Robbie Hunnicutt, above, beat longtime Legion of Doom compadre Ronnie Procopio in the Pro Mod final
Tight racing on Sunday and Grudge-style entertainment on Saturday were hallmarks of the FBR Shop Bike Week Nationals, May 21-22 at Rockingham Dragway. This third stop on the 2011 Mickey Thompson Performance Tires MIRock Superbike Series ran flawlessly under Carolina blue skies.
Maryland’s Robbie “Superman” Hunnicutt took a holeshot Mickey Thompson Pro Mod win over local hero Ronnie Procopio, winner at The Rock back in March. Hunnicutt grabbed nearly 5/100ths advantage over the usually razor sharp Procopio at the tree and ran 4.26 in the eighth mile class to keep out in front. Additionally, Procopio beat number 1 qualifier and new nitrous MPH record holder Matt Smith (173.72) on a holeshot in the semifinals. “I had a good weekend,” said Robbie. “I qualified ok,not the fatsest but continued to work on the tune-up each round and had good lights. My closest race was against Dave Norris, I think the margin of victory was .003.
“I had Ronnie Procopio in the final and I strapped him to the tree and beat him with it,” laughed Hunnicutt. “He out ran me but I got the winlight. I want to thank Diamond Pistons, World Wide Bearings, Innovative Performance Racing chassis, Fast by Gast, Schnitz Racing, and Hunnicutt Glass.”
Orient Express Pro Street champion Rodney Williford
Defending Orient Express Pro Street class champion Rodney Williford took his second straight win, this time over Floridian Ken Edwards. Number 1 qualifier Williford fell short of backing up his fastest-ever in the series 208.81 mph semifinal lap, but did break into the teens with a 7.19 in the final.
Jeremy Teasley (above) continued his DME Real Street streak
Jeremy Teasley’s DME Real Street win streak continues unabated as he took the final round over Delaware’s Joey Gladstone, a repeat of the March final. Gladstone ran a good lap but was uncharacteristically slow off the starting line and failed to get the win at a time when Teasley’s Adams Performance/RS Motorsports Kawasaki ZX14 was ripe for the picking. Something blew in Teasley’s motor and he ran through the traps sounding like a goat and running nearly 23 mph slower than his record setting 194.18 from earlier in the day.
Jeremy Teasley suits up before the night’s most unlikely and hilarious grudge race at Rockingham
Teasley also won Saturday’s most entertaining grudge race. Aboard a stock wheelbase, all-motor Suzuki Hayabusa from House of Speed that had “sleeper” written all over it, Teasley got the break against a stretched, nitrous-fed ‘Busa painted Tar Heels blue on one side and all Blue Devils on the other. Teasley took that break and ran with it, staying well out front in the left lane and, seeing as how his bike was fully equipped with turn signals and everything, added insult to injury by putting on the right flasher at the top end. The offer to rerun without the break was made by Teasley’s camp but not accepted.
“Fearsome” Andy Baumbach
Teasley didn’t quite win everything this weekend as he came up short in the House of Speed Crazy 8s final to “Fearsome” Andy Baumbach. Riding Wayne Robertson’s Suzuki B-King, Teasley gave up the tree then spun hard, handing Baumbach an easy win. Virginia plumber Baumbach has now won in every sportsman class ever run in nearly every major all-motorcycle drag racing series in America over the last 15 years.
Pat Butler
Maryland’s Pat Butler rode his all-motor Outlaw style bike to the FBR Shop Top Sportsman win over Shayne Proctor, who redlit by -.002. Virginian Schubby Clayton beat Georgian Tony Freeman in Motorcycletireoutlet.net 5.60.
the Hermans, Michael Sr and Jr, face off on Sunday with Sr comin g out on top
One could understandably get confused reading Nitrous Express Pro ET and Schnitz Racing Street ET results. Michael Herman Jr. beat Gerrell Clemons in Saturday night’s Street ET final, but Clemmons beat Michael Herman Sr. in Saturday night’s Pro ET final. Then Herman Sr. won Street ET on Sunday over perennial runner-up Terry “T-Bone” Singleton. Willie Warren Jr. slapped a .005 light on Boo Brown to take Sunday’s Pro ET final.
earlier
Finals set at The Rock
Ken Edwards, above, has his new No Joke ‘in the Orient Express Pro Street final against Rodney Williford
Teasley slaps a turn signal on the Tar Heel/Blue Devil
Jeremy Teasley won the night’s most unlikely and hilarious grudge race at Rockingham. Teasley rode a stock wheelbase, all-motor ‘Busa vs. the Tar Heels/Blue Devils stretched ‘Busa on the bottle. Teasley had the break in the left lane and nailed it, then with the race safely in hand put his right turn signal on—enraging the NC bike’s handlers but erupting the crowd.Teasley and the sleeper’s House of Speed builders sought a heads-up rerun, but it didn’t happen.
Dobrin and Teasley neck and neck at The Rock
Johnny “Turbo” Dobrin’s 7.865 leads Jeremy Teasley’s 7.868 in DME Real Street after Q2
Joey Gladstone’s Real Street GSXR1000 is being studied to replace NASA’s retire shuttle fleet
Smith Leading Pro Mod at The Rock
Matt Smith’s 4.143 at 171.84 leads Mickey Thompson Pro Mod after one round
6-second booty up for grabs at The Rock
The race to be the first 6 second streetbike moves to Rockingham Dragway, where Bud Yoder and Rougemont’s Rodney Williford are most likely to push the performance envelope during the ninth annual FBR Shop Bike Week Nationals, third of the eight races that comprise the Mickey Thompson Performance Tires MIRock Superbike Series.
The three-day event, which will crown winners in Orient Express Pro Street, Mickey Thompson Pro Modified, DME Real Street, FBR Shop Top Sportsman, House of Speed Crazy 8s, MotorcyleTireOutlet.net Pro Comp and Nitrous Express and Cycle Connection bracket classes is the third in the 2011 MIRock Superbike Series hosted jointly by The Rock and Maryland International Raceway.
Although MIRock already is established as a groundbreaking, independently-produced motorcycle series, the potential for record-breaking two-wheel performance has added a new element to the series.
In fact, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and PR Factory Store have posted a “6-Second Bounty” package consisting of $3,000 in cash, 10 M/T MCR2 drag tires and a commemorative Mickey Thompson racing jacket to be presented to the first Pro Street racer whose quarter mile time begins with a “6.” But that pales next to the whopping $10,000 offered by Hays Machine Works if the milestone busting streetbike is using the Hays convertible clutch.
Bud Yoder
Yoder, March winner of The Rock’s Spring Open astride a turbocharged 2010 Suzuki, is the current MIRock record holder at 7.115 seconds. Williford, the reigning MIRock champion and winner earlier this month at MIR, already has broken 7.00 seconds – but not under the current rules.
Enroute to the 2006 MIRock title, Williford stopped the timers in 6.918 seconds in qualifying for the Rockingham season finale, running under the previous “Outlaw” Pro Street rules. Two months later, his turbo entry was legislated out of competition. Now he once again is poised to break that barrier.
In addition to a full day of practice on Friday and two days of some of the most intense motorcycle drag racing on the planet, the FBR Shop Nationals also features Rockingham Dragway’s popular Afterdark Underground with DJ music and run-what-you-brung grudge racing under the lights.
Saturday’s 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. pro qualifying sessions will set the stage for two hours of Afterdark Underground. Pro eliminations will begin at 12 noon Sunday.
Adult tickets are $10 Friday, $20 Saturday and Sunday although two-and-three-day tickets are available at a discount. Children 6-11 are $5 daily; under six free when accompanied by a ticketed adult. Parking is free in Rockingham’s main lot although VIP parking is $10 each day.