If racers and fans of Maryland International Raceway have learned one thing it’s never trust the forecast. In the week leading up to the IDBL DME Fall Nationals presented by All-State the weatherman showed little hope of getting any racing in on Sunday. Instead the IDBL raced until past 7 PM before showers halted the event. All racing was completed aside from the exciting, high-stakes semi-final conclusions of the Orient Express $10K-to-win Pro Street Battle Royale, DME Racing Real Street, Vance & Hines 4.60 and APE Top Sportsman – which will be finished at the IDBL World Finals in Rockingham, N.C. Nov 3-5.
The track and weather proved ideal for record setting-performances. In pre-race testing Richard Gadson recorded the quickest street bike run of all-time with a 6.65 on his fan favorite “old school” nitrous GS. In Real Street “Super” Dave Stewart holds a provisional record heading into Rockingham with an impressive 7.714, backed up with a 7.715.
The “Spiderman” Larry McBride had no problems running crowd-pleasing, five-second elapsed-times all weekend, including a 5.79 at 243 mph on Friday night, en route to winning the IDBL APE / Pingel Top Fuel Championship.
“We have a lot of fans here. This is like my home track,” McBride said. “I really appreciate all the support and I had a great time in teh IDBL this season.”
The first ever Trim-Tex Nitro Harley championship came down to a thrilling final round between July winner Peter “Thug” Geiss and series record-holder Bob Malloy, who ran a career best 6.16 on Saturday. In the final Malloy smoked the tire an Geiss took the championship and season sweep with a 6.79 at 188 MPH.
“This has been a great season. We had a lot of fun,” Geiss said. “The IDBL is a great series. I was thrilled to be a part of it and am thrilled to have won the championship.”
McBride and Geiss also entertained an impressive Saturday night spectator crowd with Nitro Harley vs. Nitro Suzuki grudge match. McBride scored the victory for inline four cylinder fans.
Four top-notch Pro Street racers now look to Rockingham Nov. 3-5 to decide who will win the fifth annual Battle Royale. It will be a first-time Battle Royale winner as series record holder, point leader and No. 1 qualifier Rodney Williford will match up against No. 5 qualifier and 14-time dragbike racing champion Jeremy Teasley. On the other half of the bracket No. 2 qualifier Frankie Stontz, on the category’s only Honda entry will take on No. 6 qualifier Ehren Litten.
In DME Real Street CP-Carrillo backed Del Flores has a chance to take the points lead by winning the event. Flores celebrated his birthday with a upset victory over point leader Johnny “Turbo” Dobrin in the second round, 7.83 to 7.87. Flores will take on No. 3 qualifier Anibal Merced and Eddie “Who” Chapman gets a bye into the final after a huge upset over Stewart.
Four tough racers remain alive in Vance & Hines 4.60 with Richard Gadson taking on Steven Shriver and Mike Ostrowski taking on Boo Brown. APE Top Sportsman will be an equally tough battle with top qualifier David Ashton taking on multi-time champion Dustin Lee and Ricardo Marte taking on James Farmer.
Rockingham Dragway will also host a $10K-t0-win bracket race, presented by MPS and the World Series of Pro Mod Motorcycle. The race will attract some of the top racers in the country. Rockingham will also be where all IDBL championships are decided.