The PennGrade1 American Motorcycle Racing Association( AMRA) brought its Harley- Davidson drag racing show to U. S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan on June 27-28. Qualifying for the Michigan Nitro Nationals showed veteran teams struggling with their combinations, but the cream rose on raceday. No class typified the " struggle on Saturday, win on Sunday " scenario

more than Johnny Mancuso ' s Circle M Ranch Top Fuel. While giants such as Samu Kemppainen( sixth) and champion Ryan Peery( seventh) languished way down in the order, unheralded Curtis Heisler shocked the field by qualifying number one with a 6.52 at 214 mph. And he did so with a flair for the dramatic. As Heisler fought to steer the bike away from the wall, he delayed braking and pulling his chute until the bike was straight and out of danger.

Now the end of the track was coming up quickly and Curtis plunged straight into the sandpit, keeping the bike up until the very end. Uninjured and unfazed, Heisler exclaimed " What a rush." He was unable to make the call for round 1 on raceday. It was Peery and Samu that earned their way into the final, with Peery ' s putting an. 039 light on Samu ' s. 076 and taking the win with a 6.41 at 209. It was the second big win in a week ' s time for Peery, who won the IHRA

Triple Crown race at National Trail. Kenneth " Stubby " Hultman was the lone Armon Furr Nitro Funnybike contestant at Michigan. As always, Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel had the largest pro bike field. And as usual, " Bad Apple Mary( BAM)" Dangrow came out on top, this time with the win( against Hot Rod Carlisle in the final) and number one qualifier. There ' s usually at least one double winner at each AMRA event, and this time it was Jeremy " Skinnywrench "