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The biggest gangster of 2018,
hands down, was Mother Nature.
No sanction, series or track was
safe this year with the most
canceled races in history.
Going into the final race, the
Miller’s watched the weather
closely and felt confident they
could complete the event even if
they had to run it all in one
day. By Friday night they
determined that Sunday’s
changing forecast would have too
much rain to risk running that
day. So Friday night they
restructured the schedule to
extend the Saturday night curfew
and cut one qualifying round
out, to start eliminations
Saturday afternoon. But by
Saturday afternoon the forecast
changed again, and rain was
rapidly moving in.
“It was soul-crushing for my
brother and me,“ said Jason
Miller. “We want to give our
racers the best possible event
to compete at, and watching that
radar all day was stressful. But
we just have to work with the
hand we are dealt, so we pushed
hard to get as many rounds in as
possible.”
Despite a soggy end to the
weekend, the final did not
disappoint with three first time
champions. Wilson Burkhead,
Spencer Claycomb, and Richard
Gadson all collected their first
championship in the MIROCK/IDBL/XDA
legacy. Jake Dugan and Cameron
Teasley ran their first six
second passes to make it an
event they won't forget.
XDA also released their 2019
schedule to their loyal racers
Friday as they came through the
gate.
April 26-28 / PFR Spring
Nationals / MDIR
May 31-June 2 / MTC Summer
Nationals / VMP
June 21-23 / Superbike Showdown
/ MDIR
July 26-28 / WPGC Bike Fest /
MDIR
August 23-25 / Bike Bash / VMP
September 20-22 / DME Racing
Fall Nationals / MDIR
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
Champion – Rodney Williford
In Orient Express Pro Street
there was a potential of six
different riders who could have
taken the crown with the
thirty-two bike ladder at this
event. Ryan Bonitatis entered
his first Pro Street event, and
for the first time this year did
not hold a #1 qualifying spot at
XDA. He broke in round one
against Ryan Schnitz, but he
plans to be back next year in
Pro Street.
In round one of qualifying
Schnitz ran a career-best 6.70
on the HTP Performance GSX-R1000
and was on track for a win
taking out Bonitatis and
Connelly Jr in eliminations. But
Schnitz wasn’t the only one who
ran a career-best, Richard
Gadson, Frankie Stotz, Jordan
Haase, Darion Payne, Luis
Hornedo, Cameron Teasley and
Jake Dugan also improved on
their personal best times. All
these careers bests also made
for the fastest Pro Street field
in history with eighteen bikes
running under seven seconds.
During Qualifying the Penske
Racing Shocks Pro Street
Shootout brought the action and
upsets when the entire DME
Racing team was taken out in the
first round, while also ending
Teasley’s chance for a
three-peat in the Shootout.
Shakir and Williford took out
Tom Ivy and Jamie Lopes
respectively in the semi-final.
With two heavy hitters in the
final, we were ready for big
numbers on the board. With
identical reactions times (.067)
these two took off for
side-by-side action. Shakir got
out in front of Williford at the
1000’ for just a moment, and
then Williford quickly regained
his position in front and took
the stripe with a 6.644 to
Shakir’s 6.769. The Penske Pro
Street Shootout will return for
the 2019 season!
Going into this race, Williford
had the lead over the class,
however, with a potential of
five other riders able to take
the championship, all eyes were
on Williford during first round
on Saturday. When he won the
first round, hopes quickly faded
as that would give him a bye to
round three, making it
impossible for most still
overtake him in points.
With a sixty-one point lead,
Rodney Williford would win the
2018 Championship and be the
first in line for the World Cup
Finals Import vs. Domestic event
in November. The Pro Street
Shootout sponsored by Platinum
General Services will feature
the top ten riders of XDA who
ran at least four events this
year. With one exception, the
damage to the Brad Mummert GS is
too extensive, and Richard
Gadson has withdrawn from the
event, which will allow our
first alternate to take his
place. Rodney Williford, Jeremy
Teasley, Chris Connelly Jr, Mark
Gargiulo, Justin Shakir, Jordan
Haase, Ryan Schnitz, Darion
Payne, James Herbert, and Jason
Dunigan will take center stage
at 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 – Spencer Claycomb
In DME Racing Real Street,
Spencer Claycomb was the only
racer to claim his championship
before the final event. On
Thursday during testing,
Claycomb ran his quickest pass
ever at 7.63 at 181 mph. That
would turn out to be the
highlight of his weekend as he
struggled in qualifying. He had
problems in round one and then
swapped to an untested motor for
Saturday that would break his
block in round two, making him a
spectator of Real Street for the
rest of the day.
Anibal Merced took the number
one qualifying position with a
7.73 and was looking for a win
to finish out the year. However,
Merced would be stacked against
Teasley’s in the semi-final. All
three Teasley brothers, Cameron,
Brandon, and Jeremy, took round
two wins and would be headed to
the semi-final round with
Merced. Unfortunately, the rain
would end the event before we
could see this happen.
Real Street will return for the
2019 XDA racing season. Thank
you to all the racers that came
out to support this class in a
positive way!
HTP
Performance Grudge
In HTP Grudge, some races went
off while some didn’t even show
up. ‘Cash is King’ was supposed
to take on ‘Uncle Sam’ but the
King had to stay home and work.
I guess all that Moore money
that ‘Kool-Aid’ won in June
really put a dent in that
wallet. CJ Fair on ‘Red Bull’
showed up to do battle with
Caleb Holt on ‘Bad News’ in a
heads-up 1/8 mile race. ‘Red
Bull’ took the lead at the
starting line and stayed in
front of him until his motor let
go right before the 1/8 mile
letting ‘Bad News’ get around
him for the win.
Dave Norris on ‘Yellow Jacket’
took the Running of the Bull’s
Pro Nitrous class win over
Cameron Teasley on ‘Money
Train.’ Dave made a quick A to B
pass with no hesitations, while
Teasley struggled with a wheelie
off the starting line to cost
him valuable ET. The HTP
Performance class will be back
in 2019 more prominent than
ever.
Vance & Hines
4.60
Champion – Richard Gadson
In Vance & Hines 4.60, Michael
Thyen would win the battle, but
lose the war on Saturday. During
qualifying, Thyen would take a
win in the Big Money Shootout
over Wes Hawkins. With that
Battle won, Thyen had his sights
on overtaking Gadson's points
lead for the championship.
In round one of eliminations,
Richard Gadson would lose to
throw the door wide open for
Thyen, Michael Ostrowski, Mac
McAdams, and Boo Brown to take
over the lead. In round two
Brown and Ostrowski would take
losses to leave McAdams, and
Thyen as the only competitors in
striking distance. Unfortunately
for them, the rain came in too
soon and ended the chance for
another round of competition.
And when the points calculations
were done, Gadson held on to the
championship by only one point
over Thyen.
The FBR Shop
5.60
Champion – Jeremy Teasley
Jeremy Brown qualified number
one in the FBR Shop 5.60 class
with a 5.601. This qualifying
position would give Brown the
most points earned for the event
and the number five overall
finish for 2018. But with only
one round of competition
completed, the other Jeremey of
the class, Teasley would keep
his points hold on the class and
claim the 2018 Champion.
Shinko Tires
Crazy 8’s
Champion – Jeremy Teasley
Teasley was also leading the
Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s class
coming into this event. And all
eyes were on David Poague in
round one of eliminations as he
lined up against Teasley. But
when he failed to take out the
points leader, it put the
pressure on Boo Brown who was
the only candidate left for a
chance at the crown.
Unfortunately for Brown, the
rain came in before round two,
and that would seal the deal for
a second championship for Jeremy
Teasley.
Mickey
Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
Champion – Wilson Burkhead
For the first time all year,
Ryan Bonitatis did not lead
qualifying in Mickey Thompson
Top Sportsman. With Bonitatis
making a move to Pro Street, Mac
McAdams took over the number one
qualifying position with a 7.72
over the thirty-two bike field.
With two rounds completed when
the event was canceled, Wilson
Burkhead and Derrick Milbourne
were still in the race and both
had a chance for the title. But
since points were calculated at
round two, Burkhead’s win in
June would earn him the
championship by only one point!
Milbourne will be back next
season ready for another chance
at the title.
MPS Racing Pro
ET
Champion – Dale Hamilton
MPS Racing Pro ET crowned Dale
Hamilton as the 2018 champion on
Saturday with a one round points
lead. When the rain came in on
Saturday, this class had only
completed two rounds. Bob
Carlson, Jimmy Shifflett, James
Farmer, Derrick Milbourne and
Mike Schulz who were in
contention for the championship
had their chances washed away in
that rain. But they will return
for the 2019 season ready for
another chance.
Brock’s
Performance Street ET
Champion – Dustin Lee
Dustin Lee took the Brock’s
Performance Street ET
championship with a thirty-one
point lead. And like the other
sportsman classes, with only one
round of racing completed,
points in this class would not
change much as most of the
racers in contention for the
championship won the first
round. This entry level class
had a lot of fierce competition
this year a lot of veteran
racers. Austin Bridge really
made a name for himself this
year with two event wins in this
class and outstanding overall
performance. If you are thinking
about racing, come try out
Street ET next year.
Friday Night
Gambler’s Race
With one of the few races to
actually finish, the Friday
night gamblers race saw
thirty-one entries. Shayne
Proctor and Dale Hamilton cut
through four rounds of
competition easily with their
quick reaction’s times. It was
an action-packed final as these
two fought for a cash reward. In
the final round, the two would
cut almost identical lights on
each other to make it a race to
the stripe. Proctor would get
there first running 8.623 on his
8.62 dial, while Hamilton would
lose this race running 9.710 on
a 9.69 dial.
The 2018 season saw a lot of
up's, and down's this year, from
records to rain-outs. The 2019
XDA season is shaping up to be
the quickest and fastest season
yet. Mark your calendars now
with the 2019 schedule and don't
miss a weekend of racing with
the fastest sanction in the
country.
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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