Drag Illustrated Issue 150, November 2019 | Page 42

Special Section
THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST FIRST APPEARED IN DRAG
ILLUSTRATED IN JULY OF 2018 AS AN EVER-CHANGING
LIST OF THE BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS AND POWER
PLAYERS IN THE PDRA’S PROFESSIONAL CLASSES. THIS
MONTH’S EDITION, REPRESENTING PERFORMANCES
FROM THE PDRA FALL NATIONALS PRESENTED BY
$HAMELESS RACING AT DARLINGTON DRAGWAY, OCT. 3-5, DOES NOT REFLECT THE CURRENT POINTS STANDINGS, THOUGH MOST OF
THE DRIVERS WHO APPEAR ON THIS LIST CAN ALSO BE FOUND NEAR THE TOP OF THE POINTS STANDINGS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CLASSES.
AS DRIVERS BATTLE BACK AND FORTH FOR NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS, EVENT WINS AND NATIONAL RECORDS OVER THE COURSE OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
2019 SEASON, THIS LIST WILL CHANGE TO REFLECT THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
PRO BOOST
1. KEVIN RIVENBARK
2. MELANIE SALEMI
3. KRIS THORNE PRO NITROUS
1. JIM HALSEY
2. TOMMY FRANKLIN
3. LIZZY MUSI EXTREME PRO STOCK
1. JOHN MONTECALVO
2. JOHNNY PLUCHINO
3. CHRIS POWERS PRO OUTLAW 632
1. WES DISTEFANO
2. CHRIS HOLDORF
3. TONY GILLIG PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE
1. PAUL GAST
2. CHRIS GARNER-JONES
3. BRUNSON GROTHUS
Kevin Rivenbark made one big
step closer to a second Pro
Boost world championship
when drove his ProCharger-
boosted GALOT Motorsports
’69 Camaro to a 3.651 and a
3.637 in the first two rounds
before using a .008 reaction
time and 3.643 at 206.42 to
defeat Melanie Salemi’s 3.655
at 205.48 in the final round.
Salemi in her roots-blown
“Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird ran
a 3.67 and 3.652 to advance
to the final. Championship
contender Kris Thorne
qualified No. 2 in his twin-
turbocharged Thorne Site
Development ’17 Corvette and
won first round with a 3.652
at 220.05 before falling to
Salemi with a 3.656 at 218.34. Jim Halsey’s Brandon Switzer-
tuned, Fulton-powered ’68
Camaro was the most
consistent race car on the
property, racing to four
consecutive 3.62s in
eliminations, including a 3.626
at 207.85 to defeat two-time
world champion Tommy
Franklin’s 3.641 at 206.90 in
the final round. Franklin in his
Musi-powered “Jungle Rat”
’69 Camaro fired off his
quickest lap of the race, a
3.636 at 207.47, in the second
round. Lizzy Musi, the speed
record holder since last
season, added the ET record
to her list of accomplishments
when she ran a 3.615 in E2,
which was backed up by a
3.618 at 208.72 in the semis. John Montecalvo’s first two
opponents on race day red-lit,
but Montecalvo proved his
Tommy Lee-tuned, Sonny’s-
powered ’18 Camaro had
what it took to win. He
qualified No. 1 and posted a
4.072 in the first round and a
4.075 at 176.89 in the final
round, bookending an early
shutoff in the semis when
Chris Powers red-lit away his
4.036. Montecalvo’s final-
round opponent was rookie
Johnny Pluchino, who took
his father John’s Kaase-
powered Strutmasters.com
’13 Mustang to round wins
over veterans Todd Hoerner
and Brian Gahm on his way
to a 4.158 at 175.85 in the final.
Powers was the quickest
driver on race day with his
4.045 and 4.036. Wes Distefano and his Musi-
powered $hameless Racing
have qualified well and
reached final rounds this
season, but everything came
together for the Michigan-
based driver at the Fall
Nationals. He qualified No. 1
for the first time and sailed
through three rounds into the
final round, where his 4.17 at
174.55 defeated Chris Holdorf
and his 4.303 at 163.76.
Holdorf in his Nelson-powered
’53 Corvette qualified No. 2
and recorded two 4.28s in
prior rounds. Tony Gillig’s
Madcap-powered Gillig-
Wagner Motorsports ’96 Olds
Cutlass was the second-
quickest entry on Saturday,
but he pushed the tree too
hard and red-lit against
Distefano in the semis after a
4.255 and a 4.261 in the first
two rounds. Drag bike veteran Paul Gast
only attends a couple PDRA
races per year, but he makes
his presence known when he
does show up. He qualified
No. 1 with a 3.99 in challenging
conditions Friday and went
on to win the race, defeating
title contender Chris Garner-
Jones in a final round that saw
both riders struggle. Gast set
the new ET world record, a
3.949, in the semis, backed up
by a 3.952 in E2. Garner-Jones
dipped into the 3-second zone
in the first two rounds on his
way to the final. Brunson
Grothus was on a warpath
too, but his string of mid-to-
low-4s was stopped by Gast
in the semis.
42 PDRA660.com