12/06/2025
Jason Harris Secures Pro Mod No. 1 Qualifier Award at Snowbird Outlaw Nationals
BRADENTON, Fla. (Dec. 5, 2025) – Following another record-setting day of Pro Mod qualifying Friday at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals presented by Motion Raceworks, Jason Harris held on to his No. 1 qualifying position in his Harts Charger-boosted “Party Time” Harold Denton tribute ’69 Camaro. Harris used a 3.560-second pass at 211.20 mph down the Bradenton Motorsports Park eighth-mile surface to lead the quickest 32-car field in Pro Mod history. Young gun Kyle Dvorak ended up on the bump spot with a 3.615-second pass, meaning the 32-car field is separated by just .055 seconds.
The Snowbirds is the opening round of the 2025/2026 Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, a three-race Pro Mod championship series at Bradenton. The winner of the Snowbirds will walk away with $50,000 and the opportunity to compete for the inaugural Elite Motorsports Million, a $1,000,000 bonus for winning all three races: the Snowbirds, the U.S. Street Nationals in January 2026, and the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod in February 2026.
Harris, a four-time PDRA world champion, ended Thursday as the provisional No. 1 qualifier with his 3.560 at 211.20 in the night session. In the third qualifying session on Friday morning, he posted a 3.617 at 209.62. His 60-foot time on the fourth qualifying pass was on pace with the 3.56, but when his “Party Time” ’69 Camaro started to get out of shape, Harris wisely lifted off the throttle and coasted to a 4.066 at 133.49.
As the No. 1 qualifier, Harris earned the $5,000 Jerry Bickel Race Cars No. 1 Qualifier Bonus. If he manages to qualify No. 1 at the other two Winter Series races – a feat Mark Micke pulled off in the inaugural Winter Series – he’ll win a brand-new Pro Mod rolling chassis valued at more than $200,000 thanks to the Jerry Bickel Race Cars Clean Sweep Challenge.
“When you can qualify No. 1 in this field right here, you’ve gotta be one of the baddest guys out there, and that's kind of the way I feel like we are right now,” Harris said. “We're a lower budgeted team, so it feels good to win that $5,000. I want to thank Jerry Bickel Race Cars for giving me the opportunity, and I’m going to do my best to qualify No. 1 at the next two and see if I can get it. It would probably be the biggest highlight of my career to win. I've got a Bickel car right now, and to win something like that, it would just be life-changing for me.”
Harris ended up drawing Micke in the random chip draw to determine first-round pairings. The newly crowned No. 1 qualifier will face off with the driver who qualified No. 1 at all three Winter Series races last winter to kick off the series.
“I'm kind of bad at chip drawing, so I knew I was going to draw somebody who was going to be tough,” said Harris, who thanked his team, which includes his father, Bob, and tuner Brandon Stroud. “But No. 1 to 32 is all tough, and nobody wants me, but I don't want anybody else. That's just the way it goes because tomorrow's another day and anything can happen in drag racing.”
Jimmy Taylor, who made headlines before the Winter Series with his doorslammer world record passes behind the wheel of his twin-turbocharged Xtreme Racing Engines ’69 Camaro, qualified No. 2 with a 3.567 at 223.36 in the third session. He went into Friday not qualified after a battery switch and a broken intake spring plagued his first two qualifying attempts on Thursday.
“I ain't gonna lie, I didn't sleep a whole lot last night,” said Taylor, who will face Robert Davis in the opening round. “I was pretty tore up. We weren't even gonna make the field at that point with our luck. When we come out and run a .56, I was ecstatic. I was pretty much celebrating in the car to 330 because I knew we were on a lick and gonna make it into the field with it. This is 32 of the best guys in the world. It's definitely gonna be hard, but we're gonna give it everything we've got.”
Ty Tutterow, the 2025 PDRA Pro Boost world champion, also made a big move on Friday to jump up to the No. 3 position. With his father, Todd “King Tut” Tutterow, calling the shots on the screw-blown Quik Fuel ’69 Camaro, Tutterow laid down a 3.572 at 208.39 in the final session. Tutterow will take on Eric Gustafson in the first round of eliminations.
“To be in the field itself is a great task to accomplish,” said Tutterow, who thanked car owner Justin Smith and the Wyo Motorsports team. “and to be near the front is an honor. I’m just glad to be a part of this great team.”
Defending Snowbirds event champion Kye Kelley, who made waves last December when he drove his steel-roof-and-quarters ’85 Camaro to the $50,000 win against a field full of purpose-built Pro Mods, qualified No. 4. Now also driving a purpose-built Pro Mod, a screw-blown Larry Jeffers Race Cars ’25 Camaro dubbed “Uncle Larry,” Kelley recorded a 3.575 at 209.62.
“The car I had was a really great car, but coming in here with a purpose-built Pro Mod, something that's meant to do this, it’s different,” said Kelley, who will meet up with fellow Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings alum Scott Taylor in the first round. “It just all boils down to my tuner, Jeff Pierce. I think he's the best there is. I've got a lot of faith in him. When I strap in that car, I know I have a tune-up that's gonna go right down the racetrack. You don't see us out there knocking the tires off and all that. He gives me an opportunity to win every time I get in the car. It makes me confident as a driver, and I go out there every time thinking I'm gonna win.”
Eric Gustafson, the 2020 NMCA Xtreme Pro Mod champion, rounded out the top five with a 3.576 at 210.01 in his ProCharged Coast Packing Co. “Lard Machine” ’69 Camaro.
Pro 10.5 also completed two more qualifying sessions on Friday, but no one topped the 3.879 at 209.69 recorded by Canadian John Carinci on Thursday night. He earned a custom baseball bat from Victus Sports to commemorate the accomplishment. Carinci in his twin-turbocharged ’04 Corvette tuned by 2018 WSOPM champion Carl Stevens Jr. also qualified No. 1 at the WSOPM at Bradenton earlier this year. Apollo Beach, Florida-based driver Jerry Morgano also maintained his No. 2 spot with his 3.900 at 203.03 in his small-block, turbocharged “Copperhead” ’02 Mustang Cobra from Thursday. Ohio’s Bill Lutz fired off a 3.906 at 194.10 in his screw-blown “Big Boost ’67 Camaro to qualify third, bumping retired NFL star Fletcher Cox to fourth with a 3.907 at 190.32 in his nitrous-fed “Training Day” ’69 Camaro.
The radial classes in competition at the Snowbirds, Limited Drag Radial and Ultra Street, completed one of their two planned qualifying sessions for the day to add to Thursday’s two sessions. Brett LaSala in his Bradenton-based, turbocharged “Snot Rocket” ’13 Mustang held on to the No. 1 spot in Limited Drag Radial with a 3.900 at 196.85. Similarly, Pittsboro, Indiana’s Terry Wilson in his ’95 Mustang locked in the No. 1 position in Ultra Street with his 4.425 at 157.80 from Thursday night.
On-track activities at the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals will begin with index class qualifying at 8 a.m. Pro Mod eliminations will kick off at 10 a.m. The Jet Jam Night of Fire featuring jet Funny Cars, jet trucks, and jet dragsters, will include shows at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
General admission tickets for Saturday’s Night of Fire are available for $40. Active military and children ages 12 and under get in free. VIP packages are also available. Fans can watch the race through the official event livestream on www.FloRacing.com.
Photos by Luke Nieuwhof
ABOUT THE DRAG ILLUSTRATED WINTER SERIES
The Drag Illustrated Winter Series is a three-race Pro Modified championship series hosted at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida. The second annual DI Winter Series will include the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals, Dec. 4-7, 2025; the U.S. Street Nationals, Jan. 22-25, 2026; and the World Series of Pro Mod, Feb. 25-28, 2026. The invitation-only series will bring the best Pro Modified drivers and teams from across North America and beyond to Florida’s Gulf Coast for three high-stakes, big-money events. To learn more, visit www.TheWinterSeries.com.
ABOUT BRADENTON MOTORSPORTS PARK
Founded in 1974 and located in Bradenton, Florida, Bradenton Motorsports Park is one of the nation’s premier drag racing facilities. Boasting a top-quality quarter-mile dragstrip, spacious pit areas, and ample spectator parking, BMP hosts some of the biggest and baddest events in the country including the U.S. Street Nationals, Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, FL2K, and Snowbird Outlaw Nationals as well as other heads-up drag races, bracket races, grudge races, private professional test sessions, and more. Bradenton Motorsports Park is located at 21000 FL-64, Bradenton, FL 34212. Visit www.RaceBMP.com for more info.
