Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson

Southern Nationals

May 24^th & 25^th

Atlanta Dragway

Elimination Day at Georgia’s House of Speed!

The numbers are posted and we are headed to the winner’s circle to wrap things up! Check out all of today’s winners on the ladder pages and look for more on this weekend’s Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Southern Nationals later on ahdra.com and in AHDRA’s SPEED Magazine!

Good night from Atlanta Dragway!

Here come the finals..I’m headed down to cover them for you and the numbers will be up after each round!

The finals are coming up soon, and I have to tell you race fans- this may be one of the most exciting finishes coming up we have seem all year! The semi’s brought out some of the hottest action of the year and the result is multiple riders-making double final round appearances! Take a look at this:

In S & S Pro Stock, the local favorite with a big hometown crowd supporting him here this weekend-Eddie Lee is headed to the finals after defeating a strong Sean Reno in the semi. On the other side, here comes Bruce Beltramini again, for his 4^th final of the season.

In Pro Fuel, although Turner missed a shot at the Top Fuel final, he earned his way to the Pro Fuel final after defeating Douglas Horne. It’s Turner’s first Pro Fuel final of the season. He will take on Chris Streeter who’s already had a pair of wins this season.

In Pro Gas, Mike Lozano’s problems continued from his first round today, and unable to keep the bike fired, he loses in the semi to Rick Moore. Moore has one win already in the class this year. Moore will race Dale Raudenbush who has one win and a pair of runner-up finishes already.

In Pro Drag, Rick Moore is back again- a double final again today after he defeats Rice.

He gets Rickey House in the final, who defeated Curly Jim Fontaine.

In Pro Modified, Randy Borho and Greg Krenik had another great race and after Borho stating in Texas that he needed the faster bike- he had it in the semi when he slid by Krenik and grabbed a national record (158mph) on the way. Borho will race Greg Kuypers who advanced on the bye. It’s Kuyper’s first final and Borho’s 4^th.

In Super Gas,

Wanda Poff has put on the show here today and the York, PA lady is going to double finals today on the Brian’s Harley-Davidson bike! Poff will race Jeff Stevens in the Super Gas final and then she will come back around to take on L. E. Tonglet in the Destroyer final! It’s Poff’s 2^nd Destroyer final of the season, and for Tonglet, (who set a mph record today), he will be looking for his 3^rd win.

Lou Gerencer grabs double finals for himself again as he advances to both the V-Rod and SSC 124 final. In V-Rod, he will race Larry Edmondson, who has one win on his record.

In SSC, he races Chris Sansevere who upset the champ, Mike Roberts in the semis.

Dean Druschel said this morning that he was going to double up for the first time this weekend, and it could happen after the Poor Boys Racing SE Champ made good on his promise. Druschel will take on Vance Houdyshell in today’s Super Sport final and in Super Eliminator, the defending champ races Keith Carper, who’s having a great weekend himself!

Michael Ray comes back for an AHDRA visit in Hot Street and he picks things right back up as he earns his way to the final against Bruce Croneberger! It’s Croneberger’s 4^th consecutive final!

In SEP, Greg Best takes on Erik Nelson and then in ET, check out Huffman. He’s 4 for 4 in final round appearances now and this could be the race of the day. He takes on the National Champ-Bob Drapp!

Semi-final Round Update:

Well, if your looking at the Top Fuel ladder, you are probably wondering what the heck is going on? Mark Conner and Jay Turner were paired in the semi and Conner clocks a nice 6.52 at 226mph to a troubled 9.76 from Turner- but no one advances from the pair to the final. Unfortunately for Conner, he took out a 750ft block after the finish, which according to the rulebook results in a disqualification and does not insert his opponent when it happens beyond the finish. (see rule below). And then, on the other side of things, Doug Vancil was paired with Steve Dorn, but after Dorn broke parts firing the bike in the pits and was unable to make the call for the semi-final round. Vancil advances to the final on a single and in the final, all he has to do is break the beam for his 2^nd Top Fuel win of the season. I suspect he will do more than break the beam as he still stands to set a new national record if he backs up that 6.206! So, it’s a single run coming up in today’s Top Fuel final.

Rule from AHDRA rulebook

Riders committing a red-light foul start will be reinserted in the event that their opponent commits an object or boundary violation at or before the finish line. Competitors eliminated during competition will not be reinserted on to the ladder in the event that the winning competitor is disqualified for a centerline, boundary or object violation beyond the finish line. In the event that both riders are eliminated in this way during a final round, the Event Director will determine a winner and runner-up. In the rare case that a winner cannot be determined both riders will be awarded runner-up championship points and purse.

In other semi final news, Randy Borho just busted the record charts again on the Team Latus H-D Pro Modified ride with a 158.30mph (8.62) pass that defeated Greg Krenik.

It’s another final for Borho-the champ.

4:00pm- We are a few minutes away from calling Top Fuel back to the lanes to kick off today’s semi-final rounds in all classes. So far, Vancil has come up short to backing up the record. He needs a 6.267 to make it happen. Coming up, he faces Steve Dorn and in the other semi, it will be Mark Conner and Jay Turner. It should be a fantastic round on both sides as all these riders have been rockin the clocks this weekend! Stay tuned for great rounds in all the classes here at Georgia’s House of Speed!

Still more news on national records- L.E. Tonglet snatches up the VR-Destroyer MPH record with a 147.81 blast- even better than his earlier 147.13!

2:45pm

Some last minute touch-ups on the track and then it’s back to Top Fuel round #2!

Bob Petit takes a new MPH record in the V-Rod Destroyer class (pending tech verifications). Petit made a 145.77mph pass in the 1^st round backed up by yesterday’s 145.33mph in qualifying. The record coming into the event was 145.66, set by Michael Ray at Rockingham Dragway in 2006. Looking to steal the record from Petit will be L.E. Tonglet who ran over 147mph yesterday. He’s yet to back it up after one attempt today, but he’ll be back in round #2.

This and all records I’m reporting here are pending tech verifications. Also, with the apparent flow of records happening, please forgive me in advance if I leave miss mentioning some of them here. No worries though, all records will be recorded and posted after the event.

The 2^nd round of the Pro’s are due up around 2:45pm and everyone awaits another appearance from Doug Vancil to see of the #1 qualifyer backs up his 6.20 blast from the opening round! Stay tuned.

Not to be outdone by Krenik’s Pro Stock record, Randy Borho backed up and reset yesterday’s 157.15 record pass in Pro Modified with a better 157.34 in today’s opening round!

1:15pm- More from Atlanta Dragway and the national record news..this time it’s in S & S Pro Stock. Greg Krenik resets the mark in today’s opening round (and already backed up by yesterday’s numbers) a 165.48mph!

The Desert Dawg held the record coming into the event at 164.53.

All the numbers coming at you shortly on the ladder pages!

12:50pm!

Georgia’s House of Speed..Indeed! Doug Vancil opened the show with a 6.207 at 223mph!! The 6.207- a new national record pass if he can back it up or possibly even better it today. (The record heading into this event is already in Vancil’s possession with a 6.23).

An interesting side-note to Vancil’s pass: After his scary opening run in yesterday’s qualifying-where his front brakes failed and took him into the sandtrap, Vancil told me last night that it was the first time in his racing career that has happened to him. When he came out for yesterday’s final round, he said he was still a little nervous about the earlier run, but the champ rocked the clock with a 6.29 to take over the #1 spot in qualifying.

Vancil said later that being a little nervous, he let off early in that final pass. “If I would have stayed in it, I have no doubt it was going to be the fastest pass of my career”, he said.

With that said, Vancil’s nerves appear to be cleared today, and he stands to make history this weekend at Atlanta Dragway!

All the numbers coming at you on the ladder pages immediately following the round.

Good morning from Atlanta Dragway. Early morning elimination rounds underway with the Syn3 ET bikes right now. Once the sportsman are all narrowed to 16 or less, we will start today’s show with opening ceremonies at 12:15pm and the Pro’s take the track at 12:30pm. Check out all the results from today’s action on the ladder page’s following each round!

**Another note from yesterday’s qualifying. Another record stands to be broken today if it can be backed up- this time in the V-Rod Destroyer class. L.E. Tonglet clocked a 147.13 mph lap yesterday- bettering Michael Ray’s 145mph current record.

Qualifying Day at Georgia’s House of Speed!

Atlanta Dragway

8:10pm- Top Fuel just wrapped up today’s show and it was Doug Vancil taking over the field in the final round with a 6.29 at 218mph! Vancil rebounded from a scary early round while on a 6.44/219mph blast- he had brake problems and rode into the sand. He and the bike are back and after that thrilling final round blast, he and the bike are obviously A-OK! Stephanie is entering in the final round numbers at rapid speed, so be sure to check out all of the numbers from today’s qualifying!

We’ll be back tomorrow with more from the Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Southern Nationals! Good night from Georgia’s House of Speed!

5:30pm

The 3^rd and Final Round of qualifying on currently on the track! The numbers will be coming at you on the result pages immediately after each class completes the round.

A special note goes out there to Armon Furr. I understand that you are following the action here on ahdra.com from your hospital bed- and just wanted you to know that we all wish you a speedy recovery! We certainly hope to have you back with us soon. Hang in there.

For those of you out there that have not heard, Armon was injured this week in a street bike accident. He is suffering from a broken neck and I understand an elbow injury as well. We spoke with Armon and learned that it appears surgery will not be required and after a few more tests, he will be headed home.

We are happy to report that Rick Casas returned has returned to his team (in a crew role for now) following his neck injury at the Arizona Speedworld Track. Welcome back Rick! Tommy Sloan has taken over the seat on the BMC Racing ride in the meantime, and the team celebrated a fantastic opening run today (6.82/199mph) for the #2 spot in qualifying!

News from the Rush Pro Gas – I missed making note of in the first round today, but Mike Lozano’s 194mph (7.22) pas was better than the national record currently held by Chip Ellis at 193.07mph. Lozano didn’t back up the number in the 2^nd round, but has another round to go and tomorrow’s elimination’s too.

4:30pm-Still trying to get through the 2^nd round. A track clean-up going on in Pro Fuel category- once that’s complete, we’ll be back at it again!

3:00pm- I think it’s safe to say racing has resumed now as the clouds have moved out and it looks like we are good to go for the rest of the day. We are fired back up with the 2^nd round of sportsman bikes where we left off which was the Super Eliminator class.

Following that, it will be Super Sport, V-Rod and Super Gas coming out before we head to the Pro’s 2^nd round!

2:00pm

As soon as I posted we resumed racing, a few more showers arrived. Rain delay is now in progress again.

2:00pm

Qualifying has resumed after a brief delay for showers. Sportsman categories on the track and we expect the Pro’s back out around 2:30pm for their 2^nd session.

Rain Delay

1:40pm- Round Two qualifying of sportsman now on hold for light showers. Hopefully, they will pass through shortly and we will resume racing asap!

12noon: Qualifying Update

Short delay currently during Pro Fuel qualifying while parts and pieces are cleaned up off the track. We will be back underway shortly.

In news from the first round- Randy Borho qualified #2 in the Pro Modified class with a 8.65 at 157.15mph! The 157mph betters the national record set by Greg Krenik at 153.13. Borho will have the rest of the weekend to back it up. Krenik grabbed the #1 spot in today’s opening round with a 8.64 at 151mph.

Check out the consistency of Mike Bahnmaiers-Mid Continent Race team: In the opening round of Pro Drag qualifying, Rick Moore and teammate, Chuck Jones went down the track side by side with Moore clocking a 7.722 while Jones scored a 7.724. They are #1 and #2 in the order.

Today’s Syn3 ET round has Bob Drapp in the top spot with a .021 reaction, with Jack Wagner at #2 with a .026, and Kevin Winters is 3^rd with a .027.

9:30am- Opening rounds of sportsman qualifying on the track as we kick off the weekend at the Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Southern Nationals!

Sunny pleasant skies are the current conditions and temps are expected to rise to the mid-80’s by afternoon.

As always, stay tuned to the Live Update pages for all of today’s results and we will keep you updated right here with any breaking news or reports on delays.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday, May 24^th

9:00am - Qualifying for Sportsman Classes

11:00am - Qualifying for Pro Classes

Sunday, May 25^th

9:00am - Eliminations for Sportsman classes (as needed to narrow the fields to 16 or less)

12:15pm - Opening Ceremonies

12:30pm - Pro Eliminations begin