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<\/figure>\nRandy Weatherford completed a clean sweep of the Pro Boost category for the new Harts Charger centrifugal supercharger in its PDRA debut, as he qualified No. 1 on Friday and claimed his first win since 2021 on Saturday. Weatherford in his Steve Petty-tuned WS Construction \u201921 Camaro recorded a 3.578 at 211.07 next to Ty Tutterow\u2019s 3.576 at 209.40 in the final round, but Tutterow was disqualified on the starting line when he went red by .017.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDustin [Hart] told me he was working on a centrifugal supercharger and he got it right,\u201d Weatherford said. \u201cWe\u2019re sitting here today in the winner\u2019s circle with this thing. No. 1 qualifier. No problems, no issues with it. Harts Charger to the front. He did exactly what he said he\u2019d do. We came here to prove a point. We\u2019re not out, we\u2019re not dead. We\u2019re back. Now I know I can run with these guys. I can stay right there with them. That\u2019s huge. It makes you as a driver drive better because you know you\u2019ve got something that can win.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the No. 1 qualifier, Weatherford earned a solo pass in the first round before meeting recent Maryland runner-up Steve King in an all-Virginia second-round race. King went .008 red and lifted, while Weatherford set low E.T. of the round with a 3.603 at 211.37. He was the quickest of the semifinals as well after cutting a .005 reaction time and running a 3.58 at 211.37 to defeat two-time and reigning world champion Jason Harris and his 3.594.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tutterow, who appeared in his second straight final round after winning the North vs. South Shootout in Maryland, qualified third in Justin Smith\u2019s screw-blown Quik Fuel \u201969 Camaro tuned by his father, two-time Pro Boost world champion Todd \u201cKing Tut\u201d Tutterow. He overcame the perfect .000 reaction time from Puerto Rico\u2019s Raymond Matos in the first round, throwing down a 3.612 at 209.40. He also drove around Johnny Camp in round two with a 3.626 at 208.04 to Camp\u2019s 3.659. Tutterow dipped into the 3.50s in the semifinals, using a 3.592 at 208.24 to beat Preston Tanner\u2019s 3.62.\u00a0<\/p>\n
PRO NITROUS<\/strong><\/p>\n In what was likely the most unique final round in the history of Pro Nitrous, rookie Amber Denton collected her first career win in the class with her father, three-time world champion Tommy Franklin, in the other lane. After both drivers suffered engine issues earlier in the day, the teammates thrashed to prepare for the final round, with numerous other teams jumping in to help. With a wounded engine in Franklin\u2019s car and a borrowed engine from fellow competitor Buddy Perkinson in Denton\u2019s \u201cOG Jungle Rat\u201d \u201969 Camaro, the two drivers fired up their hot rods for a special family moment. Without the nitrous oxide activated, both drivers were sluggish out of the gate and well off their usual pace. Still, it was a side-by-side competition, with Denton winning by .006 seconds with a 5.44 at 147.49 to Franklin\u2019s 5.468 at 149.01.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve dreamed about getting to a final with my dad since I could remember, and it\u2019s definitely not the way we imagined it, but I got up here and I got strapped in and I took a second and just soaked it all in because it was awesome,\u201d said Denton, who thanked God, parents Tommy and Judy, husband Blake, the TFM team, all the teams that helped with the thrash, and team partners like Pat Musi Racing Engines, Red Line Oil, and Menscer Motorsports. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful for my team. They worked their butts off all weekend. We had a really, really awesome car and honestly just got down to one round and didn\u2019t have enough parts to get it back together. We\u2019ve run good, came into the weekend leading points, and we\u2019re taking the points lead out too, which was the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n Denton qualified No. 2, setting her up with a first-round match against defending event winner and Michigan native Jackie Slone Jr. Denton overcame Slone\u2019s starting line advantage and won with a 3.666 at 206.42 to Slone\u2019s 3.772. On a second-round bye, she charged to a 3.692 at 205.76 to earn semifinal lane choice over Billy Albert by .002. Denton defeated Albert on a holeshot, claiming victory with a 3.661 at 195.23 to Albert\u2019s 3.641 at 208.14.<\/p>\n Franklin in his Musi-powered \u201cJungle Rat 3.0\u201d \u201969 Camaro qualified fifth and got past the first round with a 3.713 at 187.50 solo shot. He caught a break in the next round when Marcus Butner went red by .007 on a 3.776 pass, while Franklin coasted to a 4.635. Even after semifinal opponent and No. 1 qualifier Tim Paap was shut off after his burnout, Franklin made a full run but wounded his engine on a 3.723 at 176.40 pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRO STREET<\/strong><\/p>\n Two of the toughest young guns in Pro Street, Ethan Steding and Blake Denton, paired up in a supercharged versus nitrous oxide final round. Denton entered as the points leader with two wins in the last three races, while Steding went in as the defending world champion with one win this season, putting him No. 2 in points. Denton grabbed a slight starting line advantage, but Steding in his Ty and Todd Tutterow-tuned, roots-blown P2 Contracting \u201cCollege Fund\u201d \u201924 Camaro fired off a career-best 3.888 at 194.55 to turn on the win light. In the other lane, Denton made his worst pass of the day, a 3.972 at 193.80.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI give it all to these guys behind me \u2013 Ty Tutterow, Todd Tutterow, and their whole gang \u2013 Brad Schmidt and KB back in the shop and John Redfield on this car,\u201d said Steding, who also thanked parents Kurt and Wendi and supporters like P2 Contracting, Wyo Motorsports, Noonan Race Engineering, Mark Beatty with Red Line Oil, Ty-Drive, and NGK Spark Plugs. \u201cI\u2019m super thankful for all of them. I know I\u2019ve got a team that\u2019s got my back, but we were on the struggle bus a little bit this week and we finally got a handle on the car. Then on that pass [in the final], it just was riding and riding and I wasn\u2019t lifting. I was not lifting.\u201d<\/p>\n Steding started race day with a 3.942 at 195.48 to eliminate Port Huron, Michigan\u2019s Jake Blain and his 4.233. He stepped up to a 3.929 at 195.23 to defeat Nick Agostino, who slowed to a 4.608 in their second-round match. Steding dispatched Super Bowl champion turned Pro Street rookie Fletcher Cox in the semifinals, running a 3.913 at 195.57 next to Cox\u2019s 3.961 at 165.93, which was off pace from the monster 3.82-second run Cox recorded to qualify No. 1 on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Denton, driver of the nitrous-fed, Musi-powered \u201cBonnie\u201d \u201969 Camaro Lizzy Musi tribute, qualified second and set low E.T. of the opening round with a 3.928 at 200.27 to beat Richard Reagan and his 3.962. Texan Adrian Herrera went red and lifted to a 4.32 while Denton sailed to a 3.932 at 196.94 when the two faced off in the second round. Improving upon his qualifying performance, Denton dipped back into the 3.80s in the semifinals with his 3.889 at 205.01 to knock out No. 3 qualifier Ron Green and his 3.982.\u00a0<\/p>\n EXTREME PRO STOCK<\/strong><\/p>\n Over a month after winning the most recent event on tour, the North vs. South Shootout at Maryland, 2023 Extreme Pro Stock world champion Alan Drinkwater scored his second consecutive event win to pad his points lead. In a final-round showdown against No. 1 qualifier and No. 2 in points driver Jeremy Huffman, Drinkwater in his Kaase-powered Flatout Gaskets \u201908 Mustang left the starting line first and rolled to a 4.114 at 176.96 to turn on the win light. Huffman wasn\u2019t far behind out of the gate, but he slowed to a 4.537 at 165.81.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think this puts us maybe two rounds ahead of Huffman. They\u2019ve been a tough customer all year,\u201d said Drinkwater, who thanked his team and sponsors. \u201cI feel like on race day, we seem to put it together and make good runs and try not to kill ourselves. We\u2019re just trying to do the best we can do. We haven\u2019t had any Racepak data since our third test run, so we\u2019ve kind of been shooting in the dark the last six runs. But we\u2019re making it happen. Consistency is key. We just try to make it up and down the racetrack every single time. We don\u2019t really learn anything when we abort runs. That\u2019s probably the No. 1 goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Drinkwater qualified second and met up with two-time and defending world champion Chris Powers in the opening round. The race was over on the starting line as Powers went red, while Drinkwater ran a 4.082 at 177.65 to move on to the final.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huffman in his Tom Vigue-tuned, 3V Performance-powered \u201910 Cobalt got a first-round single when opponent Bill Neri couldn\u2019t make the call. Huffman used the opportunity to post a 4.075 at 177.51, earning lane choice for the final round.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRO 632<\/strong><\/p>\n Jeff Melnick, the 2023 Pro 632 world champion, continued his domination of the Northern Nationals when he raced to his third consecutive Michigan win and his second straight win on the season. Behind the wheel of Alan O\u2019Brien\u2019s Barry Allen-powered Greenbrier Excavating & Paving \u201920 Camaro, Melnick used a string of mid-4.10 second passes to get the win. Melnick and final-round opponent Lexi Tanner left the line together before Melnick pulled ahead with a winning 4.144 at 171.69 to Tanner\u2019s 4.176 at 170.78. Incredibly, Melnick won all three Northern Nationals titles using three different engines \u2013 an AMC in 2023, a Chevy in 2024, and a Ford this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe won with the AMC, we won with the Chevy, and now we won with the Ford,\u201d said Melnick, who credited Alan and Kevin O\u2019Brien, engine builder Barry Allen, tuner Patrick Barnhill, and the Greenbrier team. \u201cIt\u2019s special with all of them for different reasons. That\u2019s a feat, even just to win three years in a row with one motor and one combination, but we\u2019ve had to endure penalties and changes to the car, and not our decision to change some stuff. The team is just awesome. They just take it in stride and they figure out a way to make this car fast no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n Melnick qualified No. 2 and went on to set low E.T. of every round, and ultimately, low E.T. of the event in the final round. He posted a 4.156 at 171.89 to drive around Joe Valerio and his 4.354 in the opening round, then a 4.173 at 171.10 to deny Michigan\u2019s own Nicole Liberty and her 4.205 in the semis. With the win, Melnick collected the $8,000 Power Purse prize boosted by Talbert Manufacturing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tanner, who qualified No. 1 for the second time in her career, ended up with a free run in the first round when opponent Kyle Salminen couldn\u2019t fire up. Tanner charged to a 4.165 at 171.10 before running a 4.181 at 170.58 to get around rookie Carson Hoyle and his perfect .000 reaction time and 4.22.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP SPORTSMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n With an increased $8,000 Power Purse prize presented by Butcher & Son Demolition on the line in the Elite Top Sportsman final round, the pressure was on for Jeff Simons and Bryan LaFlam. Simons, who made the trip from Massachusetts with his ProCharged \u201969 Camaro, went red by .023, tossing out a 3.892 on a 3.88 dial-in. Meanwhile, LaFlam in his supercharged BigStuff TPM \u201967 Mustang posted a winning 3.791 on a 3.78 dial-in to collect the bonus from his friend and fellow competitor, reigning world champion Glenn Butcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the No. 3 and No. 4 qualifiers, Gary Kintz and Jeff Talvacchio were two of the most evenly paired drivers in the Top Sportsman 32 field. They remained close on race day, too, as they met up in the final round, where a starting line advantage and a 4.186 on a 4.18 dial-in allowed Kintz in his \u201907 GTO to get the win over Talvacchio in his \u201969 Camaro. Talvacchio ran a 4.198 on a 4.19 dial-in in the runner-up effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP DRAGSTER<\/strong><\/p>\n The Elite Top Dragster final round was decided on the starting line when No. 2 qualifier KC Ingram went red by .025 in his supercharged \u201920 Miller dragster. He then lifted off the throttle and coasted across the finish line, while No. 15 qualifier Al Peavler took the tree and backed his ProCharged \u201925 American dragster off the starting line and into the FuelTech winner\u2019s circle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chaz Silance, the 2018 Elite Top Dragster world champion, came out on top in an all-North Carolina Top Dragster 32 final round against Clayton Roberts, who broke out with a 4.215 on his 4.25 dial-in. Silance in his \u201921 Race Tech dragster left the line first and ran a 4.481 on a 4.48 dial-in.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series will be back in action later this month at the second annual Thunder Valley Throwdown presented by Larry Jeffers Race Cars, Aug. 21-23, at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tenn.\u00a0<\/p>\n This story was originally published on August 3, 2025. The post Weatherford, A. Denton, E. Steding, Drinkwater and Melnick Crowned Winners of PDRA Northern Nationals<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pro Boost driver Randy Weatherford raced to victory for the first time since the 2021 season Saturday night at the Talbert Manufacturing PDRA Northern Nationals presented by Callies Performance at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan. The WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive final round saw Ty Tutterow, the most […]<\/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-101864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101864","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=101864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/PN_Amber-Denton_Tara-Bowker-photo.jpg\")
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