Silance, White pick up inaugural wins at PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown

DeWayne Silance and Michael White both visited the winners circle at the PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway.

Photos from Gary Rowe.

BRISTOL, TN – DeWayne Silance and Michael White conquered the inaugural PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown at Bristol Dragway to pick up the first-ever trophies in Elite Top Sportsman and Elite Top Dragster. This was PDRA’s first trip to Thunder Valley and racers were bursting with excitement to try their hand at one of racing’s most historical tracks.

Joining them in the winners circle were Mark Reese (TS), Nick Meloni (TD), Carson Hoyle (PJD), Kylie Varnier (TJD), and Jake Hodge (BB).

Read the race recap below for more!

PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown

Elite Top Sportsman

DeWayne Silance defeated John Benoit in the final round to pick up the trophy. Benoit had problems on the line to hand the win over to Silance, who was .019 up front and ran a 3.887 at 189 mph.

Brian Tiffe and Randy Perkinson were the semi-finalists.

Elite Top Dragster

Michael White defeated Matt Cooke in the final round to pick up the trophy. White had the starting line advantage, .006 to .021, and ran a 3.827 at 180 mph on his 3.81 dial-in to head to the winner’s circle.

Mark Romanofsky and Russ Whitlock were the semi-finalists.

Top Sportsman

Mark Reese defeated Dwayne Gallogly in the final round to pick up the trophy in Top Sportsman, his second win in a row. Reese had the starting line advantage, .028 to .035, and ran a 4.311 at 160 mph on his 4.29 dial-in to head to the winner’s circle.

Steve Furr was the semi-finalist.

Top Dragster

Nick Meloni defeated TJ Harper in the final round to take home the trophy. Just a coin flip apart on the tree, .016 to .019, Meloni ran a 4.321 at 159 mph on his 4.31 dial-in to get to the stripe first for the trophy.

Joe Gary was the semi-finalist.

Pro Jr. Dragster

Carson Hoyle picked up the trophy after defeating Kameron Helms in the final round. He was .051 up front and ran a 7.936 at 80 mph on the 7.90 index.

Alyssa Rabon and Spencer McGee were the semi-finalists.

Top Jr. Dragster

Kylie Varnier defeated Braydon Crayton in the final round to pick up the win. She was .062 up front and ran a 9.113 at 72 mph on her 9.10 dial-in to head to the winner’s circle.

Allen Buczkowski and James Beattie III were the semi-finalists.

Bracket Bash

Jake Hodge defeated Kyle Eggers in the final round to pick up the win. He was .006 up front and ran a 4.635 at 148 mph on his 4.64 dial-in after Eggers was red at the hit.

Josh Owens was the semi-finalist.

An avid racer herself, Megan Strassweg, 28, sees her two worlds collide with DragChamp – journalism and drag racing. Megan resides in Evansville, IN, and she pilots a 2015 American Dragster in the NHRA North Central Division 3 Super Comp series, along with some local bracket racing on the side. Her passion for racing began early, having grown up at the racetrack, and she remains committed to the sport. When she’s not racing, you can find her working at WDRB News as a Digital Producer, playing with her two dogs – Clutch and Goose, or spending time with her friends and family.

You can reach Megan on Facebook or email at megan@dragchamp.com