Ohio ' s Peery Leads AMRA Norwalk Winners
The PennGrade1 American Motorcycle Racing Association ' s ( AMRA ) Harley-Davidson motorcycle drag racing series took the stripe at America ' s Dragstrip , Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk , Ohio , on May 17-19 . The AMRA Ohio Nitro Nationals ran in beautiful weather and a big win by a home state hero cast the brightest light over this Disney World of drag racing facilities .
This report was prepared by Tim Hailey . Enjoy everything there is to read , see and watch about motorcycle drag racing and more at https :// www . eatmyink . com
Milford , Ohio ' s Ryan Peery has won a lot of Circle M Ranch / Dove Fuels Top Fuel races and multiple championships by virtue of his consistency . But gremlins inhabited his clutch over the winter and like a determined squatter , they refused to leave . His bike has blown the tire off on more passes in the first two races of 2024 than it has for the last three years . And Norwalk started off no different , with Peery qualified sixth , with an ET that barely broke out of Super Gas 9.90 index . Meanwhile , Jay " Bulldog " Turner qualified number one with a 6.51 at 216 mph and seemed to be sitting pretty to make it two straight . " We worked our asses off and fixed enough issues in time to go rounds ," said Peery , who ripped off a 6.47 at 202 to trailer Cecil County runner-up Jordan Peterson in round one of eliminations . He lucked out in E2 , taking out twotime NHRA champ Tii Tharpe and his Spevco mount despite running only 7.0 at 190 . That set up the final with Turner , who failed to get down the track , and another 7 + second pass from Peery was good enough to do the job . " It wasn ' t pretty , but a win is a win ," continued Ryan . Japanese rider Tadashi " Reggie " Saitou won Nitro Funnybike at the AMRA season opener at No Problem
Raceway ( NPR ), and winning again at Norwalk has the long distance commuter thinking " championship ." " I got points for winning the first round of the season , and I want to get as many points as possible this year ," said the Pro Stock Motorcycle rider-sized Saitou , who overcame mechanical issues . " There was a problem with the rear tire I was using until the last race . I got new tires . However , problems with the clutch system , fuel system and electrical system were discovered . Additionally , the front head bolt broke . Ryan Peery helped us ( with that )." Reggie had a broke bye in E1 when Jordan Peterson no-showed , then collected a win when his Bad Apple Racing teammate Cameron Gunter redlit in the semifinals . " And thanks to the support of Jimmy McMillan , Jake and the Bad Apple team , I was able to make it to the finals . My team worked hard to make sure I could ride my bike . I focused on reaction time to reward that ." And indeed , Reggie nailed a . 025 on number one qualifier Jim Doyle , and outran the champ 7.13 to 7.35 to seal the win . " This race had a lot of luck . I guess DJ ( the late " Nitro Santa " Don Johnson ) was watching ." Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel champion Sam White again showed up and
Top Fuel Winner - Ryan Peery
promptly gapped the field while qualifying number one , but like at Cecil County , failed to reach the winners ' circle . White blew the pipe off on his round one bye , then lined up crooked in the rush to race E2 against " Bad Apple Mary " Dangrow , who then went to the final against NPR runner-up Curt Sexton . Sexton put , 044 on Dangrow at the start and legged it out with a 7.40 at
Nitro Funnybike Winner - Tadashi “ Reggie ” Saitou
168 to her 7.53 at 167 for the win . " Man , I felt like she was right there , and she was just going to come right by me . She is becoming a very great woman to watch , race and be able to race next to ." Turbo vs . nitrous is the gift that keeps on giving . Gregg Dahl and Mike Motto had planned to take their nitrous Outlaw Street V-twin beasts to race against the import sport bikes in the Mid-Atlantic based XDA series , but their Virginia race was postponed with a bad weather forecast . So , Dahl and Motto brought their record-setting bikes to Norwalk and immediately started delivering , with Dahl qualifying number one at 7.69 / 182 . There was a fair gap to number two Charley Douglass ' 7.95 at 172 , but that number sent Charley ' s dad Gary into a celebration back at the starting line . This was the first time out for the turbo bike this year and that was a strong number to build on . Douglass started Outlaw eliminations off with a broke bye when Tim Grindle failed to make the call , running a smooth 8.0 . Motto won his pair with a strong 7.99 , but Dahl was still the class of the field at 7.66 at 186 - his highest mph ever and all ends of the AMRA quarter and eighth-mile records . >>>
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