PHOTOS : MIKE CARPENTER , NATE VAN WAGNEN

PRO EXTREME

The PDRA crowned its third consecutive firsttime winner in Pro Extreme when Wesley B . Jones drove his Batman-themed ’ 41 Willys to a final-round win over low qualifier Terry Leggett at the North- South Shootout . Jones , who races as a teammate to past world champion Jason Scruggs , joined GALOT winner Mike Recchia and Darlington victor Mattias Wulcan as new Pro Extreme event champions .

“ This feels pretty darn good ,” Jones admitted after emerging from his screw-blown entry . “ 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 .”

PRO NITROUS

Last season ’ s championship runner-up has been determined to improve his points finish by one position this season . Cox swept the season-opening Southern Extreme Nationals and repeated the feat again at Maryland when he qualified number one and scored the event win over defending world champion Tommy Franklin , recording a series of 3.6-second runs in the process . It was Cox ’ s latest battle against the Pat Musi-powered entries of Franklin and record holder Lizzy Musi , and he doesn ’ t expect it to be his last this year .

“ Pat and Lizzy and Tommy 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 ,” Cox said .

PRO BOOST

When Hartsville , South Carolina ’ s Tylor Miller turned on the final-round win light for the first time in his PDRA career at the North-South Shootout , the 27-year-old driver also lit up the scoreboard with his quickest et in Pro Boost competition . With Miller and 22-year-old Pro Boost rookie Ty Tutterow running nearly identical ets before facing each other in the final , the money round was as pressure-packed as possible . While Tutterow let go of the transbrake just a touch too soon , Miller maintained composure to earn

the win .

“ 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 .”

EXTREME PRO STOCK

Though he didn ’ t walk away from Maryland International Raceway with the North-South Shootout win , Trevor Eman did leave with the Extreme Pro Stock elapsed-time record , worth 50 points . Eman and the Aruba . com ’ 11 Mustang posted a 4.022 during qualifying , then backed it up with a 4.04 in eliminations . The Darlington winner was denied his second consecutive event win by Cary Goforth in the final round , losing by just five inches in a 4.053-to-4.06 decision .

“ We were just concentrating on getting down the track every run ,” Eman said . “ We weren ’ t necessarily focused on backing up the record , but putting up a run of that caliber is required to win rounds in this class . I ’ m very excited about what the car ’ s doing now , and we look forward to the next race .”

PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE

After winning the season-opening race at Valdosta , three-time and defending Pro Extreme Motorcycle world champion Eric McKinney finds himself in an unfamiliar position : Chasing the points leader . He ’ s qualified number one at two of the four races this year and appeared in three final rounds , but he ’ s come up short to Travis Davis in the last two finals . McKinney lost on a holeshot at Darlington and trailed Davis in the quickest side-by-side run in class history at Maryland . The Ohioan nicknamed the “ Junkyard Kid ” intends to even the score as the series enters the summer months .

“ We ’ re looking forward to these next few races because my bike will run in the heat ,” McKinney said . “ We ’ re definitely going to put the pressure on Travis at Indy and Tulsa .

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