DINWIDDIE, Va. — Professional Drag Racers Ass’n standouts Jim Halsey and J.R. Carr maintained their perfect No. 1 qualifying records at the all-eighth-mile series’ fifth race on tour, the Summer Shootout presented by Ty-Drive at Virginia Motorsports Park.
For the fifth consecutive race, Halsey ended up No. 1 in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous and Carr led the field in Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition.
From a 3.73-second pass on a 140-degree-plus racetrack in the opening qualifying session to a 3.668 at 204.94 mph to close out the final session, Jim Halsey and his Brandon Switzer-tuned, Fulton-powered “Daddy Shark” ’68 Camaro were the class of the Pro Nitrous field in qualifying. That’s been the trend all season, and he’s won from the No. 1 spot three times in four races. The two-time and defending world champion is hoping to add a fourth win to that total on Saturday.
“This afternoon’s [3.73] run in the heat with the sun on the racetrack actually surprised me,” Halsey said. “I give all the credit to the tuners, the crew guys, engine builders, everything. We have a good fit right now and everything is maxed up. We saw some pretty tough conditions today and yesterday with the heat and humidity. We should be good tomorrow. As long as I do my job, I think we’ll be fine. I’m a very lucky guy, I can tell you that.”
For the second consecutive race, fellow Maryland native Fredy Scriba qualified No. 2 behind Halsey, firing off a 3.692 at 201.28 in his Musi-powered “Sorcerer” ’69 Camaro. Jay Cox, who won the Kentucky race in May, posted a 3.701 at 204.29 to qualify third in the Buck-powered Butner Construction “Pumpkin” ’69 Camaro.
The low qualifiers in the other pro classes each also qualified on top at past races this season, with Johnny Camp (Penske/PRS Pro Boost presented by WS Construction), Wes Distefano ($hameless Racing Pro Outlaw 632), Chris Garner-Jones (Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle), and Tim Essick (Drag 965 Pro Street) claiming the No. 1 spots.
In the Jr. Dragster classes, Hampton, Virginia’s John Krieger Jr. took his ’06 KCS dragster to the provisional No. 1 spot in Coolshirt Systems Pro Jr. Dragster with a 7.903. Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster points leader Rowan Parlett leads his class with a .001 reaction time in his ’15 Halfscale dragster.