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This past weekend it wasn’t the
weather gods that brought the
heat to Maryland International
Raceway (MDIR) for the 18th
annual WPGC Bike Fest, it was
the racers that showed up with
their best tune-ups ready for
serious competition. With the
fullest fields this year, and a
variety of activities going down
in the pits, it was an
all-around great event for the
Xtreme Dragbike Association
(XDA).
The volume was turned up at this
event with Live music featuring
new artist King Combs, a Baggers
vs Slingshot Sound Off, custom
bike show, sound competition,
and bikini contest. And if that
was enough ground shaking for
you, Top Fuel hit the drag strip
putting down their own beats.
Top Fuel match racing returned
for the fifth year in a row,
Larry ‘Spiderman’ McBride and
Dave Vantine both took two wins
out of four matches. But it was
the Spiderman that put on the
best overall show running at
5.76 and a 5.87 at 250mph to
leave the crowd wanting more.
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
Winner – Chris Connelly
Runner-up – Rodney Williford
#1 Qualifier - Rodney Williford
6.610
ET Record – Rodney Williford
6.61
MPH Record – Rodney Williford
224.73
It was an excellent weekend for
Orient Express Racing Pro
Street, they broke records, half
the field qualified in the
sixes, they had their first
shootout in qualifying and a
first-time XDA winner.
WORLD RECORDS are almost never
set in the hot July heat, but
this weekend Rodney Williford
smashed the Pro Street record
with a 6.61 at 224.73 pass in
round two of qualifying. The
crowd came to their feet when
the numbers came up on the
board! Not only did he run it,
but he also made four passes
over the weekend in the 6.60’s!
In the July heat, this is
unheard of.
Darion Payne and Tom Ivy made
their first six second passes
this weekend running 6.835 and
6.907 respectively in
qualifying. Darion Payne would
make it to the semi-finals to be
taken out by the Williford
machine. This event also
featured our first Penske Racing
Shocks Pro Street Shootout
during qualifying. Eight racers
put up $250 for a chance to win
$2,000 and $250 for runner-up.
With only one qualifying round
the night before these racers
were paired up in the lanes by a
random card drawing to create an
eight-bike ladder. Mark Gargiulo,
Rodney Williford, and Chris
Connelly would take first-round
wins to make it a DME vs.
Williford Semi-Final. Teasley
got the holeshot on Gargiulo,
but Mark didn’t have the steam
to catch Teasley’s 6.76. On the
other side, Williford and
Connelly had identical reaction
times, but there was nothing
Connelly could do against
Williford’s 6.61 tune-up! With
Teasley running a 6.76 and
Williford a 6.61, they went into
the final with Williford as the
favorite for the win. And you
could hear the upsets from the
other side of the track over in
the betting area as Teasley cut
a better light and then
Williford couldn’t keep the
front wheel down through his
pass running a 6.76 to give the
win to Teasley’s 6.73. The
Penske Racing Shocks Pro Street
Shootout will run again next
month at VMP for the Superbike
Showdown.
Now on to Sunday for the main
show of the weekend. Shootout
winner Jeremy Teasley would fall
in round two to Jake Dugan’s
7.05 pass. Darion Payne would
take out Jordan Haase in round
two only to have his teammate
Williford send him to the
trailer in the semi-final. DME
Racing’s Hot Shot Chris Connelly
kept his head down and focused
as he won every round to make it
to the final. Rodney Williford
on his record-breaking Pro
Street bike would slaughter
every competitor on his way to
the final looking for redemption
after the runner-up in the
shootout. So now we were back to
another Williford vs. DME
standoff in the final. Both
bikes left hard and fast as they
stayed side-by-side down the
track, both racers would
struggle to keep their front
wheels down, but it was Connelly
who was able to maintain the gap
in front of Williford to take
his second win of the year
taking out another heavy hitter
of the class. This win now sends
Connelly to the points lead of
Orient Express Pro Street.
DME Racing
Real Street
Winner – Jeremy Teasley
Runner-up – Spencer Claycomb
#1 Qualifier – Eddie Chapman
7.654
ET Record – Eddie Chapman 7.654
MPH Chapman – Eddie Chapman
195.17
DME Racing Real Street had its
first field anywhere this year.
Eighteen racers showed up and
put on one hell of a show!
Rookie, Alisha Malone qualified
with an 8.019, and we thought
for sure she would get her first
seven-second pass this weekend,
but problems in the first round
will keep her waiting until next
month.
During Friday night’s qualifying
session, Eddie Chapman and
Spencer Claycomb ran the fastest
side-by-side pass in Real Street
history with a 7.70 and 7.695!
Qualifying produced
record-breaking performances by
Claycomb and Chapman. Going into
this race, the class records
were 7.659 at 193.16 held by
Claycomb and Chapman
respectively.
In round two of qualifying
Spencer Claycomb broke the
record with a 7.655, but it
would only stand for a minute as
Chapman would break it again
that session by the narrowest of
margins at 7.654, and breaking
the MPH record with a 195.17.
In eliminations, Michael Sweeney
would take out Chapman in round
two to end his hopes for a
repeat win. Spencer Claycomb
would take out Charles
Dominique, Mark Hylton, and
David Stewart to make it to the
final. On the other side of the
ladder, Jeremy Teasley took out
Malone, his brother Cameron, and
Sweeney to face off against
Claycomb. Spencer got the
holeshot on Jeremy and had him
at half-track, but then his
motor let go, and Teasley pulled
in front and took the win from
him.
HTP
Performance Grudge
The HTP Performance Grudge class
produced the biggest turnout of
the year at WPGC Bike Fest with
a total of seventy-one entries.
Miss Bud Light Lime moderated
the class and pulled a few races
together on Saturday night to
entertain the fans. Four riders
entered to run the ‘Small Man
Street Tire Shootout’
eighth-mile race. In round one
Jeremy Teasley on ‘Grinch’ took
out Gabe Oldfield on his GSXR,
they were evenly matched off the
tree, but ‘Grinch’ had the power
to get the win light turned on.
In the next pair, Stewart ‘Lil
Pluck’ Northan on ‘Bad
Situation’ lost to Jamaruis
Crawford on ‘Bud Light
Lime-A-Rita’ after he lost fire
as he was staged, Northan
restarted his bike, but it was
too late for him to catch
Crawford. In round two the
‘Grinch’ squeezed all the Lime
out of Crawford off the tree to
take to take the juice out of
his pass as Teasley powered to a
win. Did we mention Teasley took
this win on a hand clutch?
There was a lot of fast grudge
passes, some of the stand outs
were Richard Gadson flying on
‘Super Freak’ and Darion ‘Nanu’
Payne taking a win on a Harley
Grudge race. ‘Running of the
Bulls’ returns next month to HTP
Performance Grudge.
Vance & Hines
4.60
Winner - Wes Hawkins 4.604 /
141.61
Runner-up - Mike Chongris 4.849
/ 146.35
#1 Qualifier - Richard Gadson
4.601 / 150.13
The Vance & Hines 4.60 blew up
at Bike Fest with its first full
32 bike field in history! With
thirty three racers showing up
to race, Ed Murphy had the bad
luck of getting bumped out of
the field with a 4.594
qualifier. Richard Gadson was
the number one qualifier with a
4.601, but Robert Hunnicutt, Ron
Bonitatis, Terry Tompkins, and
Ronald Procopio were hot on his
heels with 4.60’s qualifying
numbers as well. In
eliminations, Mike Chongris put
the voodoo on his competitors as
they were falling to red lights
at the thought of Chongris in
the other lane. Wilson Burkhead
was the only competitor that did
not fall under his red-light
spell, so Chongris put the tree
on him to make it to the final
to go head to head with Wes
Hawkins. And despite Chongris
taking a nice holeshot on
Hawkins, it was Wes’s weekend to
win as he powered his way to
victory with a 4.604. Wes and
his team worked all week to get
his bike ready in time for the
weekend with boring cases on
Tuesday, putting the motor back
together on Wednesday and then
putting it back into the bike on
Thursday. This was a
well-deserved win for the
Hawkin's team.
On Saturday Ronald Procopio won
the 4.60 Big Money Shootout, a
$500 to enter, $4,000 winner
take all race among eight riders
that took place during
qualifying. Tyler Cammock and
Mike Thyen also have taken
Shootout wins this year.
The FBR Shop
5.60
Winner – Jeremy Teasley
Runner-up – Dustin Lee
#1 Qualifier – Dustin Lee 5.683
The FBR Shop 5.60 eighth mile
class was full of some fierce
competition. Dustin Lee
qualified number one with a 5.62
in front of heavy hitters Brown,
Proctor, Colon, Jackson,
Cornell, and Teasley. Lee who
had the best lights of his
weekend in this class won five
rounds to meet Jeremy Teasley in
the final. Teasley was putting
his 2015 Suzuki to work on
Sunday as he hot lapped in the
sportsman classes. But the final
match would be a let down to the
fans as Lee's bike broke while
running in Pro ET, essentially
handing the win to Teasley. This
win will keep Teasley in the
number one spot as we head into
another round of racing next
month.
Shinko Tires
Crazy 8’s
Winner – Duane Jackson
Runner-up – CJ Fair
#1 Qualifier – Arlew Difeo 8.880
Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s had a new
number one qualifier for the
season with Arlew Difeo who ran
an 8.880 to edge out competitors
Dustin Lee and Deshaye Manoney
who also ran 8.88’s in
qualifying. CJ Fair made it to
his first XDA final which added
more fuel to his motivation for
a championship. But he couldn’t
get around Duane Jackson in the
final who put the tree on him
and got to the stripe first
taking his first Crazy 8’s win
of the season. Both competitors
will head to VMP next month for
the Superbike Showdown to earn
more points.
Mickey
Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
Winner – Mac McAdams
Runner-up – James Farmer
#1 Qualifier – Ryan Bonitatis
7.669
Ryan Bonitatis qualified number
one for his third straight
event, not only that, Jay
Windsor would hold the number
two qualifying spot for the
third consecutive event as well.
Both riders would win rounds,
but neither would make it to the
final. The Mickey Thompson Tires
Top Sportsman stand out of the
weekend was Mac McAdams who
would take the win in the final
against James Farmer. Both
riders cut close lights for a
close side-by-side race until
they got to the stripe and
McAdams would back off the
throttle at the right moment to
ensure he took the stripe
without breaking out.
MPS Racing Pro
ET
---Saturday
Winner - Bill Bair .043 / 8.77 /
8.754 / 146.57
Runner-up - Jim Shifflett .093 /
8.19 / 8.127 / 157.78
---Sunday
Winner - Dale Hamilton .021 /
9.60 / 9.608 / 132.87
Runner-up - David Ashton .013 /
7.75 / 7.776 / 165.50
MPS Pro ET brought the heat this
weekend with racers filling the
lanes from front to back. In
Saturday Pro ET racing was
fierce all day long with 158
competitors cutting lights so
tight that we saw the red light
turned on fifty-two times in
seven rounds of competition.
Bill Bair came into the final
with an edge on Jim Shifflett
having the better average
reaction times for the day. And
Bair would once again put the
tree on his competitor, and both
would take the stripe breaking
out of their dials. But
Pennsylvania racer Bill Bair
would get the win that day over
Jim Shifflett.
In Sunday competition Dale
Hamilton who took a win at the
Summer Nationals at VMP was
ready for a repeat, and his
performance round after round
showed that he was all business
this day. He would meet David
Ashton on his 95 Suzuki in the
final to run the very last pass
of the weekend. Ashton had a
slight advantage off the line,
but it wasn’t enough, and the
win went to Hamilton who ran
dead on his dial.
Brock’s
Performance Street ET
--- Saturday
Winner - Austin Bridge .099 /
9.50 / 9.61 / 119.61
Runner-up - Mike Schulz .007 /
9.05 / 20.03 / 34.31
--- Sunday
Winner - Dustin Lee .013 / 9.13
/ 9.24 / 124.08
Runner-up - Boo Brown .065 /
8.78 / 17.08 / 42.44
In Brock’s Performance, Saturday
Street ET Austin Bridge and Mike
Schulz in harmony would take out
117 competitors in seven rounds
of competitions before meeting
in the final. But the final
round would not be the battle
Schulz had planned on. Schulz
cut a deadly .007 light but then
ran into problems when his bike
overheated and started spitting
coolant out of the overflow
causing him to spin, this handed
the win over to Austin Bridge
before they even hit the eighth
mile.
In Sunday competition two heavy
hitters would fall in round one
of competition but then take
advantage of XDA’s first round
re-entry to make it back to the
top and meet in the final round.
Boo Brown and Dustin Lee would
both go on to win six rounds
until their Suzuki’s had to
face-off. Lee cut the better
light, but that didn’t come into
play as problems for Brown at
the sixty foot mark would send
Lee to the winner’s circle.
Paint the
Quarter Pink
Winner – Robin Procopio .068 /
7.99 / 8.09 / 135.22
Runner-up – Kim Dunham .126 /
9.11 /9.09 / 142.84
#1 Qualifier – Robin Procopio
7.985
For the sixth year in a row, the
XDA featured the “Paint The 1/4
Pink” program to help raise
awareness and money for the
"Bikers Against Breast Cancer"
foundation. The all-female class
of thirteen women raised $4,410
dollars for the foundation
before going to battle on the
race track. Robin Procopio and
Kim Dunham would be the stands
outs in the class to meet in the
final on Saturday night. In the
final round, Procopio cut a
better light and would take the
win when Dunham broke out on her
dial taking the stripe first
with a 9.09 on a 9.11 dial.
For full qualifying and
round-by-round results of the
event, visit
www.xdaracing.com.
In one month, the XDA will head
back to Virginia Motorsports
Park for the Inaugural Superbike
Showdown on August 24-26, 2018.
There will be over 700
Professional, Sportsman, and
Grudge motorcycle drag racers in
competition, and Saturday night
HTP Performance Grudge will
feature another round of
"Running of the Bulls" battling
it out for cash and bragging
rights! Make sure you have
August 24-26 on your calendar!
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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