There's no time like the first.

Brian Shrader had raced nitrous doorslammers for a long but on Saturday night at Galot Motorsports Park, he was able to check to win a national event from his list of things to do. Saturday night at the season-opening East Coast Nationals, Shrader defeated Fredy Scriba in the final round at the first of eight championship points races on the 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series schedule. 

Shrader shared the winner's circle with Pro Boost veteran Todd Tutterow and Johnny Pluchino, who captured the Extreme Pro Stock crown. 

In an all-Robert Hayes-built, Musi-powered final round, Shrader left first and fired off a weekend-best 3.654-second pass at 204.29 MPH to beat Scriba and his 3.667 at 205.07. 
 
“This is the culmination of a lot of work and a lot of years of effort, so it means a lot,” Shrader said. “We’ve worked together as a team, Robert and I, for several years now. This is a big win for me.”

 
Tutterow wheeled the screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro to a 3.607 at 210.73 to win on a holeshot over reigning world champion Jason Harris in the final round. Harris recorded one of the quickest passes in class history, a 3.564 at 209.20, in the runner-up effort. 
 
“It's like [car chief] Brad Schmidt told me before – if you don't win the first one, you can't win them all, right?” said Tutterow, who thanked his team and Smith. “That’s very, very true. We got a good start to this season. No. 2 qualifier, win the race. Had a lot of luck, but give me luck any day. Very fortunate. Thank the Lord above. He very blessed me.”

In Pro Stock, Pluchino left the line ahead of past world champion Steven Boone in the final round and held the lead through the finish line, winning with a 4.052 at 179.06 over Boone’s 4.125 at 177.74. 
 
“I said it all weekend in my interviews – race day is our day,” said Pluchino, who gave shoutouts to his team, including his father and crew chief, John Pluchino, his team partners, and his wife and baby boy. “We're usually not on the pole. We maybe aren't setting the record, but when race day comes around, we're here to play. We did just that. We went up and down the racetrack and then I got to do my job, so we were all able to put it together and I'm just happy as hell.”

Other winners included Andy House (Pro 632), Eric McKinney (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), Scott Kincaid (Pro Street), and Blake Denton (Super Street). 
 
Sportsman class victories went to Randy Perkinson in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Michael White in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Ron Whitlock in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman presented by Corbin’s RV, and Danielle Gonzalez in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Younce RV. Amanda Manual picked up the win in Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by COMP Cams, using a 6.108 on a 6.10 dial-in in her ’99 S10 to defeat Will Holloman in his ’21 American dragster. 
 
In the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster classes, Alyssa Tilghman and Victoria Beaner scored wins in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, respectively. Tilghman and final-round opponent Ashley Franklin left the starting line together, then Tilghman ran a 7.907 to Franklin’s too-quick 7.893, both against a 7.90 index. Beaner, last year’s championship runner-up, used a superior reaction time and an 8.941 on an 8.90 dial-in to get the final-round win over No. 1 qualifier Jason Geryes and his 9.101 on a 9.04 dial-in. 
 
The 2024 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season will continue in two weeks at the Kaeser Compressors Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix, April 18-20, at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Va.