Roeder Harley-Davidson Buckeye Nationals

Presented by Drag Specialties

June 11th & 12th

 

Norwalk Raceway

 

Elimination Day

 

5:50pm- The rains let up and the final pair made it to finish the weekend off..Dale Raudenbush pulled to the line after the brief delay for the S & S Pro Stock match up and it was Feazell taking the win with the holeshotÉ.and Mike Romine gets a nitro sized win here in Screamin Eagle Nitro Harley.

All the final numbers are coming right up.  Thanks for joining us here this weekend..and we will be back with you on June 25th & 26th from Pacific Raceways in Seattle, WA.

 

 

 

FINAL ROUND REPORT- HEREÕS HOW IT ALL ENDEDÉ(Well not quite yet)É

David Hope gets thr Syn3 ET winÉWallace Ethington was the number one qualifyer in ET with a perfect reaction and he just went through the traps for the win in SEP competitionÉRoberts loses fire and Bruce Croneberger III rides to the win but is forced to forfeit after running a street tire inside the designated cones in Drag Masters Hot StreetÉDean Drushel is victorious for Poor Boys Racing in Performance Corner Super EliminatorÉ.Sternotti is as bad as it gets in S & S 124 Challenge winning with his fastest yet (9.45)ÉMcNaughton adds another notch to his standings with a win in Screamin Eagle V-RodÉBrett DeGood grabs a 2nd 05 win in Rucker Performance Super Gas..Bruce Croneberger makes good his unfortunate loss in Hot Street with a win in S & S Super Sport ÉZach Johnson catches King in a jumpy mode and a red-light gives Johnson a win to celebrate in G2 Street ProÉDough Ainsworth finally gets a well deserved win in Samson Pro ModifiedÉ.Chris Streeter sends the hometown crowd into a roaring celebration with a win in JIMS Pro FuelÉLozano upsets Bradford in S & S Pro Gas..and now that we have your attention..2 pair left to run..Pro Stock staged and Top Fuel on deck and it is RAINING.  We are on a delay..it appears to be light showers and there is no doubt Norwalk Raceway has the proper equipment to get us up and running..

So stand by..it is 5:30pm currently..we hope to be back to finish this so far so good weekend shortly.

 

 

4:00pm- Semi rounds on the track and all is going well for a healthy sized crowd attending todayÕs Roeder H-D Buckeye Nationals presented by Drag Specialites.

The newly sponsored Barnett Nitro Outlaw class is wrapping up.  Doug Vancil happens to be part of the group after trying a new fuel system has had him shutting off at the hit of the throttle all weekend.  Vancil did get the bike to a near full pass in his latest attempt, and from the reaction we saw from Julie Vancil and team, they are happy with the step forward in the new system.

 

More racing results coming up after todayÕs semi and final rounds.

 

 

3:00pm-

2nd Session of eliminations running smoothly and the numbers are coming up quickly as possible following the rounds.  Follow the action on the ladder pages on AHDRAÕs live update page.

 

1:00pm-

They fired up in Norwalk and round one netted a few upsets in Screamin Eagle Nitro Harley.

Doug VancilÕs ride went away at the hit of the throttle- and Jay Turner was in trouble early on the Mancuso ride-handing Derrick Nelson the win. 

 

Drums Brancaccio is always quick at the light- but he was lightning off the start here with a triple zero reaction.  No help for him though after the bike sputtered later ending his quick start.

Tommy Grimes advanced easily with BrancaccioÕs misfortune.  The Ray Price-Samson Exhaust rider was back in form after yesterdayÕs final round left him coasting.  I ask Ray Price what happened in that round after Grimes had nailed big numbers earlier.

 

 Price says of course they tried stepping it up in that final round-and it was too much.  He backed down the tune for todayÕs opening round-and it was enough to get them to the next round against Steve Moore.    Price chuckled with a wink in his eye as he told me that he will always push it to the limit first before choosing to back it down.

 

Meanwhile- Mike Romine the #1 qualifyer cruised to round two after Russ Hildenbrand also lost power in the opening round.  Romine will have Bob Malloy in the next round.

 

IÕll return to the ladder pages now so we can keep the numbers coming at you.  We will check in later here for any breaking news and updates.

 

 

Good morning from Norwalk Raceway Park.  We are coming to you under mostly cloudy skies- but so far it is dry and we are hoping to keep it that way.

 

The sportsman bikes are on the track this morning to narrow the fields before todayÕs opening ceremonies at 12:30pm.

 

A healthy 78 bikes made up the Syn3 ET first round.

 

A couple of pit notes-

From the JIMS Pro Fuel field- Mike Lehman apparently hurt the H-D of Palm Beach ride in yesterdayÕs qualifying and at last report had the motor apart last night.  We will see what Rex Harris and team were able to do for the #1 qualifyer in todayÕs opening round.

 

Having no problem after suffering damage to his Kresto Pro Drag entry after 2 rounds, Willie Herschberger entered a replacement bike for the final round of qualifying- prepared to sacrifice his spot in the field.  Perhaps it was the confidence and skill of former AHDRA Top Fuel Champ, Dale Nungesser who was visible in the Drag Master pit-combined with HerschbergerÕs talent, but whatever the case- Herschberger made his best pass of the day (7.420) in the do-or-die final run.  He starts today as the #2 qualifyer behind Phil Schmidt who ran a 7.412 best.

 

ESPN Inside Drag Racing cameras are here today for the action.  Coverage from todayÕs show will air on July 24th at 11:00am ET

 

Catch todayÕs action round by round on Norwalk RacewayÕs live webcast at norwalkraceway.com/video.  A link is provided right here on www.ahdra.com.

 

Back with more after todayÕs opening round is complete.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Qualifying Day:

5:30pm-

Everyone down the track- 3 rounds..all safe..and no rain as forecasted.  Hope the same for tomorrow.  See you back at Norwalk Raceway tomorrow starting at 12:30pm for Eliminations.

 

5:00pm-Final Rounds out on the track in sportsman categories- Pro Rounds are complete.  Pro standings remained in tact for the most part from round two- although Jay Turner turned on the speed in Round three and landed a 6.496 for the new #2 spot holder in Top Fuel.  Tommy Grimes shut it off early in his final pass and now finishes in the 3rd spot.

 

Look out for the final report on the Sportsman categories- Julia Holliday took the pack in round 2 of Super Sport competition- will anyone better her 10.318 in the final round?  We will find out shortly. 

 

ItÕs Larry Guy out front in Super Elim after 2 rounds with a 10.912ÉThereÕs 35 bikes in the SEP field so far and Curtis Talbott leads with his round one 11.507-Clay Wilwert has a 11.508 and Donnie Huffman has a 11.509- thatÕs close competition and thereÕs still one round left.

 

Tripp Nobles improved his position in V-Rod racing moving up to the 2nd spot, but it was Terry Vaughn making a big move from last spot to the 3rd spot after 2 rounds.

 

Joe Sternotti slaughtered the record in S&S 124 Challenge competition- he started the day with a 9.519-followed that with a 9.498..thereÕs still one round to go there.

(the current record is 9.592 held by Sternotti)

 

Dale Miller of Liberty Center, OH has the king daddy spot in Super Gas with a perfect 9.700 but just barely off that number is Allen Nusbaum with a 9.707 and Stephen Foster with a 9.709- thatÕs terrific index racing and they too have one more round.

 

Stay tune for closing remarks from todayÕs pleasant day of qualifying at Norwalk Raceway Park following the conclusion of the 3rd rounds.

 

 

2:30pm

Pro classes completed two rounds so far-and we have resumed with round two sportsman classes.

 

Mike Romine holds on to the Top Fuel pole position after not improving the 6.493 from round one- he was still impressive with a 6.505. 

Tommy Grimes and the Ray Price-Samson Exhaust team made a monstrous charge in round two with a 6.582 at a blazing 216.27mph.  No doubt the best numbers ever for the North Carolina rider.  Price, and crew were ecstatic when the 6.58 lit the boards.  Grimes struggled in yesterdayÕs test session, but apparently the bike, rider and crew had their nitro wheaties this morning-as they grow stronger each round.

 

Mike Lehman improved his JIMS Pro Fuel numbers with his 6.792 keeping the #1 spot while Streeter improved as well to remain in the 2nd spot.

 

Dale Raudenbush and the Old Glory Race team are leading the  S & S Pro Stock field-Dave Feazell riding for the Jon Miller-ThielÕs Wheels team is in the 2nd spot with a 7.579.

 

Phil Schmidt made a slick move to the top spot in Kresto Pro Drag-moving John Breckenridge who slowed in the 2nd session to the #2 spot.

Willie Herschberger just withdrew his Pro Dragster after apparently losing the engine in round two.  He will be back to start over with a new bike entry in todayÕs final qualifying round-therefore giving up his current 3rd spot.

 

Tom Bradford holds the reigns in S & S Pro Gas with a 7.466 and Mike Lozano follows with a 7.492.

 

Doug Ainsworth is here from Vancouver, Canada-and making a strong showing with a 8.285 best in front of a 8.459 best from the champ-Junior Pippin in Samson Pro Mod.

 

Travis Lummus slowed in the 2nd round but holds on with his earlier 9.024 for the top spot.  Check out Zach JohnsonÕs numbers- 9.097 at 149.18- top speed so far of the meet.

Johnson also slowed in his 2nd pass, but maintains the 2nd spot behind Lummus.

 

Mike Roberts leads the Drag Masters Hot Street field with a 10.118, and off his marks by a noticeable margin is champion, John Burdynski whoÕs best numbers are 11.074, leaving him in the 11th spot so far. 

 

Larry Edmondson is out front in ScreaminÕ Eagle V-Rod with a 9.639 with Jamie McNaughton in the 2nd spot.  Champion, Tripp Nobles improved in his 2nd session and is in the 3rd spot with a 9.890.

 

We are nearly complete with Sportsman round two-but looks like we will have to slide the final round of ProÕs in again to stay on the hourly schedule. 

This will leave the status of todayÕs qualifying as follows as of 3:10pm-

All Pros have completed 2 rounds.  All sportsman have completed 2 rounds with the exception of the Super Gas field.  They still have 2 rounds left.

Final round of the Pro classes are being called to the lanes now.

 

 

1:15pm-

ET and SEP completed round two and we have now gone back to Pro Qualifying to stay with an on-time Pro schedule.  G2 Street Pro is out for 2nd session followed by all Pro classes.  Sportsman round two qualifying will resume with Hot Street following the Pro 2nd session.

 

12:23pm

Round One complete.  Mike Romine smokes the field with a 6.493 low E.T. of the round for the #1 spot in todayÕs Nitro Harley opening round.  Mike Lehman and team are happy with a 6.659 for the 2nd spot, but perhaps wearing the biggest grin of the round is Tommy Grimes and the Ray Price –Samson Motorsports team.  Grimes ran a 6.706 and the top speed of the round at 215.07mph.  He is the #3 qualifyer.

 

Joe Sternotti is running the numbers in SSC 124 this weekend with a 9.519 record ET for his opening pass.

Round 2 is underway and we are monitoring the radar closely for what appears to be a round of showers ahead.

More coming after todays 2nd round.

 

 

 

9:17am

Qualifying is underway with Syn3ET and there are plenty of them.  The skies are sunny presently and air is very warm and humid.  Over 200 bikes on tap for todayÕs 3 rounds.

Stay tuned for the numbers right here- or even better- check out the webcast of this weekendÕs action on norwalkrace.com/video. 

Back with more after todayÕs opening rounds are complete.

 

 

 

 

 5:39pm-Friday Update:

Good afternoon from Norwalk Raceway Park.  Test and Tune has now resumed after a storm blew through-putting the session on hold.  The day started with high temps and high humidity- but the storm left behind a little cooler air.

 

A few observations from the test session: Travis Lummus came off the trailer with a 9.10-and came back later with a 9.06. Looks like he and the Gene Lummus camp will do a little more tweaking to reach that 8-second zone they prefer to see.

 

Several fuel bikes have given it a 1st time down the ¼ mile here in Norwalk, but there are no Òright off the truckÓ success stories yet.  All ran the right lane and struggled.  Sam White made a decent pass on his Hooters-Pro Fuel ride, but off his potential marks. Something went away shortly after a launch from Doug Vancil and Ray PriceÕs newly hired gun- Tommy Grimes has made a pair of passes but veering towards the center-line forced him to shut it down on both attempts.

 

Besides the famous 2 pounds of ice cream for a buck here at Norwalk, picture perfect grounds and a record-busting track- Bill Bader Jr. and his staff offer up live Webcasting of the action here on the track.  A link will be up on the AHDRA site prior to tomorrows qualifying, but if you want to take a peek now- log on to www.norwalkraceway.com/video.

 

TomorrowÕs qualifying gets underway at 9am.

 

 

 

 

Schedule of Events:

 

Friday, June 10th

Competitor and Vendor Gates Open 10:00am

Test and Tune- 2:00-8:00pm

 

Saturday, June 11th

Sportsman Qualifying- 9:00am

Pro Qualifying- 11:00am

 

Sunday, June 12th

Sportsman Eliminations-(as needed to narrow to 16-bike fields)- 9:30am

Opening Ceremonies- 12:15pm

Eliminations-12:30pm