All the big guns went out early and Peter Geiss of Huntington, N.Y., beat Tii Tharpe of East Bend, N.C., to win the AMRA Ray Price Top Fuel championship Sunday in the 25th annual Jim McClure All-Harley Nitro Nationals at Rockingham Dragway.
Geiss just barely made the starting field in the No. 8 spot but then took out No. 1 qualifier Kevin Boyer of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in round one and veteran Ricky “Sharky” House of Humble, Texas in the semifinals. Both riders had trouble in the final but Geiss was just quick enough to get the win.
Other champions included Jack Romine of Centerville, Mich., in Nitro Funny Bike and Carolina legend and American Motorcycle Racing Association national record holder Johnny Vickers in Pro Fuel.
Vickers, making an infrequent start in the AMRA series, took out No. 1 qualifier Kirby Apathy of Deland, Fla., in a classic semifinal race and then took down Tyler Wilson of Walnut Cove, N.C., in the final to repeat as McClure Nitro Nationals champion.
Apathy, who qualified No. 1 at 7.228 seconds, put up a solid 7.245 but that wasn’t enough to hold off Vickers’ 7.223.
RAY PRICE TOP FUEL
Qualifying – 1. Kevin Boyer, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 6.354, 212.74 mph; 2. Tracy Kile, Asheville, N.C., 6.445, 216.00 mph; 3. Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.455, 204.14 mph; 4. Ricky “Sharkey” House, Humble, Texas, 6.475, 200.98 mph; 5. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 6.520, 210.80 mph; 6. Frank Capone, Walmfield, Mass., 6.617, 212.79 mph; 7. Tii Tharpe, East Bend, N.C., 6.649, 175.50 mph; 8. Peter Geiss, Huntington, N.Y., 6.744, 196.44 mph.
Round 1 – Ricky House, Humble, Texas, 7.740, 127.76 mph, def. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, no time; Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.341, 217.42 mph, def. Frank Capone, Walmfield, Mass., 7.851, 124.69 mph; Tii Tharpe, East Bend, N.C., 7.192, 155.85 mph, def. Tracy Kile, Asheville, N.C., 7.421, 200.80 mph; Peter Geiss, Huntington, N.Y., 6.888, 171.75 mph, def. Kevin Boyer, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 7.048, 201.37 mph.
Semifinals – Tharpe, 7.815, 149.22 mph, def. Turner, 11.112, 87.59 mph; Geiss, 6.896, 183.27 mph, def. House, 7.023, 207.94 mph.
FINAL – Peter Geiss, Huntington, N.Y., 8.188, 146.91 mph, def. Tii Tharpe, East Bend, N.C., 7.977, 166.21 mph.
NITRO FUNNY BIKE
Qualifying – 1. Jack Romine, Centerville, Mich., 6.734, 201.52 mph; 2. Jim Doyle, Chicopee, Mass., 6.803, 200.83 mph; 3. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 6.854, 170.06 mph; 4. Billy Jack Jackson, Honeybrook, Pa., 6.933, 200.05 mph; 5. Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., 7.030, 188.49 mph; 6. Marc Ingerson, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 7.104, 187.42 mph; 7. Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., 7.347, 204.79 mph; 8. Keith Browne, Semora, N.C., 7.365, 183.10 mph.
Round 1 – Jack Romine, Centerville, Mich., 6.725, 207.37 mph, def. Keith Browne, Semora, N.C., 9.702, 88.24 mph; Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 6.850, 198.09 mph, def. Mark Ingerson, Upper Sandusky, Ohio, 7.079, 188.65 mph; Billy Jack Jackson, Honeybrook, Pa., 6.826, 208.84 mph, def. Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., 13.645, 73.56 mph; Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., 7.581, 183.17 mph, def. Jim Doyle, Chicopee, Mass., 10.315, 90.74 mph.
Semifinals – Romine, 6.777, 206.80 mph, def. Jackson, 6.897, 198.44 mph; Stordeur, 7.361, 163.87 mph, def. Beasley, 7.619, 178.54 mph.
FINAL – Jack Romine, Centerville, Mich., 6.856, 197.45 mph, def. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, no time.
PRO FUEL
Qualifying – 1. Kirby Apathy, Deland, Fla., 7.228, 180.31 mph; 2. Rocky Jackson, Youngsville, La., 7.360, 167.86 mph; 3. Janette Thornley, Statesville, N.C., 7.365, 166.91 mph; 4. Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.427, 170.23 mph; 5. Tyler Wilson, Walnut Cove, N.C., 7.486, 166.54 mph; 6. Jordan Cruz, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 7.679, 161.57 mph; 7. Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., 7.679, 157.30 mph; 8. Jim Martin, Palestine, Ill., 7.738, 164.91 mph.
Round 1 – Kirby Apathy, Deland, Fla., bye; Justin Collier, Orlando, Fla., 7.401, 173.61 mph, def. Rocky Jackson, Youngsville, La., 8.382, 133.91 mph; Tyler Wilson, Walnut Cove, N.C., 7.778, 154.16 mph, def. Jim Martin, Palestine, Ill., 9.540, 89.46 mph; Janette Thornley, Statesville, N.C., 7.350, 173.09 mph, def. Kersten Heling, Pulaski, Wis., 8.366, 157.37 mph; Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.242, 169.89 mph, def. John McConnell, Darlington, Md., 8.406, 139.96 mph; Jordan Cruz, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., 7.539, 165.07 mph, def. Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., 19.432, 38.43 mph.
Round 2 – Wilson, 7.531, 163.00 mph, def. Collier, 10.241, 79.68 mph; Vickers, 7.208, 176.30 mph, def. Thornley, 7.408, 172.65 mph; Apathy, 7.436, 176.01 mph, def. Cruz, foul.
Semifinals – Vickers, 7.223, 168.64 mph, def. Apathy, 7.245, 175.96 mph; Wilson, bye.
FINAL – Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.251, 167.49 mph, def. Tyler Wilson, Walnut Cove, N.C., 7.535, 164.97 mph.
PRO MODIFIED
Round 1 – Ryan Oehler, Bloomington, Ill., bye; Hank Stanton, East Rochester, N.Y., 13.198, 56.01 mph, def. Kyle LeBlanc, Amaudville, La., foul; Shane Pendergrass, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 8.517, 150.06 mph, def. John Price, Emmitsburg, Md., 8.937, 148.71 mph; Gary Douglass, Staunton, Va., 8.608, 151.70 mph, def. Loreto “Larry” Pesce, Newark, Del., foul.
Semifinals – Oehler, 8.426, 154.58 mph, def. Douglass, 9.366, 128.43 mph; Pendergrass, 9.017, 116.50 mph, def. Stanton, 8.663, 153.35 mph.
FINAL – Ryan Oehler, Bloomington, Ill., 8.356, 154.95 mph, def. Shane Pendergrass, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 9.096, 114.56 mph.
OTHER FINAL ROUNDS:
OUTLAW FUEL – Jim Doyle, Chicopee, Mass., 7.595, 159.17 mph, def. Takeshi Shigematsu, Ehime, Japan, 8.333, 114.15 mph.
TOP GAS – Mike Pearce, Avondale Estates, Ga., 7.725, 169.42 mph, def. Billy Doherty, Lake Charles, La., 8.077, 159.04 mph.
MODIFIED – Troy Young, Wirtz, Va., 9.574, 134.94 mph, def. Gary Douglass, Staunton, Va., 15.145, 59.01 mph.
OUTLAW STREET – Tim Grindle, Uniontown, Pa., 8.329, 161.29 mph, def. Charley Douglass, Staunton, Va., 8.759, 154.56 mph.
HOT STREET – Charley Douglass, Staunton, Va., 9.575, 134.19 mph, def. John Toth, Twilight, Pa., 9.598, 141.76 mph.
DRESSER – Paul Vicory, New Carlisle, Ohio, 9.911, 137.39 mph, def. David Dennick, Eighty-Four, Pa., 10.199, 130.95 mph.
TOP ELIMINATOR – Dennis Waldron, Owings, Md., 9.485, 117.91 mph, def. Bob Drapp, Winter Haven, Fla., 9.740, 136.77 mph.
SUPER GAS – Dennis Ross, Moneta, Va., 10.039, 119.87 mph, def. Phil Nuckolls, Athens, Ga., 9.969, 133.05 mph.
SUPER PRO – Steve Legg, Oak Hill, West Va., 10.499, 105.93 mph, def. Gray DeGrange, Ewing, N.J., 10.502, 116.72 mph.
PRO ELIMINATOR – Kimberly Deshields, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 11.185, 102.78 mph, def. Frank Dinapol, Bernardsville, N.J., 11.048, 120.50 mph.
ELIMINATOR – Kevin Gauntt, Egg Harbor City, N.Y., 11.163 on an 11.050, 115.10 mph, def. Terry Mason, Spring Hill, Tenn., foul.
OUTLAW BAGGER – Kadafe Chandhry, Pittsburgh, Pa., 8.991, 152.95 mph, def. Paul Vicory, New Carlisle, Ohio, 9.880, 137.69 mph.
SUPER COMP – Freddy Frazier, Sanford, N.C., 9.215, 117.68 mph, def. Billy Doherty, Lake Charles, La., 9.554, 139.37 mph.
STREET – Kevin Winters, Richmond, Ill., 11.512, 96.38 mph, def. Scott Strauss, Wickfield, Ohio, 11.540, 108.32 mph.
