AMRA Harleys were Bangin ' at Beech Bend
PennGrade1 AMRA D. C. Jones Memorial Fall Nationals September 25-27, 2026 Beech Bend Raceway, Bowling Green, Kentucky, USA
This report was prepared by Tim Hailey. Enjoy everything there is to read, see and watch about motorcycle drag racing and more at www. eatmyink. com
Bowling Green, Kentucky ' s Beech Bend Raceway has long hosted one of the best biker events in the USA, and this year ' s PennGrade1 AMRA D. C. Jones Memorial Fall Nationals was packed with V-Twin culture junkies and high-speed Harley- Davidson drag racing. Defending Johnny Mancuso ' s Circle M Ranch Top Fuel champ Ryan Peery and his bike loved the Bowling Green conditions, qualifying number one with a 6.30 at 224. Rebel Glover rode the Byron-winning( with Chris Smith in the seat) Jay Turner Racing bike to number two qualifier, but his 6.47 at 194 was a sizable gap behind Peery. Two bikes failed to make the field of 16. Peery himself was over half a second off his qualifying pace in his round one raceday win over Derrick Nelson. He improved to a 6.44 at 214 on an E2 broke bye. John " J. T." Toth was having a career day, but his 6.69 wasn ' t enough for Ryan ' s 6.42 in the semis. Jordan Peterson beat Cameron " Flash " Gunter in the other semi, but spun the tire and dropped a hole in the final against Peery as the Chris Stewart team continues to dial-in their new Bentec Sweden clutch set-up. Ken " Stubby " Hultman has had Armon Furr Nitro Funnybike all to himself most of this season, but Beech Bend was different. Former champ Jim Doyle won the season opener at No Problem
Johnny Mancuso ' s Circle M Ranch Top Fuel winner Ryan Peery
Armon Furr Nitro Funnybike winner Jim Doyle
Raceway, but has stayed home until Bowling Green, where he was joined by Walter Halosnki to give Stubby a fight. And he held his own in qualifying, scoring number one with a 7.19 at 164 mph. That gave him an opening round bye, while Doyle eliminated Halonski on the other side of the ladder. Unwilling to yield, Stubby put. 088 on Doyle at the tree, but his bike gave up the ghost and
Doyle scored the win. Rider Hot Rod Carlisle and bike owners Mike and Harriet Ann Blair have been knocking on the Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel " win " door for many races now, and the door was finally opened at Beech Bend. Carlisle qualified number two with a 7.27 at 173- within striking distance of number one qualifier and defending
Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel winner Hot Rod Carlisle
class champ " Bad Apple Mary " Dangrow ' s 7.20. " As we were working one side of the ladder, Mary was working the other and it was a Bad Apple vs. Red Eyed Racing final," said Carlisle. " We both left almost identically, with Mary edging me by. 013 on the tree and. 021 in the 60 foot. By the 330 we were evening out, us with a 2.984 and Mary with a 2.982. At the eighth mile, I was 4.561 and BAM was 4.565 and it was still anyone ' s race as we were neck and neck. At the 1,000 foot mark we were still only. 034 apart. I tucked in as tight as I could as my clutch locked in the final stage and our top end charge was able to just slightly pull ahead with us crossing the line with a 7.299 and BAM running a 7.382." Jay Rogers and number one qualifier Paul Warner faced each other in the Nostalgia Nitro final. When the tree dropped, Jay got out on Paul with a. 168 to Paul ' s. 202. By the 330 mark, Jay still held a slight lead but Paul was charging hard after him. Jay ' s 9.64 at 94 won on a holeshot with a. 028 margin of victory against Paul ' s 9.36 / 102. Charley " No Bags " Douglass ripped both of his no-bar bikes down the Beech Bend 1320 for Pro Outlaw and Axtell Cylinders Hot Street wins. The fact that the Virgina racer flipped his turbo bike and went to the hospital the last time he was here only makes the wins more poignant. " My hope was to make my first 200 mph pass in that same lane," said Charley. " I ended up running 199.76 mph on Saturday and 7.386 ET." The 199 wasn ' t backed up, but Douglass still claimed the Pro Outlaw record with a 197.76. He had the round one bye and then faced Billy Doherty in the round two / semi. Doherty grabbed time at the tree with an. 023 against
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