2018 PDRA North-South Shootout Coverage From Maryland

The clouds have rolled in but the rain is holding off this Saturday morning at Maryland International Raceway for the PDRA North-South Shootout. We’ve seen some great racing from classes such as Top Dragster, Jr Dragster and Top Sportsman. Pro Eliminations for today were set to begin around 3:30 but due to chance of precipitation, the officials here have decided to move eliminations up to 12:30. We will keep you updated as the race unfolds.

First round of Pro Boost eliminations saw Tommy D’Aprile take out Eric Donovan, 3.87 to a 4.25. Roderjan Busato went 3.76 at 209 mph to beat Shane Novak’s Procharged Camaro. Marc Caruso tree’d Rick Fleck for the win with a 3.78 at 197 mph and Jerico Balduf went 3.73 to beat Gene Capano, in his ‘Batman’ Chevelle.

Pro Nitrous had an interesting first round of eliminations, with Tommy Franklin facing off against David Campbell; both racers had mechanical issues and had trouble making a pass down the track, but Campbell red lit which allowed Franklin to move on to the next round after coasting his Pat Musi-powered Camaro through the finish. Lizzy Musi made a solid pass to beat Danny Sauro with .008 reaction time and a 3.75 at 204 mph to Danny’s 3.77 at 198 mph. Chris Rini and Jim Halsey faced off in the first round and had a tremendous side by side race, with both racers leaving the line within four- thousandths of each other, Chris Rini took the win with a 3.73 at 201 mph to Jim’s 3.74 203 mph.

For Pro Extreme Adam Flamholc will be facing off against Terry Leggett’s screw-blown ’71 Mustang. Both racers have been making excellent passes all weekend; in the last round Terry took his Mustang to a 3.55 at 216 mph. These cars are both ridiculously fast and should make for a great final round. Stick around Dragzine for updates as the race continues.

Adam Flamholc of Malmo Sweden took the win in Pro Extreme with a 3.63 over Terry Leggett’s 4.063

Tommy D'Aprille (left) Roderjan Busato (right)

Pairings for Pro Boost Semi-finals will be Tommy D’Aprile against Roderjan Busato — both racers have been extremely consistent this weekend. The other pairing will be Chuck Ulsch against Jerico Bulduf, who took out Marc Caruso in the second round of eliminations.

Jerico Balduf (left) Chuck Ulsch (right)

Lizzy Musi will race against John Hall in the Pro Nitrous Semifinals; she made a hell of a pass against Scott Blake with a 3.745 at 204 mph to Blake’s 3.77 at 198 mph. Chris Rini will be paired against Randy Weatherford; Rini had some issues earlier this weekend with low voltage, but seems to have gotten that all worked out. He took out Tommy Franklin in the second round with a 3.72 at 201 mph to Tommy’s 3.74 at 203 mph.

We’ve had a some rain here at Maryland International Raceway, but the track officials have worked hard to get the track dry and we should have Pro Finals under way very shortly.

New pro Class Outlaw 632 is jam packed full of clutch-dumping, gear-shifting 632-inch nitrous assisted Top Sportsman-looking cars. Dillon Voss has worked his way through the eliminations today in his Voss Racing Engines ’17 Corvette to face Ken Quartuccio in his drag radial-tired ’69 Camaro. Ken is the only racer in the class this weekend who is racing on drag radial tires instead of the typical big slick tires you’d see on the back of the rest of the class.

Chuck Ulsch (left) Tommy D'Aprille (right)

Tommy D’Apprile will be running Chuck Ulsch in the Pro Boost final. Roderjan peddled the car after carrying the wheels to half track in the semi’s and Tommy drove around him for the win. Chuck Ulsch and Jerico Balduf had a great semifinal race — both cars were side by side the whole way down and Chuck just nudged Jerico out with a 3.71 at 197 mph to Jerico’s quicker 3.70 at 201 mph; this race was won on reaction time with a .042 reaction time from Chuck and a .094 from Jerico.

John Hall heats the tires on his Pat musi powered Pro Nitrous Camaro

In the semifinals of Pro Nitrous, John Hall took the win against Lizzy Musi who appeared to have some sort of mechanical failure as she staged her car but never left the beams. Randy Weatherford and Chris Rini had a great race, with the win going to Randy Weatherford.

Ken Quartuccio (left) Dillon Voss (right)

Dillon Voss took the win against Ken Quartuccio in the Pro Outlaw 632 final; Ken spun the tires off the line and had to let out of it, while Dillon made a great pass going 4.19 to the eighth mile.

Randy Weatherford wins Pro Nitrous at the PDRA North-South Shootout

Randy Weatherford took the win in Pro Nitrous against John hall. John got loose at mid-track and had to let out of it allowing Randy Weatherford to drive around him with a 3.88 at 163 mph to John’s 3.89 at 155 mph.

Tommy D'Aprile is the PDRA North-South Shoot out Pro Boost champion

Tommy D’Aprile was deadly consistent all weekend — he faced Chuck Ulsch in the Pro Boost Final and took the win with a blistering 3.66 at 203 mph.

We’re here on the property at Maryland International Raceway for the PDRA North-South Shootout. The Sun is shining and the racers are in their pits getting ready for first round qualifying. Stay tuned to Dragzine for updates as the race unfolds.

Jerico Balduf is here with his Andy McCoy Race Cars-built 69' Chevelle. Jerico was set to debut the car at the PDRA World Finals last year but ran into some issues. They've got the bugs worked out and they're race ready.

David Cambell also has a new car following a bad wreck in Pro Nitrous last season. The wrap and attention to detail on this car is gorgeous.

They’ve wrapped up the first round of qualifying here at Maryland International Raceway. The hot track conditions are proving to create a slight challenge, making racers and tuners have to work to get a solid pass down the track.

Tommy D’Aprille qualified number 1 in first round qualifying with a 3.74 at 198 mph

They kicked off Pro Qualifying with Pro Boost. Tommy D’Aprille took the number one spot with a 3.74 at 198 mph in his Supercharged ’69 Camaro. Roderjan Busato of Curitiba, Brazil, qualified number 5 being the top qualified turbo car in pro boost right now, his gorgeous BAE powered ’68 Camaro went 3.81 at 206mph.

Randy Weatherford, Tommy Franklin, and Jason Harris

The Pat Musi powered cars seem to be dominating Pro Nitrous, with the top three first round qualifiers all being powered by 959ci Pat Musi Racing Engines. Randy Weatherford of Danville, VA, qualified number one, with a 3.74 at 202 mph, followed by Pro Nitrous World champion Tommy Franklin who carried the wheels to half track with a 3.76 at 202 mph. Jason Harris is currently sitting at the number three spot with a 3.77 at 201 mph.

Adam Flamholc ('63 corvette) and Terry Leggett ('71 Mustang)

For Pro Extreme Adam Flamholc is currently number one with a 3.71 at 209 mph, followed by Terry Leggett in his 71 Mustang fast back.

Racers and crews were hard at work between rounds today.

As the sun comes down the track starts to come around here at Maryland International Raceway, spectators have packed the stands and we kicked off the third and final round of pro qualifying with the national anthem. Dillon Voss worked his way from the number 7 spot all the way up to number one qualifier with a 4.22 at 169 mph in his Voss Racing Engines powered ’17 Corvette, with Ken Quartuccio qualifying second with a 4.23 at 173 mph.

For the final round of qualifying in Pro Boost, Tommy D’Aprille remains number one with a 3.701 at 200 mph. Chuck Ulsch in the number two spot with a 3.74, followed by Jerico Balduf with a 3.77 at 196 mph.

Jerico Balduf heating the hides on his Batman themed Pro Boost ’69 Chevelle.

Rick fleck had some problems in the final round, but ended the night in the number 7 spot.

Jay Cox 959ci Buck Racing Engines powered ’69 Camaro

Jay Cox ended the night number one qualifier for Pro Nitrous with a 3.69 at 202 mph with Randy Weatherford qualifying close second with another 3.69 at 203 mph. Two-Time World Champion, Tommy Franklin finished the night third with a 3.709 at 202 mph.