Victory made the rain-delayed completion of the PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown worth the wait for Super Bowl champion Fletcher Cox, who earned his first career win in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports Thursday night at GALOT Motorsports Park. Cox, who retired from a 12-season career with the Philadelphia Eagles last year, defeated reigning world champion Ethan Steding in the final round to hoist his first PDRA 660 Man trophy.
Rain storms at Bristol Dragway in late August pushed Thunder Valley Throwdown eliminations to Thursday at ProFab DragWars presented by PST Driveshafts, the seventh of eight races on the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series schedule.
Bristol winners in the pro classes also included Tommy Franklin (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous), Ty Tutterow (WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive), Jordan Ensslin (AED Competition Extreme Pro Stock presented by 3V Performance), Jeff Melnick (PDRA Pro 632 presented by PTC Torque Converters), and Connor McGee (PDRA Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling).
Victories in the sportsman ranks went to Tim Lawrence in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Larry Roberts in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Nick Meloni in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and Justin Kirk in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking.
Ashton Halas (Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products) and Knox Schween (Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products) secured wins in the Jr. Dragster classes. It was the first win of the season for Halas, while Schween earned the third win of his first full season.
PRO STREET
Fletcher Cox, who helped the Philadelphia Eagles win the 2017 Super Bowl, was the only higher-qualified driver to make it out of a treacherous first round of eliminations at Bristol before the rain hit. Driving his nitrous-assisted “Training Day” ’69 Camaro, Cox rolled into GALOT and started clicking on win lights, starting with a second-round victory over Ron Green. He used a 3.908-second pass at 186.61 mph to knock out Richard Reagan and his 3.937 in the semifinals. Finally, he dropped a 3.898 at 187.50 in the final round to clinch his first career victory in Pro Street. Opponent Ethan Steding had to lift off the throttle early and coasted to a 4.498 at 122.44.
“Man, it’s almost like your first sack in the NFL, honestly,” said Cox, who thanked his team and supporters like Diamond Pistons, VP Racing, LAT Racing Oil, Mac Fab Beadlocks, Thrift-Way, Neal Chance Converters, and Menscer Motorsports. “You only get one of those first ones, and that was the same as tonight. I got the first win, and this is a double race. The focus is now to celebrate with the team tonight. It’s special. I put together a freaking badass team and these guys worked their tails off and I can’t thank them enough.”
Cox turned heads two races ago in Michigan when he threw down a 3.829-second pass, which was quicker than the current E.T. national record. His nitrous-assisted combination received a hefty weight penalty since then, but Cox and his team, typically led by tuner Phil Shuler, proved they can still run in the 3.80s with the 3.898 in the final.
“I think with Phil not being here this weekend and with ‘Barker Max’ [Jeffrey Barker] and Stevie [Jackson] taking his spot this weekend, you never know what’s gonna happen,” Cox said. “I’m sure Phil had a lot of say-so in what went on, but we’re all just having fun and trying to be competitive. The biggest part about tonight is I think we got our race car back, but we’ll see tomorrow with the sun out. I know that the guys are doing a really good job.”
PRO NITROUS
Three-time Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin made the most of an opportunity to take over the points lead when his daughter, two-time Pro 632 world champion Amber Denton, lost in the first round at Bristol. When eliminations continued at GALOT, Franklin threw down a string of season-best passes in his new Musi-powered “Jungle Rat 3.0” ’69 Camaro to pick up his first win of the season. He also earned enough points to pass Denton for the points lead with just two races remaining. After getting around Brian Shrader in the second round, he recorded a 3.623 at 207.43 to hold off Marcus Butner’s 3.628 by just .0004 seconds. A consistent 3.626 at 207.08 followed in the final round, beating past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Tim Molnar and his 3.681 at 205.98.
“Honestly, it is bittersweet,” Franklin said about taking the points lead from his daughter. “I kind of teased with her, I asked her, ‘What was it like on the starting line? Were you kind of like, Yay, Dad?’ but we’re both competitors. That’s what we’re out here to do. She wouldn’t want it any other way. I wouldn’t want it any other way. It is bittersweet, though. She’s having a heck of a season and it’s not over. We’ve got two races left after this one and I know she’s going to be tough.”
PRO BOOST
Pro Boost veteran Melanie Salemi and second-generation wheelman Ty Tutterow gave two of the best performances of their respective careers Thursday evening as they raced through Bristol eliminations to meet in the final round. Nearly every driver left in competition ran in the 3.50s, with Tutterow in Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro running a 3.589 to beat Michigan winner Randy Weatherford’s 3.593 in the second round and a 3.577 to get past a red-lighting Jason Harris and his 3.562. In the final round, Tutterow left the line just four thousandths ahead of Salemi and charged to a 3.58 at 209.52 to fend off Salemi’s 3.588 at 206.92.
“We’ve got a really good group of guys assembled. We’re running good. The car’s doing good,” Tutterow said. “I messed it up in the last finals [at Michigan]. Luckily we kept her green this time and was able to take the Quik Fuel hot rod back to the finals and get her picture taken. It’s going to take some really consistent runs to win again on Saturday. We have to probably pick up and run a little faster. Harris would have beat me. He was .004 red and ran a .56. That was the run of the race tonight and that’s probably what we’re going to have to outrun.”
EXTREME PRO STOCK
Young gun Jordan Ensslin has held a PDRA 660 Man trophy in Pro 632 competition, but a win in Extreme Pro Stock eluded him until Thursday night. In an all-Florida semifinal battle, Ensslin upset 2023 world champion and points leader Alan Drinkwater when he drove to a 4.068 at 175.73 to finish ahead of Drinkwater and his 4.077 at 176.95. Ensslin found a little more performance in his Allen-powered Poke County Pro Stock ’09 Mustang for the final round against North Carolina’s own Elijah Morton. Though Morton went red, Ensslin rolled to a 4.060-second victory lap to earn his first career win in Extreme Pro Stock.
“We won once with PDRA in 2018 in Pro 632, and we’ve been fighting this thing for three years and to finally get one, it’s surreal,” Ensslin said. “This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. Thankful that my grandfather still believes in me and lets me do this. The good Lord was with me. I was nervous as I don’t even know what to tell you, but He calmed me down right before I staged the car, so it was a blessing. I have so many people to thank: CJW, PJP, Thomas Towing, Mr. Dean, Boone Motorsports, Allen Competition Engines. The list goes on. I can’t thank them all enough and I’ll forget, but thank you all for continuing to support us and helping us do this and live out this dream together.”
PRO 632
Jeff Melnick, the 2023 Pro 632 world champion, padded his already substantial points lead by racing to his third consecutive win of the season. Third-ranked driver Walter Lannigan didn’t attend the Bristol race, and Melnick’s closest challenger, Lexi Tanner, didn’t make the trip to GALOT after winning her first-round match at Bristol. Melnick used a 4.148 to defeat J.C. Beattie Jr. and his 4.201 in the second round, then he took the tree on a semifinal bye run. He met his teammate, Top Sportsman veteran turned Pro 632 rookie Jeff Pittman, in the final round. Melnick, himself a Top Sportsman standout as well, showed off his driving prowess with a holeshot win, holding off Pittman’s 4.163 at 170.34 with a 4.205 at 169.27 in Alan O’Brien’s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving ’20 Camaro.
“It feels great to be able to get the win for the Bristol event, especially with it being our third win in a row, and we had an all-Team Greenbrier final round versus Jeff Pittman,” Melnick said. “The team has really hit its stride and we are hoping to keep the momentum going for the last two races to finish strong and bring home another championship.”
SUPER STREET
Connor McGee received another boost in his bid for his first Super Street world championship when he earned his third win in four races after qualifying No. 1 in his Fulton-powered Brian’s Heating & Cooling ’90 Mustang. McGee, who also won Bristol last season, set low E.T. of the round in the semifinals with his 4.563 at 156.53 to beat reigning world champion “Wheelstand Dan” Whetstine, who lived up to his nickname with a wheels-up launch and had to lift to a 4.983 at 123.77. Final-round opponent Austin Vincent, McGee’s closest championship challenger, was first off the starting line, but McGee got around him with a 4.556 at 153.33 to Vincent’s 4.583 at 156.55.
“This win feels really good, especially since we won Bristol last year and I wanted that one again,” McGee said. “In Wednesday’s testing we had to take a trip to Fulton’s overnight. Going into Thursday, we all had less than five hours of sleep over two days, so to be able to win this one was rewarding. After losing to Austin by .0001 at VMP, I wanted this one real bad. Even though he still got me on the tree, I was ready with a .027. This win definitely helps us momentum-wise in the championship. It’s still up in the air, but every round counts and we’re getting closer and closer.”
TOP SPORTSMAN
Tim Lawrence, who started the season with a runner-up finish at the East Coast Nationals at GALOT, made a big move in the Elite Top Sportsman points standings when he picked up the Bristol win. His final-round opponent, Dwayne Gallogly, went red by .022 seconds, while Lawrence in his nitrous-fed Bell Trucking LLC. ’13 Camaro ran a 3.904 on a 3.89 dial-in for the win. Lawrence is now second in the points standings.
Nick Meloni, the 2024 Top Dragster world champion and 2021 Top Sportsman world champion, raced to the Bristol victory in Top Sportsman, where the final round was also decided by a red-light start. Mike King lit up the red light by .023 seconds, handing the win to Meloni, who ran a 4.272 on a 4.26 dial-in. Meloni sits second in points.
TOP DRAGSTER
In an all-South Carolina final round battle for the Elite Top Dragster Bristol win, 2022 world champion Larry Roberts came out on top over Josh Duggins. Roberts in his ProCharged ’16 Racetech dragster left the line .015 seconds ahead of Duggins and posted a 3.803 on a 3.80 dial-in to defeat the 3.718 on a 3.71 dial-in from Duggins.
Two past Top Dragster world champions squared off in the Bristol final round, with 2016 champion Justin Kirk meeting 2022 champion Tisha Wilson. After letting go of the button eight thousandths quicker than Wilson, Kirk ran dead-on his 4.42 dial-in in his ’25 American dragster to win over Wilson’s 4.219 on a 4.21 dial-in.
The Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series will roll into DragWars competition Friday with pro qualifying sessions set for noon, 4:15 p.m., and 8 p.m. Eliminations will take place Saturday.
PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through www.FloRacing.com.
This story was originally published on September 12, 2025.
The post Pro Street Rookie Fletcher Cox Headlines Rain-Delayed Bristol Race Winners at PDRA DragWars first appeared on Drag Illustrated.