![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ned-Dunphy-2.jpg\")
Heading into Satrurday\u2019s eliminations, it looked like it would be a massive day for a points shakeup, with points leader and two-time PDRA Pro Boost world champion Jason Harris on a collision course with reigning Pro Boost champ and No. 1 qualifier Ty Tutterow. Instead, it was two drivers playing spoiler that stole the show on race day. Best known for piloting his record-setting Drag & Drive Dodge Viper, Ned Dunphy used an .013 reaction time in his orange screw-blown \u201924 Camaro to pull off a holeshot win against former U.S. National champion Lyle Barnett. It was a case of the relative Pro Mod newcomer flipping the script against one of the most feared leavers in the sport, allowing Dunphy to pull off the victory with a slower 3.632-second pass at 207.08 mph. Barnett, driving the Tommy Youmans-owned, Lee White-tuned \u201cClean Title\u201d \u201918 Camaro, put down a slightly quicker 3.627 at 208.42.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat final pass there, I couldn\u2019t believe when I saw the win light come on, because I could hear Lyle screaming along next to me, and I\u2019m thinking, \u2018It\u2019s so close,\u2019\u201d said Dunphy. \u201cI\u2019m betting Lyle\u2019s mad at his light because he\u2019s so, so good at the light all the time. We had a really good weekend on our light too, though. We were hovering around that double O mark the whole entire time with one trip zip, so just the stars aligned this weekend. I\u2019m super happy with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dunphy qualified sixth with a 3.650, then looked like a bracket car throughout eliminations. In round one, he stepped his performance with a 3.641 at 206.51 mph to defeat Raymond Matos, who went 3.676. He followed that up in round two with a perfect .000 reaction time and a 3.636 at 206.26 mph to earn a holeshot win over Paul Gargus and his quicker 3.625. In the semifinals, Dunphy battled against former Super Bowl champion and Pro Mod rookie Fletcher Cox in screw-blown, KTR Racing \u201cFixed Income\u201d \u201969 Camaro. Dunphy duplicated his 3.636 from the previous round, while Cox threw away a quicker 3.620 by going -.021 red on the tree.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re out here having fun. The crew and I, we laugh all the time,\u201d Dunphy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been eating steaks and chicken. We eat better here at the track than we do at home. So just making our way through \u2013 we don\u2019t do the trash talk, we don\u2019t do the drama, but now we\u2019ve made some noise, so my guess is, we\u2019re gonna get a little bit more attention and have to be a little more outspoken.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Barnett was making his first PDRA appearance since the season-opener at Darlington Dragway and looked like he\u2019d never left. He qualified in the No. 8 position and immediately had an .004 reaction time and 3.669 in round one to defeat Randy Weatherford, who turned on the red light. From there, Barnett singlehandedly threw a wrench in the points championship. In the quarterfinals, he went .001 on the tree and ran 3.619 at 208.91 mph to stay ahead of reigning PDRA Pro Boost world champion and No. 1 qualifier Ty Tutterow, who went a slightly quicker 3.615 at 207.11. Barnett then took out points leader Jason Harris in his Harts Charger-equipped, \u201cParty Time\u201d \u201969 Camaro in the semifinals, with Barnett\u2019s 3.613 at 209.01 outrunning the two-time Pro Boost world champion\u2019s 3.627 at 209.20.<\/p>\n
PRO\u00a0<\/strong>NITROUS<\/strong><\/p>\n Reigning PDRA Pro Nitrous world champion Marcus Butner hasn\u2019t had the 2026 season he\u2019d envisioned, entering the Thunder Valley Throwdown fifth in points. He made a massive push to defend his title in Bristol, however, pacing the field nearly the entire weekend en route to his first event win of the year. Just like Ned Dunphy did before him, Butner used a holeshot in the final round to take the win over points leader and reigning event champion Tommy Franklin. Butner went 3.688 at 204.32 mph in his Pat Musi-powered, Jay Cox-tuned \u201c Heartbreaker\u201d \u201969 Camaro, which was just enough to hold off Franklin\u2019s 3.655 at 205.98 in his Musi-powered \u201cJungle Rat 3.0\u201d \u201969 Camaro.\u00a0<\/p>\n The win not only shot Butner up the points standings, but earning the victory on the starting lien was especially meaningful after the team had to thrash after fire erupted from the hood scoop in his semifinal-round win against Tim Paap and his \u201916 Corvette.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the semifinals, we got up on the wheelie bars really hard. It ended up in high gear and it wasn\u2019t supposed to be, and it just struck the motor down, hurt it a little bit,\u201d said Butner. \u201cWe ended up swinging the motor back in it that we had in it all weekend. My team\u2019s worked so hard; they work hard all the time. We do a lot of testing, and they\u2019re always willing to put in extra stuff and double check things. They\u2019ll stay up late at night working on it. They got my back 100%, so it\u2019s very rewarding to be able to give it back to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Butner qualified No. 1 with a 3.659 e.t., earning him a bye run in the first round where he ran 3.696 at 204.76 mph. In the quarterfinals, he ran 3.695 at 204.91 to defeat Amber Denton in the \u201cOG Jungle rat,\u201d as Denton went -.060 red. Butner\u2019s explosion slowed him down to 3.833 in the semifinals, but it was still enough to stay ahead of Paap, who suffered his own issues in a 4.702-second pass. Now Butner enters the final two races of the season in prime position to defend his points title.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just God\u2019s blessings, I think,\u201d Butner said. \u201cWe was pretty far out (in points). We\u2019ve had a bunch of bad luck. We\u2019ve had a fast car pretty much all year other than Maryland. We put in the work to come here to try and accomplish this. We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Franklin defeated Jimmy Cowan in the opening round, earning himself a b ye in the quarterfinals. He then outran Chesapeake, Virginia\u2019s Dane Wood in the semifinals, running 3.646 to Wood\u2019s 3.708 to set up his final round matchup with Butner.\u00a0<\/p>\n PRO STREET<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Richard Reagan entered the Thunder Valley Throwdown sitting fourth in points and threw himself right into championship contention with his win in Bristol. Reagan saved his best run of the weekend for the finals in his screw-blown \u201991 Mustang, using a 3.951 at 193.24 mph to outrun class veteran Tim Essick\u2019s 3.986 at 191.00 in his \u201cBrown Sugar\u201d \u201918 Mustang.<\/p>\n \u201cI just kept picking away at it, trying to make it leave harder and make it run as hard through the middle as we could, and just try to do a little more each round. I think it\u2019s a great class. The competition has just gotten\u2026it\u2019s just anybody\u2019s race, you know? You just gotta do your job. I don\u2019t know, maybe we can win the next two. Just have do the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Reagan qualified No. 2 with a 3.973 at 193.71 mph, and was scheduled to race Tommy Youmans in round one. Unfortunately, Youmans suffered engine failure in qualifying and couldn\u2019t make the call, giving Reagan a bye run where he ran 4.030 at 191.48. In round two, he ran 3.965 at 193.10 to defeat Jerry Morgano\u2019s twin-turbo \u201902 Mustang, who slowed to a 4.491. Reagan then took out No. 3 qualifier Mikey Sasina in the semifinals, using a 3.964 at 192.77 to better Sasina\u2019s 3.992 at 196.50.<\/p>\n Essick qualified eighth with a 4.030 at 190.27 mph, then defeated the most recent event winner on the tour, Joel Wensley Jr., in round one. Subsequent victories over Andy Mac in the Fletcher Cox-owned \u201cTraining Day\u201d \u201969 Camaro and Scott Kincaid in his silver screw-blown \u201969 Camaro placed Essick in the final round.<\/p>\n PRO 632<\/strong><\/p>\n Until just over a week ago, Ryan Altman had never even sat in the Patrick Barnhill-tuned, Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Camaro that he wheeled to victory Saturday night in Pro 632. The young grudge and radial racer made the most of his opportunity, knocking out J.C. Beattie Jr., a two-time event winner this season, in the final round in a side-by-side race. Altman\u2019s 4.185 at 168.49 mph was just enough to outlast Beattie Jr.\u2019s 4.191 at 172.25.<\/p>\n Altman qualified third with a 4.192 at 169.53 mph, then defeated Pompano Beach, Florida\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0Jason Ventura in the opening round. That set up a semifinal pairing against points leader and teammate Jeff Pittman in his Greenbrier \u201968 Chevelle. In nearly identical runs, Altman\u2019s 4.190 at 169.30 held off Pittman\u2019s 4.199 at 168.70.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the win, Altman is already focusing on Drag Wars, the next event of the PDRA season, and making adjustments to the inside of the car to make him feel more comfortable moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy first time sitting in the car was last week on Wednesday,\u201d Altman admitted. \u201cIn Q1, Q2, we didn\u2019t run the best. We wound up going back to what we knew, because they\u2019ve been running the car for a while, and won a couple championships in the past. I got put in with some good people in a good car, so that set me up nice. All weekend I tried to do my job. The brake pedal is a little far for me, so I can\u2019t hold the car in the lights. I double bulbed my teammate, Jeff Pittman, and then Beattie I accidentally did the same thing. I couldn\u2019t hold the car enough in the lights. I told him I\u2019d get that fixed for the next race. Hopefully in the next race, we don\u2019t run into Jeff and we can help him win the championship. That\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n SUPER STREET<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite recent rule changes to their combinations, the battle between Super Street young guns Austin Vincent and Connor McGee continued in Bristol, with Vincent earning his second win of the year Saturday night and snatching away the points lead. In the final round, Vincent unleashed a 4.583-second pass to easily defeat Amelia, Virginia\u2019s Troy Hill, who was forced to shut his \u201900 Mustang off early to a 6.484 at 73.95.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a big move for us,\u201d said Vincent. \u201cThey [McGee] did that big wheelie and lost second round, and we were able to capitalize on it. Now we\u2019re 98 points ahead, a little less than a round. This should definitely make for an interesting rest of the season, that\u2019s for sure. All the other combos are right there with us. It\u2019s just gonna take the same dedication we\u2019ve had the whole season. Of course, none of this comes easy for anyone. Everyone works hard out here and we just got to try to work a little bit harder to stay out front.\u201d<\/p>\n Vincent qualified No. 1 with a 4.628 at 157.98 mph in his Vincent Performance \u201888 Mustang. In the first round, Vincent\u2019s opponent, Eric Osteen, was able to make the call, giving Vincent a bye run. In round two, Vincent used a 4.618 at 151.29 mph to defeat Super Street newcomer, Alabama\u2019s Jackson Henderson in his \u201987 Buick Grand National, who made his best pass of the weekend at 4.722. The win gave Vincent a competition bye into the finals.<\/p>\n McGee, the reigning Super Street world champion\u00a0in his\u00a0Fulton-powered Brian\u2019s Heating & Cooling\u00a0\u201890 Mustang, fell in round two\u00a0after riding a massive wheelie and having to peddle. The mistake allowed Virginia\u2019s Scott Marshall to take the win in his red \u201988 Mustang with a 4.654 at 156.05 mph to McGee\u2019s 4.915 at 147.44.<\/p>\n TOP SPORTSMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n Brentwood, New Hampshire\u2019s Nick Meloni came out of the No. 11 qualifying spot on Saturday to take home the PDRA 660 Man and $7,500 payday as part of the PDRA Sportsman Spectacular. Piloting his black, centrifugally supercharged \u201969 Camaro, Meloni ran a 4.042 on his 4.03 dial-in to defeat No. 6 qualifier Zach Houser, who got sideways right at the hit in his \u201900 Firebird.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In Top Sportsman 48, Niceville, Florida\u2019s Joe Roubicek in his \u201868 Camaro ran a 4.286 on a 4.27 dial-in to defeat J.C. Garcia, who broke out with a 4.647 on a 4.65 dial-in in his Orlando, Florida-based \u201808 Pontiac GTO.\u00a0<\/p>\n TOP\u00a0<\/strong>DRAGSTER<\/strong><\/p>\n No. 3 qualifier Jody Stroud took out two-time Elite Top Dragster world champion Steve Furr in the semifinals, setting up a final round matchup in his screw-blown \u201cZombie\u201d Horton dragster against Inman, South Carolina\u2019s Josh Duggins. The race was over at the starting line, as Duggins went -.003 red, throwing away a 3.799 on a 3.78 dial, and giving the event win and $7,500 to Stroud, who ran 3.870 on his 3.71 dial-in.<\/p>\n Two-time NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals Top Dragster winner Matt Sackman continued his winning ways in Bristol, earning the Top Dragster 48 win in his \u201810 Spitzer dragster. The Knoxville, Tennessee native used a starting line advantage and a 3.898 on a 3.88 dial-in to defeat South Carolina\u2019s Joe Gary, who ran a dead-on 4.420 on his 4.42 dial. \u00a0<\/p>\n The next race on the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series tour\u00a0will be Drag Wars\u00a0presented by\u00a0Big Stuff Total Power Management on\u00a0August\u00a027-29. It will be the PDRA\u2019s second stop of the season at Galot Motorsports Park\u00a0in Benson,\u00a0North Carolina.<\/p>\n This story was originally published on August 9, 2026. The post Dunphy, Butner, Reagan, Altman, and Vincent Claim Victories at PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown<\/a> first appeared on Drag Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2025 Hot Rod Drag Week champion Ned Dunphy came out of nowhere on Saturday night at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee, capturing his very first PDRA 660 Man by defeating Lyle Barnett in the final round of WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive at the PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown presented by […]<\/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-104531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104531","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=104531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racepages.com\/Videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dragillustrated.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Marcus-Butner-1.jpg\")
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