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With tightened and postponed drag racing schedules all combining and sometimes overlapping it means that weekends are action-packed and remarkably busy!
Last weekend proved to be historic for Proline Racing customers across the country, from West Coast Pro Mods in Alberta, Canada to Duck X Magic 8 in Orlando, Florida.
Winner: Kevin Rivenbark | 3.694 at 201.73
Runner Up: Jason Harris | 3.713 at 201.22
The Proline Racing Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by: Line-X, was the third race of the 2020 racing schedule for the PDRA series. 13 Pro Boost entries showed up to qualify in the hot summer temperatures, added to that was the humidity and everyone in the pits had trouble keeping cool!
When qualifying was done at 8.12 pm on July 24th, 2020, Proline Racing customers were placed in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 8th qualifying spots. John Strickland shot to the top in the last qualifying session with his 3.68 and 200.69 mph, followed by Kevin Rivenbark (3.695), John Camp (3.706), Jason Harris (3.713) and Randy Weatherford (3.746).
All 5 Proline customers got through Round 1. Randy Weatherford lost to John Strickland in Round 2, which left the 4 entries of Strickland, Rivenbark, Camp, and Harris in an all Proline Racing semi-final.
John Strickland red-lit against Jason Harris’ low .70’s pass which catapulted Harris to his first final in Pro Boost since switching from Pro Nitrous late in 2019.
John Camp ran the quickest in the previous session with a 3.69 but came up short in the semi-final to Kevin Rivenbark.
The final pairing was a race to the stripe. The win was taken by Galot Motorsports Kevin Rivenbark with a 3.69 to Harris’s 3.71, putting him currently in 3rd spot for the Championship.
The much-publicized Duck X Productions Magic 8 radial event held at Orlando Speed World Dragway in Florida was truly a magical weekend for Team Buginga and Proline Racing.
Pro275 Winner: Eric Dillard | 3.836 at 193.88 mph
This partnership produced the ProCharged Hemi Mustang (Fred) that Dillard drove to the winner's circle and earned an unofficial world record in testing (prior to the event), recording an impressive 3.780 at 196.42 mph.
Dillard qualified in the 2nd spot with a 3.842 behind Proline customer Chris Daniel (3.82) who took top honors.
The Magic ‘Elite’ 8 faced off at the finals on Sunday with Dillard defeating Marty Stinnett and James Miron. In the final pairing, Dillard faced Tommy Rainer, leading from the tree to the finish line with a 3.836 at 193.88 mph. Dillard thanked his crew for digging deep and Manny Buginga for handing over his helmet!
X275 Winner: Blake Copson | 4.26 at 165.68 mph
Meanwhile, in X275, Blake Copson was at the helm of Manny Buginga’s 2nd car, the turbocharged X275 Mustang “Big Red” as he steered to the top spot with a whopping 4.26 ET putting him firmly in No1.
On race day, Copson worked his way through the 8-car field, facing Charles Hull in the final round. The young protégé from the Copson Racing team has an incredible career ahead of him, as he took the winners trophy with a 4.259 at 164.83 mph!
Jamie Miller, renowned PLR tuner and chassis specialist, tuned both cars all week along with Steve Petty and supported by a team of well-known expertise.
Manny Buginga, the team’s owner and (normally) driver, was unable to attend due to Covid-19 complications. However, his faith in the team he strategically put together undoubtedly proved a winning combination with both teams, cars, and drivers; taking home $25,000 in prize money and of course bragging rights.
Winner: Dean Bettenson | 4.10 at 190 mph
The WCPM Pro Mod / X275 Shootout at Central Alberta Raceway had a late entry with Dean Bettenson and his ProCharged Hemi Bel Air Camaro.
The track was tricky during qualifying for Bettenson who qualified his Camaro in the 13th spot. Up against Horne in Round 1 though, his name was recorded in the history books as the first team to break into the 3-sec zone at Central Alberta Raceway, clocking a time of 3.98 at only 187mph!
Bettenson had a bye in Round 2 and in the semi-final pedaled his way against Paul Glandon to the final round, facing the Nitrous entry of D Vogt. Vogt got loose early and Bettenson was able to run through the finish line with 4.10, having to pedal the Camaro through the middle.
Winner: Gil Hildebrand
Gil Hildebrand (also known as Gilly Bobby) made the trek to Medford Drag Strip in Central Point, Oregon to try his hand in the Big Tire No Time league as part of the West Coast Outlaws “Going Rogue” headline.
Hildebrand had several shots at the track with his PLR tuner Mikey Rees on hand to dial in the Proline Racing 481X, claiming in one of his social media posts “on to the finals! Chutes definitely saved my bacon on that one”. Being No Time, we have no numbers but know that the final with the 1967 Blown Chevy Nova of Monti Fitzgerald, turned into an epic staging battle with Gil being the first racer to stage and the first racer to get to the stripe!
