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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - SCRUGGS, CASTELLANA FINALLY GET THEIR WINS

SCRUGGS SCORES THE VICTORY - Jason Scruggs, from Saltillo, MS, started from the number-four slot on the 16-car NAS Racing Pro Extreme list after running 3.57 seconds at 217.63 mph in qualifying his '69 Camaro. Brandon Snider was the top qualifier after going a career-best 3.54 in his own '69 Camaro.

Scruggs got progressively quicker and faster with each elimination-round win, opening with a 3.59 at 212.83 to beat Todd Tutterow, winner of the previous PDRA race last month at Rockingham, NC. Next came a stripe-to-stripe, 3.57-at-217.14 win over Mustafa Buhumaid, who won the season opener in March at Ennis, TX. In the semi finals, Scruggs met up with Snider and overcame a sizable .042 holeshot to win in 3.54 seconds at 218.37 mph. "I was a little slow on the tree against Brandon, but he shook and our car went a .54, so that was lucky," Scruggs admitted.

That left only the final and NAS Racing driver Badir Ahli between Scruggs and his first PDRA trophy. Ahli, who started his '69 Camaro sixth after a 3.60 at 211.93 qualifying run, had beaten Don Wootton, Frankie Taylor and Wesley Jones in the preliminary rounds.

With lane choice for the final, Scruggs went against the grain and went with the right lane, despite having a little trouble seeing the starting tree from that side.

"I lost lane choice for the semis, but when we went  a .54 in the right lane I decided to just stay there for the final against Badir. I was having a little trouble seeing the tree from the right lane, though, because of a bar near the window, so I was having to stick my head out to the right side of the cage just to see it. That's what made me late against Brandon," he explained.

Last year, in the PDRA's first season, Scruggs was number-one qualifier at five of eight races; however, never managed to win any of them. This year, he opened the schedule with a number-three qualifier at Dallas and started number one in Rockingham--but lost both times in the opening round of eliminations.

That all changed at Thunder Road. Ahli left first with a .013 holeshot and Scruggs was still behind at the 330-foot mark, but at the 660-foot finish line he held a .031 advantage, which translated to a 3.53-seconds pass at 219.08 mph, or about half a car length for the win over Ahli's 3.57 at 208.94-mph effort.

"I was beginning to think I was jinxed," Scruggs said later. "And when you start trying too hard bad things happen, so I'm happy to finally get that out of the way and now we can just go race and have a good time."

CASTELLANA DELIVERS FIRST PDRA WIN - With a 3.82 pass at 192.25 mph, Mike Castellana qualified his Speedtech '69 Camaro ninth at the PDRA Cajun Nationals. Leading the way in the Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous class was Jay Cox with a 3.73 run at 200.68 mph, which stood up as low ET and top speed for the weekend.

In eliminations, Castellana raced through Jim Sackuvich, Pat Stoken  and Travis Harvey to reach his first PDRA final round, going up against five-time finalist and two-time winner Tommy Franklin. After qualifying third, Franklin had ousted defending class champ Jason Harris, John Camp and current back-to-back NHRA Pro Mod champion Rickie Smith from his side of the ladder.

In the final round, Castellana left with a .017 advantage off the green, then ran 3.79 at 197.83 to edge out Franklin's 3.78 at 195.87 by .011, or less than three feet at the finish line.

"I honestly couldn't tell who won at the end, but then I saw my win light was on," the New York native said. "I actually thought he won, I really couldn't tell."

Crew chief Shannon Jenkins said Castellana drove "perfect" in the final and the win reflected a true team effort. "We've been trying some new stuff and it's starting to come together," he said. "Hopefully this is just the start of a lot more races like this for us."

Castellana echoed that thought. "We knew if we could get it all together we would have a car that could win. Shannon did an awesome job putting everything together," he said.

CAPANO BOOSTED IN WIN - The weekend at Thunder Road Raceway could not have gone any better for Gerry Capano and his Greenville, DE-based team. After running a then-career-best 3.86 at 193.68 mph to capture his first Precision Turbo Pro Boost pole, Capano and his supercharged '63 Corvette remained consistent and got even quicker and faster through four rounds of eliminations.

He opened with a 3.87 at 193.77 win over Californian Scott Oksas in round one, then posted 3.82 at 193.63 to beat John Strickland in round two. Next was a 3.81 pass at 193.40 that overcame a huge .120 holeshot by Tylor Miller in the semis and sent Capano on to face Strickland's teammate Kevin Rivenbark and his '67 Mustang in the final round. Rivenbark, who started from the number-six position, had put Brian Hicks, Steve Summers and Ric Fleck on the trailer in the preliminaries.

Rivenbark, who had won twice in two prior PDRA final-round appearances, moved first with a .041 reaction time, but his .026 advantage was soon erased as Capano ran a straight and smooth 3.80 at 194.18 mph to handily defeat Rivenbark's back-pedaling 3.91 at 192.30 combination.

"Man, this is awesome," Capano excitedly declared upon exiting his car at the top end of the track. "I have to thank my crew and sponsors and especially my wife, Heather, for all of their hard work. We've never had a day like this before. The car just went A to B and got the job done. He got out on me a little there, but once we got to the 330 I didn't see him anymore. It's just awesome!"

SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE - With so many first-time victors at Thunder Road Raceway, it was left to multi-time class champion and defending Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle champ Eric McKinney to represent the veteran winners at the Cajun Nationals. The Hamersville, OH-based rider kept his perfect record in 2015 intact with his third number-one qualifier and third event win in as many races.

"Man, it's not really the way we want to get it but a win's a win," McKinney said after making a 4.07-seconds solo pass at 175.50 mph in the final round.

He had been scheduled to face teammate and tuner Ashley Owens in the final, but at the end of Owens' semi-final win over Terry Schweigert, his bike's steering jammed at the top end and its front tire slid sideways as the bike leaned over, scraping the right frame rail along the track in a 150-mph shower of sparks.

"We had just run and I was by the scales when Ashley came by with the sparks flying," McKinney described. "It wore a hole in the bottom of the frame and knocked the exhaust off, so there's no way he could've run.

"I really don't want to win like that, but we had a good weekend here," he continued. "Sometimes it seems like we have to overcome a lot of stuff but the bike ran really good all weekend here; no problems at all."

THEY CALL HIM THE KING - An influential figure in Top Sportsman after many years in the IHRA and NHRA, Ronnie Davis was instrumental in getting PDRA to adopt the class and served as a sounding board to series officials regarding rules and procedures. However, until the Cajun Nationals securing that first PDRA win had proven elusive for the golf cart dealer from Suwanee, GA.

"I like to have at least one win with everyone I ever race with and this was the only one I was missing, so we got that and now we're ready to roll," Davis said after defeating defending class champion Dan Ferguson in the final round.

Davis qualified second behind rookie Tricia Musi with a 3.99-seconds pass at 181.11 mph in his '63 Corvette, then beat Cheyenne Stanley, had a second-round bye, and outran Earl Folse in the semis. Ferguson, meanwhile, started fifth and defeated Keith Hollenshead, Musi, and Bob Gulitti to reach the final.

In the final, Ferguson left with an excellent .004 light, but broke out with a 4.08 pass against his 4.09 dial in while Davis posted a .034 reaction time, then ran 4.09 against a 4.07 dial for the win.

"I really didn't think there was any way it could go quicker than 4.09 so I ran it out the back door," said Ferguson, who won the 2015 PDRA season opener at Dallas in March. "All I had to do was dump it at the finish line, so I gave that one away."

Davis revealed his engine was hurt before the second round, but it lasted just long enough to secure the win.

"We hurt a lifter in the second round, patched that up and we ran the semi finals, then we repatched it up for the final and it was squeaking so bad up there that Todd Tutterow came up giving me the broke signal with his hands before we ran," Davis said with a laugh. "I was already doing pretty good in the points here so this should really help us out, too. We're really happy about that."

GREENE SEES GREEN - Another first-time winner got the job done in Dart Machinery Top Dragster at Thunder Road, as Mike Greene of Burleson, TX, survived from the number-11 qualifying spot to beat number-12 starter Derrik Sholar in the final.

Greene qualified his 598 BBC-powered '08 Undercover dragster with a 4.13 pass at 171.31 mph and dialed in at 4.13 for three of his four elimination rounds. He ran 4.18 against the .13 in his first-round win over Louisiana's own Michael Kile, then went 4.14 on the 4.13 dial in to beat Jeb Adams, who broke out by a hundredth in round two. In the semis, Greene dialed in at 4.12 and ran another 4.14, but won courtesy of an excellent .006 reaction time after Cody Moore ran dead on his 4.18 dial.

That left only the final, where a 4.16 against his 4.13 dial in got the job done for Greene as Sholar also broke out by a hundredth under his 4.22 dial in.

 

THE ONLY CHANGE -  Only Pro Jr. Dragster driver David Roloff managed to step up and take over the top spot in the fourth and final round of qualifying for the inaugural Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Cajun Nationals. On a hot, challenging eighth mile Saturday at Thunder Road Raceway Park, near Shreveport, each of the provisional top qualifiers after Friday's three sessions held on to their number-one status in the PDRA's four pro classes and the remaining three sportsman classes.

With Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster drivers qualifying based on their ability to match the 7.90 class index, Roloff posted a perfect 7.900 pass at 82.91 mph to oust Nicholas Cannon from the top spot, who ran 7.901 straight off the trailer in Friday's opening salvo. Making Roloff's effort that much more impressive, the Willowbrook, IL, native came from outside the 16-car field in 17th place as the final qualifying session began. Significantly, no one else in any class managed to break into the race-day fields if they were not already qualified after Friday's opportunities.

"I just want to thank my family for letting me do this and especially my dad for the tune up," Roloff said. "I also want to thank my sponsors and everyone who came out to watch the PDRA here this weekend. I really appreciate it."

SNIDER HOLDS ONTO THE TOP SPOT - Brandon Snider of Atmore, AL, put his screw-blown '69 Camaro on the pole in NAS Racing Pro Extreme with a career-best pass of 3.54 seconds at 214.96 mph. He will face number-16 starter Danny Lowry in his brand-new, twin-turbocharged '67 Mustang once eliminations begin at 4:30 p.m. The quickest Pro Extreme pass in Saturday's lone qualifying session was a 3.61 at 216.31 by number-four starter Jason Scruggs.

COX IS TWO-FOR-TWO - With the only 200-mph pass of the weekend so far in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, Jay Cox seized the top spot on Friday night with a 3.73-seconds run at 200.68 mph in his '69 Camaro. Back-to-back defending NHRA Pro Mod champion Rickie Smith starts second, with Tommy Franklin third. Stevie Jackson in another '69 Camaro had the quickest Pro Nitrous car in Saturday's qualifying round, going 3.823 at 196.99 to also become the only one to advance as he leapfrogged Chris Rini by two thousandths to take over 10th place.

HOLDING ONTO THE TOP - In Precision Turbo Pro Boost, Gerry Capano earned his first number-one start with a career-best 3.86 at 193.68 mph in his Greenville, DE-based '63 Corvette. Jeremy Ray of Lugoff, SC, was the lone driver to improve his starting position on Saturday, jumping from 12th to the top half of the field in eighth place with a 3.925 run at 187.44 in his brand-new 2015 Corvette.

Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle also saw just one rider improve on Saturday as Canada's Terry Schweigert rode his nitrous-boosted 2013 Suzuki to a 4.11-seconds pass at 169.87 that advanced him from sixth to third on the ladder. For the third-straight race defending class champion Eric McKinney will start from the number-one spot after posting 4.05 at 176.12 on Friday night. The Hamersville, OH, rider will also be going after his third-straight win this year, beginning with a first-round match against Burke Foster.

Friday night's 3.97 pass at 188.96 mph gave Tricia Musi her second-straight MagnaFuel Top Sportsman pole and put her up against number-four starter Johnny Pilcher in a special Chassis Engineering Fast Four race for the top qualifiers at each PDRA event. She lost to a 3.97 by Pilcher, however, while Ronnie Davis beat Aaron Glaser in the other pairing. Davis opted out of the final, though, in favor of saving his engine for eliminations, handing the Fast Four win and $500 check to Pilcher. With only 13 entries for the 16-car Top Sportsman field, Musi will have a bye run in round one, while a bye in round two will go to the winner between second-place qualifier Davis and Cheyenne Stanley.

After 22 drivers made qualifying attempts in four rounds, the straight-off-the trailer 3.85 at 190.32 by Wade Pennington of Ada, OK, held up for the number-one position in Dart Top Dragster. Kyle Dvorak, last year's PDRA sportsman rookie of the year, placed second with a 4.00 effort at 177.58, with Louisiana's own Michael Kile third at 4.01 seconds and 184.22 mph.

Joining Roloff as a number-one starter in the Jr. Dragster ranks was Mia Schultz in Huddleston Performance Top Jr. Dragster, which qualifies based on reaction times. Schultz held on from the first session after posting a .003 start.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK -

ON TAP - The all-eighth-mile PDRA event at Thunder Road Raceway, about a half-hour drive north of Shreveport, LA, will resume with one more qualifying session starting noon on Saturday, followed by elimination rounds for all classes at 4:30 p.m.

STRONG RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX - As part of the first pair out in the final NAS Racing Pro Extreme session of the day, Brandon Snider set the time to beat with a 3.54 at 214.96 mph in his Drag 965-backed '69 Camaro.

"We used to hang back all the time and I'd watch all the other cars go down and I'd be thinking, man, I can't run that fast and getting myself all worried, so this time I just decided that if I can get up there early and not have to see anybody else's numbers I'd be better off," Snider said. "Just let it be what it's going to be and it worked out--so far. I think it could hold up, but it'll depend on the track tomorrow because there are a few cars that can definitely run those numbers."

Terry Leggett also made his quickest run in the third session with a 3.56 pass in his '71 Mustang-bodied machine to place second behind Snider. Frankie Taylor drove his '04 Corvette into third place at 3.57, with Jason Scruggs fourth, followed by Mustafa Buhumaid, winner of the 2015 PDRA season opener in March.

TWO-IN-A-ROW? - Jay Cox made his class-leading 3.73 pass at 200.68 in the third Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous qualifying round of the day, too, though he also led after the second round with a 3.82 at 198.26 mph. He deflected much of the credit for his strong showing to Charlie Buck, who is in the midst of the PDRA "Nitrous Wars" against much bigger and more well-known engine builders.

"You know, Charlie is out here running against a lot of big-name engine builders and yes, he's one of the 'little guys,' but his quality of work and attention to detail is second to none," Cox stressed.

Reigning back-to-back NHRA Pro Mod champ Rickie Smith jumped up from seventh to second in Friday night's session with a 3.76 pass, and Tommy Franklin moved all the way from outside the 16-car field in 20th to third with a 3.77 pass to complete a trio of '69 Camaros in the top-three positions.

NITROUS WARS, PART 3 - Shades of the days when nitrous oxide manufacturers advertised their wares in the major magazines, a new battle has emerged in the 2015 season amongst those who ply their trade building these types of engines. There are four engine builders who are using the PDRA's Pro Nitrous division as their battleground. Pat Musi, Sonny Leonard, David Reher and Charlie Buck are all using their racers to do their talking.

Currently, Musi is the early leader after his clients Tommy Franklin, and Rickie Smith have won the first two events. No fewer than six engine builders are represented in Pro Nitrous, where engines displace as much 990 cubic inches. 

After the first day of qualifying, Buck leads the way with client Jay Cox followed by Musi, Leonard and Reher-Morrison.

THE SPORTSMAN REPORT - In the PDRA sportsman classes, Tricia Musi placed first in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman with a career-best 3.97-seconds pass at 188.96 mph over the eighth mile at Thunder Road Raceway Park, while Wade Pennington paced the Dart Top Dragster field with the class' only three-second run of the day at 3.85 and 190.32 mph. Also, Nicholas Cannon leads the way in Huddleston Performance Pro Jr. Dragster and Mia Schultz holds the tentative top spot in Huddleston Top Jr. Dragster.