![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PB_Kurt-Steding-2_Tara-Bowker-photo.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nKurt Steding, last year\u2019s Pro Boost championship runner-up, bounced back from a first-round exit at the season-opening East Coast Nationals by racing to victory at the Mid-Atlantic Showdown. Steding in his Todd Tutterow-tuned, screw-blown P2 Contracting \u201969 Camaro lit up the final win light when Harris went red by .123 seconds, though Steding was ready for a race with his .007 reaction time and 3.615-second pass at 208.97 mph. That performance set low E.T. of the event and set into motion a P2 Racing double-up, which was completed moments later when Steding\u2019s son, Ethan, won in Pro Street. It\u2019s the second time the father-son duo won together at the same event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no idea how much this means,\u201d Steding said. \u201cWe race together, we\u2019re hard on each other while we\u2019re racing together, but there\u2019s nothing better than doubling up with your boy. I\u2019m proud of him. Todd tuned it right in there. My crew is awesome and my lights were good and we pulled the win off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steding qualified No. 10 and fired off a 3.685 at 205.88 to defeat No. 7 qualifier James Beadling and his 3.728 in the first round. Steding\u2019s perfect .000 reaction time and consistent 3.687 at 206.54 over Gabriel Andino\u2019s 3.717 sent him to the semifinals. With conditions improving, Steding stepped up to a 3.653 at 206.86 in the semis to drive around rookie John Doc, who cut a .001 reaction time and posted a 3.724.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just did my thing,\u201d Steding said. \u201cI had triple zeros in the second round. That\u2019s a little too close for comfort. I tried to lay off the tree and then you see an .059 pop up [in the semifinals]. You can\u2019t race like that, so I just did my thing and stayed calm, cool, and collected and just ran it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris in his Brandon Stroud-tuned, ProCharged, Southern Diamond Company \u201cParty Time\u201d \u201969 Camaro set low E.T. of the opening round of eliminations, a 3.654 at 206.80, alongside a red-lighting Scott Lang, who threw away a 3.679. Harris also had the quickest winning E.T. in the second round, where his 3.661 at 206.35 beat Virginian Randy Weatherford and his 3.67. He caught a break in the semifinals, where newcomer Ed Marx threw down a 3.636 after going red by .009 seconds. Harris recorded a 3.64 at 206.92 to earn lane choice in the final.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PRO NITROUS\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Pro Nitrous young gun Marcus Butner denied rookie Amber Denton her first career win when he defeated the two-time Pro 632 world champion in the final round. It was a fitting end to a strong outing for Butner and tuner Jay Cox, as they qualified second and steadily improved through eliminations to meet Denton in the final. Butner moved first in his Musi-powered Butner Construction \u201cHeartbreaker\u201d \u201969 Camaro and led the race through the finish line, posting a winning 3.639 at 208.55. Denton encountered issues and slowed to a 3.772 at 189.95 to take runner-up honors in her second Pro Nitrous start.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been searching for this,\u201d said Butner, who earned his first Pro Nitrous win at Maryland in 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s not for a lack of effort. It\u2019s very sweet to get back. My guys have worked their butts off. We\u2019ve done a lot of testing to get here and we\u2019re going to keep testing. I couldn\u2019t have a better crew. Jay Cox takes care of the car and keeps us going in the right direction. Pat Musi gave us all the horsepower. I just thank God for being here. This just continues our drive. We\u2019ll probably test next week before Norwalk. We\u2019re gonna try to keep this going.\u201d<\/p>\n Butner kicked off eliminations with a 3.706 at 205.79 to move past Cam Clark and his 3.75. He laid down the second-quickest pass of the second round, a 3.689 at 207.78, to stop Brian Shrader\u2019s 3.707. In the semifinals, past Elite Top Sportsman world champion Buddy Perkinson left on Butner, but Butner answered with low E.T. of the event, a 3.637 at 208.62, to drive around Perkinson\u2019s 3.681.\u00a0<\/p>\n Denton qualified fourth in her Musi-powered \u201cOG Jungle Rat\u201d \u201969 Camaro and made it through a first-round match with Jim Widener that saw both drivers lose traction. Denton recovered quicker with a 4.379 at 136.97 to Widener\u2019s 5.081. She bounced back with a 3.675 at 198.70 to set low E.T. of the second round while also getting past Corey Smith, who went red by .005. Denton then matched her qualifying effort, a 3.659 at 206.92, to defeat John Vergotz and his 4.173 in the semifinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRO STREET<\/strong><\/p>\n A pair of young guns squared off for the Pro Street event title, as reigning world champion Ethan Steding met up with Blake Denton, who earned his first career win in the class at the season opener. Though Denton qualified No. 1, Steding\u2019s Ty Tutterow-tuned, roots-blown P2 Contracting \u201cCollege Fund\u201d \u201924 Camaro was the quicker car on race day. That held true in the final round, where Steding left the line first and fired off a 3.948 at 192.77 to hold off Denton\u2019s 3.958 at 195.96 to secure the win.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo be doing this again with my dad, meeting him in the winner\u2019s circle, it\u2019s unbelievable,\u201d said Steding, who thanked his team, parents Kurt and Wendi, partners like Ty-Drive, Wyo Motorsports, P2 Contracting, and Red Line Oil, as well as Elite Top Sportsman racer Bryan LaFlam for loaning the team a supercharger after theirs locked up in testing. \u201cThis just brought all my confidence back for a championship fight. At GALOT we had a bad start. Lost first round. This weekend, qualifying at the top of the board, No. 3, and winning the race, it just made me feel back in the spot to chase another championship this year. That\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re going to do and we\u2019re going to get us one.\u201d<\/p>\n Steding\u2019s march through eliminations began with a 4.045 at 190.19 to get past Joe Thomas and his .002 light and 4.511. Second-round opponent Ron Green moved first and ran a 4.018, but Steding fired off low E.T. of the event to that point, a 3.989 at 192.33, to get the win. His semifinal match with two-time world champion Tim Essick was going to be a side-by-side race, but Essick negated his 3.998 with a .019 red light, while Steding laid down a 3.98 at 192.41.\u00a0<\/p>\n Denton in the nitrous-assisted Lizzy Musi tribute \u201cBonnie\u201d \u201969 Camaro was on his game on the starting line all day, starting with a .001 paired with a 4.06 at 194.63 to beat Bill Devine and his 4.285 in the first round. He followed that with a .007 light and a 4.044 at 194.97 to get the holeshot win over World Finals winner Richard Reagan, who ran a 4.021. All eyes were on the starting line for Denton\u2019s semifinal race against recently retired Philadelphia Eagles star Fletcher Cox, who made his Pro Street debut after years of owning championship-level cars. Denton grabbed another holeshot win with his 3.978 at 196.36 to Cox\u2019s 3.951 at 191.73 in an all-nitrous matchup.\u00a0<\/p>\n EXTREME PRO STOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n Former Pro 632 winner Jeremy Huffman rolled to his first career win in Extreme Pro Stock when he defeated 2018 world champion Steven Boone in the final round. Huffman, who reached the semifinals at the season opener, made it into the eight-car field on the bump spot before using quick reaction times to reach the final round. Huffman in his 3V Performance-powered \u201910 Cobalt left first ahead of Boone and made his best pass of the weekend, a 4.085 at 175.41, to get the win over Boone and his 4.125 at 169.44.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t describe how big of a deal this is,\u201d said Huffman, who plans to run the rest of the season in pursuit of a PDRA world championship. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard for me not to get emotional. I was talking to my guys down at the end of the track getting all teary. Just like everybody, we\u2019ve worked so hard for this. We\u2019ve been to five or six finals now. I started to kind of wonder if the good Lord ever had one planned for us, but I had faith and even put it on my dash: \u2018Have faith in God,\u2019 and just wait on Him to bless us with one. I can\u2019t thank my guys enough. We\u2019re so blessed. It\u2019s just awesome. I don\u2019t know how to explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n Huffman made a major move in the first round of eliminations, using a .017 reaction time and a 4.196 at 172.89 to win on a holeshot over two-time and reigning world champion and No. 1 qualifier Chris Powers, who was the second-quickest driver of the round with his 4.139 at 176.79. Huffman cut a .018 light in the semifinals and followed it up with a 4.11 at 176.05 to defeat young gun Jordan Ensslin and his 4.123 at 176.21.\u00a0<\/p>\n Boone, whose Boone Motorsports was the class presenting sponsor for the weekend, qualified No. 6 in his Allen-powered Boone Motorsports \u201907 Cobalt. He was slightly quicker than Kurt Neighbor on the starting line in their first-round race and ran a 4.14 at 171.77 to beat Neighbor\u2019s 4.171. His semifinal match with 2023 world champion Alan Drinkwater ended on the starting line when Drinkwater went .040 red, throwing away a 4.113, while Boone posted a 4.128 at 171.53.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRO 632<\/strong><\/p>\n Kyle Salminen became the latest first-time winner in Pro 632 after he laid down low E.T. of race day in the final round against 2023 world champion Jeff Melnick. Salminen in his Marine City, Michigan-based, Musi-powered \u201903 Cavalier left just a few ticks ahead of Melnick and posted a 4.185 at 171.40 to get the win. Melnick, who qualified No. 1 and set low E.T. of the first two rounds, shook the tires and coasted to a 7.343 at 61.51 in the runner-up effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to believe, but I\u2019m just grateful to be here,\u201d Salminen said. \u201cThis win is for my mom. She\u2019s in the hospital right now, and because of her strength, we\u2019re here. This is all hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, I wasn\u2019t even thinking who I was racing,\u201d Salminen continued. \u201cI was just going up there and doing my thing and it was working. I wasn\u2019t getting in my head and I was treating it as a qualifier or test run or whatever it was. I just wanted to win this race, and that\u2019s what I did.\u201d<\/p>\n Salminen qualified third before facing George Coleman in the first round. Coleman left too soon with a .170 red light, while Salminen charged to a 4.22 at 169.93. He improved slightly to a 4.21 at 176.33 in the second round to get the win over newcomer Jeff Pittman, who posted a 4.285 at 168.70. Another improvement came in the semifinals, where he ran a 4.193 at 170.71 next to a red-lighting Walter Lannigan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Melnick was the picture of consistency on race day in Alan O\u2019Brien\u2019s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving \u201920 Camaro, as he used a 4.194 at 174.84 to get past Jason Ventura and his 4.546 in the first round and a 4.192 at 178.66 to deny rookie Carson Hoyle and his 4.209 at 166.95 in the second round. That put Melnick in the semifinals, where he took the tree on a bye run.\u00a0<\/p>\n SUPER STREET<\/strong><\/p>\n Second-generation small-tire racer Austin Vincent has excelled in Super Street qualifying since he made his debut in the class last summer, but a win escaped him until Saturday evening. Qualified No. 1 for the second time in as many races, Vincent made his way through eliminations to meet rookie Carson Perry in the final round. There, he left on Perry and kept it rolling with a 4.625 at 158.63 in his nitrous-fed Vincent Performance \u201988 Mustang to turn on the win light, while Perry slowed to a 5.035 at 110.94.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is very meaningful,\u201d said Vincent, who thanked his parents and partners like Vincent Performance, VDRD, Davis Technology, Nitrous Express, Diamond Pistons, Jesel, Ron G Afterworks. \u201cI get to drive my dad\u2019s old car that got me into racing. I\u2019ve got my best friend, Cody, out here, and my mom watching at home. It\u2019s all really nice. I hope to win a whole lot more. I want to win a couple more and hopefully put a No. 1 on the thing at the end of the year and take a small-block nitrous car to the winner\u2019s circle every race if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n As the No. 1 qualifier, Vincent got a first-round bye run, which he used to run a 4.643 at 159.32. He went even quicker in the second round, recording a 4.626 at 159.42 to defeat World Finals winner Brad McBride and his 5.872. Vincent then earned his keep on the starting line in the semifinals, as he grabbed a holeshot advantage and ran a 4.612 at 159.68 to stop season opener winner Connor McGee, who was quicker with his 4.593 at 155.36. The margin of victory was .0001 seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n In just his second Super Street start, Perry qualified third in his nitrous-fed Greenbrier Excavating & Paving \u201900 Camaro and won first round with a 4.723 at 152.71 over Michael Webb and his 5.599. He led wire-to-wire in his second-round match with J.C. Beattie Jr., posting a 4.854 at 127.27 to Beattie\u2019s 4.902. Perry then ended up with a semifinal single, as opponent Matt Schalow damaged his car in a crash on his second-round bye run. Perry recorded a 4.808 at 126.47 to get ready for the final round.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP SPORTSMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n For the second year in a row, reigning Elite Top Sportsman world champion Glenn Butcher raced to victory at the Mid-Atlantic Showdown. Paired up with Ron Whitlock in the final round, Butcher left first in his nitrous-fed, Albert-powered Butcher & Son Demolition \u201969 Camaro on his way to a 3.781 on a 3.77 dial-in. Whitlock broke out in his Advance, North Carolina-based GXP with a 4.003 on a 4.02 dial-in.\u00a0<\/p>\n After five rounds of Top Sportsman 48 competition, Ohioans Keith Castle and Jeff Melnick were the last two drivers standing. Castle took a slight starting line advantage in his \u201907 Stratus, then he ran a 4.237 on a 4.23 dial-in to defeat Melnick, who broke out with a 4.153 on a 4.16 dial-in in his ProCharged Exotic Fabrication \u201902 Avenger.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP DRAGSTER<\/strong><\/p>\n It was a battle between Virginia and West Virginia in the Elite Top Dragster final round, which pitted Gloucester, Virginia\u2019s Linzie Coleman against Ronceverte, West Virginia\u2019s Alan O\u2019Brien. Coleman\u2019s starting line prowess in her ProCharged \u201917 American dragster helped her get the win with a 3.919 on a 3.86 dial-in. O\u2019Brien, one of four Greenbrier Excavating & Paving entries in the final rounds, ran a 3.749 on a 3.73 dial-in in his turbocharged Race Tech dragster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Top Dragster 48 featured a doubled winner\u2019s prize through PDRA\u2019s new Power Purse program, with Jeff Pierce Race Car Tuning boosting the payout to $6,000 to win. Multi-time NHRA Top Dragster world champion Anthony Bertozzi met up with reigning PDRA Top Dragster world champion Nick Meloni in the final round. It was over on the starting line, though, as Bertozzi went red by .006. Meloni then cut a .006 light and posted a victorious 4.29 on a 4.26 dial-in.<\/p>\n The Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series will now head North to Norwalk, Ohio, for the fifth annual American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies, May 22-24, at Summit Motorsports Park.\u00a0<\/p>\n This story was originally published on May 4, 2025. The post Steding Father-Son Duo Doubles Up, Joining Butner, Huffman, Salminen and Vincent as PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown Winners<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kurt Steding and his son, Ethan, shared the winner\u2019s circle for the second time in their careers Saturday night at the Travis Mills Foundation PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Red Line Shirt Club. Kurt won in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive and Ethan was victorious in Liberty\u2019s Gears Pro Street […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/PN_Marcus-Butner_Tara-Bowker-photo.jpg\")
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