Connecticut racer Bob Carlson chalked up over 40 rounds in 1 day!
The Adams Performance Sportsman Summer Sizzler ran as a two-day race condensed into one under sunny skies at Steve Earwood’s Rockingham Dragway. With rain threatening for Sunday, Earwood called a racer’s meeting on Saturday and polled the group whether to squeeze it in or not. “That’s a real racer’s track, to ask us what we wanted to do,” noted Virginian Michael Rankin. And the vote was—let’s do it in a day.
So the Rockingham Dragway staff hit the nitrous button, shifted smoothly through the gears and accomplished two days work in one. The racers hustled to and from trailers—cooling clutches, airing shifters, filling bottles, checking pressures and adding fuel in record time. The Mickey Thompson MIRock Superbike Series’ first-ever sportsmen-and-grudge-only event hustled along in a big way.
Cocking the wheel in his best Gary Clark/Jimmy Shifflett impression, Kenny Cornell aims for win #2
Few bikes hustle the first eighth mile like the Louis Concrete 4.60 machines, the quickest index bikes on the planet. And in the first year for the class, Kenny Cornell has already won twice. Number one qualifier Eran Pielert made it easy for Cornell this time around, redlighting in the final.
James “Crow” Teasley Jr. stealing back some family thunder on a familiar mount
Multi-time MIRock pro class champion Jeremy Teasley won 4.60 last time out at MIR. This time around he went out early with a nitrous problem on a bike borrowed from his brother Brandon. But lest the Teasley name be sullied, dad James “Crow” Teasley Jr. took FBR Shop 5.60 on an ‘80s Kawasaki that’s been doing the family right for a long time. Teasley beat Ben Knight in the final after Knight took out number one qualifier Robert Parker in the semi.
Ben Knight in the groove while Barry Pryer Sr. spins in the other lane
No-bar specialist Knight was on a 5.60 bike borrowed from Dustin Lee, an old school Kawasaki wheelie-bar bike no less. Knight had made only one wheelie bar pass in his life before this weekend, but seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. Still, his comfort level in familiar territory revealed itself as he won Nitrous Express Pro ET race 2 on his ’04 no-bar Suzuki Hayabusa over Bob Carlson in the final.
But don’t feel sorry for Carlson. He made the long drive from Connecticut pay off with his first ever MIRock Crazy 8s win over class champion Shayne Proctor. An all-Kawasaki ZX14 final, Proctor took the tree but Carlson took the stripe. “I had a blast,” said Carlson. “Over 40 runs—it’s all a blur!”
April winner Jerry Turner took home another trophy
April Rockingham winner Jerry Turner seems to have found a home at the venerable facility in North Carolina’s Sand Hills, winning Nitrous Express Pro ET this time around. Turner beat #1 qualifier Brian “Cannoli” Canoles in the final.
Ain’t no stoppin’ Boo Brown
Brock’s Performance Street ET champ Boo Brown will have a chance to defend his title at The Rock in November, winning Race 1 with an .014 light against Michael Herman Jr. in the final. Tennessee racer Lee—the guy who loaned his KZ dragbike to Knight—won Race 2 with an even better .010 against fellow finalist Langdon Cheves. Lee accomplished that on a ZX14, borrowed from Turner! ‘Twas an incestuous winners circle indeed.
Dustin Lee took part in the racy bike-swapping party and came out with a win
And remember Rankin, from the beginning of this report? He rode his Suzuki GSXR1000 to the Trac King/APE Top Sportsman final, where he faced Mooresville racer Scottie Keller. Rankin took .010 from Keller at the tree, but Keller took the win.
Scottie Keller got his Trac King/APE Top Sportsman win done early
Jeremy Teasley’s jump on Dust didn’t last
Afterdark Underground featured a stellar race between Jeremy Teasley on the Adams Performance-built “1 Bad Apple” and rider Dust on the “Sam Cooke” ‘Busa. Teasley had the starting line advantage, but Dust drove around for the win—three layers of a cake on the line. “Where we were conservative (on the tune-up), they were aggressive,” reported Teasley. “He drove around me mid-track, but I was pulling back up on him at the end.”
The difference was half a bike length. “We misjudged the track and didn’t put enough to it,” said builder-tuner-race sponsor Coby Adams. “Let’s put bigger jets in it and rerun it.”
A great plan indeed, but Father Time and a precisely-at-midnight rain shower put the kibosh on any further racing on this particular evening. But the Mickey Thompson MIRock Superbike Series reconvenes for the biggest motorcycle drag racing, bike club culture and bikini show event of the year—the WPGC Bike Fest at Maryland International Raceway on July 19-21.
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PRE-RACE: Sportsmen, Grudge racers
take MIRock spotlight at The Rock
Sportsman racers like “Fearsome” Andy Baumbach take over the show at The Rock this weekend
Pro racers will be turning wrenches and flipping hamburgers as the Mickey Thompson MIRock Superbike Series spotlights its sportsmen and grudge racers this weekend in the Adams Performance Sportsman Summer Sizzler at Steve Earwood’s Rockingham Dragway. But the action will stay as hot as North Carolina’s Sand Hills sun all weekend long as the back gate takes over the big show.
Kenny Cornell won the first 4.60 race in April
Louis Concrete 4.60 will feature the quickest index bikes on the planet, launching hellbent assaults on the eighth mile pole. Winners so far in the new-for-this-year class have been Kenny Cornell, Ronnie Smith and Jeremy Teasley.
Jeremy Teasley’s Crazy 8s ZX14R
April Crazy 8s winner Cameron Teasley on the CarrCraft Racing Hayabusa
That’s right, pro racer Jeremy Teasley regularly goes deep in sportsman classes also, and you can expect to see him competing against race winning brother Cameron Teasley, defending class champion Shayne Proctor, Ben Knight and many more in MIRock Crazy 8s.
Shayne Proctor
Ben Knight
Jimmy “Hillbilly Hustler” Shifflett has practically owned Maryland International Raceway this year
FBR Shop 5.60 champ “Fearsome” Andy Baumbach can expect a vicious attack from fellow Virginia racer Jimmy “Hillbilly Hustler” Shifflett when those two hit the staging beams. Shifflett has practically owned the Maryland International Raceway portion of the MIRock Series so far this year and will be looking to extend his domination into Rockingham as well. Don’t expect April Rockingham winner Jerry Turner to let either of these two waltz their way to the winners circle.
April Rockingham winner Jerry Turner
Boo Brown
Terry “T-Bone” Singleton
Trac King/APE Top Sportsman and Brock’s Performance Street ET champ Boo Brown will be hustling all comers in both of those classes, including recent winner Terry “T-Bone” Singleton, Barry Pryer Sr., Baybay Yarbrough, Clay Davies, Mike Schultz, Mike Herman Jr. and many more.
Mike Herman Jr.
Dale Hamilton
Nitrous Express Pro ET champ Dale Hamilton is known to slice his way through huge fields and will be forced to do so again if he wants the trophy and check at the end of the day. Mike Rankin, Stanley Russell, Barry Purnell, Mike Herman Sr. and more will be standing in his way.
Mike Herman Sr.
grudge races!
grudge trash!
Grudge bikes will be making shakedowns between qualifying rounds all day long and taking over the track for a DJ’ed “Afterdark Underground” session deep into the night. Long-tail bikes like Eddie Kane, Ric Flair, Katrina and others will be clogging the lanes while hustlers like G. Wizz, CJ400, and Alex Bud Light run their motor-mouths. Meanwhile, riders like Johnny Locklear, Richard Gadson and others keep their heads cool and eyes focused on the big prize.
The weather looks great, with just the usual scattered storms and intense sunshine that The Rock staff knows just how to deal with. “You’re in the South, its summertime, and it usually rains everyday for 15 minutes,” said Earwood. “Our gardenias are in full bloom, corn stalks are taller than Michael Jordan, the peaches are ripe and our daily showers have been great for our agriculture. And a positive result has been they usually cool the track down. With the ambient temperature in the high 80’s, the track dries in less than 45 minutes, if we should get a shower.”
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Adams Performance Sportsman Summer Sizzler schedule:
Friday, June 28
Gates Open 4pm
Test and tune 5pm to 6 pm
Saturday, June 29
Gates Open 9am
Time Trials 10am
Eliminations 1pm
After Dark Underground 8 to midnight
Sunday, June 30
Gates Open 9am
Time Trials 10am
Eliminations Noon