Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Southern Nationals
Presented by Drag Specialties
May 28th & 29th
Atlanta Dragway
Elimination Updates:
8:20pm
EVENT OFFICIALLY CALLED.
The big end of the track is beyond possible hope even if the weather were to break at this point. With the nightfall approaching the dew alone is preventing a successful track drying. All racers will be paid according to the AHDRA rulebook on weather interrupted events.
Good night from Atlanta Dragway and we will be back with you June 11 & 12th at Norwalk Raceway Park.
7:30pm-
Track officials are still running the equipment in attempts to see if they can get any heat at all in the track. The rain has taken a pause, but the conditions are quite wet. AHDRA President Craig Tharpe intends to give the track equipment another half-hour or so to see what progress it brings. The racers are filling the sidelines of the track in anticipation of the outcome. Most are looking for any chance at all to finish and some are satisfied with the standings and are ready for it to be called. You can bet- Craig will have to be convinced that there is no hope of completing the event before he throws in the towel.
We are class shy of being in the semis in all classes- We only need one hour to finish..stay tuned for another update soon.
7:00pm-
The track is plenty wet and the forecast promises no break. It appears at this point it would be impossible to dry the track the later it gets with no jet dryer here at Atlanta Dragway. They have not made the ÒofficialÓ announcement, but it appears to be coming in a few moments.
5:00pm- Mother Nature interrupts again. With Super Eliminator on the track- the drops returned-and Hot Street is standing by for the semi.
Back with you when we are back up.
4:10pm- We are running and running rapidly in what appears to be a brief window of opportunity on the radar. Hot Street, SEP and ET are in the lanes and Top Fuel is standing by.
3:30pm- Still in a delay with light sprinkles- just enough to keep us from racing. The tractor has come out three times only to be sent away by more rain drops. Still hanging on in Atlanta..
2:30pm- Rain Delay-very light precip. Hot Street class is holding under the tunnel and SEP, ET and remaining sportsman classes are standing by in the pits. The radar is all green and shows slow movement, but does show eventual clearing. (According to the many ÒWillard ScottÕsÓ dropping in to visit the tower).
Back with more later.
2:08pm- Eliminations running along with short delays already. The radar indicates showers are approaching much sooner than originally forecasted. (Go figure).
We are staying with the ladder pages to keep numbers coming at you in between breaks for scattered drops of rain. So far, no drying equipment has come into the picture, but we are having to shut them down from time to time as it passes through.
As I type this- we are now on hold again.
We will come back if the delays become lengthy and update you on todayÕs progress.
Good morning from GeorgiaÕs House of Speed..Atlanta Dragway.
The skies are overcast as we lead off the morning with several rounds of sportsman eliminations. The forecast is good for the most part of the day and we are set to begin the show today at 12:15pm with a special moment of silence for the men and women who have fought and still are fighting for our country on this Memorial Day Weekend.
WeÕll be back with Updates following todayÕs opening round.
Qualifying Day:
8:30pm- Final Round Update- Everybody is wrapped up and Top Fuel is on the way out for the final lap. The numbers will follow shortly. That will be a wrap from Atlanta Dragway. We will be back with you tomorrow for elimination action.
6:00pm-Update- The final round of the day is underway beginning with the Syn3 ET class. Now that things appear to be running smoothly- I can sneak away for a little review of the opening two rounds today.
Screamin Eagle Nitro Harley-
Mike Romine pulls out even better numbers in the 2nd round with a blazing 6.534 at 213.77mph. Mark Cox improved to the third spot after landing in the 50 zone in his 2nd lap. ((6.588)
Jay Turner is handling the pilot position on the Johnny Mancuso ride under the direction of Mancuso. We will get official word from Mancuso later, but early reports have it that he will now be taking the owner role on for the race team- and for now anyway- Turner is the pilot. HeÕs qualified 4th after two rounds. Turner is also handling riding duties on his own Pro Fuel ride and handling double duty well with the top spot in JIMS Pro Fuel with a 6.861 best.
More from the owner-pilot side of things- Top Fuel newcomer, Tommy Grimes is now riding the Ray Price –Samson Exhaust sponsored machine. He was out on the track Thursday and running test and tune Friday and earned his license easily enough- and is in the 11th spot in a field of 19 bikes here in Atlanta.
Round three of Screamin Nitro Harley should be the best round of the day as the air cools and the competition heats up.
In S & S Pro Gas, Tom Bradford was unable to keep it fired for the 2nd round, but his 7.477 keeps him in the top spot. Champion, Brook McCable is in the 2nd spot and back in racing action is Keith Browne- sibling of former AHDRA Champion-Ken Browne. Browne has the tune going his way so far- improving in the 2nd round with an 8.136 for the 3rd spot.
Willie Herschberger- Drag Master King- pulled to the front of the pack in Kresto Pro Drag with a 7.505 in the 2nd round. Chuck Jones jumped in the show and landed the 2nd spot with a 7.554, moving round one leader John Breckenridge to the 3rd spot. It is WillieÕs birthday and he awards himself the number one spot after two rounds.
Dave Feazell is here and making his presence known in S & S Pro Stock with the top spot just in front of Champion, Rick ManeyÕs 7.524. Dale Raudenbush has 2 wins in the past pair of outings on the Old Glory ride and he is currently in the 3rd spot with one more round to go today.
Junior Pippin is cooking up plenty on the grill for tonightÕs party in the pits- and heÕs cooking up plenty of action on the track as well with an 8.366 best for the pole position in Samson Pro Modified. A rider I am personally not familiar with- Mark Venia of Ohio is in the 2nd spot with a 8.639. We may be learning more about him before the weekend is over. And there is Raudenbush again with the #3 in front of his name- with a third place spot in Modified action after 2 rounds. ThereÕs 13 bikes competing for tomorrows show so far and it looks like the 8 second numbers are dominating- making it a good show for sure on Sunday.
Travis Lummus and Joe Sternotti are one and two in G2 Street Pro. Lummus best so far is a round one 9.050 while SternottiÕs round two 9.224 gives him the 2nd spot behind Lummus.
Mike Roberts is out front in Dragmasters Hot Street ahead of Bruce Croneberger in the 2nd spot.
Michael Ray is at it again in S & S 124 Challenge competition. He is leading the field with a 9.660 best while Joe Sternotti follows with a 9.715 for the 2nd spot. Tripp Nobles jumped on a Smith-Bryce ride this weekend and he is in the 3rd spot in the class with a 10.026 round 2 lap.
Nobles still maintains plenty of control on his Championship V-Rod machine- with the top numbers so far at 9.649. PointÕs leader-Jamie McNaughton is on his back with a 9.703.
Teenager by years-but not by his riding skills- Joey Talbott leads a field of nearly 40 SEP entries with a near perfect 11.501 with a .001 reaction.
Sportsman qualifying continues right now- and we will update all the classes on result pages following the rounds- Stay tuned for your top finishers on www.ahdra.com
5:25pm
Update- Believe it or not- we beat the weather and then we battled a kink with the tree- all has been fixed and we are off and running with the 2nd round of Nitro Harley.
The weather is humid but thankfully dry. A very nice crowd on hand and they are full of energy in the stands. The campgrounds are filling up for tonightÕs concert and we are staying on top of posting results quickly as possible up here in the tower. Stay tuned for more.
4:12pm-Update
2nd Round underway with Pro Qualifying after several interruptions in round one by sprinkles and a few oil dumps on the track since then. We are running just over an hour behind in todayÕs show- so no worry about results- we will have all updated results posted as quickly as possible following each completed round.
More coming soon.
Mike Romine betters VancilÕs 6.58 with a 6.558 at a whopping 210.08 mph. The crowd approved. Romine will wrap the 1st round of Top Fuel in the lead spot.
Back to the sportsman qualifying at this time for round 2 action. (2:00pm EST).
Top Fuel on the track for round one- Robert Ziggy Stewart takes the McClure ride down the track for a 6.721 at 209.83mph and Bob ÒOpieÓ Malloy answered with a 6.614 for the top spot that is until Doug Vancil blistered the track with a 6.58 and Mark Cox ran a 6.65.
Plenty more to go in the lanes..stay tuned for all the numbers. The sun is trying to peek though and radar looks good at this time.
Rain Delays on and off at Atlanta Dragway-
We are experiencing on and off short delays- but looks like we are about to get back underway with Pro qualifying-Round One. We left off in Pro Mod and it is currently 12:10pm (EST).
The numbers are current on the result pages and we are back underway. The radar shows that once this front moves through- there appears to be a clearing.
Keep your fingers crossed for usÉ.we have a good crowd, a lot or racers and we want to to put on a good show for them. Rain Rain..go away. Back at you with more numbers shortly as we pick up with round one action.
Good morning. IÕm a little delayed starting out the greetings here- but we are up and running here at Atlanta Dragway. The skies are gray currently and the radar indicates showers are headed this way. With the weather threatening, we will be running through round one quickly as possible and IÕll be staying with the numbers and we will be back with updates on this page soon.
Schedule of Events:
Friday, May 27th
Competitor and Vendor Gates Open 11:00am
Test and Tune- 4:00-8:00pm
Saturday, May 28th
Sportsman Qualifying- 9:00am
Pro Qualifying- 11:00am
Sunday, May 29th
Sportsman Eliminations-(as needed to narrow to 16-bike fields)- 9:30am
Opening Ceremonies- 12:15pm
Eliminations-12:30pm