Round #1

Additional News

Leaving the guys behind was tough to do but with limited vacation, they choose to save those days for the bigger events left on the 2011 schedule. So, Grandma, Pappy and Talon hooked up to the trailer and headed off  towards the Top Gun Raceway in Fallon Nevada. We got on Route 50 at Salina, UT and traveled west on The Loneliest Highway in the US as the sign stated. Very little traffic but the road conditions were terrific. I personally have added item #2 on my bucket list to someday travel this road in its entirety from California all the way back to my home state in Maryland on my Harley.

We arrived at the track about mid day on Friday without any issues along the way. Our team of 3, quickly sets up the pits in preparation for the nights test'n'tune sessions and the Gamblers races scheduled for the night. The NHRA JR Drag Racing series was also at the track the same time so this provided a perfect opportunity for Talon to meet some new friends and become familiar with the series for next year.

After getting the Draggin Bagger through the technical inspection we are set to go. Pappy and Talon have time to walk around the pits and meet many of the different JR Dragster teams. Talon a bit shy at first but thankfully the many kids that were there to race were not. Ashlyn Rice became Talons best friend at the event. Ashlyn competes both in JR Dragster and the JR Comp classes, where she actually won the nights Gamblers race (way to go Ashlyn).

Draggin' Bagger (Harv)

Round 1-  R/T (.204) TIME (12.451)seconds and SPEED (108.30 mph)

Round 2-  R/T (.131) TIME (12.265)seconds and SPEED (109.66 mph)

The SE120R Bagger is struggling in the thin air as the density altitude was 6900 feet at this track so Harv ops out of the nights gambler race. Instead  he gets the computer out and starts working on the fuel map to try and get a bit more speed and time out of the bike.

Saturday Qualifying

Draggin' Bagger (Harv)

Round 1-  R/T (.175) TIME (12.367)seconds and SPEED (106.34 mph) Now #13

Round 2-  R/T (.107) TIME (12.146)seconds and SPEED (109.53 mph) Was #13 Now #13

Round 3-  R/T (.039) TIME (12.053)seconds and SPEED (110.72 mph) Was #13 Now #5

Sunday Eliminations

Round #1

Draggin' Bagger, Harv is paired up with bike #7047, Wayne Cox. Wayne is riding an older but quicker Kawasaki that weighs  450lb compared to Harvs 800lb Bagger. Harv dialed in a 12.03 while bike #7047 dials in at 9.29. Harv gets a GREEN light with a .026 R/T to better his components R/T of .084.  But just off the line the Baggers rear tire broke loose forcing Harv to back off a bit to regain traction. Harv shifts through the gears hoping for the best but right at the finish the green Kawasaki shoots past the Bagger to take the win.

While taking a first round loss was disappointing to Harv and the team there was plenty of time left in the day to visit the other teams and make new friends for a lifetime. Talon, Grandma and Pappy walked through the pits wishing the rest of the teams good luck for the remainder of the event. Talon, was most impressed with the many different JR Dragsters that he saw. Many of the teams offered up assistance when Talon is old enough to race. Pappy spoke with many of the parents for advise on where to shop for parts to get the best quality and price for the two cars the team intends to race next year.

Additional News

AHDRA recently announced a Regional Race at Great Bend, Kansas. The location of this track makes this event possible for the team to participate and add it to our schedule. AHDRA only races motorcycles with over 13 different classes. Nitro Burning Top Fuel bikes that will be hitting speeds well over 200mph makes for a different show that the fans enjoy. Time to get the Progas V-Rod tuned up for an exciting show in Kansas!

The next NHRA Lucas Oil race scheduled in Sonoma, CA conflicts with the NHRA Full Throttle event in Denver, CO. The team has decided to attend the Full Throttle event as spectators to gain exposure by spending time with our friends at this event. L.E., G.T. and dad Gary Tonglet are friends of ours that supported us through our AHDRA racing career. Gary and JR are still working hard to put a plan together on how to get the Har V-Rod Racing team into the Full Throttle series. This would guarantee our sponsors some television time for sure. Our Planet Beach of Farmington New Mexico sponsor, Scott Jones, will be joining us again this year as he had a wonderful time last year at this same event.

The team wishes to thank this year sponsors for the support that allows us to attend of these events. JOY Mining Machinery, Pillar Innovations, J.K. Hydraulics, Morgantown Machine and Planet Beach.  

Next Race, AHDRA in Great Bend, KS, Sept 23th, 24th and 25th.

May 24th, 2011

The team encountered some very unique weather conditions while traveling to California. First came the high winds and dust storm. As we were approaching Flagstaff we noticed a brown colored horizon out in front of us but didn't really know what it was. As we got closer we found a total Brown Out across Interstate 40. Police officers were escorting the eastbound lane through the dust storm while the westbound lanes proceeded very cautiously. Later, we came across some rain, then freezing rain and hail that damaged the rubber seal along the air condition on top of the rig, we found this out when we stopped for fuel and the inside of our trailer was soaking wet. Danny climbed on top the rig and made repairs. Within the next 100 miles were back into some great weather with temperatures above 80 for the entire weekend.

We arrived at the track about mid day on Thursday hoping to get some track time on the riders and bikes but ended up spending the day making repairs to the trailer. Harv had some concerns about the brakes on the rig on the very last hill coming into Bakersfield. So the team took all 3 axles apart to inspect the brakes and made repairs to the rig rather than race the bikes.

We've learned that our Motorcycle competitors in the NHRA Lucas Oil series refer to a qualifying pass   as a HIT. We've also learned that depending on time and conditions, the NHRA Lucas Oil series will provide as many HITs as possible where most series limit each class to three.

After getting all the bikes through the technical inspection we're set to go and do our best to qualify high on the charts. I must note that qualifying in the NHRA Lucas Oil motorcycle class is based on the Best Reaction time and not speed of the bike. The ET bracket style racing puts the guy with the best reaction at the top of the chart.

Round 1- R/T (.021) TIME (9.717)seconds and SPEED (136.15 mph) #3 Qualifier

Round 2-  R/T (.023) TIME (9.563)seconds and SPEED (130.26 mph) Was #3 Now #4

Round 3-  R/T (.127 ) TIME (9.664)seconds and SPEED (138.27 mph) Was #4 Now #5

Round 1-  R/T (.150) TIME (11.658)seconds and SPEED (116.14 mph) #13 Qualifier

Round 2-  R/T (.153) TIME (11.580)seconds and SPEED (117.17 mph) Was #13 Now #15

Round 3-  R/T (.155 ) TIME (11.470)seconds and SPEED (117.90 mph) Was #15 Now #15

Round 1-  R/T (.101) TIME (11.927 )seconds and SPEED (110.29 mph) #12 Qualifier

Round 2-  LEFT BEFORE THE TREE WAS ACTIVATED, NO TIME        Was #12 Now #14

Round 3-  R/T (.065) TIME (11.744 )seconds and SPEED (112.76 mph) Was #14 Now #12

Saturday Qualifying

Round 1- R/T (-0.010) TIME (9.458)seconds and SPEED (138.22 mph) Was #5 Now #7

Round 2-  R/T (.017) TIME (9.460)seconds and SPEED (139.40 mph) Was #7 Now #6

Round 1-  R/T (-0.111) TIME (11.566)seconds and SPEED (118.11 mph) Was #15 Now #17

Round 2-  R/T (.123) TIME (11.572)seconds and SPEED (118.67 mph) Was #17 Now #17

Round 1-  LEFT BEFORE THE TREE WAS ACTIVATED (AGAIN????) Was #12 Now #13

Round 2-  R/T (.054) TIME (12.008)seconds and SPEED (112.85 mph) Was #13 Now #13

Sunday Eliminations

Round #1

SE V Rod, JRs down the track first up against bike #7310, T. Crocker. JR dialed in at 11.55 so he needs to cross the finish line first without going quicker. As the lights turn green JR is off the line and headed down the track but when the race was over the win light did not shine for our team.

Later, JR described the race as one that he should have won. JR was concerned about his dial in and thought the bike was going to fast in the early morning conditions. He looked to his right and could not see his opponent so he backed off the throttle but only too soon and allowed bike #7310 to pass just at the strip.

Draggin' Bagger, Harv is up next and he's staging beside bike #7777, M. Taylor. Harv dialed in a 11.83 while bike #7777 dials in at 9.18. Harv gets a GREEN light with a .058 R/T and heads down the track.  Bike #7777 goes RED by only -.001. Lucky for Harv as the early morning conditions provided the good air to produce great horsepower out of the bike. Harv, like JR looked at the strip and couldn't find his competitor so he backed off the throttle and ran a 11.76 which was quicker than his dial in. Harv gets his first round win in the NHRA Lucas Oil series.

Destroyer, Danny is against bike #6500, J. Cook. Mr. Cook is the same person that beat Harv in the first round at the Phoenix AZ event. Danny dials in a 9.49 and takes the green light at the tree. Danny speeds down the track and looks left to find his competitor is not in the race and backs off the throttle to give the Har V-Rod Racing team another round win.

Round #2

Destroyer, Danny is against bike #771, T. Medlin. Mr. Medlin is the current points leader in the Lucas Oil Motorcycle division so Danny has his work cut out for him.  Danny dials in a 9.49 and takes the green light at the tree. Danny gets a great reaction time of .023 and speeds down the track hoping to get to the strip before Mr. Medlin but, it wasn't the case as the current points leader takes the win.

Draggin' Bagger, Harv is up next and he's staging beside bike #7310, T. Cocker. Harv changed his dial in based on the last round results from a 11.83 to a 11.73. Harv slowly inches into the staging lights increasing the throttle a little at a time. Harv has learned that the higher the rev's you can launch the bike the better the reaction time. Just before the Yellow's flash, Harv opens the throttle wide open and lets out the clutch. The Bagger's back tire breaks loose blowing blue smoke out the back, Harv quickly off the throttle then back on only to spin the tire again. The race is pretty much over at that point but Harv carries on down the track.

Note: During the event Harv recalls being disappointed with his reaction times at the tree. He has convinced himself that these guys are GUESSING at the moment in time when the yellows flash so he decided to try this approach. This doesn't work! Twice during the event, Harv left before the starter activated the tree so you don't get any results from the race. Next, Harv really focuses on the lights and increases the rpm's on the motor just before the launch. Yep! this works but holy crap it's not fun when the Bagger's front end shoots for the sky. This destroys your run as you must leave off the throttle to get the front end back down on the ground. OK, now all you got to do is lean way forward on the tank to keep the front down, but now the back tire goes up in smoke? This drag racing stuff is harder than he thought! Harvs got a plan though, better rear tire, launch box and shift light are next to go on the bike.

Additional News

Har V-Rod Racing has acquired two JR Dragster cars to compete in the NHRA JR Drag Racing series next year. Talon, currently age 7 is the son of Mike JR and Kasie will be piloting these cars for the team. The team has already learned that these things are not toys. Wyatt age 3 was placed in the car and instructed to hold the brake while JR and Kasie started up the car to burn out the Alcohol that was left in the carburetor. Apparently when Wyatt got in the car his feet caught the throttle cable and held the throttle wide open. When the engine fired, Mom nor Dad could hold the car back and were dragged across the parking lot until the fuel had expired. Mom and Dad both wear scars to remind them how things can go wrong in an instant. Wyatt un hurt shouted "That was fun Pappy, I wanna do that again"

The team wishes to thank this year sponsors for the support that allows us to attend of these events. JOY Mining Machinery, Pillar Innovations, J.K. Hydraulics, Morgantown Machine and Planet Beach.  

Next Race, NHRA Lucas Oil series in Fallon, NV June 10th, 11th and 12th.

more information about all our supporting sponsors.

J.K. HYDRAULICS, INC. supports Har V-Rod Racing for 2011

Feb. 17th

The team leaves the Farmington area just after Marla arrives back from Cabo San Lucas. Marla and her sister enjoyed a week in Mexico while the team prepares for this years first event. Hugs'n'kisses to all and we're down the road to Phoenix, AZ.

The team is very excited about this event for several reasons. Our team has never competed with the NHRA Lucas Oil series and doesn't know what to expect when we arrive at the track. OMG we didn't have a clue. When the rig rounded the corner on Thursday morning all we could see was a track full of race teams and rigs from all over the country. Everything from Nitro Burning Funny cars, who were there testing their new setups down to the normal every day hopped up street cars. There were so  many rigs we had concerns that we didn't arrive early enough to find a place to park our rig. Eventually, we got our team registered for the event and the Firebird staff provided us an escort to get us through the pits to the East side of the track. I might add that we did this via the staging lanes. The escort was moving cars out of the staging lanes to make room for our 40 foot rig to get by. On the East side of the track we found plenty of room to park as they separated all the bikes from the cars. This turned out well as it was pretty cool when they called us to the lanes and we all lined up side by side to enter the track from the east.

After unloading the rig and the bikes pass the required technical inspection the team has enough time left to make a single test pass each down the track. Danny and Jr struggle to decide which bikes to run during the event as we had all four drag bikes in the trailer. The Destroyer being the most consistent of the options, Danny rides this bike for the event. Harv is anxious to know how quick and fast the new 120R Street Glide will be after all the work that he put into this bike during the winter months. Harvs not to disappointed after his test pass as he ran a full second faster than his personal best. Both Danny and JR find that their bikes are performing as expected and the team retires for the night.

August 30, 2010

Woodburn, Oregon
Getting to Woodburn turned out be challenging for the team. We had just barely left the Farmington area when we hit a "Bad Spot" in the road breaking shackles and leaf springs on the 5th wheel trailer. The team purchased repair parts and another single axle trailer to get some of the bikes out of the 5th wheel to reduce the load. Danny's new F150 had Marla's bagger in the bed one V-Rod and the pit bike on the trailer. leaving the Pro Gas and a V-Rod in the 5th wheel.

Later the team has the rig slowed to 35mph trying to climb the two mountains that separate us from the track. The team had just replaced both head gaskets on the F250 and was concerned if it would even get them to the race. Later the team realized that the Edge w/Attitude controller was incorrectly installed. Once fixed, the truck is back running and over the mountains at 50mph.
 
Friday “Test’n’Tune”
This session provided the time required to "Break-In" the newly rebuilt Pro Gas V-Rod. Danny puts the bike down the track a total of 3-times during the night allowing JR time to find the correct setup for the conditions. Finding the additional horsepower has caused problems the team has not faced before. The bike pulls hard left off the line and Danny fights to keep it straight in his lane. But, the team is happy at the end of the night as the bike continues to run and produces good results.

After getting the Destroyer and Pro Gas dialed in both JR and Harv climb on the ET bikes and make passes down the track. Harv runs some really good numbers as the cool night air makes for some good horsepower out of Marla's SE Bagger. 13.13 ET at 101 mph.(personal best). JR gets a good pass on the SE V-Rod at 11.57 at 115 mph. These numbers would place him high on the chart in SEP class.

Saturday Qualifying

Destroyer
Round 1- 9.709 seconds at 136.63 mph
Round 2- 9.576 seconds at 138.12 mph
Round 3- 9.621 seconds at 136.79 mph

Super Gas (9.70 index)
Round 1- 9.684 seconds at 137.42 mph
Round 2- 9.826 seconds at 115.57 mph
Round 3- 9.771 seconds at 131.67 mph

Pro Gas
Round 1- 9.151 seconds at 136.50 mph
Round 2- 8.953 seconds at 147.05 mph
Round 3- 9.074 seconds at 143.76 mph

ET (Harv)
Round 1- (-.080 R/T) 13.666 seconds at 98.33 mph
Round 2- (-.086 R/T) 13.773 seconds at 99.29 mph
Round 3- (.250 R/T) 13.627 seconds at 101.21 mph

ET (JR)
Round 1- (.079R/T) 11.908 seconds at 114.01 mph
Round 2- (-.086 R/T) 11.763 seconds at 115.54 mph
Round 3- (-.130 R/T)11.855 seconds at 116.36 mph

SEP (11.50 index) (JR)
Round 1- 14.332 seconds at 113.36 mph
Round 2- 11.793 seconds at 116.39 mph
Round 3- 12.032 seconds at 114.92 mph

JR entered the VR (V-Rod) class but is later disqualified because he didn't realize he was supposed to weigh the bike at the end of each pass.

Sunday Eliminations

Round #1
ET, Harvs down the track first up against bike #11, Dan Norlan. Harvs not feeling good about this race as Danny and Mr. Norlan have raced many times before with Mr. Norlan winning every round. Harv dialed in a 13.60 while bike #11 dialed in a 11.40. Harv gets a GREEN light with a .100 R/T and heads down the track focusing on every little detail trying hard to out run his competitor. Harv gets the bike into 4th gear and looks left to find Mr. Norlan back about 5 bike lengths so he backs out of the throttle to cross the line first. Harv ran a 13.64 against his 13.60 dial in (whey that was close, only 4 hundreds from a perfect pass). Harv takes out Mr. Norlan in the first round.

ET, JR is up next and he's staging beside bike #432. JR dialed in a 12.30 while bike #432 dials in at 11.80. JR gets a GREEN light with a .088 R/T and heads down the track.  Bike 186 goes GREEN after he took a short nap at the tree and cut a .849 R/T. JR realizes his competitor is way behind in the race and backs off the throttle to make sure he doesn't break out of the index. JR ran a 12.484 while his competitor ran a 12.359. JR gets his first round win in ET.

Super Gas (9.70 index), Danny is against bike #42, Donnie Huffman. Danny goes DEEP at the tree while Donny cuts a .053 light. Donnie has a  much quicker bike and has Danny by over 4 tenths of a second at mid track and simply lets his bike bounce off the rev-limiter to stay above the dial in. Donny wins with a 9.769 pass to Danny's 9.902. Donnie Huffman has become a "Living Legend" within the AHDRA organization as he has competed for many, many years in many, many classes. As a matter of fact Donnie competed in 5 different classes during this event.

Destroyer, Danny's competitor (Jim Sweet) broke his bike during qualifying and failed to make the race. Danny "Breaks the Beam" to advance into the next round.

Note:
Whenever a competitor fails to make the race, all that is required is for the other bike to stage the bike as if he was ready to race and when the light turns green he must advance forward enough to "Break the Beam" and get a reaction time. This saves wear and tear on the race equipment, and allows time to prepare for the next race.

S.E.P. (11.50 index), JR is against bike #6, Donnie Huffman. Yep! it's Donnie again to take on JR. When the lights go green Donnie has JR off the line and pretty much dominated the race the entire time. Once again, Donnie's bike bounces off the rev-limiter as he cross the line just above the dial in. Donnie runs a 11.617 to JRs 11.840.

Pro Gas, Danny's competitor bike #38 broke his bike during qualifying and failed to make the race. Danny utilizes the opportunity to put the bike down the track getting more "Seat Time". This time, things don't go as planned. For some reason, the bike was put into fourth gear during the burnout, this caused the clutch to slip way more than usual. Danny tries to launch the bike and it failed to come off the line as it should and Danny backs off the throttle so as not to cause any more damage. Danny still advances to the next round.

Round #2  
ET,  Harvs up against bike #240 (another SE Bagger). Harv leaves the line first with a .144 R/T against his competitors .249 R/T. Harv recalls that the other bagger has some close gear ratio's to start with as bike #240 advances out in front about the 330 foot mark, but when Harv gets his bike into 3rd gear things quickly change as he catches and passes bike #240 at the 1,000 foot mark. Harv stays hard in the Throttle to cross the line first only to realize he went "Too Quick" again to break out of his dial in. Harv ran a 13.535 against his dial in of 13.55

ET,  JR is up against bike #529. The race is over at the start as JR goes "RED" by -.003

Destroyer, Danny is against bike #98,Dale Nilles. Danny cuts another good light .038 while Dale cuts a .146. Dale has a much quicker bike and made sure not to go red at the tree. Dale was the number #1 qualifier for this event. As the bikes head down track it becomes obvious that something is wrong with both bikes as neither bike would shift into 3rd gear. Apparently, Danny continues to hit the shift button and finally gets the bike into gear while Dale bounces off the rev-limiter and pretty much gives up and hands the race over to Danny. Danny's going to the finals!

Finals

Destroyer, Danny is against bike #1,Nick Gonatas Jr.. Danny cuts another good light .045 while Nick cuts a .068. Nick has Danny by 5 hundredths at the 60 footer and over a tenth at the 330 and wins the round with a 9.360 to Danny's 9.629. Man! have we got our work cut out for us?

Pro Gas, Danny's competitor bike #920, Stan Sheppard. Stan competes in several classes and is well known through the series as the "Cowboy". Stan is a great competitor and friend of many teams that compete in the series. Our Pro Gas bike is a handful for Danny as it continues to favor the left side of the track. It launches hard and heads left till Danny backs off the throttle just long enough to get it point straight again. Danny gets a great start with a .052 light against Stan's .458 and at one point we actually thought we might win the round but later found out that Stan's 160 cubic inch motor passes up our turbo charged 80 cubic inch about mid track. Stan wins the round but our team is happy because "ALL the BIKES are still running".

Additional News

Controversy brings good news!
As JR attempts to correct his "Disqualification" from the VR class he learns that the "Rulebook" has become the "Bible" within the AHDRA. JR quickly learns that if the rulebook doesn't specifically state that you are NOT allowed, then it's ALLOWED! Can't wait till next year, our Destroyer will run much quicker/faster than it ever did. Our Team has always assumed this was a "SPEC" class and were to compete the bike "AS BUILT".
 
Turbo Graffix joins the team for the Woodburn Race. Greg has supplied the team with all of the embroidery work along with jackets and hats over the years. The team is proud to support Greg and the gang at Turbo Graffix. Stop by his stores in the Farmington Mall and purchase some of his fine products.

Next Race, MDRA in Phoenix, October 2nd and 3rd.

June 30, 2010

With "No Parts" to get the Pro Gas V-Rod back together the team decides to try something a bit different and live up to our mission statement "Creating Memories, One Race at a Time". We loaded up the Destroyer, the 05 Screamin' Eagle V-Rod and Marla's 04 Screamin' Eagle Electra and headed down the road to Kansas City.

Danny will compete in the "Destroyer" and "Super Gas" classes riding the Destroyer V-Rod while JR and Harv compete in the "ET Class" riding the 05 V-Rod and 04 Electra respectively. This should turn out to be a very interesting weekend as JR has very limited time on the track and Harv has NEVER been down a track before.

Friday “Test’n’Tune”

After getting the bikes through the normal technical inspection, JR and Harv board the bikes and head down to the staging lanes. JR has a plan to let "Ole Dad" win the first round by staying out of the throttle and riding side-by-side down the track for Harvs' first pass. Harv, nervous as all "Heck" and was worried that he couldn't stop the "Big Bagger" in time so, he backed off the throttle around the thousand foot mark. While coasting back to the "Ticket Booth" Harv recalls how fast he thought he was going. Must of been at least 130mph or maybe even 140. After getting his ticket and reading that it was a mere 95mph he was shocked. How in the world does Danny do it?

After figuring out that it wasn't that bad a deal to get stopped, both JR and Harv go "Round Robin" for seven consecutive passes, each time getting quicker and faster down the track. Harv has had enough and put's the "Bagger" away for the night. JR still wants to go faster so he's out on the track racin' the cars that showed up for a "Gamblers Race". JR never loses a round to any of the cars that he races and has a great evening getting his 20 bucks worth.

Both Harv and JR are having difficulties getting a GREEN light at the tree. Most of the time their reaction times were too quick and went RED. The excitement and thrill of being on the track has most riders on the very edge of performance and actually exceed what they thought to be possible.

Saturday Qualifying

Round 1- 9.828 seconds at 138.14 mph

Round 2- 9.840 seconds at 135.62 mph

Round 3- 9.837 seconds at 134.56 mph

Super Gas (9.70 index)

Round 1- 9.829 seconds at 137.17 mph

Round 2- 9.932 seconds at 133.82 mph

Round 3- 9.774 seconds at 136.65 mph

Round 1- (-.024 R/T) 13.365 seconds at 99.09 mph

Round 2- (.063 R/T) 13.429 seconds at 97.40 mph

Round 3- (.040 R/T) 13.529 seconds at 99.91 mph

Round 1- (-.012 R/T) 12.001 seconds at 113.75 mph

Round 2- (-.033 R/T) 12.051 seconds at 114.27 mph

Round 3- (.194 R/T) 11.885 seconds at 115.31 mph

The "Heat and Humidity" in Kansas was "Horrible" to say the least. Temperatures on the track exceeded 150 degrees. Harv has learned that each rider must endure this heat while trying to stay hydrated by drinking water continuously throughout the day. Our team alone consumed 5 cases of water, 4 cases of Gatorade and 2 cases of beer in just two days/three nights at the track.

The routine went something like this; 1) wait as long as possible after they call you to the staging lanes, 2) put on a dry T-shirt and underwear, 3) grab your leathers, gloves and helmet and set off to the lanes 4) put all your stuff on and hope like heck there's no problems on the track forcing you to wait longer than you have to, 5) make your pass, 6) grab your ticket at the ticket booth and head back to the pits as quickly as possible so you can get out of those "WET" and "HOT" clothes 7) Drink, Drink and Drink more water all the time never once having to go to the bathroom to relieve yourself? 

Sunday Eliminations

Round #1

ET, Harvs down the track first up against bike #441. Harv dialed in a 13.45 while bike #441 dialed in a 10.50. Harv gets a GREEN light with a .013 R/T and starts shifting the gears on Marla's Bagger making sure to hit his 5,000rpm shift point. Harv finally got the bike into 4th gear and decided to look right for his competitor when all of a sudden that bike blew by like Harv was sitting still. Harv just knew the race was over but later found out his competitor went RED at the tree giving Harv is very first round win. Thanks bike #441 for the RED light cause Harv knows he didn't deserve that win. Harv ran a 13.768 against his 13.45 dial in?

ET, JR is up next and he's staging beside bike #186. JR dialed in a 12.00 while bike #186 dials in at 11.60. JR gets a GREEN light with a .205 R/T and heads down the track shifting that V-Rod like it got a Pingel Electric shift kit. Bike 186 goes GREEN with a .066 R/T and takes out chasing JR down right at the line to take the win. JR ran a 12.123 while his competitor ran a 11.672

Super Gas (9.70 index), Danny is against bike #666,Chris Hoppe. Danny cuts a really good light .039 while Chris cuts a .161 light. Danny has Chris by two tenths at the 330 foot mark, 3 tenths at the 1/8 mile and has to shut it down by the 1000 footer to keep from breaking out of the 9.70 index to take the win. Danny's numbers were 10.460 verses Chris with a 10.387 (that's what you call a "Hole Shot" win).

Destroyer, Danny is up against bike #6, Brain MacAlister. Brian was the "Number One" qualifier for this event so Danny has is work cut out for him if he's to win this round. When the lights turn green, Danny's out first with a .054 light verses Brian's .087 but Danny's back tire started spinning off the line and looses 4-hundredths at the 60-foot. The race is pretty much over by that point and Brain takes the win with a 9.644 verses Danny's 9.907

Round #2 (JR has to sit this one out)  

ET, As Harv approaches the staging beams, JR comes over and stops the race asking Harv if he dialed in what was posted (14.70) Heck NO! Harv dialed in a 13.70. JR goes over to the starting line attendant and get the problems fixed.

 Harvs really, really nervous now! The whole family down at the lanes routing for ya, pats on the back and all the GOOD advise really puts the pressure on the "ole man". Too much stuff to remember; Don't RED light, hit your shift points, watch for competitor coming down beside you, keep it straight, stay in your lane, brake nice and easy to get it slowed down for the turn off. OH BOY this stuff is FUN!

Back to racin'. Harv cuts a GREEN light with a .153 and "Rips" through the gears as quickly as possible. Once he gets in into 4th gear he looks right and finds his competitor back a bit and starts backing out of the throttle crossing the finish line first. Harvs all excited but is short lived when he finds out he went "Too Quick" and broke out of the index losing the round.

Super Gas (9.70 index), Danny is against bike #42,Donnie Huffman. Danny cuts another good light .098 while Donnie cuts one better .077. Danny is losing the race from the very beginning as the two bikes head down the track. Donnie is a Pro at this and has been National Champion for several years in several different classes. The man knows what he is doing and we're going to have to change our game plan to compete against guys like Donnie. Donnie runs a 9.762 verses Danny's 9.873.

Additional News

"Creating Memories, One Race at a Time" is what we set out to do and I believe we accomplished this one for sure. The heat and humidity did not stop our team from enjoying our time together while racing our Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

The team wishes to thank all those that elected to place their name on the Pro Gas bike supporting our efforts this year. We also thank this year's sponsors, Durango Harley Davidson, JOY Mining Machinery, Pillar Innovations and Planet Beach Spa's of Rio Rancho.

Parts for the Pro Gas bike are in the mail!!! The original plan was for us to pick up the parts for the Pro Gas bike while in Kansas City. The person that was supposed to bring the parts got sick and did not attend the event. Larry from Eagle Harley called to inform the team that he mailed the parts out on Monday. The team is very excited to get this bike back together and out on the track.

Next Race, Woodburn, OR, August 28th and 29th.

Four Corners Drag Racing Association (FCDRA)

Our team is in support of the FCDRA and their efforts to build a dragstrip in San Juan County. Between the AHDRA drag racing events, the team has loaded up the bikes an attended the many car shows throughout the Four Corners area to increase the publics awareness of our sport. The FCDRA is making progress and our team looks forward to helping the organization build a program that will increase the public safety by reducing "Street Racing" on the State and County roads. FCDRA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all donations will be greatly appriciated.

Woodburn, OR August 23rd and 24th

Danny puts the Super Sport, Turbo charged V-Rod in the Winners Circle for the second time this year. This final West Coast event was very important to the team as Danny races to hold on to the West Coast points lead in two of the four classes that he competes in. At the end of the event, Danny earns the West Coast Championship in Super Sport as well as the Destroyer class.