The Mickey Thompson Pro Mod class will have a $5,200 total payout: $2,500 to win, $1,000 to runner-up, $250 to semis, $150 to 1/4 finals, and $75 to 1/8 finals. The entry fee for Pro Mod will be $150. The Pro Mod class will also have a championship points series awarding $1,000 to the champion and a MIROCK Championship Gold Card, Iron Tree Trophy, and a MIROCK Championship Jacket. Do you have what it takes to win a Pro Mod Championship?

Jason Miller of MIROCK, states “It is such a pleasure to work with Mickey Thompson and have them a part of our series. The Pro Mod class is a great addition to the MIROCK Superbike Series, and I would like to thank Mickey Thompson for sponsoring this awesome class! Mickey Thompson has been more than a sponsor to the MIROCK series, they have been a great partner as well and I look forward to working with them for a very long time.”

Steve Earwood of MIROCK, states “Rockingham Dragway has a tradition with Pro Mod Bikes that goes back to the very conception of the class.  Some of the top Pro Mod racers of all-time reside here in the Carolinas and consider “The ROCK” their home track. Matt Smith, past ADRL Dragstock winners Ronnie Procopio, Billy Vose and Dragstock runner-up Rob Bush, plus Pro Mod engine builder genius Dan Wagner. This is a great addition to our Mickey Thompson events, arguably the most significant motorcycle series in drag racing.”
Carl Robinson of Mickey Thompson, adds “There is no question that MIROCK remains as the mainstay for Motorcycle Drag Racing here in the US. Mickey Thompson is committed to provide the best tires in bike racing and our partnership with MIROCK is the perfect platform for our brand to perform. The 2012 Season should be interesting and exciting!

Our plan is to educate the racers, especially the new ones, on how to make money utilizing the contingency program.  There are no tricks. Buy the product from the sponsors, run the product and decals on your bike, and with a first or second place finish, you will be awarded cash or product certificates.  Also, #1 Qualifiers in Pro Stock, Pro Mod and ET will be awarded cash at specific races.

“Our sponsors are great and take a personal interest in our racers and fans,” said Craig Tharpe. “They know they have winning products and they are willing to reward racers for using them. This is very exciting for AHDRA racing, and we are proud that the sponsors trust us to facilitate and manage the program successfully. We will work extra hard to expose the racers and fans alike to the products available and encourage them to support those who support the sport. A huge thanks goes out to the manufacturers for believing in AHDRA.”

Here’s a preview of those already signed:

* Capone Racing Enterprise – #1 Qualifier in Pro Mod at all events

* Carolina’s Full Throttle Magazine – #1 Qualifier in ET for Spring Rockingham, Bristol, TN and Fall Rocking only

* CP-Carrillo – Custom set of High Performance Pistons to winner  (no repeat winners) – product certificate awarded

* Daytona Sensors – WEGO III Systems and Programmable Shift Light – product certificate awarded

* Daytona Twin Tec – VFRI V-Rod Fuel Injection System and TC88A, TC88 and 1005 Ignition Systems – product certificate awarded

* Mickey Thompson Tires – Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels

* PAC Racing Springs – PAC Racing Spring Product (must be registered)

* PR Factory Store – Racepak must have been bought within 3 years at PRFS (2010, 2011 and 2012)

* RC Components, Inc. – RC Components Wheels – Front and Back – Two wheels (one pair, BOTH on the race bike)

* Southern Biker Magazine – #1 Qualifier in Pro Stock for Bristol, TN only

* Vance & Hines – Stainless Hi Output Duals/2-1

* Vanson Leathers – Leather Drag Suit – product certificate award given at year-end

* VP Racing Fuels – Racing Fuel – Rider must show proof of purchase to be eligible for contingency. Minimum of 2 gallons per event or 25 gallons per season.

* Zippers Performance – Red Shift Cams

* Zippers Performance – ThunderMax Auto Tune

Check out the sponsors on board with AHDRA for 2012 – along with cash and product certificate award postings on the website at www.ahdra.com.

To find out more about the AHDRA Contingency Program, contact Rick Greene at 336-413-3192 or email him at gerry@ahdra.com.

AHDRA entered its 34th year in motorcycle drag racing in 2011 and will host ten (10) national events across the U.S. in 2012, with 16 classes of competition. For more information on AHDRA’s 2012 Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts Championship Series, call 336-924-2095 or visit www.ahdra.com.

March 24 – 25 WRMDA Speedworld Raceway Park, Phoenix, AZ

March 31 – April 1 AMRA State Capital Raceway, Baton Rouge, LA.

April 13-15 Manufacturers Cup Race at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Valdosta, GA

April 21-22 AHDRA Florida Nitro Nationals, Gainesville, FL

April 28-29 AMRA Bowling Green, KY

May 5-6 AHDRA Carolina Spring Nitro Nationals, Rockingham, NC

May 19-20 AHDRA- Northeast Nitro Nationals- Atco, NJ

May 19 WRMDA The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV
June 9-10 AHDRA- Ohio Bike Week Nationals, Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, Norwalk, OH
June 16-17th NBRA Fathers Day Race. Grand Bend Ont, Canada
June 23-24 AMRA Bowling Green, KY

June 30-July 1 AHDRA Mid-West Nitro Nationals, Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, OK

July 6-8th NBRA Rocky Mountain Nationals. ED, AB
July 26-28- AMRA- Chopper Fest, Martin, MI

Date TBC: NBRA 3rd Weekend in July BC Nationals. Mission, BC
August 3-4 AHDRA Thunder in the Valley Nationals, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, TN

August 25-26 AHDRA Northwest Nitro Nationals, Woodburn Dragstrip, Woodburn, OR

Date TBC NBRA 3rd Weekend in August Night of Fire. Mission, BC

Sept. 8-9 AHDRA Liberty Nitro Nationals, Numidia Dragway, Catawissa, PA

Sept. 29-30 AMRA- National Finals, Bowling Green, KY

Oct. 13-14 AHDRA- Jim McClure Nitro Nationals, Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, NC
Oct. 27-28 AHDRA- Cajun Nitro Nationals, No Problem Raceway, Belle Rose, LA

Nov 3-4th NBRA Finals. Las Vegas, NV

Nov 3- 4 WRMDA Speedworld, Phoenix, AZ

The new Sovereign-Star Racing Team came together after Star Racing owner George Bryce traveled throughout Europe with the Sovereign Team as their coach and chief tuner during the 2011 race season. The Sovereign Team name is derived from the owner’s large sugar distribution company based in Hungary. After an extremely successful race series in Europe, Sovereign Team owner Jeno Rujp expressed interest in running the NHRA circuit in America with the help of Bryce.

“Jeno won in Europe. His team won six out of seven races,” Bryce said. “And, now, he wants a big challenge, and I said, ‘You picked it if you want to race in America, if you want to race NHRA.’ I told him it was going to be like running Formula 1 compared to what he was doing. It’s a big challenge, and it’s a big dream for him.”

With 27 years in racing, Scotty Pollacheck of Oregon was announced as one of the 2012 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racers for the Sovereign-Star Racing Team."

As the new Sovereign-Star Racing team began to take shape, the only missing element was qualified racers. After weeks of searching, Star Racing has announced John Hall and Scotty Pollacheck as the team’s new NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racers for the 2012 season. This year’s Star Racing riders have 43 combined years of drag racing experience on street bikes, Pro Stock motorcycles and even a world famous electric bike.

Both riders, Hall and Pollacheck, are graduates of Bryce’s drag racing school in Gainesville, Fla. Pollacheck attended the school in 1994, not very long after it began. He remembers that the late, great John Myers was also at the school when he attended. Hall went to Bryce’s school only a few years ago and actually bought a Pro Stock motorcycle while in Gainesville.

Hall said, “When I started at the school, George (Bryce) said, ‘I’ll let you know when you’re done – when you can move up from a school bike to your bike.’ I did that; I became consistent on the school bike. Then, George said, ‘OK, we’re going to run your Pro Stock bike.’ I came down here and ran my Pro Stock bike a couple times. I did well, and he asked me if I wanted to try the Buell out. I ran the Buell; I did well; and here we are.”

Hall, a New Haven, Conn., native, ran with the Star Racing team at the November 2011 Manufacturers Cup Race at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga. During this time, Bryce was able to coach and evaluate Hall as a racer with true potential.

Connecticut native John Hall was announced as one of the Sovereign-Star Racing Team’s Pro Stock Motorcycle racers for the 2012 NHRA season after racing with Star several times in 2011

“John is a very laid-back guy; he’s very calm,” Bryce said. “He’s easy to program; he’s easy to tune. You tell him to make these changes and he does it. He has just grown and accelerated his racing style since we met. Then, once he was picked by us to be one of our drivers, he’s gone right out there and run some really fast numbers now on the Sovereign-Star Racing Buell. We’re really excited about his potential.”

Hall began bracket racing about 16 years ago. He later raced AMA/Prostar 600 SuperSport on a Yamaha for Orient Express. He finished within the top ten for the season his first two years in the circuit. After moving up to 1000 SuperSport for Orient Express, Hall won a national event at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga. He also took home third and fifth place season wins in the 1000 SuperSport Class. After later converting the bike to comply with Real Street Class regulations, Hall claimed his second national event win on the same bike, which he swears he’ll never sell.

Pollacheck, Star Racing’s other racer for the 2012 season, has experienced similar success from his home 3,000 miles away in Medford, Ore. The addition of Pollacheck to the Star Racing team comes several weeks after the company listed the opportunity and requirements on various online sites, including Facebook, Dragbike.com and Yellowbullet.com. After hundreds of eager responses, Bryce chose Pollacheck as the most qualified applicant.

Pollacheck has been racing for 27 years. He started out with cars for a couple years before moving to motorcycles, where he has remained ever since. Pollacheck began racing street bikes and later moved up to wheelie bar dragbikes, which is when he got involved with the KillaCycle. This world famous wheelie bar dragbike is one of the quickest, fastest and most powerful electric vehicles in the world.

“I’ve been riding that since 2000; and for 11 years, we were the quickest and fastest anything in the world – up until 6 or 8 months ago,” Pollacheck said. “I’ve gone 7.82 at 174 miles per hour on that bike. We’ve been all over the U.S. We’ve been to Iceland and New Zealand – some good places. It’s a huge crowd favorite just because nobody expects anything electric to go that fast, so the crowd is always enthused with it.”

Pollacheck is more than comfortable with gas-guzzlers, as well. He won the 2003 NHRA Division 7 Motorcycle Championship, the 2006 AHDRA ProGas Western Division Championship, many NHRA Division 6 and 7 race wins, and track championships. Pollacheck’s past success in NHRA has spurred him to strive for bigger wins on the national stage.

“I have 15 Wallys, but none of the big national event ones,” he admits. “I’d definitely like to get a few of those.”

After a few whirlwind weeks, Pollacheck recently visited the Star Racing facility in Americus, Ga., to meet the team and to get a feel for the Sovereign-Star Racing V-twin he’ll be riding. Bryce’s crew took both riders for a day of testing and tuning at the South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga. As expected, the newly assembled team seemed a perfect fit for the coming racing season, with both riders getting career best times on their first day.

“With both of the drivers, their size, their demeanor, their availability and their budget – those are really, really important,” Bryce said. “If you can’t afford to go or can’t afford to take time off from work, then it ends up being a handicap rather than an advantage. We have some very serious requirements that we threw out on the Internet, and both of these guys were a good pick.

“Scotty has always had a dream to race NHRA; John’s always had a dream to race NHRA; Jeno wants to race in America; and I would like to win. So, by pulling all these people together and putting all these entities into place where everyone’s contributing, everyone’s investing and everyone’s pulling the rope in the same direction, we have a chance to achieve those goals.

“They (Hall and Pollacheck) performed above and beyond my expectations for the first day. I give them an A+ each. I’m very proud to work with them. I can’t wait to go again. That’s how I feel right now – I can’t wait for those guys to come back. One has to come all the way from Oregon; the other one comes all the way from Connecticut; and I can’t wait to meet up with those guys and run some more,” Bryce said.

The Sovereign-Star Racing team will get their first chance to prove themselves at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals March 8-11 in Gainesville, Fla.

Numidia Dragway is Central PA’s premiere, family run dragstrip known for it’s big guaranteed payouts and high quality food.

Numidia Dragway is located at:

10 Dragstrip Road
Catawissa, PA 17820
570-799-5090
www.numidiadragway.com

Vreeland’s Harley-Davidson is located at:

317 Montour Blvd.
Bloomsburg, PA 17815
570-784-2453
www.vreeland sharley.com

Hogan’s 2011 Crash

McBride will begin his season at the Manufacturers Cup in Valdosta, Ga., April 13-15.

McBride thanked and welcomed back sponsors; Pingel Enterprise, Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Drag Specialties-Parts Unlimited, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation, K&N Air Filters and Web-Cam as well as his other sponsors.

Vance & Hines Motorsports, PR Factory Store, Muzzys Performance, Ferrea Valves, Kibblewhite, Precision Machine, World Wide Bearings, Vanson Leathers, Performance Machine, Belt Drives Ltd, Street & Competition, Simpson Race Products, Nitrous Express, APE, EK Chain, Arias Pistons, R/D Spring Corp, Autolite, MSD, Protect ALL, Whipple Industries, Cometic Gaskets, B&J Transmission, Carolina Cycle, L.A. Sleeve, PJ1, Mickey Thompson Tires, Valco, Goodridge, Carlisle Belts and Gates Belts.

The Projack bike lift is a work of art. We had 3 main goals in mind that we wanted to accomplish in developing this new lift. First, was for it to be first class and of the highest quality. Second, was to make it compact enough to be easily stored and light enough to be shippable via regular ground UPS or FedEx. Third and most important to us, was to be able to remove the oil pan and service the lower end of our race engines without removing the bike from the lift, or having to carry additional stands to support the motorcycle.

The Projack lift incorporates a safety bar that secures and locks the lift into the raised position. The complete hydraulic system can be removed andthe bike is securely locked into position. Notice all of the room under the front of the bike to access the lower end. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Click here to see what is new at the Hawaya Racing Website

“I always have a great time at this show,” said McBride, who is about to embark on his 34th year of motorcycle drag racing.  “It is an awesome opportunity to visit all of my friends and thank some of the great companies that support us throughout the season.  We couldn’t win races or break records without them.”

McBride will begin his season at the Manufacturers Cup in Valdosta, Ga., April 13-15.

McBride thanked and welcomed back sponsors; Pingel Enterprise, Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Drag Specialties-Parts Unlimited, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation, K&N Air Filters and Web-Cam as well as his other sponsors.

Vance & Hines Motorsports, PR Factory Store, Muzzys Performance, Ferrea Valves, Kibblewhite, Precision Machine, World Wide Bearings, Vanson Leathers, Performance Machine, Belt Drives Ltd, Street & Competition, Simpson Race Products, Nitrous Express, APE, EK Chain, Arias Pistons, R/D Spring Corp, Autolite, MSD, Protect ALL, Whipple Industries, Cometic Gaskets, B&J Transmission, Carolina Cycle, L.A. Sleeve, PJ1, Mickey Thompson Tires, Valco, Goodridge, Carlisle Belts and Gates Belts.

The Spiderman got his start in the dirt

In that video Larry breaks 6.00s for the first time in history. Shockingly, even that is not his fastest time. Larrys current record is 5.79s @ 245 mph. Thankfully “Spiderman” made some time to sit down with us recently. We met him at his machine shop, Cycle Specialist, in Newport News. Here’s what the man himself had to say…

Thanks for meeting with us Larry. Let’s start off with where you’re from and how you got here.

Well I was born and raised in Dothan, Alabama. My father was in the service and was stationed at Fort Eustis. We actually came up here to Virginia in 1974 and I’ve been here ever since. I started working at Casey Cycle City in 1974. Started motocross racin’ in ’74 and drag racing in 1977 and went pro in ’78. In ’77 I started racin’ for a local guy named Squeaky Bell, then from there started racing for Danny Johnson outta North Carolina in 1980. I started doing my own deal in 1985 when I finally owned everything.

What did you enjoy more about drag racing that lead you to leave motocross?

The motocross was fine, I continued to play with dirt bikes on and on even after drag racin’. I was just into the motors and building the engines, making things as fast as they possibly can from point A to point B. Some people just get interested in, and in love with circle track racing. I love all racing personally, but the one that set my tone, the one that I wanted to ride, was drag racing. I’m glad I did now, ’cause I’m going on 34 years of drag racing. You sure can’t race dirt bikes for 34 years! I’ve had a lot of fun. Met a lot of good people.

In those 34 years how many world championships have you won?

Well I am a 10 time world champion. We say world, but it’s really U.S. champion. We are also in the 2010 Guinness World Records, so that’s also quite a big accomplishment for us.

Which championship meant the most to you? The first? The tenth?

Well, I won the first one in 1991 which put me going into ’92 as the champion and I crashed March the first 1992 on the very first race of the season. Right after winning the championship. It took a little bit to recover from that. I came off the bike at 205 mph. I now know that it happened because of a lack of respect for the motorcycle. You know, I was young. When you’re young you’re cock-strong! You’re invincible! And that was the problem. I didn’t have the respect of the motorcycle that I should have had. It showed me, this thing will kill you. So I think once I learned that respect, the second championship meant more to me. The first one was a lot of fun, made a lot of money, partied, it was great! But we lost perspective. At the time of the crash we were testing some new tires and things. At the time I had this saying, “Y’all get the motorcycle, I’ll put it down the track.” Well now, I don’t say that anymore. What a bad saying. It definitely got me. Really learned you gotta have respect on that first one.

What goes through your head when you hit 250 mph? What does that feel like?

At that point, you’re part of the motorcycle. You want to go as quick and as fast as you possibly can. But there’s no room for error. Make a mistake, it’ll kill you. You gotta think, we’re runnin’ a quarter of a mile in 5.7 seconds. You hear commercials on T.V. talking about some car that can do zero to 60 mph in 5 seconds or 6 seconds. Well I go zero to 250 mph in 5.7 seconds. It’s quite an ordeal. I mean, we’re pullin 3.5 G’s leaving the starting line and a little over one negative G stopping.

Wow. Thats gotta wear you out after a day on the track.

Well it does, but we wear the right stuff and do the right things. Being one of the older guys out there, I definitely have to hit the gym a lot!

In addition to the top fuel bikes, I understand you also have a record holding electric bike in your arsenal.

Yes, I’m involved with Lawless Industries and Orange County Choppers. Of course, you can see them (American Chopper) on the Discovery Channel and I even did a couple episodes on the show with them. With Lawless Industries, we hold the quickest and fastest quarter mile time on an all electric bike. We now hold that record at 7.17s at 187 mph. We have run as quick as 7.13s but didn’t get the record. That time actually backed up our 7.17s time. It’s been really quite interesting to do.

That’s great! Are you working on any other television shows right now?

Yes, we’ve just done our first episode with Café Racer TV. Comes on Wednesday nights (on Velocity by Discovery) and starts back up in March. We’re doin’ it with this guy named Reverend Jim outta Florida. He’s not a Reverend like you would think, he’s got some few choice words to say quite a lot! It’s a pretty cool deal.

In addition to breaking world records, what do you do here at your shop, Cycle Specialists?

We are mainly a high performance machine shop. For many years I’ve been building engines for Legends cars. But a lot of that’s changed with the economy. We do build a lot of Hayabusa motors. We build a lot of drag race stuff period. We literally build drag bikes like mine for people all over the world. Australia, England, New Zealand, France… It just goes on and on. We also sell parts all over the world. That’s our main deal. We also take care of street bikes. In this economy I find myself doing things that I haven’t in twenty or thirty years. In good times, we couldn’t touch stuff like street bikes. We just didn’t have the time. But I guess I’ve always had an issue. My issue is I like helping people. It’s my biggest downfall. I can’t tell anyone no. Someone comes in and needs help with something, I do it. I am very honest and very direct with people. I really don’t beat around the bush. The worst thing anyone can ever say about me is that I’m an asshole or a prick. You can’t say I’m a liar. You can’t say I’m a thief. I may be a prick at times, but I’m not any of those other things. It’s just, I like helping people.

Story by: Mike Swede, check out  www.TheLostHighways.com for the full interview and more photos.