PDRA at Martin, Michigan

Stoken, Ahli, Pittman win; Stoken first nitrous racer under 3.70 ET

Words by Jeff Burk and Slade Tyree
Photos by Slade Tyree

U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Mich., is known to racers and fans in the Midwest as a track that delivers great racing and record-breaking speeds and ET's. The track, PDRA and its racers delivered all of that and more at this race on June 26-27.

Fans that attended the Friday night qualifying saw Pat Stoken become the first Pro Nitrous racer to make an eighth-mile pass in under 3.70 seconds. Twenty-four hours after making the 3.69 eighth-mile pass Stoken also won his first ever PDRA Pro Nitrous trophy.

Also earning their first PDRA win in a pro class were Bader Ahli in Pro Extreme and veteran racer Alan Pittman in Pro Boost. Chris Garner-Jones won his second-straight race title in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Jody Stroud picked up a Pro Open Outlaw victory.

In the sportsman classes Tim Lawrence won his first PDRA Top Sportsman trophy, Joe Hessling prevailed in Top Dragster, Preston Tanner won Pro Jr. Dragster and Caleb Russell got the job done in Top Jr. Dragster.

Additionally, Matt Sackman won a consolation race for non-qualifiers from the Top Sportsman and Top Dragster classes.

PRO EXTREME

Class winner Bader Ahli (lead photo) qualified his '69 Camaro into the fourth position in Pro Extreme running 3.52 at 212.16 mph. Defending event champion Randell Reid qualified number one with a 3.51 at 214.39, with Jason Scruggs and Brandon Snider close behind eventually qualifying in second and third.

Randell Reid

In eliminations, Carl Stevens Jr. couldn't answer the call so Ahli opened with a bye and lost lane choice with a traction-challenged 4.58/130 mph solo lap. A comfortable win over Duane Rister followed before Ahli took out Todd Tutterow with a sizable .068 holeshot in the semis. That paired Ahli with Mike Recchia for the final after Recchia also advanced from the semis with a holeshot victory over Snider.

The final was decided at the starting line when Recchia's screw-blown '69 Camaro had trans issues and shut down, while Ahli posted a 3.62 at 210.77 to earn his first PDRA race title.