This past weekend nearly 700 XDA
motorcycle drag racers ran down
the Maryland International
Raceway quarter-mile for the
28th annual Platinum General
Services Spring Nationals.
With a beautiful weather
forecast and racers eager to
resume racing after two years of
pandemic hurtles, the pits were
jam-packed with racers ready to
start the 2022 racing season.
Friday saw record turnouts with
nearly 300 racers entered in
test and tune. And with the rush
to get the season started, the
track was hit with multiple oil
downs as racers continued to
push performance limits.
However, the MIR crew prevailed
and kept the show moving along
as racers put on a
crowd-pleasing show.
Orient Express
Racing Pro Street
Winner – Rodney Williford /
Runner-up – Ryan Hable
The Orient Express Pro Steet
racers never disappoint as they
always give the crowd a stellar
show. Racers started testing on
Wednesday at the track as the
season opener is always a
learning curve. These Pro Street
teams continuously make upgrades
to push their performance to the
next level. And it was apparent
as 6 second passes became the
norm every round.
Class champion Rodney Williford
was the number one qualifier
every round. Williford turned
the dials as needed every round
to keep his turbo Hayabusa on
top. His final number for
qualifying was an astounding
6.397 made in the third
qualifier.
Qualifying was exciting as
several racers dropped their
personal best ET's and put big
numbers on the boards. By the
end of qualifying, fifteen
racers were running in the
six-second zone. Justin Shakir
struggled in the first two
qualifying rounds, but then in
three, he ran a 6.467.
Ricky Wood made his first 6.60
run in qualifying with a 6.687,
a number that eluded him in the
last half of the 2021 season.
Curtis Brown and Brett Ware also
lowered their personal best ET's
to 6.715 and 6.903,
respectively.
The first round of eliminations
was action-packed as fourteen of
the sixteen competitors easily
put 6 second times on the
boards. Williford took wins
against Rudy Sanzoterra, Jordan
Haase, and Greg Wallace before
facing Ryan Hable in the final.
Hable took wins against Ricky
Wood, Justin Shakir, and Darion
Payne on his road to the final.
In the final round, Hable needed
to cut a great light for any
chance of a win. Williford, who
could efficiently run in the
forties with a wrist twist, is a
tough competitor to beat. And
Hable did his job cutting his
best light of the weekend, but
it wouldn't be enough for the
Williford Racing powered
Hayabusa running a 6.472 at
225.63 to Hable's 6.962
performance.
There were twenty-one Pro Street
machines on the property, and
while all of them did not
qualify for the main show, we
saw a lot of performance
potential and can't wait to see
what these guys deliver
throughout the 2022 drag racing
season. The next race is only a
month away!
DME Racing
Real Street
Winner – Ben Knight / Runner-up
– David Stewart
Class champion David Stewart
took the number one qualifying
spot in DME Racing Real Street
with a 7.569. And Stewart looked
to be on track for a
season-opening win as he took
wins against Courtlan Whiting
and Rickey Gadson to land
himself in the final against Ben
Knight. Knight was not on his
ProCharger this season. Instead,
he is aboard Ralphie Navarro's
Hayabusa, and he took this
all-motor platform to the final
after taking wins over David
Fondon, Chad Sosnowski, and
class champion Mark Hylton.
In the final, Knight did what he
does best and cut a light on
Stewart to make it an exciting
side-by-side run as the pair
raced towards the stripe.
Stewart ran a faster 7.634 to
Knight's slower 7.677, but that
holeshot will get you every
time, and Knight's win light
came on for his first Real
Street win!
MaxxECU Pro
Xtreme
Winner – Chris Cutsinger /
Runner-up – Terry Schweigert
This weekend John Collins
qualified #1 with a 3.988 in
XDA's quickest eighth-mile
category, MaxxECU Pro Xtreme.
Collins would not be able to
turn the qualifying position
into a win as Chris Cutsinger
took him out in the semi-final
round. Cutsinger would face
Canadian racer Terry Schweigert
in the finals.
With these bikes pushing the
limit every round, Schweigert's
bike would suffer damage to give
Cutsinger a solo pass in the
final and his first Pro Xtreme
win. Cutsinger gave the crowd a
show despite the easy win when
he blasted down the track and
threw a 3.994 on the scoreboard!
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme is presented
by Billy Vose Racing, Fast by
Gast, Dunigan Racing, DME
Racing, Grothus Dragbikes,
Harley Haul, Rob Bush
Motorsports, Robinson
Industries, Schnitz Racing,
Timblin Chassis, and Worldwide
Bearings.
HTP
Performance Super Stock
Winner – Darion Payne /
Runner-up – Mike Davis
HTP Performance Super Stock
features stock wheelbase
motorcycles with limited
modifications. This class is all
about the riders and what they
can do to squeeze the most power
out of these motorcycles with
just their clutch hand in
control. The challenge with a
stock wheelbase motorcycle in
drag racing is controlling the
torque off the starting line to
keep that front tire on the
ground for a quick and smooth
transition from launch to
acceleration.
Darion Payne and Mike Davis
finished the 2021 season in top
five. And these two competitors
showed their grit as they worked
through the class to face each
other in the final. Payne left
first, getting the advantage on
the tree, which ultimately paid
off to turn on his win light,
despite Davis running a faster
8.938 to Payne's 8.953.
Vance & Hines
4.60
Winner – Michael
Ostrowski / Runner-up – Ronald
Procopio
The country's quickest and most
popular 1/8th-mile index class
is Vance and Hines 4.60, and
thirty-two competitors showed up
to fill the field at the
Platinum General Services Spring
Opener. Durwood Rawlings took
the number one qualifying spot
with a 4.601, followed by the
class champion Ronald Procopio
with a 4.602. Procopio would get
right back to work, winning four
rounds to land himself in the
final against Michael Ostrowski,
who qualified with a 4.605.
The final round was won at the
tree as the champ turned on the
red light with a -.003. This red
light handed the win to
Ostrowski and gave him the 2022
championship chase advantage.
Boosted Bulls
Winner – Malcom
Phillips / Billy Mays
Runner-up – Desmond Spalding /
Moonshine
Boosted Bulls is back this
season as a championship earning
class as XDA is looking to bring
the turbo grudge bikes back into
the arena and give them a place
to show out. The class started
with sparks as Frankie Stotz on
DME Racing’s ‘Reddi-Wip’ crashed
in round one against Malcom
Phillips. Stotz was fighting a
wheelie and keeping the bike
away from the wall when the bike
washed out from under him as the
front wheel hit the track. He
walked away from this crash with
bruises and will be back out
later this season.
Phillips on ‘Billy Mays’ went on
to take on Desmond Spalding on
‘Moonshine’ in the final but
someone drank all the shine and
Spalding was a no show due to
engine carnage and handed the
first win to Phillips.
APE Nitrous
Bulls
Winner - Desmond Spalding / Sho
Nuff
Runner-up – Rafael Bynum / War
Cry
Desmond Spalding switched gears
from the turbo bike and jumped
on ‘Sho Nuff’ in the APE Nitrous
Bulls class. Rafael Bynum on
‘War Cry’ was set up and running
fast passes all night, so it was
not surprising to see him in the
final against Spalding. These
two rolled into the beams as
their teams ran around both
bikes making sure they were both
ready to perform. Both bikes
blasted off the starting line,
but ‘Sho Nuff’ had no problem
turning that win light for
winner’s circle finish.
3 Sixty 5
Monster Bulls
Winner – Spencer Claycomb /
Under the Influence
Runner-up – David Martin /
Unknown
In 3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls the
class champion David Page went
out in round one to David Martin
on ‘Unknown.’ Martin has been in
a battle with Page for the last
two seasons trying to dethrone
him. And this weekend Martin got
the jump on him and did not
waste that win as he went on to
win the next round again Howard
Gerken on ‘Son of Sam.’ This win
landed him in the final against
Spencer Claycomb on ‘Under the
Influence.’
Spencer Claycomb has put in a
lot of work on the off season
and has been racing and testing
for the last few months, so he
would not be easy prey for
Martin. Mullet power would
prevail in the final as ‘Under
the Influence’ found his way to
the win light to start the
season with the points lead.
Tommie's
Motorsports DMV Bulls
Winner – Cody Lowe / Codeine
Runner-up – John Carter / The
Gray Matter
The Tommie's Motorsports DMV
Bulls class was sold out by
Friday night with 16 entries.
This affordable grudge class is
designed for races who have not
competed in the elite Boosted
Bulls and Nitrous Bulls classes
of XDA. Class champion Cody Lowe
on ‘Codeine’ was ready to defend
his thorn this past weekend as
he easily turned win lights on
against Geoff Godfrey, Carl
Lucas, and Derek Sobiech to make
it to another final. John Carter
on ‘The Gray Matter’ would be
the last victim of the night as
Lowe made easy work of him in
the final to take his place in
the winner’s circle once again.
1 Stop Speed
5.60
Winner - Nick Noble / Runner-up
- Juan George
In the eighth-mile class of 1
Stop Speed 5.60, class champion
Dustin Lee took the number one
qualifying spot with a 5.601
over forty-three competitors.
However, Lee was eliminated in
round two of competition despite
grabbing the top spot.
Last year's number two in the
points chase for the
championship was Nick Noble. And
Noble is now on track for this
year's championship after taking
the season opener win over Juan
George. The two racers gave it
their all in the final with a
margin of victory of only .011
seconds going to Noble.
Mickey
Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
Winner - Hank Lovett / Runner-up
– Boo Brown
In Mickey Thompson Performance
Top Sportsman, the fastest ET
racers on the property competed
for one of the thirty-two spots
available. Pablo Gonzalez, who
won two events last season, took
the number one qualifying spot
with a 7.462. Unfortunately for
Gonzalez, he would not make it
past round two.
However, Boo Brown and Hank
Lovett had no problems cutting
down the competition to win four
rounds to face each other in the
final. For the second time of
the weekend, Brown would be
chopped down at the tree with
Lovett's .003 reaction time over
his .079 giving Lovett the
advantage to get to the stipe
first and turn on that coveted
win light.
MPS Racing Pro
ET
Winner – Dustin Lee / Runner-up
– Hank Lovett
The MPS Racing Pro ET class had
a tremendous turnout for Sunday
competition, with one hundred
and thirty-five racers. The
semi-final featured heavy hitter
Hank Lovett, Kenny Webster,
Dustin Lee, and class champion
Mike Schulz. Dustin Lee and Hank
Lovett would come out victorious
to make it to the eighth-round
final.
Hank Lovett, who won Top
Sportsman had merged into Pro ET
at the fifth round and was
looking to double up for the
weekend. The final round would
be a letdown for Lovett when his
bike broke on the starting line,
and had to be backed out of the
beams. Dustin Lee would break
the beams for the win and start
the season leading the points.
Brock's
Performance Street ET
Winner – Davante Brittingham /
Runner-up – Mark Blake
The Brock's Performance Street
ET racers had to make it through
six grueling rounds of
competition to make it to the
final. Both Davante Brittingham
and Mark Blake fought hard to
win those six rounds of
competition to face each other
in the final. Blake was running
quicker with an 8.90 dial to
Brittingham's 9.77. Brittingham
cut the better light and
resisted the urge to take the
stripe first as Blake blasted by
him to break out and give
Brittingham the first win of the
season.
VooDoo
Components Bracket Bash
The VooDoo Components Bracket
Bash featured on Saturday had a
stout 135 entries. But with a
season opener riddled with oil
downs and on track delays, only
four rounds of competition were
completed before the decision
was made to call it a day and
split the purse among the
remaining riders.
Hard Times
Parts & Service Gambler's Race
Winner - Brice Corish Jr /
Runner-up – Boo Brown
The Friday Hard Times Parts and
Service Gamblers Race featured
sixty-four sportsman racers
looking to get competitive
action before event qualifying.
With a payout of $4,000 to the
winner, this Friday-only race is
intense, with racers throwing
down double-o lights and running
dead on their dials.
Boo Brown, who took a win last
season, made it down to the
final round by running dead on
his dial-in. He faced Brice
Corish Jr, who also had a great
day of dial-in consistency. But
the final round would be won at
the tree when Cornish put a .001
light on Brown's .068 to give
him the advantage and holeshot
as the pair blasted through the
finish line side-by-side.
Notable
The Platinum General Services
Spring Nationals also featured
the Top Fuel Motorcycle of Dave
Vantine as his team came out to
test his nitro monster. And he
did not disappoint, running a
5.935 at 256.26 to set the MPH
track record at Maryland
International Raceway.
The next stop for the 2022 XDA
season will be at Virginia
Motorsports Park for the 36th
annual MTC Engineering Summer
Nationals on May 20-22, 2022.
There will be over 700
Professional, Sportsman, and
Grudge motorcycle racers in
competition, battling it out for
over $80,000 in cash purse. Make
plans now to watch the best drag
racers in the country put on the
premier horsepower show the East
Coast has to offer.
For full qualifying and
round-by-round results of the
event, visit
xdaracing.com.
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 |