EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK

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SUNDAY FINAL NOTEBOOK - WINNERS ARE CROWNED IN RAIN-DELAYED EVENT

HE COMES FROM AFAR - Drag racing for Mustafa Buhumaid is more than an adventure, it's a journey. The Dubai-based driver makes the 10,000-mile, one-way trek on a routine basis to attend PDRA events and made this visit pay off with the NAS Racing Pro Extreme win over Brandon Snider in the final round of the PDRA Texas Nationals.

"This was not an easy win," Buhumaid's crew chief, Al Billes, stated. "I came here with no practice on this car and we struggled a little early trying to find the right tune-up, but it gradually came together and Mustafa did a great job driving. He made the difference in winning here."   

After going 3.64 at 211.20 to qualify sixth, Buhumaid beat 2014 class champion Bubba Stanton, veteran Texas racer Gaylen Smith and past class champ Todd Tutterow with a .051 holeshot in the semis before meeting Snider.

On the opposite side of the ladder, Snider barely made it into the field in the 16th and final slot with an off-the-pace 4.760 pass in his new '69 Camaro. He recovered with a 3.57 at 214.18 in the opening round of racing against top qualifier Randell Reid, whose '07 Corvette broke on the starting line, then ran low E.T. of the meet with a 3.55 at 215.31-mph win over Buhumaid's NAS Racing teammate Badir Ahli in round two. Snider slowed slightly to 3.57 at 213.60 in the semis, but still managed to overcome a .011 starting-line advantage by Mike Recchia.

In the final round, Buhumaid got away first with a .031 reaction time, then posted his best run of the weekend at 3.57 seconds and 214.52 mph to defeat Snider, who ran 3.59 at 211.99 mph.

"We knew we were slowing down because the fluid in the transmission was getting old, but everyone was rushing to get the race done so we didn't have the time we needed between rounds to take everything apart and refill the converter with fresh fluid," Snider explained later.

"I really think we could've run another .55, so it's pretty disappointing, but it's also our first time out with a new car so we can't be too unhappy. I'm just glad we managed to qualify; that felt like we won the race, to be honest."              

ON THE RIGHT TRACK - The 2015 PDRA season could not have started better for Tommy Franklin, who ran 3.71-seconds pass at 201.19 mph to qualify number one and also reset his own official Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous elapsed time record.

The Fredericksburg, VA, electrical company owner then ran his '69 Camaro like a bracket car in eliminations, making a pair of 3.76 passes to beat Blake Housley and Jay Cox before improving to a pair of 3.74s to defeat Jeff Naiser in the semis and Jeffrey Cummins in his first Pro Nitrous final-round appearance. Plus, all four of Franklin's elimination-round passes were at more than 200 miles an hour.

"It actually hurt an O-ring early, in the first round, so it was smoking a little bit, but we managed to nurse it through," Franklin said after treeing Cummins by .032, then going 3.74 at 200.71 to take his second career Pro Nitrous title. "I'm just glad we were able to get it all in. It was tough waiting out all the rain, but everyone pulled together and we got it done."     

RECORD-SETTER - New Jersey's Anthony Disomma shattered both ends of the Precision Turbo Pro Boost records in qualifying number one in Texas with a 3.76-seconds pass at 211.89 mph. While he ran another pair of 211-mph passes in eliminations, Disomma narrowly missed backing up the E.T. mark within the required one percent to make it an official record.

Jacksonville, FL's Kevin Fiscus also eclipsed Disomma's prior speed record of 208.20 mph in qualifying second at 3.85 and 209.49 mph, and though he never ran faster in eliminations he did make it through teammate Jim Bell, Jeremy Ray and Kevin Rivenbark in order to meet class rookie and number-five starter John Strickland in the final round.
It was an anticlimactic finish, however, as Strickland left in his roots-blown '69 Camaro before the starting tree was activated, and Fiscus motored to an easy 4.78-seconds, 110-mph win in his twin-turbo'd 2012 Mustang. It marked his second PDRA Pro Boost victory after scoring last spring at Valdosta, GA.

"I don't know what happened, but he (Strickland) left way early so I knew we had won it at that point," Fiscus said of the final round. "We had it set up to run an .80, but it shook so I had to shut it down. It's not the way we want to win, but it's a W so we'll take it and go on from here."

GUESS WHO'S BACK - It was a familiar face in victory lane for Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle in Dallas, as defending class champion Eric McKinney took the win with a 4.06 pass at 169.93 mph in the final over teammate Ashley Owens. McKinney also reset his own PDRA elapsed time record with the series' first three-second pass on two wheels as the Hamersville, OH-based rider made a 3.99-seconds solo run at 179.54 mph in the opening round of eliminations.

"Making that three-second run almost felt like winning the race," said McKinney, whose 4.00 in qualifying number one officially backed up the record. "My hat's off to my team. My dad (Scott) put all this together, we have the best tuner and motor builder in Ashley, and I just can't thank everyone enough that helps us out."   
Despite his own success, McKinney also expressed concern for the health of his chosen class after only five entries made up the field in Texas.

"I want to thank our class sponsor, Drag 965, and Vance & Hines for sponsoring the top qualifier. I mean, thank goodness for those people; they've kept this class going," McKinney pointed out. "The (bike) count was just horrible this weekend. I know it's a long drive and people were looking at the weather, but we got it done and you can't look at stuff like that when it comes to racing. You need to support the class or it just isn't going to be here."

THE SPORTSMAN REPORT -  Class rookie Tricia Musi qualified her '09 Dodge Stratus on top of an all-run, nine-car Magnafuel Top Sportsman field in Dallas with the only three-second pass in the class all weekend. In the same car campaigned by sister Lizzy Musi in Pro Nitrous last season, Tricia ran a career-best 3.983 seconds at 188.36 mph in qualifying, but after making a 4.11 solo pass in round one of racing she lost in round two against Chanse Bulloch and his '63 Corvette.  

It was defending class champion Ferguson in his '02 Firebird, however, who drove from a number-two start to a final-round victory over Bob Gulitti and his 2011 Camaro at the PDRA Texas Nationals. After both drivers dialed in at 4.15, Ferguson won with a 4.16 pass, deliberately backing off at the stripe to avoid breaking out after Gulitti shook the tires and had to shut off early.

"I didn't get to win a race last year so this feels great," said Ferguson, a student and part-time auto dealer in Harrisburg, NC. "I heard people say I won the championship on luck, so I had to show them it wasn't all just that."  

The Dart Top Dragster trophy went home with J.R. Baxter, who hails from Waxahachie, TX, just a few miles away from the track. Qualifying in the 16th and final position after 21 cars made qualifying attempts, Baxter benefited from a red-light start by number-eight starter Shane Eperjesi in the first round of racing, the beat Jimmy Sackuvich and Jon Bradford, who broke out in the semis.

In the final round, after Baxter and number-one qualifier Wade Pennington left with identical .022 lights, Baxter ran 4.30 at 158.54 on his 4.27 dial in, while Pennington went 3.88 at 173.36 after dialing in at 3.82 seconds.

Running against a 7.90 index, Little, of Harker Heights, TX, ran a near-perfect 7.902 in the Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster class to beat a breaking out 7.898 by Preston Tanner in the final. The Huddlestone Top Jr. Dragster trophy went to Ft. Worth, TX, with Jordan, who ran 8.96 on an 8.91 dial in to beat Mia Schultz.
The PDRA returns to action Apr. 9-12, when it visits Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina, for the 2nd annual PDRA Spring Nationals.

SCARY MOMENT - The second round of NAS Racing Pro Extreme qualifying also was marred by the violent top-end crash of Gene Hector in his brand-new 2015 Corvette. The car was essentially destroyed in the fiery rollover crash, but Hector emerged unscathed from the wreck.

 

 

ALIVE WITH FIVE - Only five bikes showed up in Texas to contest the Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle class, with Eric McKinney running a potential 4.008 record time at 178.05 mph on his 2012 Suzuki to pace the all-run field. His teammate, Ashley Owens, placed second at 4.065 and 173.85, followed by Jeff House, Brad McCoy, and Mark Rendeluk.

SPORTSMAN QUALIFYING - In the PDRA sportsman classes, Wade Pennington ran 3.825 at 191.32 to lead the 16-car Dart Top Dragster field, while in her first race Tricia Musi took the MagnaFuel Top Sportsman pole with a pass of 3.983 seconds at 188.36 mph in her '09 Dodge Stratus. Finally, Aaron Philpot placed first in Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster and David Roloff led the way in Huddleston Top Jr. Dragster.

 

 

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - VALIANT EFFORT COMES UP SHORT

A+ FOR EFFORT - After a Friday rainout and a rainy Saturday morning, PDRA officials used a window in the afternoon to attempt two sessions of qualifying. The valiant effort ended with six pairs left to go in Pro Nitrous when a two-car crash followed by rain ended the day.

PDRA plans to resume racing at 9 AM, CST with the completion of Q-1 and a second session. The plan is to complete the race on Sunday.

SCARY MOMENT - Lizzy Musi and Ron Muenks were involved in a two-car accident during first round qualifying at the PDRA Texas Nationals outside of Dallas, Texas.

As the cars crossed the finish line, Musi's car made an abrupt turn left into Muenks path, striking Muenks and then the retaining wall. Musi's new Dodge Dart grazed the quarter-panel of Muenks Camaro. Muenks was able to gain control of his car and made his way to the turn-off.

Musi exited her car as the safety crews arrived.

Since the accident happened past the finish line, Musi's 3.753 and Muenks 3.904 elapsed times are expected to stand.

Lizzy Musi was unavailable for comment following the incident.

Crew chief Pat Musi offered his assessment of the incident.

"The car got a little over to the right, it was probably a little loose and got on the brake a little too much," said Musi. "These cars are fast, dangerous - just one of those things which goes with the business. We've all rolled these cars up at one time or another. The main thing is everybody is okay."

Musi said there's a fine line between being crew chief and father, a line which can get blurred with incidents such as this.

"This was tough to watch," admitted Musi. "We will get through it."

Lost in the disappointment of the crash was the fact the run was a personal best for Musi.

CHAMP EXPECT CHALLENGES - Nevermind his cakewalk championship run in 2014, Pro Nitrous racer Jason Harris has a bit of advice for his team and competition.

“I’d say this year will be the toughest year we’ve seen in Pro Nitrous, just for the simple fact that everybody seems to have the same combination,” said Harris. “There’s a lot of Musi motors out there and a lot of Sonny motors. Plus, Reher-Morrison has really stepped up their game. It’s going to probably be as tight as NHRA Pro Stock.

"It’s going to come down to drivers more than equipment this year. Everybody’s got the horsepower. Everybody’s got a good car and crew. It’s definitely going to a battleground this year. Not that last year was easy, but I think I made it look a little easier than it actually was. It’s definitely going to be a fight this year.”

Harris would love nothing more than to have a deja vu season where he won six of seven events.   

“If I can have half as good of a year this year as I had last year, I’ll be happy. I’m just thankful to be racing, doing what I love to do. I never was star struck as far as what I’ve done. I’m really proud of what I’ve done, but it took me a while to realize what I accomplished last year. Over the last 20 years of me drag racing, I’ve tried really hard to win a local championship or one with the IHRA. I never really got close other than divisional stuff. It was a surreal ending when I realized I had finally won the championship and against such a great group of racers. These guys are the best of the best."

Harris has more of the same in his arsenal.

 “We didn't try to change a lot [in the off season]. We had talked about buying or building a new car, but we just didn’t. When you have something that works good, don't’ change it. We didn’t want to start the year off with an experiment. I think that was part of the reason I did so good last year. We came in basically with the same combination we did the year before. that helped us a lot as far as testing and getting off on the right foot. I think getting off to a good start sets the precedence for the year, so this year we didn’t want to change a lot."

And why would he?

GUNNING FOR TOP GUN – Pro Nitrous racer Keith Haney spent much of his off-season preparing for a single goal – winning a series championship.

"We're excited to get going," Haney said. "The guys worked really hard in the off-season getting things prepared. We've tried to streamline things over the winter, to make it where we can be more efficient at the racetrack. We changed some procedures and processes and have some new things for our trailer, trying to make a better race team.

"We want to go out and go for that No. 1 spot. We're going for a championship, we're not going to play. We're not pretenders anymore, we're contenders, and we're going after it."

Haney is coming into the season with a fresh race car, a 2014 Camaro from Larry Jeffers Race Cars, with only 12 passes on the odometer. In addition to the series championship, Haney hopes to be the first Pro Nitrous racer to record a run under 3.7-seconds.

"We're looking to go after it in the second or third race at the latest," Haney said "We've got stuff coming that will surprise people as we go after the 3.60s. We're excited because we know we can do that. Brandon Switzer is tuning it, and Brandon Pesz is tuning the chassis. We've got a lot of state-of-the-art stuff inside the car, but you need the best of the best to be No. 1."

SPORTSMAN LEADERS - In the PDRA sportsman classes, Arizona's Jon Bradford led the way in Dart Top Dragster with a 3.856 at 185.77, while Musi's sister, Tricia, seized the early lead in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman with a 3.983 at 188.36 mph in her very first official PDRA pass.

 

Huddleston Performance Top Junior Dragster qualifying is determined by best reaction time and after one session David Roloff was first with a .036 reaction time off the start. In Huddleston Pro Jr. Dragster the order is set according to running closest to the 7.90 index for the class and a perfect 7.900 by Texas racer Aaron Philpot put him on top of 19 entries.

 

PINCH HITTER - Joey Martin is filling in for Wesley Jones during this weekend's event. Jones, who finished ninth in last season's Pro Extreme point standings, is recovering from a detached retina. The detached retina was a rare side effect of a previous cataract surgery.

“It developed in December of last year after racing season," said Jones. "I asked the doctor if racing caused the detached retina, but he said that 1 in 1000 people that have cataract surgery results in a detached retina. So I guess I need to go buy a lottery ticket. They expect a full recovery. There’s just a slow healing process to it, 8 to 10 weeks. I think I’m about 6 weeks into it.”

Martin's race car this weekend is one in which he has history with. Jones' Tommy Mauney-built Willys is one he drove back in 2004.

“I started driving that car in 2004,” Martin explained. “I’ve made a quite a history since then, but it’s cool to go back. It was my first endeavor into Pro Mod stuff when I was racing for Tim Tindle.”