MANCUP Motorcycle Drag Racing World Finals Coverage

Larry McBride MANCUP

Check back and refresh for coverage of the Motec MANCUP Motorcycle Drag Racing World Finals from South Georgia Motorsports Park all weekend long.

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Larry “Spiderman” McBride Avenges Miserable MIROCK Outing

After spending over 60 hours repairing the many parts he damaged at the MIROCK Fall Nationals, Larry “Spiderman” McBride returned to his usual dominance with qualifying runs of 5.81 and 5.76 at the MANCUP Finals.

“I think we corrected the issue,” said a joyful McBride. “We just have to be careful we don’t fall into that trap of trying too hard to run a 5.60 like we did at MIR. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and the track. It’s chilly but the traction is there.”

Friday Action, MANCUP WORLD FINALS
recap by Tom McCarthy

The photo essay says it best as the bikes took to the track today in the first day of qualifying at the Mickey Thompson, MoTec, MANCUP World Finals.  Here’s a quick breakdown by class of the first day of Pro Qualifying.  We’ll take a closer look at some Sportsman details on Saturday.

In Top Fuel, Larry McBride showed everyone what to do with a cold race track right around 3:15pm today.  He clocked a 5.81 @ 241mph for the top spot in T/F

In Top Fuel Twin, 9 bikes are entered and Tommy Grimes, driving for Ray Price took that Ray Price tune-up and pounded out a 6.30 elapsed time at a wamping 234mph.

Pro Fuel has a lucky 13 bikes entered and Johnny Vickers is the class of the class, fresh off his win in Vegas last weekend.  Johnny’s 7.25 @ 171.99 will b tough to beat no matter what the weather.



Pro Comp has 15 bikes entered and of them on day one, Travis Davis is top dog with a 4.11@ 175 in the eighth mile.

Pro Open has it’s best attendance numbers since the first race of the season, 11 bikes entered and remember, this number will change on Saturday AND on Sunday!  For the moment, Mark Rendelunk had the best pass of the day in the class with a 6.50 @ 217 mph.



Pro Street, is the Joey Gladstone show so far.  Joey is THE man to beat in P/St. and his 6.90 @ 213mph proves it.

In Real Street, David Marks posted a 7.83 @ 186 mph to set the pace on day one.

On Saturday, with qualifying times set for 12 noon and 5pm, numbers should improve with the mid day qualifying round.  Temps will drop like a rock after sundown, so look for best numbers tomorrow afternoon.  Sunday is due to be warmer so it will be interesting to see teams switch to a warm weather tune up after near freezing temps for two days.

How did the test squirt go for Jack McClure’s Funny Cart?  Jack held his composure quite nicely, the kart worked flawlessly all systems are go.  The machine with just a short blast covered 60’ in 1.522 seconds, and tripped the 330’ clock at 4.311 seconds.  The chute deployed just about half track, everything went as planned.  Next pass: more throttle Jim.

 

The day at South Georgia Motorsports Park dawned with a brisk 37 degree temperature that caused MANCUP officials to wisely move up Pro qualifying to as close to the heat of the day as they could and still keep to schedule.
The 2014 MANCUP World Finals has a great graphic and Larry McBride on the new T shirts.
Sportsman racers had little trouble finding traction.
Frankie Stotz in Pro Street had an intake plenum blow back shortly after this photo was taken and had to abort this run. He was checked out ok by medical staff and continued racing.
Richard Gadson riding a Doug Frierson mount had a lofty launch but recovered nicely to save this run.
Preston Butler is one of 13 Pro Fuel bikes putting on quite the show with wheels up action in Valdosta
Larry McBride is the #1 qualifier so far with a 5.81 @ 241mph shot.
Tommy Grimes driving for Ray Price H.D. is the big dog in Top Fuel Twin so far. Tommy ripped off an excellent 6.30 @ 234mph. There are 9 T/F Twins in the house.
Rob Giard clocked a 6.78 @ 198mph to secure the #3 qualifying spot and is one step closer to his first Championship since 2001.
JACK IS BACK! Capt’n Jack McClure’s “Funny Cart” is now back in service. On Friday, November 14, 2014, Jack made a check out pass of his hydrogen peroxide rocket kart. Officials running the MANCUP World Finals, in conjunction with South Georgia Motorsports Park, in Adel, Georgia told Jack to just make a “test squirt” with his exhibition machine. After all, Jack is over 80 years of age and the kart, which has been fully restored, was last run, well over a decade ago.

 

Click here to view some photos from testing on Thursday

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