For the second time this race season, the XDA brought the best show in motorcycle drag racing to Virginia Motorsports Park for the 5th Annual Bike Bash. This event paid out over $80,000 to Pro, Sportsman, and Grudge racers over three days.
Orient Express Racing Pro Street
Orient Express Racing Pro Street brought out the horsepower as six personal records dropped, and a new MPH record was finally set after three years. In June 2019, Ehren Litten set the Pro Street MPH record to 232.59. In July of 2021, Justin Shakir ran a 232.79 to break that record; however, he did not stop at tech and claim it to make it an official record. Last weekend Jason Dunigan finally ‘donkey stomped’ Litten’s reigning MPH record with a 234.66 to officially reset the XDA record. However, for due diligence, we will also note that technically Greg Wallace has the ‘World’s Fastest No Wheelie Bar motorcycle’ when he ran 236.05 MPH on his Pro Street bike at the 2021 World Cup Finals. However, since it wasn’t an official XDA event, it cannot hold the XDA record.
If you do not attend the XDA events, you do not get to witness Rodney Williford’s swagger. For the last two seasons, Williford has held the number one qualifying spot at all the XDA events. Williford will typically set the pace for the class in Friday night’s qualifying session, and then on Saturday, he sits on his Bike at the back of the class, waiting to see if he needs to make another pass to keep the top spot. Sometimes he has to suit up and make another run, and sometimes he doesn’t. There is no way around it. He is a BAMF! And nothing gives his competitors more enjoyment than forcing him to suit up on Saturday to make another run. Jason Dunigan had that pleasure at this last event when he ran a 6.438 in the final round of qualifying, forcing Williford to make another pass. Rodney Williford qualified number one again with a 6.362, which would NOT be his quickest run of the weekend.
Shawn Pinkney, on the class’s only Kawasaki, reset his personal best ET with a 7.399 in qualifying.
In round one of eliminations, Jordan McDougald on the Mummert GS1000 took a win over Gaige Herrera while resetting his personal ET record to a 6.700. Last event’s runner-up Darion Payne took a shocking loss in the first round to Christopher Edwards after he struggled to get down the track.
In round two, Justin Shakir took out Greg Wallace with a 6.450 pass, Williford took out James Waugh with a 6.402, Dunigan took out Blake Sanders with a 6.461, and McDougald took out Edwards with a 6.781.
In the semi-final, the ET’s kept dropping as Rodney Williford ran a 6.362 to take out Justin Shakir, and Dunigan took a win over McDougald resetting his personal record with a 6.433.
Jason Dunigan would make it to the final round for the second event in a row. And to take on Williford, team tuner Andy Sawyer would have to throw a lot more into the bike to get around Williford in a final. Dunigan got a slight starting line advantage with a .043 to Williford’s .050 reaction time. Dunigan’s bike had an issue to only run a 6.594, but the effort was futile as Williford clicked off a new personal best ET and MPH, running a 6.357 at 232.23! Williford took his fourth win this season and clinched the 2022 Championship title.
Don’t miss the DME Racing Fall Nationals at Maryland International Raceway on September 23-25; the fall air will have Orient Express Racing Pro Street delivering more records!
DME Racing Real Street
It was a pivotal weekend in DME Racing Real Street; some hopes were shattered while others were realized. Mark Hylton was sitting third in points and needed a win for the weekend to give him a comfortable position going into the season finale that will happen in just a few weeks. But Hylton struggled in qualifying and took a second-round loss to Courtlan Whiting on Sunday. But for Rickey Gadson who came into the event sitting second in points, he had the exact weekend he had hoped for.
Gadson qualified number two with a 7.520 behind points leader David Stewart who ran a 7.504 for the number one position. Gadson needed a win in the final over Stewart if he wanted to close the gap on Stewart’s points lead, and Gadson was ready. At the tree, Gadson got the starting line advantage with a .027 light over Stewarts .095 as they dashed to the finish line. Stewart’s board lit up with 7.524 to Gadson’s slower 7.585, but that hole shot was the MVP as it turned the win light on for Gadson, sending him to the winner’s circle.
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme
Ronald Procopio took the number one qualifying spot in MaxxECU Pro Xtreme with a 3.924 for the third time this season. But he wasn’t the only one running in under four seconds. Qualifying in the under four seconds was also Chris Cutsinger 3.968, John Collins, 3.971, and Travis Davis 3.991. However, on Sunday, when eliminations started, only Chris Cutsinger and Ronald Procopio would put three-second passes on the boards. And these quick passes would land them in the finals in opposing lanes. It was an action-packed final as Procopio cut a .017 light on Cutsinger’s .059 reaction time as these two monsters rocketed to the eighth mile. Procopio turned on this win light with a 3.917 to Cutsinger’s 3.953 for his third straight win of the season.
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme is presented by Billy Vose Racing, Fast by Gast, Dunigan Racing, DME Racing, Grothus Dragbikes, Harley Haul, Rob Bush Motorsports, Robinson Industries, Schnitz Racing, Timblin Chassis, and Worldwide Bearings.
HTP Performance Super Stock
For the fourth time this season Curtis McDougald took the number one qualifying spot with an 8.761 in HTP Performance Super Stock. And for the first time this season, Mike Davis did not make it to the final round. Instead, David met McDougald in round two and could not get around him. Darion Payne and McDougald are the only two racers that have won this season, and for the first time, they would face each other in the final. However, Payne would give up the win with a -.001 red light to send McDougald to his third straight final.
Vance & Hines 4.60
The Vance & Hines 4.60 Index class took in forty-eighty racers at the Bike Bash bumping up the winner payout to $6,000! Michael Stewart qualified number one with the only perfect 4.600 pass of the qualifying sessions. However, earning the number 1 qualifying spot would not translate into race day success as the number 48 qualifier Tyrone Lemons took him out in round 1 with a 4.706 against his 4.920 pass.
Eran Pielert made it to his first final round appearance of the season after five tough rounds of competition. In the lane next to him, he would find points leader Ronald Procopio who had one 4.60 win under his belt for the season and just came off a win in Pro Xtreme. Pielert knew he had his work cut out for him, and the pressure was displayed by a -.008 red light giving Procopio the win and a bigger boost in points!
HTP Performance Grudge
Saturday night Virginia Motorsports Park had a full house of grudge racers with an imposing 115 Grudge Bikes throwing down performance on the track.
Boosted Bulls
Chris Moore finally took some time off from roll racing and returned to grudge competition in dramatic fashion with ‘Melania’. Head tuner BJ Humphries picked up where he left off giving the crowd a show with repeated performance-based passes. Moore took out Malcolm Phillips on ‘Billy Mays’ and Geoff Godfrey on ‘Minion’ on his way to the final. Frankie Stotz on ‘Reddi-Wip’ just came off a win from the WPGC Bike Fest and took out Desmond Spalding on ‘Moonshine’ and had an earned bye to the final to face Moore. This final was the one everyone was waiting for, and the starting line was stacked with excitement. And while everyone anticipated a show of performance in the eighth mile, Stotz would let the crowd down and turn on the red light giving Moore an instant win.
APE Nitrous Bulls
The APE Nitrous Bulls class has been exciting to watch all season as different riders are rising to the top all the time. Gaige Herrera on ‘Bumpy Johnson’ and Caleb Holt on ‘Apocalypse’ dominated for three rounds Saturday night. Herrera took out ‘Dime Piece’ and ‘War Cry’, while Holt took out ‘Boogie Man’, ‘No Drawers’ and ‘FTW’ before their final round face-off. Unfortunately, the final was unable to be run because of curfew and Gaige and Holt split the $6,500 pot and flipped a coin for the points and trophy. Both riders did not agree to finish the race on Sunday, and Gaige won the coin toss and is your technical winner.
3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls
The 3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls class was showing out on performance Saturday night, but no winner would be crowned after an oil down created significant downtime during the grudge session. Antonio Williams on ‘Flawless Victory’ and Michael Thyen on ‘The Prisoner’ were the semi-final winners and decided to split the pot and end points with a semi-final finish. Both riders did not agree to finish the race on Sunday.
Tommie’s Motorsports DMV Bulls
Tommie’s Motorsports DMV Bulls, 63″ All motor class continues to grow. Malcolm Phillips and Caleb Holt made their first appearances in July at the WPGC Bike Fest and made it to the final round. Unfortunately, the final was unable to be run because of curfew and Phillips and Holt split the $4,000 pot and flipped a coin for the points and trophy. Both riders did not agree to finish the race on Sunday. Phillips won the coin toss and is your technical winner.
Tommie’s Motorsports All Motor Bulls
Only two racers have made it to the Tommie Motorsports all Motor Bulls winner circle this season: Edward Thomas on ‘Da Setup’ and David Fondon on ‘Bad Bitch. Despite Thomas hot lapping during testing, he could not make it past round one when Russell Dennison Jr on ‘Bodacious’ turned on the win light. In the final Fondon would face Matt Dozier on ‘Relentless’ for the second race in a row. And once again, ‘Bad Bitch’ would come out on top for the third
win in a row.
1 Stop Speed 5.60
In 1 Stop Speed 5.60 index, there is no denying that Brayden Davis earned the winner’s circle at Virginia Motorsports Park. Davis, who took the win back in May at the MTC Summer Nationals, returned to Virginia for a repeat. After five rounds of win lights, Davis was again in the final round, this time to face Janrei Thompson. The two Kawasaki’s were at the tree ready for battle; and when the bulbs dropped Thompson left first with a -.068 red light making Davis the only 5.60 bike to win at VMP this season.
Mickey Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
In Mickey Thompson Performance Top Sportsman (the quickest bracket class at XDA), Ryan Burnell occupied the top spot qualifying with a 7.412. The number thirty-two spot was almost a full second later at 8.264 held by Frank Diaz. Previous event winner Robin Procopio earned her way to another final where she would face off against sportsman stand-out Ben Knight.
Prior to the Top Sportsman final, Robin watched her husband Ronald win both 4.60 and Pro Xtreme, and was the favorite for this final. Knight was dialed a quicker 7.60 and Procopio an 8.16. Procopio left first with a .091 reaction to Knight’s .084 reaction as they raced to the finish. With a mere 16″ lead, Knight crossed the line first for his second win of the weekend.
MPS Racing Pro ET
If there was one class Dustin Lee wanted to win at the Bike Bash, it was MPS Racing Pro ET. Lee, the multi-time XDA champion, trailed points leader Jimmie Miller III by just 20 points, and needed to gain rounds on him for a chance at the championship. Miller went out in round three due to a nitrous malfunction and Lee took every advantage as he powered his way to the final round to face his friend Ben Knight.
Knight had two class wins for the weekend already under his belt. So this final pass of the weekend looked like it was going to be a slugfest. Knight turned on the red light at the drop of the tree, automatically handing the win to Dustin Lee and denying Knight his 3rd win of the event.
Brock’s Performance Street ET
In Brock’s Performance Street ET, Ronald Lofland and Robbie Bryant turned on six win lights to make it to the final round. Lofland’s weekend started out rocky with problems on his Hayabusa that needed to be worked out in testing. But Saturday, the tide started to turn as he won $100 from JT Norton for the first perfect win light of the day. On Sunday morning, when eliminations started, there was no stopping Lofland from turning on win lights.
In the seventh-round final Lofland from Delaware dialed a 9.15 against North Carolinian Bryant’s 8.85. Lofland left first and cut a .042 reaction time while Bryant took his time with .151 light creating a deficit for himself to catch Lofland. In Bryant’s quest to catch Lofland before the finish line, he broke out running an 8.845 giving the automatic win to Lofland despite his 9.176 winning ET.
VooDoo Components Bracket Bash
On Saturday, the VooDoo Components Bracket Bash $3,000 payout came down to bar vs. no-bar competition. James Farmer dialed an 8.11 on his 2008 Suzuki bar bike to face Mike Sweeney dialed 8.60 on his 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R street bike. Both competitors cut almost identical reaction times, with Sweeney besting Farmer at the tree with a .042 to Farmer’s .049 reaction. It was a side-by-side race to the finish line. Farmer ran an 8.111 on his 8.11 dial that Sweeny could not beat with his 8.641 time giving the win to Farmer.
Hard Times Parts & Service Gambler’s Race
The Friday night Hard Times Parts & Service Gambler’s race for our sportsman competitors kicked off the weekend with a slugfest among veterans. Boo Brown and Ben Knight, who are no strangers to the winner circle, won five rounds before meeting in the final round. Knight dialed an 8.93 to leave first with a .048 reaction time. Brown dialed an 8.02 and got the starting line advantage on Knight with his .009 reaction time.
In no time Brown caught up with Knight and they raced to the finish line. As the stripe approached, Brown backed off the throttle to not break out, but Knight powered on to run an 8.958 on his 8.93 dial to turn on the win light over Brown’s 8.105 ET. This is Knight’s third straight win in the Gambler’s class.
For full qualifying and round-by-round results of the event, visit www.xdaracing.com.
The XDA season concludes in a few weeks at Maryland International Raceway for the 30th annual DME Racing Fall Nationals on September 23-25, 2022. Mark your calendars now as Champions will be crowned, and the Fall air is bound to bring out record performances.
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