NHRA champion Tommy Grimes maintained his dominance at Rockingham Dragway Sunday by beating fellow Carolinian and newly-crowned IHRA champion Jay Turner in the final round of the 24th annual AMRA Jim McClure All Harley Nitro Nationals.
Grimes qualified No. 1 at The Rock for the fifth consecutive year with an all-time best AMRA time of 6.157 seconds. He also raised the Ray Price Harley own AMRA speed record to 231.60 miles per hour before beating Turner to the finish in the final round by a narrow .028 of a second.
Fittingly, Donnie Huffman of Lakeland, Fla., clinched three AMRA national championships Sunday, boosting his career total to 19 and breaking the record formerly held by the event’s namesake. McClure won 18 national titles in his career.
Huffman was the event’s only double winner. After beating James Garey of Hernando, Miss., to win in Street Eliminator, he stopped Nate Carnahan of Powhaton, Va., to prevail in Super Pro.
Grimes and Huffman weren’t alone as record setters Sunday. They were joined by Johnny Vickers of Millers Creek, N.C., who dropped his own Pro Fuel record from 7.210 to 7.185 seconds on the way to the Rockingham winners’ circle.
Other winners were Bill “Billy Jack” Jackson of Honeybrook, Pa., in Nitro Funny Bike and Gary Douglass of Staunton, Va., in Pro Mod.
The Rock returns to four-wheel racing this week when Tony Saraceni and Yuengling, America’s oldest brewery, present Powerfest 3 featuring a $10,000-to-win Saturday show and a host of special awards.
ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – Elimination results from Sunday’s 24th annual AMRA/Jim McClure All-Harley Nitro Nationals at Rockingham Dragway:
TOP FUEL
Qualifying – 1. Tommy Grimes, Winston-Salem, N.C., 6.157, 231.60 mph; 2. Randall Andras, Amelia, La., 6.330, 217.67 mph; 3. Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.364, 220.12 mph; 4. Ricky “Sharkey” House, Humble, Texas, 6.389, 206.16 mplh; 5. Tii Tharpe, East Bend, N.C., 6.421, 186.07 mph; 6. Jim Fagon, Valley City, Ohio, 6.466, 206.57 mph; 7. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 6.707, 160.96 mph; 8. Frank Capone, Walmfield, Mass., 6.727, 171.95 mph.
Round 1 – Ricky “Sharkey” House, Humble, Texas, 8.518, 124.83 mph, def. Tii Tharpe, East Bend, N.C., 10.552, 93.71 mph; Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.487, 211.93 mph, def. Jim Fagon, Valley City, Ohio, 6.522, 201.34 mph; Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 6.501, 212.39 mph, def. Randall Andras, 6.511, 216.90 mph; Tommy Grimes, Winston-Salem, N.C., 6.351, 222.77 mph, def. Frank Capone, Walmfield, Mass., 9.747, 98.14 mph.
Semifinals – Turner, 6.643, 163.67 mph, def. Stordeur, 6.828, 184.32 mph; Grimes, 6.263, 230.45 mph, def. House, 6.408, 212.36 mph.
FINAL – Tommy Grimes, Winston-Salem, N.C., 6.271, 229.70 mph, def. Jay Turner, Julian, N.C., 6.311, 222.18 mph.
PRO FUEL
Qualifying – 1. Kirby Apathy, Deland, Fla.. 7.128, 174.57 mph; 2. Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.263, 169.83 mph; 3. Janette Thoenley, Statesville, N.C., 7.299, 170.19 mph; 4. Kevin Garrow, Philadelphia, Pa., 7.370, 167.18 mph.
Round 1, Kirby Apathy, Deland, Fla., 8.821, 117.67 mph, def. John McConnell, Darlington, Md., 9.001, 139.30 mph; Tyler Wilson, Walnut Cove, N.C., 7.699, 148.38 mph, def. Keith Kelley, Dickson, Tenn., 15.869, 53.30 mph; Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.253, 168.16 mph, def. Mani George, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 15.225, 51.60 mph; Janette Thoenley, Statesville, N.C., 7.340, 166.58 mph, def. Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., no time; Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., l13.276, 68.09 mph, def. Dennis Fisher, Dayton, Ohio, no time; Rocky Jackson, Youngsville, La., 7.793, 158.33 mph, def. Kevin Garrow, Philadelphia, Pa., 7.651, 162.08 mph.
Round 2 – Thoenley, 7.295, 166.48 mph, def. Jackson, 7.644, 166.17 mph; Vickers, 7.181, 168.11 mph, def. Wilson, 7.690, 147.62 mph; Apathy, 7.237, 158.15 mph, def. Vreeland, 9.084, 99.44 mph.
Semifinals – Apathy, 7.325, 169.27 mph, bye; Vickers, 7.185, 164.83 mph, def. Thoenley, 7.266, 174.71 mph.
FINAL – Johnny Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., 7.253, 165.29 mph, def. Kirby Apathy, Deland, Fla., no time.
NITRO FUNNY BIKE
Qualifying – 1. Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., 6.798, 198.09 mph; 2. Billy Jack Jackson, Honeybrook, Pa., 6.812, 202.00 mph; 3. Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., 7.026, 188.78 mph; 4. Keith Browne, Semora, :N.C., 7.119, 177.81 mph.
Round 1 – Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., 6.794, 200.38 mph, bye; Keith Browne, Semora, N.C., 7.018, 183.24 mph, def. Rocky Jackson, Youngsville, La., no time; Jay Beasley, Winston-Salem, N.C., .7.387, 192.28 mph, def. Sam White, Columbia, S.C., no time; Billy Jack Jackson, Honeybrook, Pa., 6.876, 192.14 mph, def. Jake Stordeur, Goshen, Ohio, 8.391, 122.43 mph.
Semifinals – Vreeland, 7.064, 189.15 mph, def. Browne, no time; Jackson, 6.780, 198.50 mph, def. Beasley, 9.274, 95.19 mph.
FINAL – Billy Jack Jackson, Honeybrook, Pa., 6.876, 199.52 mph, def. Rich Vreeland, Bloomsburg, Pa., 9.683, 99.52 mph.
PRO MOD
Round 1 – Jason Adams, Gainesville, Ga., 8.401, 155.90 mph, def. Morry Straubel, Wyoming, Mich., no time; Gary Douglass, Staunton, Va., 8.567, 148.97 mph, def. Hank Stanton, East Rochester, N.Y., 8.698, 144.83 mph; Ryan Oehler, Bloomington, Tenn., 8.360, 155.13 mph, def. Jerry Lee Colyd, Kokomo, Ind., 13.116, 101.90 mph; John Price, Emmitsburg, Md., 8.659, 146.15 mplh, def. Loreto “Larry” Pesce, Newark, Del., 25.815, 42.06 mph.
Semifinals – Douglass, 9.019, 128.96 mph, def. Adams, foul; Price, 8.547, 149.76 mph, def. Oehler, 19.388, 36.56 mph.
FINAL – Gary Douglass, Staunton, Va., 8.511, 143.06 mph, def. John Price, Emmitsburg, Md., 8.531, 149.98 mph.
OTHER FINALS:
PRO GAS – Mike Pearce, NA, 7.923, 161.11 mph, def. Billy Doherty, Lake Charles, La., 8.215, 153.58 mph.
MODIFIED – Don Leslie Jr., Pinson, Tenn., 9.388, 135.41 mph, def. Gary Douglass, Staunton, Va., 9.721, 133.91 mph.
OUTLAW STREET – Gregg Dahl, Uniontown, Pa., 8.323, 156.94 mph, def. Stephanie Crete, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, 8.561, 159.17 mph.
HOT STREET – Troy Young, Wirtz, Va., 9.717, 136.33 mph, def. Charley Douglass, Staunton, Va., 10.130, 135.00 mph;
DRESSER – David Dennick, Eighty Four, Pa., 10.199, 129.80 mph, def. Paul Vicory, New Carlisle, Ohio, 10.284, 134.60 mph.
STREET ELIMINATOR – Donnie Huffman, Lakeland, Fla., 11.438, 106.04 mph, def. James Garey, Hernando, Miss., 11.422, 110.03 mph.
TOP SPORTSMAN – Troy Young, Wirtz, Va., 9.671, 136.58 mph, def. Charlie Douglass, Staunton, Va., 10.092, 134.35 mph.
OPEN STREET – Christopher Wyckoff, NA, 13.244 on a 12.60 target, 103.06 mph, def. Danny Register, NA, 13.308 on a 12.340 target, 97.01 mph.
ELIMINATOR – Bill Rowe Jr., Hellertown, Pa., 10.025 on a 10.200, 131.81 mph, def. Chris Wood, Goldsboro, N.C., 9.820 breakout on a 10.000, 131.27 mph.
PRO ELIMINATOR – David Higgs, Ormond, Fla., 10.864, 101.07 mph, def. Greg Gross, Proctorville, Ohio, 10.815 breakout, 99.99 mph.
SUPER PRO – Donnie Huffman, Lakeland, Fla., 10.324, 114.20 mph, def. Nate Carnahan, Powhaton, Va., 10.429, 106.84 mph.
TOP ELIMINATOR – Dennis Waldron, Owings, Md., 9.390, 130.81 mph, def. Bob Drapp, Winter Haven, Fla., 9.439, 139.13 mph.
SUPER COMP – Freddy Frazier, Sanford, N.C., 8.890, 134.23 mph, def. Billy Doherty, Lake Charles, La., 8.858 breakout, 144.77 mph.
SUPER GAS – Joe Peterson, NA, 9.910, 129.90 mph, def. Andy Horn, St. Louis, Mo., 9.859 breakout, 116.14 mph.
