In true outlaw fashion , the biggest and baddest of the PDRA will now be even bigger and badder .
Effective at the Mid America Showdown in Indianapolis , Indiana , July 13-15 , nitromethane will be allowed in Pro Extreme .
“ This move is going to be great for the class , great for the racers , great for the fans ,” stated PDRA ’ s Bob Harris . “ This type of excitement is what the PDRA is all about . We are home to the quickest and fastest eighthmile doorslammers on the planet and we plan to keep it that way .”
Top Dragster winner Matt Cooke had to wait over a second to leave the starting line after No . 16 qualifier Noah Strickland took off , considering Cooke ’ s 3.92 dial and Strickland ’ s 5.06 dial . Young Strickland had the better reaction time , but he broke out with a 5.039 ahead of Cooke ’ s 3.97 . Cooke ’ s previous opponents in eliminations were Russ Whitlock , Angie Travis and Jimmy Sackuvich .
The PDRA has implemented just two rules in using nitromethane . First , injected nitro is allowed at 98 percent with dual mags allowed and no restriction on one fuel pump . Weight requirements are the same as screw cars at 2350 lbs . Second , roots supercharged engines up to 14-71 are allowed no more than 40 percent nitro with one mag and no limit on fuel pump size . These are limited to 70 percent overdrive . All other rules for Pro Extreme can be found in on PDRA ’ s competition page at PDRA660 . com .

Q & A

BOB HARRIS

By Nate Van Wagnen

Known for years as the track owner and promoter of Piedmont Dragway ’ s Big Dog series , Bob Harris signed on as the PDRA ’ s race director when the organization formed in 2014 . He ’ s been at the helm of the series since then , handling the rules packages and leading day-to-day operations at the races . As the 2017 season entered the halfway point at the North-South Shootout at Maryland International Raceway in June , Harris sat down with Drag Illustrated to discuss the current state of the PDRA and what lies ahead for the series .

Pro Nitrous and Pro Boost are really strong right now . To what do you attribute the success of those classes ?
I think they ’ re healthy because there ’ s nitrous cars all over the country . It ’ s the same deal with Pro Boost . You have the newer generation liking turbos and then there ’ s the guys who have had Roots cars forever and have been running at their local track or local heads-up series . Now they ’ ve come onboard with the PDRA over the last three years thinking , “ Okay , this is fast racing . It ’ s tough and very competitive , yet it ’ s friendly and fun . We don ’ t have to travel to twenty-some races a year .” I think that ’ s why it ’ s strong .
The PDRA started the year with strong car counts and fan attendance at the southern races . As you go into the summer months and a new market in Indianapolis , how do you keep up that momentum ?
It may be tough . There ’ s more to keeping that momentum than most people would think . First of all , it ’ s hard to run a race all at night because nobody wants to stay out that late – not the racers or the fans . Then you have the kids out of school and families are planning vacations . Planning the summer races is something we ’ ll have to look at again this winter . But then again , it was roasting hot at Darlington and the fans were still out there sitting in the stands , so those factors might not mean as much as we think .
We ’ re at the halfway point in the season . How do you feel about the overall state of the PDRA right now ?
That ’ s one thing I really do feel good about . We started off at Rockingham in 2014 with 159 cars . These are real numbers . As the year went on , we picked up some cars and started seeing 160 , 170 ; just under 200 for the first couple years . Last year , we crept up and averaged around the 200-car mark , then we had an astronomical 366 cars show up at Virginia for the World Finals . We started off this year at Valdosta with around 200 , then we went to GALOT and had about 260 . We ended up with around 254 at Darlington . I think the 200-car mark is a good average . And I see new faces all the time , so it ’ s not just the same people coming to every race . That means people are hearing about what we ’ re doing and they want to get involved . We ’ re always getting positive feedback from racers and fans after their first race . As an organization , that ’ s what we want .
PHOTOS : JOE MCHUGH
108 PDRA660 . com