Three weeks after starting eliminations at the season-opening KTR Drag Racing PDRA Carolina Nationals presented by Pee Dee Fleet at Darlington Dragway, the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series crowned its first winners of the 2026 season Thursday night at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC. The series completed the Carolina Nationals eliminations during Thursday testing ahead of this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech, the second of seven races on the 2026 schedule.
Mike Achenbach (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars), Johnny Camp (WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive), Fletcher Cox (Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by KTR Drag Racing), JC Beattie Jr. (PDRA Pro 632 presented by Mark Williams Enterprises), and Connor McGee (1320 Fabrication Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling) were victorious in the professional categories.
Victories in the sportsman classes went to Bryan LaFlam in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Steve Furr in Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Elite Top Dragster presented by American Race Cars, Donald Bean in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Joe Gary in ATI Performance Products Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes.
Ashton Halas and Carter Hayes scored victories in Pro Jr. Dragster and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster, respectively. Halas was quicker off the starting line and ran a 7.901 on the 7.90 index to defeat the 7.916 of Connor Hayes in Pro Jr. Dragster. In the Top Jr. Dragster final, Hayes left first and posted a 12.288 on a 12.27 dial-in to beat Noah Taylor and his 9.081 on a 9.05 dial-in.
PRO NITROUS
“Mountain Man” Mike Achenbach returned from a brief PDRA Pro Nitrous hiatus in triumphant fashion as he scored his third career win and the first for his new Fulton-powered ’20 Camaro dubbed “Hot Sister.” With nitrous guru Brandon Switzer tuning remotely, Achenbach resumed the Carolina Nationals with a semifinal win over defending world champion Marcus Butner before meeting 2024 world champion Fredy Scriba in the final round. Achenbach left first by .002 seconds and won with a 3.706-second pass to Scriba’s 3.741.
“We worked hard with this new car, doing some testing and whatnot, and I knew the car would come around,” said Achenbach, who last won at the 2023 East Coast Nationals. “If you just give Brandon Switzer enough time, and even though he’s not here this weekend, he did his best he could do and it turned out really well. It came around really quick and it’s very rewarding. We tried to give him the best car we could and we’re trying to double-up with this thing. We’re here to win a championship.”
PRO BOOST
The three weeks and drastic changes in location and weather conditions didn’t seem to bother Johnny Camp and tuner Brandon Stroud, who took the ProCharged “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro to the Pro Boost win at the Carolina Nationals. When the race picked back up at Darana, Camp threw down a 3.642 to defeat Melanie Salemi in a rematch of last year’s East Coast Nationals final round. He kept it rolling with a 3.613 at 208.94 in the final to beat defending world champion Ty Tutterow and his 3.624 at 208.52. Camp’s reaction times were .013 and .014 in the semis and final, respectively.
“Beating the competition that’s out here is always a good feeling,” said Camp, who thanked ProCharger, Pro Line Racing, NGK Spark Plugs, Tatman Electric, and his crew. “It’s the best of the best. We came out of the last race with good momentum, carried us through here. Brandon [Stroud] gets the most out of whatever the track conditions are, and that’s what you’re racing is the track conditions. The race before was stellar air. We made some good licks and got some data and rolled it into this week.”
PRO STREET
Last fall, retired NFL star Fletcher Cox earned his first career win as a driver in Pro Street at the PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown, which was rained out at Bristol Dragway and completed at Darana Motorsports Park – Benson, NC during DragWars. His second career win came in similar fashion Thursday night, as he beat Jerry Morgano in the final round of the postponed Carolina Nationals that started at Darlington and wrapped up at Darana. He used a 4.020 to defeat Joel Wensley Jr. in the semifinals, then left on Jerry Morgano and ran a 3.967 at 188.96 in his Phil Shuler-tuned, nitrous-fed “Training Day” ’69 Camaro to beat Morgano’s 3.955 on a holeshot.
“My team is the greatest,” Cox said. “Everybody worked their butt off all week. We’re short a guy, and we’ve all been busting balls, including myself, but it’s been fun. The mojo is just keep going. I just can’t be proud enough for this team. We just keep going at it, keep going at it, and just taking this momentum on, and hopefully carry it into what we have next.”
After the win, Cox pulled his “9191” car number off the windows and replaced it with a new number for the car’s new driver, Andy Mac, a grudge racer who’s served as one of the key crew members on the car. Cox stepped out of the driver’s seat to focus on driving his new screw-blown “Fixed Income” ’69 Camaro Pro Mod.
“I believe today was my last day driving ‘Training Day,’” Cox said. “I say my last day, but who knows, I may wheel it down the road. But this weekend, the main guy that’s been helping, driving the rig, making sure everything’s ready to go besides Phil [Shuler] – I’m handing the wheel over to Andy Mac and giving him a chance to run for a championship with me moving into Pro Mod and Pro Boost. Me, Phil, and the whole KTR team, hopefully we’re debuting ‘Fixed Income’ at the next PDRA event in Virginia.”
PRO 632
J.C. Beattie Jr. had a career-best start to the season at the Carolina Nationals when he earned his first career No. 1 qualifier award behind the wheel of his nitrous-fed ATI Performance Products Camaro three weeks ago. When racing resumed at Darana, Beattie earned a confidence-boosting semifinal win over two-time and defending world champion Jeff Melnick with a 4.179 before taking a side-by-side win over Jeff Pittman in the final round. Pittman left first, but Beattie fired off a 4.117 at 172.72 to drive around Pittman’s 4.136 at 171.01. It was Beattie’s first career win in Pro 632 competition.
“Well, we had to wait a few weeks, and last time we ran [Jeff] Melnick, the two-time champion, he got us, so I was hoping it was our turn – and it was – to beat him in the semis and then go on to the finals,” said Beattie, who thanked his team, Reher-Morrison, and ATI Performance Products. “We had a goal of qualifying No. 1 and winning a race, and we checked those off quick. We want to double-up with my son [James Beattie III] winning a race in Pro Jr. Dragster. He lost in the semifinals, but we’ll try again starting this weekend, which is great, and I’m going to try to keep on going and take the No. 1 points position a little farther.”
SUPER STREET
Reigning Super Street world champion Connor McGee admitted the three-week break between the first two rounds of the Carolina Nationals and the completion of the event Thursday night didn’t make it easy on him as a driver, but he showed why his Brian’s Heating & Cooling team won last year’s season title. McGee threw down a 4.626 in the semis to take out championship runner-up Austin Vincent, then unloaded a 4.516 at 158.61 in the final round. McGee didn’t need the near-record performance to get the win, though, as his opponent, 2024 world champion Dan Whetstine, went red by .018 seconds.
“It’s super challenging,” said McGee, who credited his team and partners like Brian’s Heating & Cooling, Abby’s Performance, Fulton Racing Engines, Driven Racing Oil, Bucked Up Energy, and Tub O’ Towels. “When you’re at the track for the whole four rounds, you don’t have a lot of time. You’re working in between rounds. If you hurt something, you’re really busy, but even if you don’t, still, the rounds get quicker and quicker. So, to have three weeks, that’s so much time to just sit there and think about every possible scenario. I knew who I had to race next round, and honestly, it’s a tough matchup. Me and Austin [Vincent] have battled for the last two years and it’s always been super close, so to just walk away from that win and then the final-round win, it’s just really rewarding.”
TOP SPORTSMAN
Elite Top Sportsman reigning world champion Bryan LaFlam kicked off his title defense with the Carolina Nationals win when final-round opponent Jeff Melnick – the two-time and reigning Pro 632 world champion – went red by .003 seconds. LaFlam ran a 3.843 on a 3.80 dial-in in his supercharged Big Stuff TPM ’67 Mustang.
A red-light start decided the winner in Top Sportsman 32 as well, as past world champion Joe Roubicek went red by .010 seconds in his nitrous-fed ’68 Camaro, allowing Donald Bean to cruise to the win with a 4.351 on a 4.35 dial-in in his Sunset Beach, North Carolina-based ’01 S10.
TOP DRAGSTER
Two-time Elite Top Dragster world champion Steve Furr picked up the win in his ProCharged ’13 American dragster in a battle between the No. 2 qualifier and low qualifier Josh Duggins. Furr ran a 3.904 on his 3.90 dial-in while Duggins threw away his chances with a .001 red light and lifted to a 3.989.
In the Top Dragster 48 final, Joe Gary left the line first and rolled to a 4.385 on a 4.38 dial-in to defeat JB Donati, who ran a 4.223 on a 4.24 dial-in.
This story was originally published on April 18, 2026. 
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