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The Xtreme Dragbike Association
(XDA) delivered another exciting
round of Motorcycle Drag Racing
to Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP)
with the 33rd annual MTC
Engineering Summer Nationals.
And for the second year in a
row, the weather did not slow
down the XDA War Machine.
A weak forecast will typically
keep racers at home on a race
weekend, but not the XDA troops.
With 690 entries, this event set
the VMP record as the largest
motorcycle participant count in
history. Rain came in Friday
morning, and again with a
torrential downpour on Friday
night during round one of
qualifying soaking the track and
pits to delay Saturday's start
time to noon. The weather also
didn't deter spectators as they
came out to support the event in
record numbers.
With a late start time on
Saturday, XDA adjusted the
schedule to make the best of
what mother nature handed them.
Pro ET and Street ET re-entry
and the fourth qualifying
session for the Pro classes were
canceled. This decision would
give spectators a solid show on
Saturday while providing both
Sportsman and Pro racers the
best possible outcome for the
day.
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
Winner - Jordan Haase 6.684
Runner-up - Rodney Williford
16.809
#1 Qualifier - Rodney Williford
6.538
\Twenty-Eight
Orient Express Pro Street racers
entered this event to make XDA
the series to watch for the most
exciting two-wheeled action in
the country. And despite the
rain and the cancellation of a
Pro qualifying round, nine
personal records were broken
throughout the weekend. Chris
Klassen of Quicktime Racing
became our quickest Canadian
with his 7.347 pass. Brett Ware
made his XDA debut running a
7.24, and Lorenzo Ortiz, Brad
Christian, Chris Edwards all
improved as well. DME Racing's
Chris Connelly not only improved
his ET but also his MPH to a
222.28, making him the
fifth-Fastest racer in Pro
Street.
Outspoken grudge racer Chris
Moore has kept his promises to
become a dominant force in the
class. For weeks he promised he
had something special for the
class, and on Saturday he ran a
6.64 to put himself among the
top ten quickest racers of the
class.
But the record-breaking this
weekend was dominated by the
Williford Racing camp. Rodney
Williford called his troops to
the front lines when he ran a
6.53 in the first round of
qualifying. Ehren Litten
followed the next round breaking
into the fifties running a
6.580, becoming the fourth
quickest racer on the GOAT list.
In the first round of
eliminations, the entire
Williford team would take wins,
along with Chris Moore, Ryan
Schnitz, Gaige Herrera, Chris
Connelly, and Jason Dunigan.
Dunigan whose bike sparked a
small oil fire while he rolled
through the shutdown area,
suffered melted hoses, wires,
and bodywork damage. The DME
Racing team scrambled to pull
the bike apart and attempt to
get it ready for the next round.
When the last call was made two
hours later to report to the
lanes, they were able to make it
just in time to be the first
pair out.
In round one of eliminations
Gaige Herrera pulled the upset
taking out GOAT Jeremy Teasley,
and went on to take out Ryan
Schnitz in round two on a
holeshot win. Williford took a
win against Dunigan who couldn't
recover from a starting line
tire spin. Jordan Haase would
win against teammate Ehren
Litten who had problems and
could not make his pass. And the
most entertaining win of round
two went to Chris Connelly who
showed up prepared to take on
Chris Moore's starting line
games with a matched stare down
before rolling into the lights.
Connelly also took home an
undisclosed amount of money from
Chris Moore on a side bet on
that run too.
Chris Connelly and Jordan Haase
who may be rivals on the track
are also friends that look
forward to their on-track
competition. Connelly, who
currently has a better win ratio
to Haase was looking to keep his
winning streak alive.
Unfortunately for Connelly it
was time for Haase to deliver a
payback in the closest win of
the day. Haase cut a .029 light
to Connelly's .044 giving him
that edge to take the stripe
with a 6.87 to his 6.89.
Williford then put an end to
Herrera's wins with a 6.63 pass
to make it an all Williford
Racing Final for the second time
at VMP.
Last year Jordan Haase saw his
best performance of the year at
VMP. And this year he would
officially mark his dominance at
this track with another final
round appearance. Last year
Williford took the win over
Haase in the final, but the
table would turn this year as
Jordan not only got the win over
Williford, but also set his
personal ET record to a 6.684!
Tuner John Gover may have been
speechless for a just a slight
moment after this win. This new
record puts him in the top ten
of the quickest racers of all
time, and puts him second in
points for the Championship
chase.
The twelve racers that didn't
qualify raced in the Pro Street
'B' class on Sunday. Quicktime
Racing's Brad Christian who has
seen a steady improvement in
performance took the win over
Mike Kovacevich on the Ronnie
Mitchell tuned Hayabusa.
DME Racing
Real Street
Winner - Anibal Merced 7.76
Runner-up - Brad Stinnett
#1 Qualifier - Anibal Merced
7.718
The DME Racing Real Street
action started on Friday during
test and tune with a friendly
side bet between rivals Spencer
Claycomb and Jeremy Teasley. In
weeks leading up to the event,
Devin Ragland called out
Claycomb for an 'Off the
Trailer' race for a nickel. Both
bikes were in legal Real Street
trim, with Claycomb getting the
back tire. For you non-grudge
racers, this means Claycomb got
the starting line advantage of
staging his back tire as opposed
to the front tire. Claycomb got
the win running a 7.91 to
Teasley's losing 7.83. Do that
math?!
On Saturday the Schnitz Racing
Real Street Shootout delivered
the drama for the day when Mark
Hylton took his third Real
Street win this season making
him undefeated in the first
three races. Hylton took out
champion Anibal Merced in the
final with a 7.79 to his 7.91 to
put an extra $1,200 in his
pocket.
Anibal Merced took the number
one qualifying position with
7.718 and would look for
redemption on Sunday.
In round one of eliminations,
four racers with bike troubles
wouldn't make it to the lanes
giving half the ladder an easy
advance to round two. Racers who
advanced after beating
competition were Brandon Teasley,
Devin Ragland, Brad Stinnett and
Chad Sosnowski.
In round two of eliminations,
Hylton, Merced, Sinnett, and
Ragland would all take wins to
advance to round three. And in
round three Anibal Merced would
be waiting for his biggest rival
at the tree, Marcus Hylton. At
the season opener, Hylton took
the win in the final over
Merced, and again on Saturday
during the Shootout final Merced
would take a second lose to him.
But not this time, Merced would
deliver a 7.66 pass to put a
stop to Hylton's three-race
winning streak.
Brad Stinnett won over Devin
Ragland sending him to his first
final to face Merced, but the
race would be uneventful as
Stinnett had starting line
problems to give Anibal Merced
an easy path to the winner's
circle and the championship
points lead.
APE Nitrous
Bulls
Winner - Kenneth Grate /
Hannibal
Runner-up - Lavar Delee / Jizzle
In APE Nitrous Lavar Delee made
it to the final again,
apparently 'High Roller' isn't
doing it for him anymore because
this time he was on 'Jizzle'
when he took out Brandon Tyree
on 'Mad Max' and Caleb Holt on
'Bad News' to earn his spot in
the final. Kenneth Grate on
'Hannibal had the easier side of
the ladder with a bye and a
takedown of Dave Norris on
'Yellow Jacket'. And in the
final, the $6,600 payday went to
'Hannibal' as 'Jizzle' just
couldn't keep up. The grass
isn't always greener on the
other side.
Monster Bulls
Winner - David Page / Pickin
Pockets
Runner-up - Jon Herlong /
Moneytrain
The Williford camp took their
Pro Street domination into the
nitrous only Monster Bulls class
for riders weighing between 200
and 249lbs with no wheelbase
restrictions. David Page on 'Pickin
Pockets' barely had to put in
any effort to defeat 'Harley
Quinn' and 'Black Panther' to
make it to the final. Jon
Herlong on 'Moneytrain' took out
'Spawn' and got a bye to end up
in the final for a face-off with
'Pickin Pockets'.
And once again 'Pickin Pockets'
cleaned out the other lane to
take the $3,400 win back to the
Williford Racing camp for
Saturday night celebration
festivities.
Unit 5
Components Brahma Bulls
Winner - Desmond Spalding / BBN
Runner-up Nick Mazeika /
Clockwork
The Unit 5 Brahma Bulls 63"
maximum wheelbase all-motor
grudge class had two new entries
with Kill Bill on 'BBN' and CJ
Fair on 'All Pro Joe'. Nick
Mazeika on 'Clockwork' got the
first round bye and was looking
to defend his title in the final
against 'BBN' after he took out
the 'All Pro Joe' in round one.
In the final Clockwork had a big
wheelie out of the gate and
could not recover, giving the
win and the 2K payout to 'BBN'.
Vance & Hines
4.60
Winner - Darryl Hollins 4.60
Runner-up - Tyler Cammock 4.65
#1 Qualifier - Darryl Hollins
4.60
The Vance & Hines 4.60 class
continues to grow with the
biggest turn-out of thirty-six
bikes, leaving four racers not
qualified for the show on
Sunday!
Virginia racer, Darryl Hollins
edged out the competition for
the number one qualifying
position with a 4.601. He would
then go on to win four rounds of
competition to meet Tyler
Cammock in the finals. At the
season opener, Cammock also made
a final round appearance taking
a loss to Ronald Procopio.
With points on the line for a
championship chase, Cammock hit
the tree hard and cut a rare red
light of -.010 against Hollins
ending his own chance at a win
and sending Hollins to the
winner's circle! This is
Hollin's first win in 4.60,
making him the second racer of
the weekend to finally break
through to the winner's circle.
Despite another final round lose
for Cammock, he now overtakes
the lead in points for the
championship chase.
The FBR Shop
5.60
Winner - Harvey Hubbard 5.61
Runner-up - Taylor Dunham 5.63
#1 Qualifier - Jeremy Teasley
5.60
The FBR shop saw another great
turnout with fifty-eight racers
filling the lanes for a chance
at the eight-mile title. Jeremy
Teasley took the number one
qualifying position with a dead
on 5.60.
Harvey Hubbard who struggled in
qualifying on Saturday was able
to get his bike straightened out
for Sunday to make a performance
comeback running consistent
5.60's every round with killer
lights as he put five racers on
the trailer before meeting
Taylor Dunham in the final.
Taylor Dunham who came into the
race third in points, was
matching Hubbard's performance
on his side of the ladder as he
too sent racers home with good
lights and consistent ET’s. This
made their pairing for the final
exciting for spectators watching
Dunham on his 2002 GSX-R street
bike take on Hubbard's 1984
Suzuki wheelie-bar bike.
With matched reaction times, it
would be a race won on the
stripe. Hubbard looked over
right before the finish and
lifted on the throttle a bit
which probably kept him from
almost breaking out and taking
the win with a 5.62 to Dunham's
5.63.
Shinko Tires
Crazy 8’s
Winner - Dustin Lee 8.89
Runner-up - Duane Jackson 8.79
#1 Qualifier - Boo Brown 8.89
In Shinko Tires Crazy 8's Boo
Brown took the number qualifying
position with a 8.890 over forty
other competitors. Brown would
win two rounds on Sunday before
being taken out by Andrew
Ritchey.
Dustin Lee and Duane Jackson who
are some of the toughest racers
in the XDA sportsman ranks both
took five round wins to face
each other in the final. On
Lee's side of the ladder, he
would take out CJ Fair, Wes
Brown, Taylor Dunham, and Thomas
Miceli Jr. including one earned
bye. On Jackson's side, he would
take out Stephen Knight, Turon
Davis, Herbert Simons, and
Andrew Ritchey with one earned
bye as well.
Both races went into the final
equally matched on their
reaction times for the day,
however when the bulbs dropped
in the final, Jackson left late
with a .107, while Lee has his
best reaction time of the day in
Crazy 8's with a .020. Jackson
would try to make up the
reaction time with ET, but it
would be his demise as he broke
out with an 8.79 giving Lee the
win with his better overall
package running an 8.89.
Mickey
Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
Winner - Bob Carlson
Runner-up - Gary Clontz
#1 Qualifier - Ryan Bonitatis
7.55
In Mickey Thompson Tires Top
Sportsman the Fastest ET racers
compete for a chance at a
possible 9K payday. The winner
of Top Sportsman gets entered
into round six of Pro ET on
Sunday for a chance at an
additional payout. And the
Summer Nationals delivered this
double payday for one racer.
Gary Clontz and Bob Carlson were
both qualified twenty-five and
twenty-six with a 8.27 and 8.28
respectively out of thirty-two
qualified racers. Their
qualifying time was over a
second slower than the number
one qualifier Ryan Bonitatis's
7.55 showing that being fast
isn't everything.
Carlson had the reaction time
advantage over Clontz going into
the final. Carlson ran a 8.43 on
his 8.36 dial to take the win
over a 8.32 on the 8.28 dial of
Clontz. Carlson then takes his
win and heads back to the lanes
to compete in the remaining
rounds of Pro ET.
MPS Racing Pro
ET
Winner - Bob Carlson
Runner-up - Shayne Proctor
In MPS Racing Pro ET Bob Carlson
lost the battle in round five to
Logan Mathias, but went on to
win the war. XDA currently
allows double entries in their
ET classes, so if you have two
bikes, you can enter them both
in the same class for a chance
to race yourself in the final!
So while Carlson took a fourth
round lose on his black ZX-14,
his win in Top Sportsman on his
red ZX-14 gave him entry back
into Pro ET for the sixth round.
Carlson went on to win two more
rounds to face Shayne Proctor in
the final. Proctor had only
entered one bike, but did take
advantage of re-entry in round
one after he took a loss with a
-.003 red light. Once he was
back in the game he became an
unstoppable force for the next
six rounds until he met Carlson
for the finals. Proctor would
push the tree too hard and again
turn on the red light, giving
Carlson a double-up win that
earned him $6K on Sunday. And
while you might think this
double win is like a lightning
strike, Carlson doubled at a VMP
race last year as well! This win
will also put him in the lead
for the championship.
Brock's
Performance Street ET
Winner - Duane Jackson
Runner-up - Clay Davies
Brock's Performance Street ET
racers have an option to
re-enter the race if they take a
first-round loss. Clay Davies is
an example of how re-entry gives
you a second chance if you think
you still have a shot to make it
all the way. After his
first-round loss and re-entry
back into the race, he was able
to win the next five rounds to
join Duane Jackson in the final
round.
Jackson was on top of his game
by the time Street ET finals
came around. In the Crazy 8's
final Jackson ran an 8.79, he
then went on to make two more
passes in Street ET running back
to back 8.80's creating deadly
consistency.
In the final against Davies,
Jackson dialed an 8.80 with a
conviction that this round would
be his. Both riders left the
tree with close reaction times.
Davies dialed an 8.53, and as
both riders were side-by-side
all the way down the track, they
weren't taking their eyes off
where the other was at. Davies
never lifted and broke out with
8.52 giving the win to Jackson
who ran another dead on 8.80,
and putting another notch in the
.00 Racing team belt.
Complete Race Results for the
33rd annual MTC Engineering
Summer Nationals at VMP are
available at
www.XDAracing.com/results.
Teamwork defined: The combined
action of a group of people,
especially when effective and
efficient. This couldn't be more
accurate for the officials of
the XDA. Led by brothers Jason
and Chris Miller, their
dedicated staff has years of
experience officiating drag
racing events. "Chris and I feel
honored and blessed to work with
such a dedicated and hardworking
team," stated Jason Miller. "No
matter what comes our way, our
XDA team and the VMP and MDIR
teams give 110%, and they are a
huge part of the XDA’s success.
Our racers feel at home as they
see the same faces at each race,
knowing it's conducted in a
safe, fun, and professional
manner."
The next stop for the 2019 XDA
season will be back at Maryland
International Raceway for the
2nd annual Superbike Showdown on
June 21-23. Championship chases
will rage on in a few weeks as
the series hits the halfway
point in the season, make plans
now to come out and watch the
action, or better yet, enter
your bike and join the fun!
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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