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LARRY "DRUMS" BRANCACCIO CHARGES AHEAD IN THE POINTS STANDINGS
WITH THE WIN AT GATEWAY INT'L RACEWAY

Report and Photos by Bret Kepner

With thirty-three nitro-burning motorcycles, live music, tons of food and the assemblage of more than 3,000 participants on the annual Gypsy Rendezvous charity ride, the All Harley Drag Racing Association came closer to making their annual Gypsy Rendezvous Nationals in Madison, Illinois, one of the largest events on the association's nationwide tour. Just under three hundred H-D competitors, representing thirty-three states (!) and three countries, managed to produce multiple Gateway International Raceway track records and even several AHDRA National Records despite a cloudless sky and the accompanying 125-degree track temperature.

Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel
Larry "Drums" Brancaccio scored the 19th event victory of his illustrious career by ripping through the sixteen-bike Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel with a best of 6.40/214. Riding for the new Mitch Marlowe team this season, Drums hit the best reaction time of the field with a brilliant 0.010 in the second round over ex-teammate Tak Shigematsu and assumed the point lead after the surprising early-round losses of Doug Vancil and defending event and National Champ Mike Romine.

Larry "Drums" Brancaccio went to his 2nd consecutive final of the 07 season, giving him the current lead in the TF standings.

The New Jerseyite dropped thirty-year veteran Bob Malloy's machine in the final round. Malloy's 72-hour odyssey began with a Friday night pass on which the 186-inch power plant disintegrated necessitating an all-night thrash. A one-shot 6.99/194 qualified the Marylander thirteenth but in the opening round against Steve Stordeur, Malloy uncorked a 6.34/201 track record! With a worst RT of 0.042, (including an 0.017 and an 0.016!), Malloy worked his way to the final for the event's Cinderella story but a redlight in the money round was followed by another massive explosion as Brancaccio cruised to a 6.52/213 win.

S&S Pro Stock
Junior Pippin dominated the AHDRA's revised S&S Pro Stock class; an 8.09 qualifier was followed by a stunning series of runs in eliminations initiated by a ET record pass 8.01/162 in the opening round and capped by a 164.89 mph (record) speed in the final over James Surber's Buell which was too fast to be backed up! Surber, although the fifth qualifier, was the second quickest on race day with a string of 8.30s and a best of 8.32/153.07.


Pro Stock No. 1 plateholder Pippin
has an early season lead in the standings.

Jims Pro Fuel
Second-generation stormer Armon Furr blasted to a 6.585/215.07 on Jay Turner's 6.580/211.71 Pro Fuel national records during qualifying. Although he didn't back up the speed mark, the reigning champ of the direct-drive, small-motored fuelers mopped up in eliminations with a 6.64/208 in the first round and a 6.76/193 in the semi-finals. Turner, meanwhile, continued the 6.70 pace which placed him second in the field before slowing to a 6.93/199 against Furr's 6.71/190 in the final round.


Pro Fuel Champ Armon Furr clocked a 215mph lap
during this winning weekend.

Rush Performance Pro Gas
Longtime AHDRA standout David Feazell scored the Pro Gas title with a 7.27/180 best in the AHDRA's premier nitrous oxide-aided division. Nearly every major "hitter" in the class experienced problems in eliminations including Feazell, who barely won a 91-mph coasting battle with Rick Moore in the opening stanza when both stumbled! Lee Hitz used the smallest engine in the field, (a 142-incher), and a bit of luck to advance to the final; his biggest break came when defending PG National Champ Mike Lozano shelled a transmission in the semis.


Pro Gas winner David Feazell in action.

Kresto Pro Dragster
While reigning World Champ Rick Moore enjoyed a solid two-tenths of a second advantage in qualifying with a 7.53/172 effort, it was second qualifier Greg Byrnes' Colorado ride which upset the decided favorite in the final when Moore slowed to a 7.65/165 after a slew of 7.50s; Byrnes rocketed to his best pass of the event, a 7.54/174.03 (Top Speed in PD), for the win.


Greg Byrnes captured his first 07 win
for the Mile High-Planet Harley.com team.

Samson Pro Modified
New Mexican Greg Krenik positively owned the revamped Samson Pro Modified division, leading the field with an 8.86/149 and clocking 8.80s all day before resetting the AHDRA PM speed record in the final with another 8.86 at 153.13 mph over Randy Borho. Oregonian Borho left first against every opponent and ran as quick as 8.90/147 but left the line sixteen hundredths of a second too soon in the trophy dash.


Greg Krenik has his name in the record books
and earned his first 07 win at Gateway Int'l Raceway.

McCaa's Street Pro
2006 National Champ and AHDRA record holder Andy Simon once again obliterated the Street Pro division. Running as quick as 8.63/158 in qualifying when no other rider was in the eight-second zone, Simon's '90 XL ran 8.78/152 and 8.80/156 before faltering in the final with a 9.09/151 but still outran third qualifier Zach Johnson's 9.24/146 on his '06 Sportster.


Andy Simon scored his first Street Pro win for the 07 season.

Rucker Performance Super Gas
Terry Tripp came from nineteenth qualifying position to win SG running close to the 9.70 Index while on the brakes throughout most of eliminations. The Texan scored two round wins on hole shots over Joe Van Haren and Keith Riddell and advanced to the final round when eventual Pro Stock runner-up James Surber broke out by one hundredth of a second. Steve Raines met Tripp in the final after surviving two wild battles early in eliminations which the Arkansas campaigner won by no more than six thousandths of a second before slowing to a 9.96/135 against Tripp's 9.85/125.

Screamin' Eagle V-Rod
The anticipated showdown between low qualifier Lou Gerencer (9.55/142) and Larry Edmondson (9.69/136) gained strength when Gerencer advanced through the early rounds with 9.53/143.38 and 9.59/141 efforts while Edmondson hit 9.59/138 and 9.56/139. In the final, however, speed record holder Gerencer slowed to a 10.30/07 to allow the second qualifier to take the upset win at 9.60/136.


S&S Super Sport
2006 AHDRA National Champ Julia Holliday watched as opponents went under the 10.30 Index in the first two rounds before scoring a holeshot win over Jim Sweet in round three. When Bruce Chandler fouled against the Pennsylvania lady in the semis, Julia legged it to a 10.06/129.70 "timed trial" which allowed her to set up the bike for the final against Gary DeGrange. The New Jerseyite scored a tight victory over crowd favorite Dan Hope in the second round by a mere one thousandth of a second but fell from his 0.050 RT pace in the last round. Holliday gained a seven-hundredths of a second advantage and took an off-the-throttle 10.33/118 to 10.38/122 win.

Reigning Super Sport Champ, Julia Holliday gets plenty of approval
from her husband, Blake after taking another win light!

S&S 124 Challenge
Although Lou Gerencer made it to his second final round of the event, there wasn't much the Indiana racer could do against the onslaught of Mike Roberts. The Ohio racer, who finished second in the 2006 point series, blasted to a 9.33/141.19 in qualifying and hit 9.40/142.00 in eliminations before unleashing a 9.30/141.06 in the final, good enough to snare Michael Ray's twenty-one month-old 9.33 AHDRA ET Record, against Gerencer's game 9.65/137.

Pingel Super Eliminator
Jimmy McMillan used the smallest power plant (74 inches) and the biggest top end (over 123 mph) to claim the 10.90 division title. After massive hole shots in the first two rounds, McMillan narrowly escaped the third stanza when Roberta Seaman took a tenth of a second advantage but broke out by four thousandths of a second. Meeting last year's fourth-place point finisher Dean Druschel in the final round, McMillan was faced with a major task; Druschel had left first in every round except for one amazing battle in the opening round. Paired with Jared Baker's Iowa V-Rod, Druschel clocked a 0.001 RT but left BEHIND Baker's perfect 0.000! Druschel managed to run closer to the index for the win and hit a 0.005 RT in the very next round. In the trophy match, however, Druschel gave up four hundredths at the starting line and McMillan's 10.98/114 won over Druschel's quicker 10.96/116.

Drag Masters Hot Street
John Burdynski's '98 Buell qualified second by only twelve thousandths of a second behind Bruce Croneberger's 10.312/127 but the Texan took over the favorite's role in round two with a 10.29/129.35 in the heat of the day. The HS record holder met Thomas Levak's Ohio M2 Cyclone in the final, (against whom Croneberger fouled in the semis), and hit a 10.36/126 to Levak's slowing 13.88.

Screamin' Eagle Performance
Greg Best may have earned a spot in AHDRA Drag Racing History en route to winning the traditional SEP war. Although he qualified sixth in the 11.50 field with an 11.52 at a coasting 94 mph, the Tarheel rider advanced to the quarters when opponents broke out before squeezing past Robert McConnell by twenty-five thousandths of a second in an 11.503/100 to 11.515/107 dash. Best's immortalization came in the semis when he ran down the seven hundredths of a second holeshot by Tennessee's Shane Pendergrast to score one of…if not THE…closest win-margin in AHDRA racing. The two were separated by 0.0002 seconds, (that's two TEN-THOUSANDTHS of a second), or just over one third of an INCH at the finish line! Compared to that, Best's sixteen thousandths of a second victory over Joey Talbott in the final round was a breeze.

Screamin' Eagle Destroyer
The Screamin' Eagle V-Rod Destroyer category is arguably the most competitive on the AHDRA roster; second through eighteenth qualifying positions were separated by only two tenths of a second. However, L.E. Tonglet led qualifying by a tenth with a 9.15/142 and plowed through the 32-bike field to remain undefeated in the three '07 events contested, elating Mom and Dad. Eventual runner-up Jeff Stevens came from the eighth qualifying spot and registered one of the biggest shockers of the event when he holeshot second qualifier Valerie Thompson's Arizona ride in the quarters, 9.41/135 to a losing 9.33/142. Three riders exceeded the 145 mph Destroyer speed record, (including Julia Holiday's 147.26 stunner), but none was able to back-up the records.

L.E. Tonglet is three for three in the winners circle and his family celebrated the winning streak at Gateway!

Syn3 ET
St. Louisan Andy Horn broke his Destroyer before the event but decided at the last minute to enter his '94 "Fat Boy" street machine in the six-round Syn3 ET brackethon. After stopping the most recent event winner, Bill Rowe, in the quarters with an incredible 0.001 RT, Horn's ride, dubbed the "Tractor", squared off with Dan Norlin's Colorado V-Rod, a two-time finalist (and previous winner) in AHDRA's $12,000-to-win season-ending bracket blowout. Norlin fouled by ten thousandths of a second and, all of a sudden, Horn's Widman's Cycles-sponsored had won the local rider's biggest event title!

Local favorite, Andy Horn advanced through a hefty ET field for the win, much to the pleasure of his biggest fan, Pati!

For more information on AHDRA's 2007 Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Championship Series contact 336-924-2095 or visit www.ahdra.com.