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The 27th annual DME Racing Fall
Nationals concluded the 2019
race season and crowned twelve
champions at Maryland
International Raceway (MDIR).
The second year of XDA was
filled with boundless
excitement, drama, and more
intense racing than anyone could
have anticipated, not to mention
a total payout over $200,000 for
the year and $142,000 in
contingency offerings!
Record barriers some thought
impossible became a reality,
more young stars made their
presence known, while some
veterans returned to form. XDA's
2019 season could arguably be
called the most significant
single season in motorcycle drag
racing history. XDA promoter,
Jason Miller stated, "Just when
you think you've seen it all,
the great racers of the XDA
raise the bar even higher. It's
a testament to their hard work,
dedication, and sheer
determination. We couldn't ask
for a better group of sportsmen
to be a part of our continued
journey in motorcycle drag
racing."
"My brother Chris and I are
blessed with a strong staff that
works tirelessly and with
passion for the XDA racers. And
we will continue to grow with
the help of our great sponsors
that support XDA and keep
driving our industry forward.
Thank you again to every single
person that supported XDA this
year."
This past weekend XDA also
released their 2020 schedule to
their loyal racers Friday as
they came through the gate. XDA
will continue their consistent
format of keeping races four
weeks apart. Get these dates on
your calendar now!
April 24-26 / PFR Spring
Nationals / MDIR
May 15-17 / MTC Summer Nationals
/ VMP
June 19-21 / Superbike Showdown
/ MDIR
July 24-26 / WPGC Bike Fest /
MDIR
August 21-23 / Bike Bash / VMP
September 18-20 / DME Racing
Fall Nationals / MDIR
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
Champion - Jeremy Teasley
Hands down, the Orient Express
Pro Street class is the most
exciting class to watch in all
of motorcycle drag racing. With
no wheelie bars, these 6-second,
230+mph Pro Street Motorcycles
are launching like missiles as
their riders fight to keep them
straight through the
quarter-mile. And to reward our
loyal racers, we threw every
possible chance at them to earn
money and break records at the
7th annual 'Battle Royale.' This
event, unlike the rest of the
year, featured a thirty-two bike
field with a $10K payout to the
winner. And for the first time,
XDA offered a FREE 'Second
Chance' race for all sixteen of
the first-round losers with a
$1K payout to the winner. Penske
Racing Shocks also posted cash
for two shootouts that ran
concurrently during Saturday
qualifying, one for racers
quicker than 6.90 and the other
for the guys that haven't made
it to 6.90's yet. Saturday night
featured a Pig Roast for all the
Pro Street team sponsored by
Dunigan Racing. And Shinko Tires
gave away seven tires to Pro
Street racers for various
awards.
But wait, there's more! XDA also
awarded the 'Most Improved
Rider' on the Pro Street GOAT
list with a FREE Friday Testing
& PST Tech Card at every XDA
event in 2020. Cameron Teasley
won this award by moving up
thirteen spots from thirty-one
to eighteenth on the list with a
6.732 ET aboard the Ronnie
Mitchell Racing Hayabusa.
Congratulations to him on such a
substantial performance stride.
Out of the gate on Friday night
records dropped in the first
round of qualifying when Jeremy
Teasley ran an astonishing 6.407
at 230.65 mph on the DME Racing
Turbo GSX-R1000! His previous
record was a 6.422 set back in
June. This run also improved his
MPH standing to second fastest
in the world from his previous
best of 227.77mph.
This event had two brand new XDA
Pro Street racers with Ian
Malone and Canadian David Rego
looking to make their mark on
the class. Rego’s best time of
the weekend was a 7.844 and
Malone's was a 8.059. Welcome to
the class guys, see you in 2020!
In round two of qualifying on
Saturday afternoon, Teasley and
Ehren Litten were the first pair
of bikes out as they would kick
off the Penske Racing Shocks
Shootout. Teasley shattered the
ET record once again becoming
the first rider to the thirties
running a staggering 6.384 at
228.27mph! In the next pairing,
Rodney Williford would throw
down a 6.524 at 229.16 mph
against Jason Dunigan's 6.929.
And then Richard Gadson who
pulled the bye for the first
round of the shootout ran a
6.500 at 214.55! Impressive
numbers!
In round one of the Penske 6.90
Shootout Rudy Sanzoterra 6.931,
Chris Edwards 7.073 and Kenny
Brewer 7.793 all took wins.
Continuing with the rest of the
class in round two of qualifying
Tony Ficher lowered his personal
best ET to a 6.663 on the DAS
Performance Supercharged
Hayabusa. And Keith Correia,
with five years in the making,
finally broke the seal and ran
his first six-second pass at
6.987 on Jonathan Potter's DAS
Performance Turbo Hayabusa.
Round three qualifying delivered
round two of the Penske Racing
Shock Shootouts at the front of
the pairings. Jeremy Teasley and
Richard Gadson were paired to go
out first. And rumors in the
pits on Friday were that the GS
1100 was going to attempt a
thirty pass! This could be the
reason DME Racing Tuner Andy
Sawyer turned the dial another
click for the last round of
qualifying. Both riders shot off
the line with Gadson having the
front half advantage, it wasn't
until the eighth-mile that
Teasley started to pull past
Gadson to take the win and run
the second quickest side-by-side
pass with a 6.441 and 6.474.
Williford had a bye this round
and ran a motor-conservative
6.916.
In round two of the Penske
Racing Shocks 6.90 Shootout,
Chris Edwards took a win over
Rudy Sanzoterra with his first
six-second pass running a 6.988!
His stand-in Crew Chief for the
weekend, Susan Reynolds, went
wild at the starting line
cheering for him! Chris's crew
chief, Paul Reynolds, couldn't
make the event, so his wife came
with Chris to fill in as crew
chief. She was running around
all weekend, and by the look of
Edwards' performance, maybe Paul
just got replaced? Kenny Brewer
had an earned bye this round.
And would face Edwards in the
final next round, but mechanical
problems at the starting line
would hand an easy win over to
Edwards to make him the first
winner of our Penske Racing
Shocks 6.90 Shootout!
Continuing with the rest of
round three qualifying, Pro
Street rookie, Chris Moore
improved his standing on the
GOAT list running a 6.580 to
secure a spot as the 6th
quickest bike of the class. And
the most improved rider, Cameron
Teasley laid down his 6.732 pass
this round to award him the free
entry all next year worth
$1,800.00! Now he just needs to
find a ride for next year!
In the fourth and final round of
qualifying on Saturday, it would
be everyone's last chance to get
their best numbers on the
boards. While there were no
significant gains in round
qualifying, seven riders did
improve their time to move them
up a spot or two on the
qualifying list. Most notable
would be Jake Dugan who
struggled to get his bike ready
and missed the first two
qualifiers leaving him
unqualified after round three
with an eleven-second pass. This
round he was able to produce
power and ran a 7.314 to bump
Ryan Bonitatis out of the field.
So with the thirty-two bike
field set, we have the top
sixteen bikes all in the
six-second zone, with the number
thirty-two qualifier rounding
out the field with an 8.392,
giving the field a two-second
differential.
For the final round of the
Penske Shootout, Teasley and
Williford would line up against
each other for the second time
this year in a Shootout final.
Teasley cut a .059 light and
Williford a .068 light. Rodney
would get out on Teasley
immediately as the front wheel
on the GSXR starts to come up.
As Jeremy rides through his
wheelie to regain control, he
catches Williford just as the
front wheel starts to come up on
his Hayabusa and Teasley pulls
past him. Williford doesn't
recover quick enough, he can't
gain ground on Teasley and has
to watch him fly through the
beams to take the win with a
6.433 pass to Williford's 6.832.
Like Saturday, Sunday would also
feature two Pro Street races
going down simultaneously. All
sixteen of the first-round
losers from the Battle Royale
would be moved into their own
'Second Chance' race. Sunday
afternoon it was sea of Pro
Street bikes that would just
keep coming back to the staging
lanes.
On Sunday the championship chase
between Williford and Teasley is
the top priority of the day.
Coming in the event, Williford
is three points behind Teasley.
In qualifying Teasley would earn
an extra ten points for setting
the ET record, and with
qualifying, he would go into
eliminations fifteen points
ahead of Williford. But now the
thirty-two bike field will come
into play and make it harder for
Teasley to hold onto his lead
because it now gives his
competition and extra round to
potentially earn more points,
and presents both Litten and
Frankie Stotz with a chance at
the championship that they would
not have gotten on a sixteen
bike ladder.
In round one of eliminations,
Teasley as the number one
qualifier should be the first
pair down the track; however,
his competition, Ian Malone, was
a no show in the lanes. And
Teasley moves to the back of the
pack to wait for Malone, who
would never show. Cameron
Teasley would have problems on
his pass as the bike would lose
power as soon as he attempts to
leave the line moving Jake
Henderson into round two. First
round of eliminations saw twelve
bikes run six-second passes,
with Williford and Teasley
making the quickest passes at
6.572 and 6.515 respectively.
Surprisingly Richard Gadson and
Frankie Stotz would run seven
second passes in round one.
Competition finally started
getting serious in round two as
the numbers started to drop on
the scoreboards. Round two
winners were, Teasley 6.452,
Litten 6.588, Moore 6.746, Stotz
6.620, Gargiulo 6.664, Williford
6.59, Gadson 6.629, and Jordan
Haase 6.703. With Teasley taking
a round two win, it would now
put Stotz and Litten out of the
running for a championship. So
Williford and Teasley would be
keeping their eyes on each other
for another go-round.
In round three of competition
three bikes would run in the
forties. Teasley would take a
win over Litten with a 6.412 to
his 6.482. Moore would take out
Stotz with a 6.601 to his 6.620.
Gadson would run his quickest of
the weekend with a 6.467 to
Gargiulo's 6.696, and Williford
would take out teammate Haase
with a 6.585 to his 6.881.
The semifinal was intense as
both Teasley and Williford
secretly were wishing each other
would lose this round. Teasley
got the easier side of the
ladder taking out Moore with a
6.460 to his 7.375. Williford
had to face the GS1100 nitrous
bike who just ran a forty pass.
Gadson took off quicker and
planted itself straight down the
groove like a missile. Williford
would battle the bike all the
way down the track as the front
tire kept coming up wanting to
launch. He stayed in the
throttle and fought it, but his
6.634 was no match for Gadson's
6.463. Someone get Rodney some
alcohol!
With Rodney out, Teasley is
officially the 2019 Orient
Express Pro Street Champion and
can head into the final against
Richard Gadson refocused on
winning the $10K in cash.
However, his focus may have been
too relaxed as he cut his worst
light of the weekend of .114 to
Gadson's slightly better .082.
As they both shot down the
track, neither bike had any
control issues, and they stayed
side-by-side all the way to the
finish line. It looked like
Teasley was gaining on Gadson,
but then Gadson's win light came
on, and the scoreboards flash a
6.403 and 6.403! The fastest
side-by-side Pro Street run in
history! Once again at the XDA!
And the time slip told the story
with Gadson's impressive 1.077
sixty-foot and 4.182 eighth-mile
times. The racing this weekend
was just incredible in terms of
performance.
In XDA's second chance race the
sixteen riders were paired based
on their original qualifying
order. In round one we saw three
six-second passes from Jake
Dugan 6.99, Justin Shakir 6.70,
and Gabe Frederick 6.88. Also
taking wins were Malone, Curtis
Ellerbe, Keith Correia, Edwards,
and Brad Christian.
In round two of eliminations,
Jake Dugan ran his personal best
on a 6.895 at 204 mph pass.
Shakir 6.70, Edwards 6.98, and
Christian 7.150 all took wins.
In the semifinal, Edwards and
Christian's luck would run out
as Shakir and Dugan would head
to the final. Both Shakir and
Dugan have struggled this year,
getting their bikes worked out.
However, in this final, it would
come together for Shakir, as he
would run his quickest pass of
the weekend with a 6.617 over
Dugan's 6.857 to take the win
and the $1K prize money.
We may see the 'Second Chance'
race at more events in 2020, so
get the XDA schedule on your
calendars because next year is
going to be action-packed.
Now that the XDA season is done,
the top ten XDA Pro Street
racers will turn their attention
to their bonus race. The Haltech
World Cup Finals presented by
Wiseco Import vs. Domestic event
on October 30 - November 3 will
host the second annual Pro
Street Shootout sponsored by
Platinum General Services. The
ten racers that will attempt to
qualify for eight spots on
Sunday are Jeremy Teasley,
Rodney Williford, Frankie Stotz,
Ehren Litten, Jordan Haase,
Chris Moore, Darion Payne, Gaige
Herrera, Jason Dunigan, and
Justin Shakir.
For the second year in a row,
Richard Gadson on the Brad
Mummert GS has qualified for the
event but has withdrawn being
unable to get out of work
commitments. This year's
alternate Justin Shakir will get
his spot. This will be the
largest event that Pro Street
has ever raced at. Ten racers
will show up, but only eight
will make it to the show on
Sunday!
DME Racing
Real Street
Champion - Jeremy Teasley
Never before have so many racers
been mathematically eligible for
the DME Racing Real Street
championship heading into the
final race of the season. The
top six in points still at a
shot to be crowned champion at
the end of the weekend. Even
more so, how would perennial
contenders Ashley Cotnoir,
Alisha Malone, and others factor
into the equation?
Reigning champion Spencer
Claycomb, who dominated the
class in 2018, was still looking
for his first win of the season,
as he qualified number one with
a record run of 7.565 seconds on
Saturday.
During qualifying the Penske
Racing Shock Real Street
Shootout went down among eight
riders. First-round winners were
Richard Diggs, Devin Ragland,
Mark Hylton, and Jeremy Teasley.
In the semi-final, class front
runners, Hylton and Teasley
would take wins for another
final round battle against each
other. Hylton would run a 7.721,
but it would be no match for
Teasley's 7.597 as he attempted
to unseat Claycomb's position
during the
qualifying/elimination round.
During Saturday's qualifying
sessions the ladies of Real
Street, Ashley Cotnoir, and
Alisha Malone would line up
against each other for a best
two out of three racers to
bragging rights and cash from
fellow racers and a few
sponsors. Cotnoir would take the
overall win and bragging rights
over Malone. And Malone would
earn some cash for having the
better reaction times of the
three rounds.
Unfortunately for Cotnoir and
her fiance, Mike Sweeney Jr.,
both their motors blew up in the
final qualifying session and
neither would be able to make
the call for Sunday's
eliminations.
Going into eliminations on
Sunday, Claycomb had the
advantage with a potential
ten-point bonus if he could back
up his 7.565 qualifying pass
within one percent to solidify
the record.
However, the spotlight would
quickly shift to Jeremy Teasley,
who broke his own record and
went quicker than Claycomb with
an astounding 7.539 run. Teasley
already had the 1% backup run
from his qualifying time of
7.597, and the momentum on
Sunday shifted to the AM
Performance team.
Round one winners were Claycomb,
Cameron Teasley, Hylton,
Ragland, Stinnett, Jeremy
Teasley, Sosnowski, and Merced.
In round two of eliminations,
former champion Anibal Merced
took out Claycomb to give
himself a better shot at the
championship. Jeremy Teasley
would take out Hylton leaving
only Merced in his way of the
championship. Devin Ragland
would win against Chad Sosnowski,
and Cameron Teasley would take
out Brad Stinnett.
With Hylton and Claycomb out of
the way this would set up the
scenario that if Teasley won in
the semi-finals and still have
the ET record, he would clinch
the championship despite
Merced's outcome. In the
semi-final, Merced would win
over teammate Devin Ragland, and
Jeremy Teasley would take his
brother Cameron out.
Jeremy Teasley secures the 2019
DME Racing Real Street
Championship and becomes the
second rider in the series
history to win both the Pro
Street and Real Street
Championships in one year. The
first racer to ever meet this
accomplishment was Joey
Gladstone in 2016.
The final of Real Street would
feel like deja vu for Teasley as
he won the war but would again
lose the battle. Teasley would
cut a better light than Merced,
but Merced would out power him
to the stripe with a 7.612 to
Teasly's off pace 7.77.
Teasley would ultimately win the
Real Street championship by only
four points, if he had not set
an ET record, Merced would have
won the championship. This year
Teasley set three records in
Real Street that would
contribute thirty points to his
overall points tally.
With four racers not qualifying
for Real Street, XDA ran a 'B'
Class that Victor Gotay took the
win of over Derek Sobiech.
We look forward to seeing
continued growth in this class
as many racers are working on
off-season bike builds.
Pro Xtreme
Champion - Kevin Clark
In Pro Xtreme Kevin Clarke
proved to be an unstoppable
force on his turbocharged Suzuki
winning three out of four events
this year. He started the season
as the points leader and never
let his guard down as the
competition strived to unseat
him. The 64-year-old mechanical
contractor from Virginia has won
the first Pro Xtreme
Championship and will be back
next year to defend his title.
At the DME Racing Fall
Nationals, seven racers came out
swinging, tossing their best
tune-ups into their bikes. John
Collins took the number one
qualifying position with a
3.971, Rodney Williford, who
holds the class ET record at
3.962, qualified with a 3.972,
and Kevin Clarke with a 3.976
rounded out the top three spots.
With three bikes running
three-second passes, this was
the quickest field to date.
With an exorbitant amount of
power and performance, comes
carnage. It's an unavoidable
part of any form of racing, and
the carnage ran rampant at the
season finale. In the first
round of competition, John
Collins, who had an earned bye,
took a loss when he couldn't
fire his bike up to take the
tree under power. Paired riders,
Bobby Lovingood and Chris
Cutsinger didn't even make it
out of their pits for the first
round. Then Rodney Williford,
who was paired with Ron
Bonitatis, took a solo pass
running a 5.244 as Bonitatis
didn't make it for first round
either. And lastly, Rob Garcia
was a no show for first-round
sending Kevin Clarke on a solo
pass as he ran a 4.080.
So, with five competitors not
showing up, the second round
would also be the final round of
side by side runs. Clarke would
cut a better .043 light to
Williford's .082 and then edge
him out at the finish line with
a 3.974 to Williford's 3.986.
Then for the final round, Clarke
would just need to take the tree
under power to win.
Pro Xtreme is presented by DME
Racing, Fast by Gast, Harley
Haul, MaxxECU, McCoy
Motorsports, MTC, Rob Bush
Motorsports, Timblin Chassis,
and Worldwide Bearings.
Vance & Hines
4.60
Champion - Tyler Cammock
Once again, the Vance & Hines
4.60 class showed out with
thirty-seven riders competing
for thirty-two spots on Sunday.
Going into the DME Racing Fall
Nationals, Michael Ostrowski was
leading points. The competition
in this class is so tight that a
points leader one race can fall
several spots by the next race.
Ostrowski took the qualifying
lead with a 4.601 over Tyler
Cammock's 4.601 to give him the
number two spot in qualifying.
Qualifying was rounded out with
Thomas Acres as the
thirty-second qualifier running
a 4.733, that's only a
thirteen-second differential
among thirty-two riders, leaving
no room for error in this
eighth-mile class. In the first
round of eliminations, there was
only one red light, and three
.00 lights showing you just how
cutthroat this class is once
they roll through the water box.
Ostrowski took a first-round
loss to Thomas Acres in round
one when he broke out with a
4.560 to Acres' 4.569. This loss
would ultimately cost him the
championship, as Tyler Cammock,
Mac McAdams and Michael Thyen
were all in striking distance,
and all three took a win in the
first round. However, in round
two of eliminations Michael
Thyen would lose to Darion Payne
taking him out of the running
for the championship. This left
Mac McAdams and Tyler Cammock
now both in the running for the
2019 title. In round three of
eliminations, Eran Pielert would
chop the tree on McAdams with a
.003, and then drag him to the
finish line where he let him
take the stripe on a breakout
run of 4.591 to Pielert's 4.629
who took the win by a
thirteen-inch margin of victory.
Now McAdams would wait on the
top end of the track to see if
his only rival left, Tyler
Cammock, would win or lose his
round. Unfortunately for
McAdams, Cammock would dominate
Darion Payne and take the win
and the 2019 Championship!
Cammock is the first repeat
champion this class has seen
since its inceptions in 2013.
Cammock won the championship
four years ago in 2015 under the
IDBL sanction.
But don't feel too bad for
McAdams. On Saturday during
qualifying eight racers put up
their own cash to race against
each other in the 460 Big Money
Shootout. Ronald Procopio, Brad
Gleason, Wes Hawkins, Tyler
Cammock, Richard Gadson, Michael
Thyen, and Boo Brown joined
McAdams in three rounds of
racing to win a $4,000 cash
payday. Procopio chopped the
tree with a.014 on McAdams in
the final but misjudged his
performance and broke out at the
stripe with a 4.571 to give the
win and all the cash to Mac
McAdams.
Cammock would not go on to win
the event. In the semifinal,
Maegan Bowers would take the win
against him with a holeshot
victory. And Eran Pielert would
win against Tim Shelton to send
him to the final against Bowers.
Neither of these two racers has
ever won a 4.60 race, and this
would be a first for one of them
no matter who took the win in
the final. Bowers, who is in her
very first season of 4.60, also
became the first woman to race
in a 4.60 final. XDA announcer,
Fabian Brown hyped this final
round to the crowd, and everyone
was on their feet as they
watched these two turn their top
bulbs on. Pielert wanted the win
and cut a .008 light on Bower's
.079 reaction. With Pielert out
in front of Bowers she would
have to put in work to send her
bike down the groove as quickly
as possible if she wanted to
catch him. As much as Bowers
wanted the win, she just
couldn't get there, and Pielert
took the win by fifteen feet,
with a 4.625 to her 4.626.
We can't wait to see how the
Vance & Hines 4.60 class
develops in 2020. Get the 2020
XDA schedule on your calendar!
HTP
Performance Grudge
Fifty-eight HTP Performance
Grudge racers showed up to
support the season finale of the
XDA, and while the temperatures
were not as cool as they were
initially forecasted, the 'No
Time' motorcycles were unphased
as they were hooking up and
rocketing down the track on
Saturday night.
APE Nitrous
Bulls
Champion - Dave Norris / Yellow
Jacket
Dave Norris took the APE Nitrous
Bulls championship just by
showing up at the event, his
points lead could not be undone
by any racer. Which was a good
thing because Richard Gadson on
'Dead Man Walking' got the round
one win when Norris turned on
the red light. Joey Gladstone
took a weekend off from that
boring Pro Stock bike life to
come back to where the action is
at with XDA. Aboard HTP's 'Grave
Digger' he took out Brandon
Tyree on 'Mad Max' with a
better-controlled pass. Both
bikes left the starting line
simultaneously, but Tyree had to
fight to keep the front wheel
down, allowing a small window
for Gladstone to get out and
stay in front of him. Billy Vose
on 'Power Slave' drew the
first-round bye.
In round two 'Grave Digger' was
no match for 'Power Slave' under
the control of veteran racer
Billy Vose. Vose left like a
rocket leaving Gladstone looking
like he stopped to dig a grave
on his way to the end of the
track. Gadson got the bye that
round and would face Vose in the
final. And once again, Vose
quickly took a win as Dead Man
Walking fell into that grave
Gladstone dug the pass before.
Monster Bulls
Champion - Rendolf Torbed / The
Joker
Going into the finale of Monster
Bulls, David Page on 'Pickin
Pockets' was leading the points
for the championship. However,
during qualifying Page went down
on the track at the sixty-foot
mark that would send him to the
hospital where he found out he
broke three of his ribs. But
this did not deter Page as he
made it back to the track, with
a smile no less, just in time to
pull his first-round pairing
card. Page intended to just
break the beams under power
against David Martin on Black
Panther in hopes Torbed would
take a first-round loss.
However, for this race, Rendolf
Torbed was aboard 'The Joker'
which turned out not to be a
joke of a bike as he, without
much effort, won against Josh
Eubanks on Harley Quinn. Eubanks
had a big wheelie off the line
and came down hard to abort the
pass. In the final Torbed would
take the win and the
championship when he took out
the 'Black Panther' ridden by
David Martin by staying ahead of
him from start to finish.
Unit 5
Components Brahma Bulls
Champion – Nick Mazeika /
Clockwork
Unit 5 Components Brahma Bulls
class was led by Nick Mazeika on
'Clockwork' all season.
Unfortunately for Mazeika, he
had a family emergency and had
to leave shortly after the bike
was teched in. His friend Gaige
Herrera did the honors and made
a quick pass on the bike in the
first round of the Bulls
eliminations.
The FBR Shop
5.60
Champion - Courtlan Whiting
The FBR Shop 5.60 was a nail
biter for Courtlan Whiting who
was leading the class when the
race started but slowly started
to lose his lead as the weekend
wore on. Duane Jackson took the
number one qualifying position
with a 5.602, giving him an
extra point in qualifying over
Whiting who qualified second
with 5.604.
On Sunday Whiting took a
first-round loss putting his
championship in jeopardy. The
rest of the day was nothing
short of #Suspenseful as we
watched the rounds unfold. Duane
Jackson, Jim Mauro, and Taylor
Dunham all had a chance at the
championship, and they all took
first-round wins. Right away,
anyone paying attention to
points in this class, could feel
the tension rise. In round two,
Jackson, Mauro, and Dunham all
took wins, and you could see
Whiting standing on the track
just watching his points lead
diminish. In round three, it was
a repeat as all three
competitors took another series
of wins as Whiting watched,
suited up still competing in
Crazy 8's, you could see the
disbelief in his eyes as he
walked back to his bike in the
staging lanes. In round four,
Mauro would take out Dunham and
Jackson would take another win.
Then in round five, the worst
possible outcome happens, Mauro
had a bye to the final and
Jackson took a win heading into
the final as well. Courtlan had
just won the Crazy 8's final
before this round, left the
winner's circle and ran over to
watch this round, but that was
all he could do at this point,
watch.
In the final round, if Jackson
won, he would also take the
championship by twelve-points,
but if Mauro won, Whiting would
win the championship by three
points. And at this point as a
racer, you are doing the
calculations in your head and
hoping you counted everything
correctly because this would be
the tightest championship this
season.
Both Mauro and Jackson were at
the top of their games, cutting
lights and running the number.
You couldn't even bet on who
would win this one, it was a
coin flip pairing. Mauro got the
starting line advantage on
Jackson, but to the naked eye,
it was hard to see as they both
shot off down the track toward
the eight-mile finish line.
Neither racer was lifting the
throttle, and they both broke
out, running a 5.580 to a 5.569.
Mauro would be the victor by a
margin of only four inches! And
when his win light came on, both
Courtlan and Mauro's teams went
wild!
You can only see this kind of
excitement if you are at the
track. Get the 2020 XDA schedule
on your calendar!
Shinko Tires
Crazy 8's
Champion - Dustin Lee
Dustin Lee had the 2019 Shinko
Tires Crazy 8's championship
locked down before he even
rolled into the track. His
celebrating more than likely
started on Thursday when he
pulled in.
Mark Southard who took the win
in Saturday Street ET also made
the top qualifying spot in Crazy
8's with an 8.884 over
thirty-four competitors.
Unfortunately for Southard his
Saturday winning streak would
not translate over to Sunday as
he would take a loss in round
two to Duane Jackson. Courtlan
Whiting who has had a
sensational year made another
final round appearance with
Andre Ritchey. Ritchey, who was
in his first Crazy 8's final
this year would not be able to
overcome a hungry Whiting.
Whiting took the starting line
advantage, and as both
competitors approached the
finish line, neither one was
willing to back off the
throttle, and they both broke
out. Whiting ran an 8.862 taking
the win by a margin of victory
of just .017 seconds, over
Ritchey's worse 8.844 breakout
pass. Courtlan Whiting finished
the season second in points,
while Ritchey finished in sixth
place.
Mickey
Thompson Performance Top
Sportsman
Champion - Robin Procopio
In Mickey Thompson Top Sportsman
154 riders would enter, but only
thirty-two would qualify for the
quickest bracket class in XDA.
Kevin Manchester would take the
top qualifying spot with a
6.921, while Hank Lovett would
round out the field in the
thirty-second position with an
8.176 ET.
In round one of competition, out
of the sixteen pairs of bikes
that went down the track, only
six of those delivered action as
ten riders would either red
light or break to give wins at
the tree. In round two of
eliminations, Robin Procopio
beat Bobby Holland, who was
trailing her in points, to
clench her first Top Sportsman
Championship! In round three she
would be taken out by Richard
Gadson, who at the previous
event, she beat in the final
round. Gadson would go on to
make it to another final to face
Kevin Manchester riding the
quickest bike in the class. With
the pressure of a win on the
line, and one of the best riders
in the country in the lane next
to him, Manchester would go
-.061 red to send Gadson to his
second winner's circle of the
day!
MPS -
Motorcycle Pro ET
Champion - Mike Schulz
On Saturday the lanes were
overflowing with 157 MPS Racing
Pro ET bikes ready to contest
the best bracket racers the east
coast has to offer. It took
seven rounds of competition to
get down to just two men for the
last battle of the night. Mike
Marino and Dustin Lee would be
those guys.
In the final, the bulbs would
drop almost simultaneously as
Marino dialed an 8.91 and Lee an
8.90. Marino would get the
advantage at the tree with .024
light to Lee's .045. As they
approached the strip, Lee made a
rare miscalculation and broke
out with an 8.885 giving the win
to Marino with his dead-on 8.918
run.
In Sunday's MPS Racing Pro ET
race, it would be another
eight-round battle with another
Mike taking the win, but this
time it would be class points
leader Mike Schulz. With a
strong showing of rounds won on
Saturday, the only way Schulz
could have lost his points lead
would have been to take the
first-round loss. But for Schulz
that wasn't an option as he
continued the charge on Sunday.
Marino met Nick Hamlett in the
final already knowing he was the
class champion. But the final
battle in Pro ET would end at
the starting line. The bulbs
dropped, and Nick Hamlett would
be the third rider to red light
against Schulz that day with a
-.004 reaction time. Schulz
finished the 2018 season tied
for fifth place with three other
riders, and this year the
spotlight will fall solely on
him! This is Mike Schulz's first
time as an XDA/IDBL/MIROCK
champion!
Brock's
Performance Street ET
2019 Champion - Dustin Lee
Going into the DME Racing Fall
Nationals Dustin Lee had a 120
point lead in Brock's
Performance Street ET, and while
the competition put up a fight,
Lee finished the season on top
claiming another championship
for the second year in a row
with a hundred point lead.
The competition was so hungry
that virtually every first-round
loser took advantage of re-entry
for a second chance at the
winner's circle. But the two
competitors that did not need
the re-entry option were Derrick
Milbourne and Jimmie Miller.
These two are top five in the
class, and they cut through the
competition effortlessly to meet
each other in the final.
In the final Milbourne dialed
8.94 and got the jump on Miller
with a .030 reaction time to his
.063 dialed in at 8.49. With his
opponent getting the starting
line advantage, Miller would be
playing a bit of catch up to get
in front of him. But Miller
would make a mistake by not
lifting enough to take the
stripe on a breakout run of
8.479, to give the win to
Milbourne who ran an 8.961.
Miller finished the season third
in points, just thirty-two
points behind Milbourne.
With Milbourne being undefeated
on Saturday, he rolled through
the competition on Sunday to
make another final round
appearance looking to double up.
However, Shayne Proctor was
rolling through the competition
too and was ready to end
Milbourne's win streak. When
they met in the eighth-round
final, their race would be one
of the closest of the weekend.
Proctor dialed 9.03 and
Milbourne 8.97. Milbourne took a
slight advantage at the tree
with a .019 light to Proctors
.023. They would race
side-by-side down the quarter to
the stripe with Proctor getting
the win by a fraction. Proctor
ran a 9.034 and Milbourne an
8.978, giving them an identical
.027 package! Milbourne finished
the season number two in points,
while Proctor finished in sixth
place.
XDA's Street ET class continues
to grow with new racers taking
their first steps in this class
at every race. Zack Krinock has
been to many XDA events, but
this past weekend he brought his
1982 Kawasaki and entered the
competition. He won three rounds
with good reaction times and
consistent runs on his
twelve-second dials. He also ran
his personal best of 12.62
during Friday's test session. We
hope to see him back in 2020
with his bike!
Gamblers Race
In Friday night's gamblers race
thirty-nine riders entered the
race, and Mac McAdams pulled the
first-round bye. McAdams would
fall in round four to Derrick
Milbourne, who would then get an
earned bye in round five to send
him to the sixth round final to
face Mark Southard. On his way
to the final, Milbourne would
take Johnny Mullikin, Jim
Shifflett, Taylor Dunham out of
the competition. Southard was
also unstoppable on his way to
the final with quick reaction
times and consistent ET's. He
took out heavy hitters like
Dustin Lee, Jay Windsor, Robin
Procopio, and David Ashton along
the way. In the final, Southard
would cut his worst light of the
day with a .052 to Milbourne's
quicker .032. And while a lot of
races are won at the tree, this
would not be one of them as
Southard ran closer to his 8.81
dial with an 8.852 to
Milbourne's 8.968 on his 8.90
dial. Mark Southard took the
first win of the weekend and
$2,438 in cash, in the racer
funded race.
Trying to pick one standout
moment in the XDA season would
be near impossible. From the
first run to the last, the
entire XDA season was filled
with great racing and memorable
moments. Congratulations to all
our race winners, record
breakers and champions. And to
all the racers that came out for
their first XDA event in 2019,
welcome to the family!
The 2020 XDA season will begin
where 2019 ended, the
world-renown Maryland
International Raceway on April
24-26, 2020 for the Platinum
Fleet Repair Spring Nationals.
Mark your 2020 calendar now and
don't miss a weekend of racing
with the quickest and fastest
sanction in the country.
Visit
xdaracing.com
for event information, class
rules, schedule, and more.
About XDA Racing
The Xtreme Dragbike Association
(XDA) is an east coast
motorcycle drag racing series
with 700+ motorcycle racers
competing at each event. Every
XDA event hosts professional
classes, sportsman classes,
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 information on the XDA,
please visit
www.xdaracing.com
or connect with us on Facebook,
Instagram, Twitter and YouTube @xdaracing |
