Competition Plus Magazine

Ty Tutterow’s late-season qualifying run continued Friday night at Virginia Motorsports Park, where the reigning Pro Boost world champion moved to the provisional No. 1 position at the PDRA World Finals. Tutterow drove Justin Smith’s screw-blown Quik Fuel ’68 Camaro to a 3.560-second pass at 209.69 mph in the second qualifying session of the Pro Line Racing Brian Olson Memorial World Finals presented by ProCharger.

It’s the club no one wants to join, but Hunter Green got his membership card Friday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. Green, in his sophomore season driving a fuel Funny Car, became the latest driver for his nitro car to experience a rear-end failure when an apparent pinion gear broke just two pairs into nitro qualifying at the inaugural NHRA Great Lakes Nationals. It halted action at the strip for nearly an hour as the Safety Safari worked to clean up the mess.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. That’s not how Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett, and Tony Schumacher operate. What became one of the biggest driver announcements heading toward the 2027 NHRA season had been moving quietly behind the scenes since around June. Pruett had made a family decision, Schumacher saw an opportunity, and Stewart had a race team that needed to figure out what came next.

Southern California may have been the birthplace of drag racing, but the sport really grew up and spread its wings in the Midwest, in states like Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan in particular has long had a significant heritage of drag racing both on-track and – well, let’s be honest – street racing. To many, Detroit was like Los Angeles East, with numerous legit on-track and illegal on-street races.

Photos by: Alex Owens, Auto Imagery FRIDAY NOTEBOOK – THIS IS KALITTA’S HOUSE; MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS SHAPE FIRST COUNTDOWN DAY 1 – KALITTA STRONG – Doug Kalitta had already watched his family’s Michigan drag racing legacy get its moment Friday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. Then he climbed into his Top Fuel dragster and added an exclamation point.

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK – IT’S A DENTON DAY AT THE PDRA 1 – HOLESHOT WORKS FOR DENTON – Amber Denton and her team spent the middle of the season making changes. Thursday night at Virginia Motorsports Park offered a pretty good indication they made the right ones.

Photos by  Alex Owens, Auto Imagery FRIDAY QUALIFYING 0 KALITTA PUTS A MICHIGAN STAMP ON OPENING DAY AT U.S. 131 Doug Kalitta didn’t need much help making Friday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park feel like a home race. The Michigan native had family history all around him, a packed grandstand watching and, by the end of the afternoon, the quickest Top Fuel dragster on the property.

Doug Kalitta didn’t need much help making Friday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park feel like a home race. The Michigan native had family history all around him, a packed grandstand watching and, by the end of the afternoon, the quickest Top Fuel dragster on the property.

Amber and Blake Denton found a pretty good way to start the biggest weekend of the PDRA season. They won together. The husband-and-wife racers swept two of the marquee professional titles Thursday night at Virginia Motorsports Park, with Amber Denton collecting the $15,000 Pro Nitrous victory and Blake Denton following with the $7,500 Pro Street title at the sixth annual PDRA ProStars. “That’s what we dream of,” Blake Denton said. “Any husband and wife that does this wants to win together.

Tony Schumacher has spent enough time during the last few seasons wondering where the next race might come from. Beginning in 2027, he won’t have to wonder. The winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history has signed a multi-year agreement with Tony Stewart Racing and will replace Leah Pruett in the team’s Top Fuel dragster next season. Pruett is stepping away from full-time competition as she and husband Tony Stewart turn their attention toward growing their family.