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Photos:Tim Hailey
NHDRO, an NHRA-approved alternative racing circuit, held its APE Summer Nationals the first weekend of August on the Lucas Oil Raceway dragstrip near Indianapolis, Ind.
In its eighth season and promoting a nine-class congregation, NHDRO - the No Hatin’ Drag Racing Association - is past the halfway mark in a six-race season (running from mid-April to the final weekend of September) with this fourth race of the season. The rained out July race in Ohio will be held September 7-9.
NHDRO is the Midwest’s largest motorcycle drag racing series and, for the Indy round, pulled out all the stops for this big-money selection of races. In fact, on a day when heat and humidity had everyone’s leathers inundated with sweat, Iowa racer Bruce Damewood rode both of his entries into the final for Saturday’s $5,000-to-win MPS Pro ET race, thanks to a semifinal foul by his opponent, John “Spooky” Markham. The Iowan had a bye in his other semifinal round, allowing him to pocket the booty.
In the Street ET category, “Deadly” Dustin Lee, who races multiple bikes in different classes and leads the 2018 Pro ET category, earned the win and the $3,000 payday after slicing through the field at sunset, earning the victory aboard his Suzuki Hayabusa against Shawn Bizette’s Kawasaki ZX14. It was no easy deal for the points leader in Street ET, as the outspoken Tennessean overcame a broken cam chain the previous weekend in Maryland, then had a trailer tire blowout en route to LOR in Brownsburg.
Other weekend winners included Ron “Ju-Jitsu” Arnold, riding his Hayabusa, who took the Crazy8s final over relighting Travis Klotz and the Street Fighter final round over Vince Hileman (recovering from a hard May crash). Super Comp went to Ken Selner, entering fourth in class standings, who prevailed over Damewood. Using an .010 light on his “Lot Lizard” no-bar ZX14 vs Damewood’s .035 on a drag bike, to take over the Super Comp points lead with his 8.904 pass.
Top Gas also saw a no-bar bike win over a drag bike, with Jeremy Teasley to the finish line ahead of Heath McQuinn. They had close lights, with Teasley .004 quicker and some 23mph faster at the stripe.
In the Pro Street class, the Indy weather’s massive water grains held everyone back. No. 1 qualifier Gabe Frederick called the track weather “The worst air Pro Street bikes have seen all year,” with a density altitude of 3,500-4,200 all weekend. Tuners Cecil Towneer and Kent Stotz both agreed the air sucked. “It’s the water grains,” noted Towner.
Still the racers persisted, if not as quickly as they might have liked. Pro Street still recorded stout numbers, most impressively, Frederick’s 6.74 on his turbo Hayabusa in the first round of eliminations. He lost in the semifinals to Atlanta winner Frankie Stotz and his Honda in a close race, leaving Stotz, whose bike needed an engine swap on Friday night, to putz down the track in eliminations as Ohio winer Luis Hornedo fouled out.
The rescheduled NHDRO CC Powersports Mid Season Nationals take place September 7-9 at Ohio Valley Dragway, near Louisville, Ky.
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