The 2019 PDRA season has entered its final leg and that means if you’re a team in title contention you better be ready for a strong push to the end. Tommy Franklin has positioned himself to make a late-season title run at the Pro Nitrous crown, and after finding some momentum at the last two PDRA races, Franklin has high hopes for a win at Drag Wars VI.

Any team that runs in a series knows about the grind of trying to win a championship and they’ll tell you how big of a struggle it can be. There are equal parts skill and luck required to be the last man standing when the season is over, and Tommy Franklin has done it twice in the PDRA. Franklin’s 2019 season started with some struggles that tested his team.

“At Maryland, we had a first-round exit so that made us feel a little bit behind, but it also made us feel more focused, too. We’ve been working on the car a lot since we don’t have as many laps on this one as our previous car and they’re all a little bit different. Going into Georgia we felt like we needed to work on the hot track tune-up to do well. We ended up with a runner-up finish and felt like we had a very strong car and confidence in what the car could do. After that we went to Ohio and finished that off with a strong win,” Franklin explains.

The level of competition in the Pro Nitrous class is ferocious and it requires each team to be on top of its game every round of eliminations. Any mistake could cost you a victory, so Franklin and his team have been working diligently at perfecting their program. That effort paid off and generated a wave of momentum that he’s riding into the GALOT event.

“Right now we’re within two rounds of taking the points lead, and that’s important because there’s just no room to let someone run away with the lead. You can’t sleep on any of the top 10 cars at all, and Jim Halsey has been really good this year. You’ve got to go out get all the points you can and it becomes a race by race deal,” Franklin says.

With several competitors still within striking distance of the Pro Nitrous points lead, Franklin understands the urgency of doing well at Drag Wars VI. To win at this event he knows it could require the navigation of difficult conditions while still staying ahead of the competition.

“I think we’ve got to flex our muscle and show our power. We’ve seen a lot of hot races this year and the big question mark is what these last three races will bring us. Are we going to see more 90-degree race days, or can we get some low 80 or high 70 temperatures? We have to be prepared for the heat, but at the same time we know how to run in the good weather…but so does everyone else. It won’t be easy, but I’m confident our engine package, the car, and my team can do what is needed to win at GALOT,” Franklin says.

The Pro Nitrous class is going to be one to watch at the PDRA Drag Wars VI event. You can see all the Pro Mod racing action RIGHT HERE on SpeedVideo at GALOT Motorsports Park September 5-7. This broadcast is brought to you by Vortech Superchargers, Crane Cams, Driven Racing Oil, Race Star Wheels, Flying A Motorsports, and Jerry Bickel Race Cars.