(Photo: Tara Bowker)
By Nate Van Wagnen | Drag Illustrated | April 4, 2025
Melanie Salemi, who kicked off the Summit Racing Equipment PDRA East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech as the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Pro Boost on Thursday night, held on to the top spot Friday as qualifying wrapped up at GALOT Motorsports Park. Salemi recorded a 3.615-second pass at 206.29 mph in the screw-blown “Purple Reign” ’68 Firebird to top the list of 28 WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive entries at the first of eight races on the 2025 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series schedule.
No. 1 qualifier awards in the professional classes also went to Tim Paap in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, Blake Denton in Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by Menscer Motorsports, Chris Powers in AED Competition Fuel Systems Extreme Pro Stock presented by Jon Kaase Racing Engines, Lexi Tanner in PTC Converters Pro 632, and Austin Vincent in PDRA Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling.
The PDRA’s sportsman categories also completed two more qualifying sessions on Friday, with No. 1 qualifier awards going to Glenn Butcher in MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Jody Stroud in Laris Motorsports Insurance Elite Top Dragster presented by Greenbrier Excavating & Paving, Vonnie Mills in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman 48, and Danielle Gonzalez in Laris Motorsports Insurance Top Dragster presented by Derrick Wolfe Trucking
After two of three qualifying sessions in the Jr. Dragster classes, the provisional No. 1 qualifiers are Emma Crane in Paragon Pro Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products and Kylie Varnier in Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster presented by Philadelphia Racing Products. Crane was .001 seconds off the Pro Jr. Dragster 7.90 index with a 7.901 in her Dunkirk, Maryland-based ’19 Halfscale dragster, and Varnier had the best reaction time out of 18 Top Jr. Dragster racers in her Hampton, Virginia-based ’17 ECP dragster with a .005 light.
Drag Illustrated | PDRA | Photo: Tara Bowker
