Drag Illustrated Issue 151, December 2019 | Page 36

Special Section
THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST FIRST APPEARED IN DRAG ILLUS-
TRATED 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, REPRE-
SENTING PERFORMANCES FROM THE PDRA BRIAN OLSON
MEMORIAL WORLD FINALS PRESENTED BY PROLINE RACING
AND $HAMELESS RACING AT VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK, OCT. 17-19, 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 2019
SEASON, THIS LIST WILL CHANGE TO REFLECT THOSE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
P HOTO G R AP HS BY TA RA B OW KE R
PRO BOOST
PRO NITROUS
1. RANDY WEATHERFORD 1. JIM HALSEY
2. MIKE DIDOMENICO
2. JASON HARRIS
3. KEVIN RIVENBARK
3. LIZZY MUSI EXTREME PRO STOCK
1. CHRIS POWERS
2. DILLON VOSS
3. STEVEN BOONE PRO OUTLAW 632
1. JEREMY HUFFMAN
2. JOHNNY PLUCHINO
3. TONY GILLIG PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE
1. TRAVIS DAVIS
2. CHRIS GARNER-JONES
3. TERRY SCHWEIGERT
Randy Weatherford was the
talk of the event in his Pro-
Charger-boosted WS Con-
struction ’19 Camaro, quali-
fying No. 1 with a Pro Boost
record-setting 3.597. For the
second consecutive race, a
mechanical issue ended his
weekend on the starting line,
falling to Mike DiDomenico
in the final. It was a Cinder-
ella story for DiDomenico,
who won in just his second
race with a string of high-
3.60s in his roots-blown CNC
Performance Products ’69
Camaro. Kevin Rivenbark
clinched the world champi-
onship in his ProCharged
GALOT Motorsports ’69
Camaro when challenger
Kris Thorne fell in round two. Chris Powers clearly wanted
to put an exclamation mark
on the end of his season.
Powers in his Sonny’s-pow-
ered ATI Performance ’14
Camaro was the closest to
the elusive 3-second zone
with his No. 1 qualifying
4.007, then laid down a pair
of 4.015s followed by a 4.032
in the final to defeat Dillon
Voss in the final round. Voss
ran a career-best 4.028 to
qualify No. 3 in a field that
saw 2019 world champion
John Montecalvo and three
other hitters miss the eight-
car show. Outgoing world
champion Steven Boone had
a strong weekend back after
a mid-season hiatus, falling
in the semifinals. Jeremy Huffman experi-
enced the best race of his
early Pro Outlaw 632 career,
qualifying No. 1 and racing
to the final round, both first-
time accomplishments in his
naturally aspirated, 3V Per-
formance-powered ’10
Cobalt. He defeated back-
to-back world champion
Johnny Pluchino in the final.
Pluchino went red, but
posted a 4.269 in Dominic
Addeo’s No. 2-qualified,
Kaase-powered ’06 Escort.
Tony Gillig qualified third in
his Madcap-powered Gillig-
Wagner Motorsports ’96
Olds Cutlass and went to his
second consecutive semifi-
nal round, ultimately finish-
ing fourth in his first full
season in the class. Travis Davis’ Timblin-built
Drag 965 Hayabusa wasn’t
the quickest entry in Pro
Nitrous Motorcycle, but it
was the quickest when it
counted. He ran a 4.001 to
beat Chris Garner-Jones’
4.017 for the world champi-
onship in the semifinals, then
sent Terry Schweigert
packing in the final with a
3.991 at a big 179.09 mph.
Garner-Jones qualified No. 1
aboard his Jones Racing Hay-
abusa and finished second in
the ultra-close championship
battle. Racing without the
pressure of a championship
chase, Terry Schweigert
posted a low-ET-of-the-race
3.988 on his way to a 4.02
runner-up effort on his Dan
Wagner-tuned bike.
36 PDRA660.com
Jim Halsey’s world champi-
onship season came to a
dominant close as he
wheeled his Fulton-pow-
ered, Brandon Switzer-tuned
’68 Camaro progressively
quicker 3.60-second passes
on race day, culminating
with a record 3.613 in the
final round. His opponent
was outgoing champion
Jason Harris, who qualified
No. 2 in the Musi-powered
“Party Time” ’69 Camaro
before going red in the final,
Harris’ last race in Pro
Nitrous ahead of his move
to Pro Boost in 2020. Lizzy
Musi in Frank Brandao’s
Edelbrock/Lucas Oil ’16
Dodge Dart continued her
elite performance level,
running low ET of the first
round and second-quickest
of the next two rounds.