The field was unusually light, with only three entries at Tri State Raceway. Junior Pippin, going for his third straight championship title, led the field with a #1 qualifying spot of 8.212 at 157.45mph and low elapsed time of the event, in front of Tom Caldwell's 8.257 at 158.74 mph best for the #2 spot. Raudenbush qualified third with an 8.655 at 147.33 mph.
Pippin got the bye in Sunday's opening round and advanced to the final against Raudenbush, who defeated Caldwell with an 8.812 at 142.36 when Caldwell drew a
redlight (-.024) and threw away his better 8.275 at 156.81 mph.
Raudenbush's double-win chances ended when Pippin got by him with an 8.260 at 155.63 mph to an 8.741 at 146.45 mph lap from Raudenbush. It was Pippin's fourth win of the season in six final-round appearances.
Pippin now sits 70 points in front of Shaun Reno in the championship standings.
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Pippin is seeking a 3rd consecutive Pro Mod title
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Andy Simon continued his performance magic in G2 Street Pro competition. He qualified #1 with an 8.741 at 156.59 mph in front of #2 plateholder Zach Johnson's 9.045 at 149.00 mph best.
In eliminations, Simon defeated hyper Liz Davis in round 1 before his quickest pass of the weekend (8.681) on a bye run in the semis.
On the other side, Jeff King, the No. 3 qualifier, rode past Danny Worth (#4) and Zach Johnson (#2) to face Simon in the final.
In the Simon-King final, King got out first with a .168 but Simon's horsepower prevailed despite his slower .272 start as he rode to a 8.750 at 155.06 mph win over King's 9.681 at 139.96 mph lap.
After season-long speculation from a few doubters of his legalities in performance, Simon submitted to a voluntary teardown in Iowa, which he passed with flying colors. AHDRA's Speed Magazine will feature more on Simon's "strip-search" in Iowa in the August issue.
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Andy Simon answered critics with a tear down in Earlville
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In S & S 124 Challenge competition, Robbie McCaa grabbed the top qualifying spot with a 9.531 at 142.51 mph in front of a 9.549 at 136.84 mph lap from Mike Roberts for the No. 2 spot. Reigning champ and current points leader Michael Ray was third with a 9.861 at an off-pace mark of 118.94 mph.
McCaa advanced to the finals on Sunday where he met Roberts for their second consecutive final and McCaa's second consecutive win. He was off his performance mark with a 10.785, but it would make no difference after Roberts committed a deep stage foul on a 9.821 pass.
The final-round appearance stats for this class are impressive on their own: Iowa marked McCaa's fifth consecutive final-round appearance. Michael Ray has earned five wins so far for the season for his 169-point lead over McCaa in the national standings.
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Robbie McCaa is making is way up the chart in SSC 124 racing
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Bruce Croneberger's stats in Drag Masters Hot Street competition aren't so bad, either.
He took a win in Iowa, thus earning his fifth consecutive win of the season, posting a 10.111 at 131.25 mph over a troubled 14.844 run for John Burdynski in Sunday's final.
Croneberger leads the points series by 34 points over last year's champ Mike Roberts.
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Croneberger makes it five with his win in Iowa
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In Screamin' Eagle V-Rod racing, Lou Gerencer (Gerencer Harley-Davidson) ran his best lap of the day in the third session of qualifying (9.353-144.52mph) for the No. 1 spot and the new E.T. and mph record in front of points leader Larry Edmondson's 9.464 best for the second spot. Reigning champ Jamie McNaughton was third with a 9.495.
In eliminations, McNaughton ended Gerencer's bid for the win in the semis while Edmondson got by Clay Wilwert before his bye in the semis led him to the final against Eagle Harley-Davidson teammate McNaughton.
McNaughton and Edmondson have met in numerous finals since the '05 season, and in this one, it was McNaughton taking the win with a 9.479 at 139.17 mph over Edmondson's 9.873 at 138.73 mph.
Edmondson now sits just three points in front of McNaughton in the championship standings.
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V-Rod winner McNaughton trails teammate Larry Edmondson by a narrow 3-points
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Douglas Horne earned his first career win in the Screamin' Eagle Destroyer category. The 18-year-old posted a 9.416 pass at 137.65 over Michael Ray's 9.493 at 139.43. Ray left the line first, using a .072-second reaction time over Horne's .128 before Horne caught up for the victory. It was Horne's second final round of the weekend, with his scoring a runner-up finish in Super Gas.
Ray went into eliminations with the No. 1 qualifying award while Horne was third in qualifying. Ray used a 9.282 to take the top spot while L.E. Tonglet was second with a 9.286 and Horne went 9.312.
Tripp Nobles leads the Destroyer class points standings, qualifying fifth in Iowa before Wanda Poff (No. 4 qualifier) defeated him in round 3.
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18-year old, Douglas Horne got 1 win out of 2 finals in Earlville
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In Rucker Performance Super Gas, Bob Drapp's holeshot (.064) on a 9.74 pass against the 9.70 index got him the victory over Douglas Horne's slower reaction (.113) and a 9.71 runner-up finish.
Drapp is having an astounding year, with four wins in Super Gas for the season giving him a commanding lead in the standings. He has also taken home a pair of Syn3 ET class wins and is currently in second place in those standings.
Wanda Poff was the No. 1 qualifier in the Super Gas category with a 9.703 best time.
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Bob Drapp is having a great year
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Roberta Seaman joined Poff on the starting line for the No. 1 qualifier introductions in Sunday's opening ceremonies. Seaman was the top qualifier in Performance Corner Super Eliminator racing with a 10.906 against the 10.90 index.
It was her first top qualifying spot of the season. She continued her good fortune during Sunday's eliminations, making it to the final to face the No. 20 qualifier, Gary Douglass. Seaman would have to wait for her first-time title, as Douglass prevailed by getting out first (.041) and scoring a 10.96 against Seaman's .106- and 11.169.
Donnie Huffman leads the standings in the Super Eliminator category and is seeking his third consecutive championship title. He was taken out by Douglass in Sunday's second round of competition in Iowa. |
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Roberta Seaman took her 1st top qualifying spot
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Gary Douglass upset the #1 qualifier for the Super Eliminator win
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KW Seneca earned the SEP win for the second time this season and first since the season-opening event in Phoenix, riding his Harley-Davidson to an 11.523 pass over Dan DeGood's 11.471 for the win.
Greg Best was the #1 qualifier in the 11.50 index class with an 11.508 before his second- round loss to Robert McConnell. Current champion Donnie Huffman leads the standings for '06, with 75 points on Dan DeGood, who is second. Huffman stands to take double championship titles for a second consecutive year.
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SEP winner - K.W. Seneca
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In S & S Super Sport a repeat of the '05 battle for the championship has been sparked with Julia Holliday and Mike Harrison leading the charts in the '06 series as well. Harrison was the top qualifier in Iowa with a 10.309 against the 10.30 index in front of Holliday's second-place 10.31.
Harrison lost in Sunday's opening round to Dean Shields (No. 12 qualifier), who continued on to the finals for a matchup with reigning champ Holliday. She got off the line with the quicker .022 and a 10.36 to defeat Shield's .122 at 10.33. She leads Harrison in the points series by 65 points. |
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Julia Holliday is up front in the standings again
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Mike Harrison was the top qualifier and is currently 2nd in the standings
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JP Hendrzak recorded his second victory of the year in the Syn3ET category, keeping his hold on the point standings. Hendrzak dialed in an 11.32 and turned an 11.34 while his final-round opponent, Ryan Edmondson, dialed a 9.15 for a 9.98 finish.
Dan DeGood was the #1 qualifier in the field of 65 entries with a .001 light.
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JP Hendrzak maintains his top spot in the ET standings
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In the Casa Bella X-Mod category Stephen Galati and Greg Kuypers were at it again in the finals and Galati continued his undefeated streak with another win- this time with a 9.019 at 146.81mph over a close 9.087 at 143.37mph from Kuypers.
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Galati remains the man to beat in X-Mod racing
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While many racers will participate in the non-points event at the Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Race at the Rally in Sturgis, S.D., on August 6 and 7, the next AHDRA national points event will be the S&S Cycle Thunder in the Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, TN. The action kicks off August 12-13.
Photo credit - Eaglestar Photography
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