Mel Bush Motorsports Sunshine State Shootout Winners Played Big Roles in Championship Decisions PITTSBORO, N.C. (October 28, 2016): The NAS Racing PDRA World Finals was arguably the most pivotal event of the year, especially considering that the Mel Bush Motorsports Sunshine State Shootout was completed in the same weekend, having been postponed from its original date in Bradenton, Florida. After all was said and done, the PDRA crowned its third set of World Champions at Virginia Motorsports Park and would like to congratulate Brandon Snider (PX), Tommy Franklin (PN), Kevin Rivenbark (PB), Eric McKinney (PXM), John Pluchino (XPS), Dan Ferguson (TS), Justin Kirk (TD), Kendal Little (PJD), and Mia Schultz (TJD) on their 2016 Championships. With six to ten rounds of competition riding on one weekend in respective categories, points accumulated quickly and it was obvious that those in the championship hunts were taking every advantage they could in the jam packed weekend. The points battles first began to shake up during the postponed Bradenton event. The 2015 NAS Racing Pro Extreme Champion, Jason Scruggs, knew he had some ground to make up on Alabama’s Brandon Snider if he was to retain a shot at defending his title. A red light in round one of the Sunshine State Shootout   effectively dashed his hopes at closing the gap on Snider, however. Scruggs first round opponent, Terry Leggett, has had a difficult year, enduring a battle with eye and thyroid cancer that kept him sidelined for part of the season. He was certainly due for a little good fortune to come his way and after taking out the number one qualifier and reigning champion, welcomed the bye run second round, posting a solid 3.568 elapsed time. On the opposite side of the ladder, Mel Bush Motorsports driver, Tommy D’Aprile ousted Joey Martin and points leader Brandon Snider to meet Leggett in the final. In the - quite literally - most explosive final in PDRA history, both Leggett and D’Aprile erupted in flames before the finish line, causing for a spectacular finish on the fall Virginia night. While both drivers slowed upon explosion, Leggett’s 4.11 got him to the finish line well ahead of D’Aprile’s 4.45, giving Leggett his first ever Pro Extreme victory. “It’s very good, it sure is,” Leggett said, humbly. “I can’t even begin to explain how good it was. But then on Sunday we had our grandson Jacksen Williams there. He wound up getting in Top Junior Dragster from the alternate position. He was number 17. He wound up winning his first race ever. He did an outstanding job and got a 660 Man for the World Finals. I guess that kinda even overwhelmed my win by quite a bit.” Leggett says that everything currently looks positive with his health and is able to live normally. “I’ve got a lot of good friends and good people around me that help me stay focused,” thanked the logger. “I’ve got so many people that are just instrumental in this whole thing, my wife, my family at home, a young gentleman that’s raced with me forever Todd Magee, Jeff Smith who’s been with us since our Pro Stock days, Robbie Matthews, of course my tuner Terry Coyle and Kim Burus. I want to thank Terry and Kim for all the great help and friendship Then other folks like Charlie Buck who does a heck of a job with my motors; Flying A, Alan Cape, that’s been with us forever; Mr. Bryant Marriner’s a very big part of our whole deal. It’s more of a friendship than anything. He’s become a very close friend to me. I’ve got a group of three or four guys from down here at the beach that go to near about every race. They bring a whole truck of seafood to cook every Friday night at these races. They’re such a big part of it. So many of the people in the pits get to enjoy what they do because they’re very free with their food. That’s Jimmy Basnight and Billy Midgette. Then there’s another group with Terry Coyle’s dad, Mr. Buddy Coyle. He’s got two lifelong friends of his, Mr. Ralph and Mr. Tom. Both of them go to every race. These men are great to have around. They’re a hoot. Everybody loves to have them there. It makes for every weekend to be great, sure does.” Jay Cox entered the Sunshine State Shootout first in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous points, but a second round loss to Jason Harris gave room for Tommy Franklin to make up ground, and that’s exactly what he did. Franklin went to the semi-finals to take over the points lead by less than a round. The Bradenton final round matchup came down to heavy hitters Steve Jackson, who took out Franklin in the semis, and Travis Harvey. In the Reher-Morrison vs Sonny Leonard engine final, Jackson came out on top, utilizing a slight reaction time advantage and outrunning Harvey, 3.719 to Harvey’s slowing 3.745. It was already determined GALOT Motorsports Pro Boost would celebrate a GALOT Motorsports team driver as the 2016 champion and Kevin Rivenbark had a nice lead over teammate John Strickland going into the Bradenton event. Rivenbark’s performance in Sunshine State Shootout eliminations officially sealed the deal. En route to winning his fifth event this year, he took out teammate Strickland in the semis. Marc Caruso worked his way through the opposite side of the ladder and looked to give Rivenbark a solid challenge in the final, but ran into issues early and slowed to a 5.01 elapsed time, while Rivenbark ran a consistent 3.72. Chris Garner-Jones had been a favorite in Drag965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle all season, giving class dominator Eric McKinney a run for his money. Garner-Jones held a slim points lead over McKinney going into the Sunshine State Shootout. He lengthened that points lead slightly when he defeated McKinney in the final after McKinney’s teammate, Ashley Owens, was a no-show in the semis. The win was more sentimental for Garner-Jones and his team, as his niece, Arellyn Garner-Jones won the Sunshine State Shootout MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster title. That win was Arellyn’s third straight PDRA victory, quite a feat for a 13 year old, and Chris’ second win of the year. “It was overwhelming, very overwhelming,” Garner-Jones said of winning the same event as his niece. He ended up second in points, less than two rounds behind McKinney who went on to win the World Finals. Arellyn also finished second in points, just behind Mia Schultz. “I want to thank my tuner, Will, family, God, the PDRA, Paul Gast, Walt Timblin, Dan Wagner, Ashley Owens, Terry Stemper, Casey Stemper, ProFab, and of course VP Racing Fuels, Drag965 and ARC Components” Garner-Jones said, thanking all those who aided in his impressive season. In Ronnie Davis Top Sportsman presented by MagnaFuel, 2014 World Champion Dan Ferguson only needed to win one round of competition to lock up his championship. He did more than that at the Sunshine State Shootout, going all the way to the finals before red lighting to Buddy Perkinson. Perkinson, a native of North Prince George, Virginia aptly earned his first ever PDRA Top Sportsman victory at his home track on the tour, despite the race beginning a few states away in Florida. Justin Kirk held a decent points lead in Lucas Oil Top Dragster after winning Dragstock XIII. He backed that up with a win at the Sunshine State Shootout to claim his first ever World Championship. Kirk defeated David Brown, who ran into problems right off the starting line. While Mia Schultz was busy pursuing the Top Junior Dragster World Championship, she still found time to do damage in Talbert Pro Junior Dragster. She defeated Jarrod Kissinger in the Bradenton final with an .027 reaction time and an 8.03 elapsed time on her 7.99 dial. The PDRA announced its 2017 schedule at Virginia Motorsports Park and will celebrate its 2016 season and World Champions at the Awards Banquet, to be held Saturday December 10 in Indianapolis, Indiana in conjunction with the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Show. More information can be found at www.pdra660.com. Photo: Gary Rowe / PDRA660.com   ABOUT THE PDRA Based in Pittsboro, North Carolina, the Professional Drag Racers Association is the top sanctioning body in the United States for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The PDRA’s professional categories include Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost, and Pro Extreme Motorcycle along with Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Pro Jr. Dragster, and Top Jr. Dragster. The 2016 PDRA schedule consists of nine national events. For more on the world’s premier eighth mile drag racing organization visit www.pdra660.com. Follow the PDRA: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. PRESS CONTACT: Lisa Collier Professional Drag Racers Association lisa@pdra660.com 704.692.4636