At the recent PRI Trade Show the organizers and racers of the Professional Drag Racers Association not only celebrated a successful first season of competition but also announced new partnerships and plans for 2015 during a year-end awards banquet.

During the banquet PDRA class champions each received a monetary award and championship trophy. Professional champions as well as Top Sportsman and Top Dragster champs also received a championship ring. 

At the recent PRI Trade Show the organizers and racers of the Professional Drag Racers Association not only celebrated a successful first season of competition but also announced new partnerships and plans for 2015 during a year-end awards banquet.

During the banquet PDRA class champions each received a monetary award and championship trophy. Professional champions as well as Top Sportsman and Top Dragster champs also received a championship ring.  

In Pro Extreme, Bubba Stanton was crowned the first champion of the organization’s premier class while Jason Harris accepted the Pro Nitrous title. Todd Tutterow, Cary Goforth and Eric McKinney rounded out the professional category champions in Pro Boost, Extreme Pro Stock and Pro Extreme Motorcycle, respectively. Sportsman champions included Dan Ferguson in Top Sportsman, Travis Harvey in Top Dragster and Isaac Evans and David Roloff in Pro and Top Junior Dragster.

Top 10 finishers in each class were also recognized and received a monetary award and trophy. Several other notable drivers and partners were honored during the awards banquet as well, which included dinner, fellowship and concluded with dancing.

Jason Harris earned Pro Driver of the Year on the strength of eight final round appearance and six wins, which saw him finish 972 points ahead of his closest competitor. Top Sportsman champ Dan Ferguson earned Sportsman Driver of the Year by beating the odds as a first-generation, self-funded racer.

Rookie of the Year in the pro category was Lizzy Musi, who made the move from Top Sportsman to Pro Nitrous this season. She captured her first professional victory at Virginia and finished third in Pro Nitrous points. Sportsman Rookie of the Year was young gun Kyle Dvorak. A product of the Junior Dragster ranks, Dvorak finished third in Top Dragster in just his first season in full-size car.  

PDRA’s ‘Good Guy of the Year’ Award recognizes the individual that goes above and beyond to help fellow racers. Although many PDRA competitors fit the bill for this award, the clear winner this season was Pro Boost racer Larry Higginbotthan, whose friendly demeanor and quickness to lend a hand makes him stand out as a true ‘good guy’ of the sport.  
            
An equally special award, the Heart of the PDRA Award, goes to a person who truly represents the heart of what the PDRA stands for. This prestigious award went to Andrew Tanner, who fields two Junior Dragsters driven by his children Preston and Alexis. The Tanners traveled over 19,000 miles to attend this season’s events.

Keith Haney and Todd Martin of Tulsa Raceway Park were awarded Promoters of the Year while Track of the Year accolades went to Virginia Motorsports Park.

“We had an excellent program tonight and everyone truly enjoyed our time together,” said Series Director Bob Harris at the end of the evening. “Our first full season is in the record books now, and we are very happy with what we accomplished as a new organization. We look forward to great racing within the PDRA Series for many years to come, and we are hard at work preparing for our 2015 season. A great group of people came together to make the PDRA series successful.”