AHDRA

Screamin’ Eagle Arizona Bike Week Nationals Presented by

Arrowhead Harley-Davidson and Chandler Harley-Davidson

April 8^th & 9^th

7:00pm It’s Vancil taking the win in a “edge of your seat” final!

The celebrations are underway in the winner’s circle after plenty of big finishes in Arizona.

The ladders are posted and that’s a wrap from Firebird Int’l Raceway.

4:30pm

Track prep underway as we head into session three- semi-final rounds.

Stay tuned for the results following the rounds!

3:42pm

The 2^nd session of the day is underway after another exciting round of Top Fuel action. The semi final round will see Jack Romine against Vancil and Mike Romine against Steve Dorn later today.

The numbers are coming at you for the rounds on the ladder pages as quickly as possible.

More later.

1:24pm

We are off and running at Firebird Int’l Raceway after a late start with the many rounds of sportsman to narrow this morning.

Top Fuel led off with Jack Romine and Canadian Mike Scott. Romine advanced easily after Scott left before the tree.

Ron Houniet lit the red bulb on his run against fellow Canadian, Ken Kent and Kent is on to the next round against Steve Dorn who got by Griz Robinson.

Vancil got by Chicago Joe- and Turner advanced over Bill Furr.

Tommy Grimes sailed by Tracy Kile with a 6.47 run-much to the pleasure of the fans!

The numbers are coming up shortly.

Sunday –Eliminations Updates

9:30am

Good morning from Firebird Int’l Raceway. We are back under more sunny skies for another day of racing action at the Screamin Eagle Arizona Bike Week Nationals presented by Arrowhead and Chandler Harley-Davidson dealers.

Over 300 riders took the track for yesterday’s qualifying session. Here’s a review of some of the action.

Top Fuel-

It was a timing sensor snafu that left riders and fans waiting until later in the evening to find out who would qualify where in the order. The riders that were offered re-runs were Vancil, Chicago Joe, Mike Romine and Joe Timmons.

Mike Romine was the only one that elected not to make another run and maintained his 2^nd spot with his earlier 6.509. Chicago Joe and Timmons both made improvements to their positions while Vancil did not and stayed in the 4^th spot with his earlier 6.568.

With all of that said and done, it will be Tommy Grimes joining us on the starting line for his first time as the #1 qualifier in AHDRA Top Fuel competition.

Grimes on the Ray Price-Samson Exhaust ride lit the boards with a 6.438 at 218.55mph in the final round to secure the #1 spot heading into today’s competition.

Romine, Houniet and Vancil make up the rest of the top four.

Steve Dorn of Oregon City, OR is here on a brand new Top Fuel machine this weekend sporting a brand new sponsorship deal with Team Latus Harley-Davidson. Dorn making his first real passes on the bike managed well with a #6 position after a 6.636 at 209.72mph best lap of the day.

Carolina Boys- Bill Furr and Jay Turner are both here this weekend. Furr is holding his own with a #10 position and Turner came away with the #7 spot.

Pro Fuel

While Turner is riding fairly smoothly on the Mancuso H-D Top Fuel machine, he has struggled a bit in the Pro Fuel category and found himself in the #7 spot there as well with a 7.602 best.

Champion Chris Streeter was the only Pro Fueler in the sixes yesterday and it came with his only successful lap of the day. It was plenty enough for the #1 spot. Patrick Fenderson, Armon Furr and Tony Froehling make up the top four.

Proving his capabilities on a Pro Fuel machine was Jim Fagan in yesterday’s qualifying. Fagan went through the standard procedures to obtain a license and after a 7.485 best has found himself in the 5^th spot for today’s show.

Rick Moore of Reading, PA top the Pro Drag order after yesterday’s sessions with a 7.370 best. Willie Herschberger took the 2^nd spot followed by Will Simplot and Greg Byrnes.

Scott Truett is competing in the Pro Drag category this weekend and finished in the 6^th spot out of 10 entries.

Pro Gas-

With the Pro Stock entries joining the Pro Gas category again this weekend- they will all run in the field made up of 10.

Dale Raudenbush sits at the top with a 7.527 best followed by Joe Sternotti’s 7.869 for the 2^nd spot.

Street Pro

Andy Simon didn’t suffer from Arizona track conditions in yesterday’s qualifying after a 8.825 at 155.26moh 2^nd round pass –a record. His attempt at backing it up gave him a brand new record with a better 8.740 at 155.61mph!

V-Rod Destroyer-

Tripp Nobles grabbed the best numbers of the day on the Destroyer ride sponsored by Las Vegas H-D with a 9.409 at 140.27mph.

Wanda Poff of York, PA is fairing well on her Destroyer-taking the #6 spot with a 9.630 at 139.72mph out of 27 entries.

More from the ladies..

Super Sport

Karen Stubbs grabbed the top spot with a near perfect 10.304 and joins the #1 qualifiers on the starting line today for opening ceremonies. Jack Wagner finished 2^nd behind Stubbs with a 10.322 best. Twenty-six bikes made up the Super Sport field.

Hot Street- Dan Norlin took the pole position with a 10.339 at 130.27mph and the champ; Mike Roberts is 2^nd with a 10.378 at 130.15mph.

Super Eliminator

Charlie Walker was on the edge of perfect with a 10.901 and grabbed the #1 spot with Scotty Hooper close behind with a 10.908 and just behind him was Dennis Sacco’s 10.909. Great racing in the 10.90 index field that netted 32 bikes in qualifying.

V-Rod

Larry Edmondson returns to the starting line as the #1 qualifier just as he did in Gainesville. His teammate and champion, Jamie McNaughton finished in the 2^nd spot. McNaughton was forced to hand Edmondson the win in the Gainesville final after lining up in the “illegal groove”.

SEP

Dan Klann finished the day with an 11.505 in the SEP field and Steve Rodgers came shy of the #1 spot with an 11.509.

Super Gas

Donnie Huffman is on top in the Super Gas category with his attempt at perfect (9.701) and Shawn Vantucci who took the field by storm with his racing return in Gainesville was on his tail with a 9.702. Joe Boyd was close to the mark himself with a 9.705 and Greg Krenik gave it a great shot with a 9.706 for the 4^th spot.

ET

A trio of .005’s made for a 3-way tie in the ET qualifying order between Jody Davis, Donnie Huffman and Robbie McCaa. The MPH breaks the tie and the #1 spot goes to Jody Davis out of a field made up of 82 entries yesterday!

The Usual Suspects:

It is no surprise to find Junior Pippin at the head of the class in Pro Mod competition- Pippin’s best was an 8.302 at 157.50mph and Shaun Reno came in with an 8.397 at 159.82mph for the 2^nd spot.

Michael Ray is first in SSC 124 with a 9.587 at 138.73mph followed by Robbie McCaa’s 9.756 at 138.20mph for the 2^nd spot.

The ET bikes are on the track now for 3 back to back laps to narrow the field-followed by a round for each of the other hefty sportsman classes.

Today’s opening ceremonies kick off at 12:30pm- Stay tuned for today’s results!

Qualifying wrapped up after 330 entries took the track today. The results are being entered and will be up soon.

We will be back in the morning with more coverage from Firebird Int’l Raceway.

6:47pm

Pro Qualifying is complete with the exception of those pending re-runs in

Top Fuel.

Here’s how that situation stands after the 3^rd and final round of qualifying.

Tommy Grimes nailed a 6.438 at 218.55 to improve and keep the top spot.

Mike Romine came out with a 6.509 for the current 2^nd spot, but still has the option of taking that round one consolation pass.

Doug Vancil got down the track and very well. He improved with an 6.568 for the 4^th spot, but he too is owed another run.

Chicago Joe is 12^th and Joe Timmons is 13^th and they both have the option of another pass as well.

Unfortunately for Mike Lehman, his troubles have all been on the mechanical end including a blown belt in his final qualifying attempt of the day. He is not qualified and sits in the #20 position after three rounds.

The sportsman classes are wrapping up the final laps of the day now and we will get those numbers out at the conclusion of qualifying this evening.

5:42pm

Simon resets G2 Street Pro record with 8.740 at 155.61mph!

(Official record pending routine tech inspection for verification).

5:00pm

Back to Pro qualifying again for the final round today starting with Street Pro. Can Simon back up his record marks?

Top Fuel fans, the final round results in that class will have to wait until a few re-runs take place after the 3^rd round as a result of that round one sensor problem.

And just in from the Mike Romine camp is news that he too has determined that his #1 qualifying pass in the opening round does not add up in accordance with the 60ft times he was given. Although his 6.476 has him in the top spot, he has ask to have the run pulled and he will make a pass with the others in fairness to all involved.

So this will all make for a shuffle in the Top Fuel line up-The re-runs will happen later today or sometime following the Top Fuel 3^rd round.

This means it is Tommy Grimes who holds the #1 qualifying spot currently with an 6.557.

To re-cap the sensor problem- apparently it was kicked or shifted out of position accidentally by track personnel in the opening round; therefore all riders involved were awarded the re-run.

More coming later.

 3:48pm

Top Fuel is on the track in the 2^nd round. The track temps are reading at the 127degree mark and there seems to be a fair share of troubled runs for some, however; Ron Houniet improved his number with a 6.55 in the 2^nd round and moves to the 3^rd spot. Phil Schmidt improved, but forfeited the number after crossing the center-line before the 750ft mark. Romine and Grimes held on to the #1 and #2 spots.

Although qualifying shows Vancil not in the program, he still has 2 attempts left after his opening run was interrupted by a sensor malfunction resulting in a re-run.

We have now picked up with the Sportsman round two qualifying and will be back with more later.

3:05pm

We have interrupted Sportsman qualifying to return to Pro rounds.

We will pick back up with Sportsman round 2 a little later.

Andy Simon just made a record Street Pro (ET) and (MPH) lap with an 8.825 at 155.26mph for the top spot in qualifying.

Zach Johnson picked up his pace with a 9.050 at 150.15mph and moves to 2^nd position.

Back with more later.

Saturday Qualifying Updates: 1:54pm

First round qualifying in Screamin Eagle Top Fuel will require 3 re-runs later in the day if those affected choose to do so. Doug Vancil, Chicago Joe and Joe Timmons were all affected by a sensor box that apparently was shifted out of it’s position. The problem appears to be corrected and we are up and running with round two of the Syn 3ET class.

More coming later.

1:15pm

Pro qualifying opening round is almost complete. We have had several runs that were obviously erroneous and caused by timing sensor device malfunctions. This occurred during Top Fuel and once we have determined which ones will result in re-runs, we will report back with the results.

12:10pm Pros are on the track and round one is moving along mostly trouble free. The result pages are being updated as quickly as possible. More to come.

9:39am

Good morning from Firebird Int’l Raceway. We are underway with the opening round of ET qualifying under very pleasant and sunny conditions.

A very healthy field of sportsman entries today. The Pro tech cards are still coming in and we will be underway with those rounds at 11am.

Stay tuned for the results here on ahdra.com

6:31pm

Test and Tune lanes close in 20 minutes and so far Tommy Grimes has the quickest practice run with a 6.71 at 213mph. Tak Shigematsu and Vancil paired for a lap and Shigematsu shut off on a strong run before clocking a 6.90. Vancil got through the traps- his first full pass so far at 7.29- 148mph.

Over 20 Top Fuel bikes on the roster so far. Nearing 30 Destroyer entries as of 6:30pm and a giant ET field on tap.

Stay tuned for qualifying action tomorrow from Firebird Int’l Raceway.

The sportsman classes take the track at 9am followed by Pros at 11am.

Friday, 4:50pm

Test and Tune session is underway under sunny low 80-degree temps. Just the normal test and tune routine right now. No breaking developments. A few fuelers have taken the track including, Vancil and John Breckenridge, but neither have lit the boards yet. Vancil shut off early on both of his attempts so far with a ka-boom on his coast through the traps on his 2^nd pass. Breckenridge lost a belt on attempt #1 and shut it off in launch #2.

The entries are coming in steadily. My early prediction- around 300 competitors. More from Firebird Int’l Raceway later.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

 Friday, April 7^th

Test & Tune 2:00-7:00pm

$50 per bike

Saturday, April 8th

Gates open- 7am

Opening round Sportsman Qualifying- 9am

Opening round Pro Qualifying- 11am

Sunday, April 9th

Gates open- 8am

Sportsman Eliminations (as need to reach 16-bike fields)- 9:30am

Opening ceremonies- 12:15pm

Opening round Pro Eliminations- 12:30pm