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Rockingham Dragway ' s Jim McClure All-Harley World Finals presented by MTC Engineering and Law Tigers of North Carolina was - by the estimation of everyone who was there - the biggest Harley-Davidson drag race in decades . Whether you ' re counting bikes , entries , records , spectators , impact on the local economy - this event added up . The championship finale for both the PennGrade1 AMRA and AHDRA / AMA motorcycle drag racing series showed that American V-Twin drag racing sport and the enthusiastic scene it generates is alive and growing - something that would make the late Jim " Da Judge " McClure beam his legendary smile . The event featured an incredible 40 nitro bikes " putting fire in the hole and taking the tree ." Nitro V-Twin racing is
' an incredible 40 nitro bikes '
literally and figuratively blowing up . Defending AMRA Top Fuel champ Ryan Peery qualified number one at ' The Rock ' with a 6.39 at 217 miles per hour . Spring AHDRA Rockingham race winner Tim Kerrigan was second with a 6.42 at 213 , and defending AHDRA champion Tracy Kile was third with a 6.44 at only 188 ! The Top Fuel eliminations were a brutal slug match . Kile was spun and done in E1 against multi-time NHRA champ Tii Tharpe on his Spevco Jay Turner Racing bike . Kerrigan slipped past Tharpe ' s teammate John " JT " Toth and Jordan Peterson raced past Ricky " Sharkey " House . Peery ' s opponent broke in the waterbox and then Ryan ' s bike broke abruptly at launch - and the top qualifier was done for the day . " The rods had enough and said ' I ' m outta here !'" reported Peery . " Luckily they lasted just long enough to get the round win and lock up the championship ." Actually , both AHDRA
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and AMRA championships . Peterson and his Romine Brothers built-and-tuned , Steve Horne-owned , beautiful former Doug Vancil bike was on an improvement arc on raceday , running a 6.46 at 208 in the semifinal alongside a lane left vacant by Peery ' s no-show in the semi . That left him with lane choice against Tharpe in the final after Tii ' s 6.47 at 205 beat Kerrigan . The JTR team had Tharpe ' s bike fully loaded for the final and the Spevco boss ran a 6.39 at 215 . But that . 159 light though ... Tii gave up . 121 to Peterson at the tree and came up . 004 short of catching the red and black bike he fought with in the NHRA wars a few years ago . It was second generation Nitro Harley drag racer Peterson ' s first Top Fuel win . North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Famer Jay Turner is the one the locals |
Armon Furr |
all come to see , but Turner focused on his role as team manager and trying to solve the riddle of his massively powerful ProCharged Top Fuel bike . Nitro Funnybike also saw a secondgeneration Nitro Harley drag racer take the win . Armon Furr is the son of the legendary South Carolina racer Bill Furr , and the family magic came through . Peery was also the number one qualifier in Nitro Funnybike with a 6.59 at 210 . But Peery slowed in the semis and defending AMRA champion Jim Doyle got around him to meet Furr in the final . Furr came to the line with lane choice , but Doyle ' s consistency outran him . Again , the tree was the story as that redeye back at the starting line in Doyle ' s lane signaled the - . 010 foul that cost him the race . Peery secured |
Jordan Peterson |
the AMRA championship . Veteran racer Sam White scored a sweep in Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel , qualifying number one , winning the race , and the championship in both series . White and final round opponent Rocky Jackson left the line within 1 / 1000ths of each other , with White legging it out with a 7.31 at 170 against Rocky ' s 7.57 at 169 . GMS Racing Engines Outlaw Street saw a heated , recordshattering battle amongst these gasoline and power-adder no-bar badasses . Andy Simon Sr . started the assault with a 7.64 at 188.36 on his turbo Bagger in testing . Gregg Dahl pushed the bar way farther with a 7.57 on his nitrous-huffer to lead qualifying . But it was Dahl ' s teammate Mike Motto who won the race and the AHDRA championship with a . 009 light and 7.80 lap in the final against Dahl , who shredded his drive belt at the 330 . Zipper ' s Performance Pro Bagger saw Indiana ' s Jeremy Williamson run the class ' s first 7 second pass with a 7.98 at 172 in qualifying on his sleek turbo Bagger . But Williamson redlit in E2 . Number two qualifier Rick Hunnicutt took his semifinal but broke in the process . That left number five qualifier Scott Tomsu as the last man standing for the unopposed win . Tomsu runner-upped to Bowling Green winner Jimmy Mailkranz in Thundermax Street Bagger . Mailkranz qualified number one with a 9.33 at 145 and won the final despite giving up . 106 to Tomsu at the tree . His 9.42 at 142 was able to drive around Tomsu ' s 9.86 at 135 . Brian Conley Jr . and the iconic " JT ' s Auto " bike continued their |