BENSON, N.C. 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.

PRO BOOST

Melanie Salemi, a two-time winner of the East Coast Nationals, made it known that shes chasing a third win at the season opener when she jumped to the No. 1 spot in Pro Boost on Thursday night. Though 27 other drivers attempted to pass her in Fridays two sessions and Salemi herself tried to improve no one went quicker than Salemis 3.615 at 206.29 behind the wheel of Eddie Whelans screw-blown Al-Lee Installations Purple Reign 68 Firebird tuned by husband Jon Salemi and brother-in-law Jim Salemi with power from Mike Stawicki Racing.

It never, ever fails you qualify No. 1, you have to work your butt off to win a race. You qualify No. 16, you have to work your butt off to win a race, Salemi said. It doesnt really matter where you qualify, especially in a field of all these extraordinary cars. We have a lot of competition in PDRA and thats what drives us to come here. To be able to win a race, you kind of have to throw all your testing and qualifying aside and take each run as youre given because track conditions change and atmospheric conditions change. Well continue to adapt and hopefully that will bring us to another win here at GALOT.

Two-time and reigning Pro Boost world champion Jason Harris, one of the home track heroes competing in the East Coast Nationals, qualified No. 2 with a 3.623 at 206.80 in his ProCharged Southern Diamond Company Party Time 69 Camaro. Another Brandon Stroud-tuned, ProCharged 69 Camaro the Hells Bells entry driven by Johnny Camp qualified third with a 3.631 at 205.44.

PRO NITROUS

Former Elite Top Sportsman standout Tim Paap is accustomed to going fast in his nitrous-assisted Paap Auto Body 16 Corvette, but he had modest expectations for his Pro Nitrous debut. Teamed up with Killin Time Racing and tuner Jeffrey Barker, Paap converted his Elite Top Sportsman entry to Pro Nitrous trim over the offseason to step up to the heads-up, nitrous-only category. Paap went to the provisional No. 1 spot in Thursdays lone qualifying session, then improved in the second session on Friday. His 3.676 at 204.45 held up as the No. 1 spot through the third session, where multiple drivers stepped up in attempts to unseat Paap.

The father-daughter duo of Tommy Franklin and Amber Denton qualified No. 2 and 3, respectively. Franklin, driving a brand-new, Musi-powered Jungle Rat 3.0 69 Camaro, came just thousandths of a second from taking the top spot with his 3.679 at 204.54 in the final session. Denton, the two-time and reigning Pro 632 world champion whos making her Pro Nitrous debut, also improved in the final session with a 3.686 at 205.34 in her Musi-powered OG Jungle Rat 69 Camaro.

PRO STREET

Pro Street is the only class that saw a new No. 1 qualifier step up after Thursdays first session, as Blake Denton jumped up to the top spot in the final session. Wheeling the nitrous-fed Bonnie 69 Camaro formerly driven by the late Lizzy Musi in Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings competition, Denton lit up the scoreboard with a 3.976 at 201.61 to take the top spot from Tim Dutton based on speed. It marked the first time a nitrous car qualified No. 1 in the PDRA Pro Street division.

Along with the No. 1 qualifier bonus check, Denton earned a custom baseball bat trophy from Victus Sports and Kasper Performance Edge.

Dutton, whos making his PDRA debut in both Pro Street and Pro Boost, qualified No. 2 with a matching 3.976, though he went 190.14 in his ProCharged Azul 19 Corvette. Reigning world champion Ethan Steding qualified third in his roots-blown P2 Contracting College Fund 24 Camaro with a 4.01 at 190.65.

EXTREME PRO STOCK

Two-time and reigning Extreme Pro Stock world champion Chris Powers charged to the No. 1 spot on Thursday evening and kept the position through two more sessions on Friday. Improving on a 4.101 on Thursday and a 4.100 in Fridays second session, Powers drove his Chuck Samuel-tuned Sonnys Racing Engines/ATI Performance 21 Camaro to a 4.099 at 176.26 in the final session to lock in the No. 1 qualifier position. Powers won the East Coast Nationals three times, including his first win in the class.

North Carolinas own Jeremy Huffman, who qualified No. 1 at DragWars at GALOT last October, qualified second in his 3V Performance-powered 10 Cobalt with a 4.100 at 175.37. Returning past world champion Alan Drinkwater recorded a 4.103 at 175.75 in his Kaase-powered 08 Mustang to end up No. 3 on the qualifying order.

PRO 632

Lexi Tanner has won multiple times in Pro 632, including at last years season finale, but she entered uncharted territory Friday when she locked in her first No. 1 qualifier award. The past Top Jr. Dragster world champion drove her Musi-powered Thunder 16 Camaro to a 4.201 at 168.58 in Thursdays first qualifying session. When the third session concluded Friday evening, Tanners performance was still the quickest in the class.

Perennial contender Walter Lannigan claimed the No. 2 spot after running a 4.204 at 167.63 in Chris Holdorfs Nelson-powered 10 GTO. Multi-time Pro Nitrous winner Chris Rini, pulling double duty this weekend, posted a 4.209 at 167.49 to qualify third in the new Musi-powered ATI Performance 69 Camaro that stepson Carson Hoyle will drive later this season.

SUPER STREET

The No. 1 qualifying mark Austin Vincent set in the first Super Street qualifying session on Thursday evening couldnt be topped on Friday. Vincent in his nitrous-fed Vincent Performance 88 Mustang was the only driver to dip into the 4.50s with his 4.583 at 152.30 to lead two other nitrous cars in the top three. It was Vincents first No. 1 qualifier award.

Connor McGee, who won two times in 2024, ripped off a 4.611 at 149.73 in his Fulton-powered Brians Heating & Cooling 90 Mustang to qualify second. Matt Schalow, whos pursuing his first victory in the class this season, qualified third in his Knieriem-powered 00 Camaro with a 4.653 at 157.26.

TOP SPORTSMAN

In Elite Top Sportsman, reigning world champion Glenn Butcher held on to the No. 1 spot that he established in Thursdays first qualifying session. He stepped up by almost a tenth of a second to a 3.742 at 198.90 in his nitrous-fed, Albert-powered Butcher & Son Demolition 69 Camaro to hold off Bryan LaFlam and Randy Perkinson. LaFlam in his supercharged Big Stuff Total Power Management 67 Mustang posted a 3.773 at 194.18 to lock in the No. 2 spot. Perkinson, the defending event winner, qualified third with a 3.824 at 189.63 in the ProCharged 67 Mustang that he debuted with a win last year.

Vonnie Mills came close to qualifying for the 16-car Elite field, but she instead qualified No. 1 in Top Sportsman 48, posting a 4.052 at 179.02 in her nitrous-fed Show-N-Tell 13 Camaro.

TOP DRAGSTER

Jody Stroud laid down a pass in Thursdays single qualifying session that proved impossible to top for the rest of the Elite Top Dragster field in Fridays two sessions. Strouds 3.691 at 199.14 in his supercharged Zombie 07 Spitzer dragster held up for the No. 1 spot.

Numerous drivers stepped up on Friday, though, with Josh Duggins and Russ Whitlock being the quickest of those drivers. Duggins recorded a 3.73 at 200.29 in his ProCharged Maddox dragster to qualify second, and Whitlock ran a 3.769 at 192.28 in his ProCharged 08 Race Tech dragster to round out the top three.

Danielle Gonzalez in her Connecticut-based, ProCharged 23 American dragster used a 3.889 at 191.24 to take the No. 1 spot in Top Dragster 48, just missing out on the 16-car Elite field.