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This past weekend Maryland
International Raceway (MDIR)
hosted the 19th annual WPGC Bike
Fest with the Xtreme Dragbike
Association (XDA) delivering the
best motorcycle drag racing
party available. The event
featured Live music, a Freestyle
Motocross show, Baggers vs.
Slingshot Sound Off, custom bike
show, sound competition, huge
vendor midway and the bikini
contest.
The on-track action was stellar
as always, with a record 882
entries on hand tackling the
MDIR 1/4 mile. Racers showed up
ready for serious competition
and they weren’t letting the
warm weather slow them down.
With full fields and a variety
of activities going down in the
pits, there was non-stop action
all weekend. Literally something
for everyone, even an impromptu
music video was shot.
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
The Orient Express Racing Pro
Street class came into Bike Fest
knowing they would not be
running epic times like they did
at the last event. With the
higher temperatures, the class
Tuners would be working overtime
with their tune-ups. In
qualifying, the world's fastest
Pro Street ridden by Ehren
Litten took the top spot running
a 6.543, Richard Gadson took
second with a 6.556, Jeremy
Teasley took third with a 6.592,
and Rodney Williford took fourth
with a 6.606 to lead the
sixteen-bike field. Also, in
qualifying, Curtis Ellerbee
improved on his personal best
running a 7.417.
The Penske Racing Shocks Pro
Street Shootout was not
completed on Saturday because a
round of qualifying was cut from
the program leaving Jeremy
Teasley and Rodney Williford to
split the purse. With both
competitors running 6.60's it
would have been a great matchup.
Despite the high temps, Sunday's
eliminations were full of
excitement and quick runs.
Litten shocked everyone in round
one when he went red throwing
away a 6.56 pass. Frankie Stotz
ran a 6.559 at 208mph, and
Richard Gadson ran a 6.564.
Jason Dunigan and Justin Shakir
who both struggled in
qualifying, ran their best
passes of the weekend against
each other, but Shakir came out
on top. Rob Aston, who drove
thirty-six hours to compete,
lost to Williford in round one.
But Aston was still ecstatic as
the run of 7.283 was his
career-best and he can now claim
the quickest pass in history by
a Canadian on a DOT Street tire.
In round two all the heavy
hitters took wins, Gadson,
Teasley, Williford, and Stotz.
Gadson had problems as his bike
rolled out of the burnout. They
quickly realized the #2 coil had
been left unplugged. While this
should have been a quick fix, it
wasn’t, as they have straps that
hold the coils in place from the
vibrations of the bike. Gadson
jumped off the bike to try and
get it, and as he almost had it
plugged in, the coil would
rotate on him. It was a
struggle, and with bikes running
at the line, it felt like it
took forever to get it fixed.
But his competitor, Ryan Schnitz,
waited for him before rolling
into the beams. Gadson went on
to win that wound with a 6.548
to Schnitz's 6.721.
Frankie Stotz who was paired
with Darion Payne wasn't in the
lanes when the class started
because in round one had hurt a
bucket in the head. Jordan Haase
oiled down the track
significantly while Darion Payne
sat in the water box unopposed
having issues himself. During
the oil down, Jason Dunigan told
Stotz to get his bike to the
lanes because Payne was having
issues with his bike as well.
During the cleanup process,
Frankie Stotz limped his bike to
the line to at least attempt
breaking the beams under power
for points. Once the oil down
was done, Stotz rolled up to the
line, and now Darion Payne
couldn't get his bike started.
His team tried to get the bike
fired, but they had no luck, and
Stotz took the tree under power
for a win.
In the semi-final, Jeremy
Teasley took the win over
Richard Gadson in a close race
with Teasley running a 6.530 and
Gadson running a 6.584.
Williford had the bye since
Stotz couldn't make it and broke
the beams.
The final round was nothing less
than exciting as the two titans
of Teasley and Williford took
the tree. They both had almost
identical reaction times as both
bikes shot off down the track.
Williford was immediately out in
front, but Teasley quickly
caught him by the eighth-mile
and started pulling in front of
him in an exciting side-by-side
battle. Teasley got the stripe
by a .0526 margin of victory to
send his team to the winner's
circle for the second event in a
row. Teasley is now in striking
distance of a championship.
There is a tremendous amount of
sportsmanship and competition in
this class!
DME Racing
Real Street
The DME Racing Real Street class
delivers action-packed
excitement all weekend. In
qualifying, Ashley Cotnoir
silenced the boys by taking the
number one qualifying position
with a career-best 7.655 on her
2005 Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the
first round of qualifying Friday
night. Devin Ragland qualified
behind her with a 7.656 in the
fifteen-bike field.
The Schnitz Racing Real Street
Shootout was not completed on
Saturday because a round of
qualifying was cut from the
program leaving the finalist,
Cameron Teasley and Anibal
Merced to split the purse.
Cameron beat his brother Jeremy
in the semi-final running a
7.785, while Anibal ran a 7.758
that same round. It would have
been an excellent battle for
sure.
The buzz in the pits Saturday
night was, would anyone run a
fifty pass? We knew Teasley was
close on Saturday on an aborted
pass. But with the temperature
increase on Sunday many were not
expecting any record runs.
However, in round one Jeremy
Teasley threw a 7.592 at 189.36
mph on the scoreboard! To make
it an official record he would
need to run a 7.66. In round
two, for the second time in one
weekend, Cameron Teasley took
his brother out of the
competition, leaving him no more
chances to back it up. We will
have to wait until the Bike Bash
at VMP to see if the Real Street
record will be lowered.
Ashley Cotnoir, in only her
second event in the class,
proved that her performance at
the Superbike Showdown was no
fluke. Cotnoir got everyone's
attention by qualifying number
one with an impressive 7.655 and
making it once again to the
finals. There she faced Mark
Hylton who already has several
class wins under his belt.
Cotnoir, who is only two races
in this year, has yet to master
her reaction times on her new
bike, and this would give Mark
Hylton an edge on taking her out
in the final. With a better
reaction time, Hylton ran a
7.796 to win over Cotnoir's
7.821. This is his second win in
DME Racing Real Street, and he
has now taken the number one
spot in points over Anibal
Merced. Hylton will have a lot
on the line with only two races
remaining in the season.
APE Nitrous
Bulls
In APE Nitrous Bulls 'Mad Max'
and 'Yellow Jacket' were the
only contenders for the weekend.
Dave Norris on 'Yellow Jacket'
is the current points leader and
a definite fan favorite. Both
bikes had issues during
qualifying, Norris was having
issues with tire spin off the
line, and Tyree was dealing with
a wiring issue. In eliminations
Mad Max took off with no
problems, while Norris who
probably turned it down for that
run stumbled off the line.
Norris quickly recovered and
made a big move to catch Mad
Max. CJ Johnsen who was at the
eight-mile watching the race
reported that it looked like
Norris caught him, but Tyree's
win light came on. It was a
close battle and 'Mad Max' came
out on top this time. Tyree will
gain some points in the class,
but Norris will hold on to the
top spot for now.
Monster Bulls
In Monster Bulls, the points
leader 'Pickin Pockets' got
taken out in round one by Josh
Keller on 'Nasty Nate.' Keller
had a big wheelie leaving the
line but was able to ride
through it to stay next to David
Page in a pure rider's race to
the finish.
Rendolf Torbed on 'Kastigala'
took the win over Josh Eubanks
on 'Harley Quinn' in round one.
He then went on to the final to
face Josh Keller. Keller knew if
he wanted to beat Torbed's Billy
Vose tuned machine, he was going
to need to push the tree and get
the starting line advantage.
Keller put 'Nasty Nate' in deep,
but as the yellow bulbs flashed,
Keller's top light went out, and
the red light came on giving the
win an immediate win to 'Kastigala.'
This win gives Torbed a points
gain to put him in striking
distance of taking the lead from
Page in the championship chase.
Unit 5
Components Brahma Bulls
The Unit 5 Components Brahama
Bulls had only one taker at this
event with Nicholas Mazeika on
'Clockwork.' So, for the fourth
straight event, 'Clockwork' got
her picture taken in the
winner's circle.
Boosted Bulls
Booted Bulls with only one entry
to the class saw the most drama
in the grudge session. DME
Racing's Kool-Aid had been
locking in all season looking
for a race with no one stepping
up. So, Kool-Aid didn't lock-in
for Bike Fest and had no plans
of running. Chris Moore brought
'Cash is King' to the race and
did a last-minute lock-in on
Friday night calling out
'Kool-Aid' publicly. The DME
team already had their hands
full but decided they would try
to prep Kool-Aid who had been
sitting dormant for the past few
months. With Saturday's program
running behind schedule, XDA
canceled a round of qualifying
for the Pro's. And with the
short notice, Kool-Aid wasn't
ready. But DME not wanting to
walk away from a potential race
met with Moore and requested
that if they could get another
shakedown on the bike, they
would lock-in to race. But as
the bikes were about to make
that shakedown, there was some
miscommunication between the
teams that prevented the race
from happening. So, with no
competition for this event,
'Cash is King' took the win.
Vance & Hines
4.60
The Vance & Hines 4.60 class
once again broke a record with
forty bikes showing up for
qualifying in the
thirty-two-bike field. Ellis
Pierce took the number
qualifying position with a
dead-on 4.600 pass. Richard
Gadson who has been absent from
4.60 competition all season
returned at the Bike Fest with a
number seven qualifying position
running a 4.608. He would meet
number twenty-four qualifier,
Douglas Robinson in the final.
Douglas Robinson had been
running consistently well the
entire day cutting lights and
running the number. But when the
final round came against Richard
Gadson, he cut the tree too
tight and red-lit to send Gadson,
the 2018 champion back to the
winner's circle.
The FBR Shop
5.60
The FBR Shop 5.60 class has seen
a different winner at each
event, making their competition
rounds quick and exciting. Jim
Mauro and David Poague both ran
a 5.606 to take the top spots in
qualifying. However, they would
both be eliminated from the
competition before the
semi-final round. Courtlan
Whiting, who took a runner-up
finish at the previous event
would work his way back to the
final round for the second event
in a row. Whiting on his 2006
Suzuki GSX-R1000 would face
Jeremy Brown on his 2012
Kawasaki ZX-14. Whiting's bike
had already seen the winner's
circle before this final when
Dystany Spurlock rode it to
victory in the Paint the Quarter
Pink class. So, going into this
final, Whiting was determined to
make this final a win. Brown got
the starting line advantage on
Whiting with a .004 light. But
when it came down to taking the
stripe, Courtlan was there first
with a 5.609 pass against
Brown's losing 5.647. It was an
emotional win for him and
Spurlock in the winner's circle.
Shinko Tires
Crazy 8's
In Shinko Tires Crazy 8's,
Dustin Lee is showing complete
dominance this year with his
third straight win. Fifty-seven
racers competed this past
weekend trying to consistently
run the 8.88 dial. After five
round wins, Lee would meet the
number three points holder Duane
Jackson in the final. Jackson,
who is over a hundred points
behind Lee, was looking to gain
a little ground with a win.
However, Jackson got greedy at
the tree and turned on the reds
to hand Lee another victory in
the class.
Mickey
Thompson Performance Top
Sportsman
Durwood Rawlings would get the
number one qualifying position
in Mickey Thompson Performance
running a 7.345. Qualifying in
the 32nd and final position was
Stephen Madden with an 8.293,
making the dial-in competition
within one second of each other.
Ryan Bonitatis from New Jersey
would face Maryland native David
Ashton in the final. Bonitatis,
who took a Pro ET runner-up
finish at the last race, was
working for the win this
weekend. He took out heavy
hitters Rob Hunnicutt, Derrick
Milbourne, Bobby Holland, and
Dustin Lee to make it to the
final. With the field running so
close to their dials, the final
would be tough for both Ashton
and Bonitatis. Ashton took the
starting line advantage and ran
a 7.892 on his 7.85 dial to
Bonitatis's 7.591 on his 7.55
dial. Ashton took the win with a
.052 second margin of victory
and Bonitatis will have to try
for another final at the
Inaugural Bike Bash.
MPS - Pro ET
Over 150 racers filled the lanes
both days to compete in MPS
Racing's Pro ET class. The
competition was as hot as the
temperature this weekend. On
Saturday two XDA veterans would
face off in the eight rounds of
competition. George Shriver on
his 1996 Kawasaki would compete
against Dustin Lee on his 2008
Suzuki in what would be both
riders best Pro ET performances
of the year so far. With both
racers being fierce competition,
spectators were looking for a
good race. But they would be
disappointed when Lee turned on
the red bulb to give the win to
Shriver.
On Sunday David Ashton won the
Top Sportsman class and was
entered back into the sixth
round of competition for a
chance to double up on wins.
Ashton would win two more rounds
to face Mike Schulz in the
final. Schulz, who sits just
outside the top ten of points
was hungry for the win and his
consistency of the day showed he
would be fierce competition for
Ashton. In the final Schulz
nailed the tree with a .009
light and ran an 8.866 on his
8.85 leaving no chance of Ashton
getting double wins. This win
for Schulz will move him up in
the points and put him in a good
position going into the last two
races of the season.
Brock's
Performance Street ET
The Brock's Performance Street
ET racers were out in force with
about 130 racers competing each
day. With this kind of turn out,
these guys would have to win
seven rounds of competition to
make it to the final for a
chance at taking the win. On
Saturday Boo Brown and Russell
Dennison Jr would be the final
round tributes. Dennison had the
advantage on the tree going into
the final with a better reaction
time average over Brown.
However, he was treading
dangerously close to the edge
his last few rounds of
competition. And it finally bit
him when he turned the red bulb
on to send Boo Brown to the
winner's circle before the race
even started.
On Sunday as temperatures rose,
so did the level of competition.
Mark Blake and Janrei Thompson
would both win seven rounds to
meet each other in the final.
The two Kawasaki riders were
well matched in their overall
performances from the day.
Thompson would take the starting
line advantage with his .008
reaction time over Blake's .058.
But it would not save him from
running so far off his dial when
he ran a 9.327 on his 9.23 dial.
Blake would get the win running
8.746 on his 8.72 dial. This win
will also give him a significant
boost in the points standings.
Paint the
Quarter Pink
At this event, XDA featured the
"Paint The 1/4 Pink" program for
the seventh year in a row to
help raise awareness and money
for the "Bikers Against Breast
Cancer" foundation. The
all-female class of twelve women
raised $12,266 dollars for the
foundation before going to
battle on the race track. Last
year’s winner, Robin Procopio,
took the number one qualifying
spot with 8.048. Procopio would
not get a repeat when Dystany
Spurlock would get the win over
her in the semi-final round. In
the final round, Spurlock would
face Edythe Decker. Spurlock
would run closer to her 8.72
dial with 8.796 to get the win
over Decker who dialed 9.20 and
ran 9.271.
For full qualifying and
round-by-round results of the
event, visit
www.xdaracing.com.
The XDA will head back to
Virginia Motorsports Park for
the Inaugural Bike Bash on
August 23-25, 2019. There will
be over 700 Professional,
Sportsman, and Grudge motorcycle
racers in competition battling
it out for over $40,000 in cash
purse at this event. The event
will also feature a Live DJ,
Freestyle MX Show, Bikini
Contest, Sound Competition,
Custom Bike Show and a vendor
midway full of great deals on
motorcycle parts, accessories
and apparel. Make sure you have
August 23-25 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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