The long-awaited debut of the
Xtreme Dragbike Association (XDA)
and the return of the Millers to
motorcycle drag racing finally
arrived this past weekend at
Maryland International Raceway™
(MDIR). Armed with an elite
staff and the best track prep in
the business, the Spring
Nationals turned into a
record-shattering weekend.
Orient Express Racing Pro
Street
Winner - Mark Gargiulo
Runner-up - Chris Connelly Jr.
#1 Qualifier - Jeremy Teasley /
6.639
ET Record - Jeremy Teasley /
6.639
MPH Record - Chris Connelly /
221.20
The Orient Express Pro Street
class never disappoints, and if
the season opener is a glimpse
of what’s to come, then we are
in for an exciting year!
Champion, Rodney Williford,
showed up to defend his title,
and despite running his career
best of 6.656 in round 3 of
qualifying, the attention
gravitated to Jeremy Teasley in
the other lane when he took his
68” Hayabusa to his career best
of 6.639! This qualifying round
not only gave Teasley the #1
qualifying position, and moved
him to the #1 spot on the Pro
Street GOAT list, it also made
history as the quickest
side-by-side 6-second pass in a
competition!
After an exciting day of
qualifying, the expectation for
Sunday's eliminations was high,
and no one was anticipating the
upsets that would fall on our
top two qualifiers. Williford
was taken out in the first round
by #13 qualifier, James Herbert!
Herbert struggled through
qualifying only running a 7.80.
But he was up early Sunday
morning making some last-minute
changes that would pay off for
him big time giving him a bye to
the Semi-Final! Teasley suffered
a similar fate in round 2 when
Ryan Schnitz ousted him on the
new HTP GSX-R1000 entry. In the
semi-final, Chris Connelly Jr.
and Mark Gargiulo both took easy
wins against broke competitors
Schnitz and Herbert.
The final round of Williford
Racing’s Mark Gargiulo and DME
Racing’s Chris Connelly, was
going to be the most exciting
round of the day as the two
riders were both seeking their
first career win in Pro Street.
And the first Pro Street win of
the XDA season would go to
Gargiulo who would claim victory
with a 6.783 to Connelly’s 6.786
with a margin of victory of only
17 thousandths of a second! The
pass brought the crowd to their
feet as these two were
side-by-side from the tree to
the finish line. It was an
emotional win for Gargiulo and
his entire team. “I am so proud
of how far Mark has come in such
a short amount of time, his
progress and dedication got him
to the winner’s circle,” said
team owner Rodney Williford.
“And we would like to
congratulate DME and Teasley on
their 6.63 run as well; it’s
great being able to run against
tough competition.”
Many personal bests were set on
the MDIR quarter mile, including
Herbert moving up an impressive
20 spots on the goat list with a
career best of 7.18, Justin
Shakir running a 6.74 and Chris
Connelly breaking into the
6.70’s and setting the MPH
record for the event with a
221.20.
DME Racing Real Street
Winner - Spencer Claycomb
Runner-up - Anibal Merced
#1 Qualifier - Spencer Claycomb
/ 7.666
ET Record - Spencer Claycomb /
7.659
MPH Record - Eddie Chapman /
193.16
Spencer Claycomb came to
Maryland and set the DME Racing
Real Street class on FIRE!
Claycomb known mostly as an
ultra-competitive sportsman
racer has stepped into Real
Street full time for 2018, and
he made sure you knew his name!
In round #4 of qualifying,
Claycomb ran a record-shattering
run of 7.666 to give him the #1
qualifying position. In the
first round of eliminations,
Claycomb went event quicker with
a 7.659 to reset the XDA class
record and MDIR track record!
With the top five in qualifying
running from a 7.66 to 7.77 ET,
Claycomb would have tough
competition on his way to the
final round where he met the
2015 class champion of Anibal
Merced. And this would turn into
another side-by-side final with
both competitors out for a
victory. But Merced couldn’t
stop the fire Claycomb started
as Spencer claimed his first
professional class victory with
a 7.750 to Merced’s 7.751. When
asked about his thoughts on
breaking the 7.60 barrier, he
simply stated that the weekend
was a dream come true and he
felt honored to be considered
among some of the best in the
class such as Johnny Dobrin,
Anibal Merced, Eddie Chapman,
and 2017 champion David Stewart.
Vance & Hines 4.60
Winner - Mike Thyen
Runner-up - Boo Brown
#1 Qualifier - Eran Pielert /
4.600
Vance & Hines 4.60 Index, the
quickest 1/8th-mile index class
in the XDA, featured some of the
best the class has to offer. As
the only class in the XDA that
has never had a repeat champion
since its inception in 2013,
former champions Kenny Cornell,
Eran Pielert, Tyler Cammock,
Ronnie Procopio and defending
champion Boo Brown looked to
change that. With 24 talented
riders coming to the post on
race day, it was anyone’s guess
to who would be on top at the
end of the day.
Eran Pielert took the #1
qualifying position with a
perfect 4.600 pass, with Michael
Ostrowski and Tyler Cammock
right behind him with 4.609
qualifying times. Heavy hitters
McAdams, Cammock, and Procopio
fell in the quarter-finals,
leaving Boo Brown with a bye to
the final. Michael Thyen, who
two weeks prior won the 4.60
class at the NHDRO, took out
Ostrowski in the Semi-Final.
Defending Champion Boo Brown,
who took runner-up the day
before in the 460 Big Money
Shootout, would once again take
another runner-up finish to
Thyen who was able to recover
from a starting line deficit to
run a stout 4.634 to Brown’s
4.706.
On Saturday Tyler Cammock won
the special 4.60 Big Money
Shootout, a $500 to enter,
$4,000 winner take all race
among eight riders that took
place during qualifying.
The FBR Shop 5.60
Winner - Jeremy Teasley
Runner-up - Ed Harvey
#1 Qualifier - Boo Brown / 5.601
The FBR Shop 5.60 saw a stellar
group of racers on bar bikes, as
well as street bikes, try to
tackle the 1/8th mile. With the
top four qualifiers all running
the 5.60 number, it was Boo
Brown with a 5.601 who would
take the #1 qualifying spot over
his 38 competitors. But this
position wouldn’t hold for Brown
who would fall in round 2 to
Harvey Hubbard.
In the quarterfinals, Jeremy
Teasley took out Spencer
Claycomb to earn a bye to the
finals. And on the other side of
the ladder, it was Ted Harvey
who won 5 rounds of competition
to meet Jeremey Teasley, the
defending class champion who was
also competing in additional
sportsman classes, grudge, and
Pro Street this weekend. While
both experienced riders are from
Ohio, there can only be one
winner, and unfortunately for
Harvey, the bike wouldn’t shift
coming off the line, and he had
to watch Jeremy Teasley ride off
into the sunset for the 5.60
win. Though disappointed, Harvey
stated during post-race
activities, that he had a
wonderful time, and was looking
forward to the next race at Atco
Dragway.
Shinko Tires USA Crazy 8’s
Winner - Dustin Lee
Runner-up - Jeremy Teasley
#1 Qualifier - Mike Schulz /
8.885
Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s, the
street bike only index class
started by Jason Miller several
years ago has turned into one of
the most exciting sportsman
classes in the XDA. With a magic
number at the finish line of
8.88 seconds and the stellar
conditions the riders had during
qualifying and race day, many
riders found themselves having
to detune the bikes to get them
to the index.
In qualifying class champion
Stephen Knight ran an 8.889, but
that wouldn’t be enough for the
#1 spot earned by Mike Schulz
with an 8.885. Schulz made it to
round four where he red-lit
against Teasley who would win
the bye to the final against
Dustin Lee. With these two-tough
sportsmen, many knew it would
come down to reaction time to
see who would get the win. And
fortunately for Lee, Teasley
left with a rare red light of
-.003, giving him an automatic
win and sending him to the
winner’s circle.
Mickey Thompson Performance
Tires & Wheels Top Sportsman
Winner - Hank Lovett
Runner-up - Jay Windsor
#1 Qualifier - Ryan Bonitatis /
7.583
In Mickey Thompson Performance
Top Sportsman 136 racers would
enter, but only 32 would battle
for the payday. Ryan Bonitatis
rocked the qualifying with a
7.382 leading the field by
three-tenths over #2 qualifier
Jay Windsor’s 7.719.
In the semi-final, Boo Brown and
Derek Milbourne would take a
loss to Hank Lovett and Jay
Windsor who would head to the
final. Hank Lovett of Seaford,
DE would take a win over fellow
Delaware native and former class
champion Jay Windsor when he
red-lit trying to chop the tree.
Lovett’s win would send him to
the 6th round of Pro ET for a
chance to double up on wins and
payout. However, Lovett would
not be able to make it past Mike
Schulz in the next round.
MPS Racing Pro ET
Winner - Brian Guarino
Runner-up - Mike Schulz
With MPS Pro ET now earning
points to determine a class
champion, round wins are more
critical than ever. And with 136
racers and eight total rounds of
competition on Sunday, the
points chase is on. By round
six, heavy hitters like Davies,
Lee, Knight, Brown, and Sweeney
were out! In the semi-final
Brian Guarino earned a bye to
the final to face Mike Schulz
who took out Shayne Proctor
running an 8.70 on an 8.67 dial
to Proctors 8.99 on an 8.90
dial. The Suzuki riders from
Virginia dialed a 9.13 and 8.65,
but those ET’s wouldn’t come
into play as Schulz red lit and
gave the first win of the season
and the points lead to Brian
Guarino.
Brock's Performance Street ET
Winner - Roy Johnson
Runner-up - Jeff Sweeney
Brock’s Performance Street ET is
also now on the points system,
which rewards series commitment
and consistency to determine a
class champion. Street ET on
Sunday yielded a whopping eight
rounds of competition. With
every round, the class saw a
good balance of Kawasaki and
Suzuki’s taking wins. Michael
McAllister was the lone Honda
racer of the class but took a
defeat in round 2 to Kawasaki
rider Dave Amaru. In the final
round, it was Kawasaki Rider Roy
Johnson verse Suzuki rider Jeff
Sweeney who had earned a bye to
the final. Johnson dialed a 9.30
and Sweeney an 8.86, but like in
Pro ET, the win was taken at the
tree when Sweeney red lit giving
the win and points lead to Roy
Johnson.
HTP Performance Grudge
With a new format for 2018, HTP
Performance Grudge Racing now
runs every round with all Pro
Sessions giving them the best
track prep in the country. The
Miller track prep was on kill
for these guys from Friday night
until the last pass on Sunday.
For the season opener, 23 grudge
entries made good use of the
track prep as they were flying
every round.
Grudge Racer Donnie Taylor
showed up with his new build,
Zeus. On Saturday, he struggled
to find the gremlins that were
plaguing his bike, but by the
end of the day on Sunday he had
made tremendous strides and was
moving! He plans to be ready for
Atco and hopefully ready to
start locking in some races.
David Page on the Williford
Grudge bike and Jeremy Teasley
on the Gravedigger looked ready
to lock in some races. Shawn
Cooper on his GSXR and Greg
Gross on the ‘The Big Pay Back’
were making consistently quick
passes.
Rickey Gadson had a starting
line crash Friday night. The
bike tried to rotate the earth
right off the starting line, but
Rickey was right up and track
clean-up was so quick that some
racers in the pits didn’t even
know it happened. Rickey was
unhurt and back on the track the
next morning in the sportsman
classes. "I learned a valuable
lesson about switching from flat
slick to a street tire without
changing gearing" stated Gadson.
The Millers are also working
with Cecil Towner from HTP
Performance on some individual
Grudge Heads-Up Shootouts that
will be run at select XDA events
this year. Stay tuned for more
details on those coming soon.
Friday Gamblers Race
The Miller's tradition continued
with a Gambler's race during
Friday night testing. With
sportsman racers out in force,
43 racers entered with a $100
buy-in. Local racer Dale
Hamilton and Ohio racer Kevin
Adams won five rounds before
meeting in the final. Both
racers ran consistently close to
their dial-in round after round
making them great match-up for
the final. Hamilton dialed a
9.47 to Adams 9.13, and Hamilton
left first with a quicker
reaction time of .015 to Adam's
.026. Adams caught up to
Hamilton at about the 1/8 mile
and misjudged how fast he was
moving and broke out with a 9.10
giving the win to Hamilton who
ran a 9.46. It was a good day
for Dale Hamilton to gamble as
he took home a $2,700 payday and
earned the first win of the XDA
series.
For full qualifying and
round-by-round results of the
event, visit
www.xdaracing.com.
The next stop for the 2018 XDA
season will be at the legendary
Atco Dragway, for the longest
running motorcycle drag race in
the world. The 47th annual
Platinum Fleet Repair U.S.
Motorcycle Nationals takes place
on May 18-20.
Visit
www.XDAracing.com
for event information, class
rules, schedule and more.
The Xtreme Dragbike Association
is an east coast motorcycle drag
racing series with 700+
motorcycle racers in
competition. The XDA features
professional and sportsman
classes along with grudge racing
and a vendor midway. Lifestyle
activities such as bike shows,
bikini contests, DJ and live
bands are also held at select
events. For more info on the XDA,
visit
www.XDAracing.com
or connect with us on Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and YouTube @xdaracing
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