DME Racing All-Star Shootout Event Coverage

November 18, 2016

logo_dme_all_star_shootout Man Cup

DME Racing All-Star Shootout Event Coverage

THURSDAY

DME Racing All-Star Shootout a Big Success

The race within a race, the DME $10,000 All-Star Shootout has been a big hit with the ManCup Pro Street racers. The specialty event, the first of its kind, began on Thursday, during the 40th annual, ManCup Mann Hill Garage World Finals. The World Finals, expanded from a three-day event to a five-day event in 2016, has so far been a huge success for motorcycle drag racing.

The early Test & Tune on Wednesday was a flurry of activity that evolved into a sizable Pro Street bike test & tune that saw many of the Pro Street teams testing the track and their combinations a day prior to the Thursday competition. Despite the fact that it was open test and tune for all bikes, very few sportsman racers were able to take time off from work and join in the testing during the mid-week.

On Thursday, the first of two qualifying sessions kicked off just after 1pm with 29 motorcycles entered into the field. After the smoke cleared from the two sessions, Rodney Williford emerged as the #1 qualifier with a very stout, 6.79 @ 217 mph. High MPH for the qualifiers was Ehren Litten with a whomping 220.48 MPH blast that got his competitors attention.

Track prep was excellent for the shoot-out with many racers exhibiting power wheel stands. SGMP and Man Cup went the extra mile in preparing for this race. Jeremy Teasley’s 6.77 in testing on Wednesday showed that as did Joey Gladstone’s 6.85@217, fresh off the trailer Wednesday afternoon.

With Q-1 and Q-2 ran in quick succession in the afternoon, E-1 for the DME All-Star Shootout began and the 29 bike field paired down through E-1 and E-2. The Ronnie Mitchell Racing camp had the biggest win of the day when Michael Bayes ran a 6.894 at 213 mph to finally land Michael in the 6.80 zone he has been shooting for. Bayes celebrated after the round with a cigar he has been holding onto all year just for this occasion.

At the conclusion of the first two rounds of eliminations, Rodney Williford Vs Bud Yoder, Joey Gladstone Vs J Lopes, Ehren Litton Vs Jordan Haase, and Michael Bayes vs Mark Gargiulo are paired up for E-3 which will take place on Friday afternoon, prior to ManCup Q-1 for the professional classes.

After the DME All-Star Shootout, the entire pit area of DME played host to a BBQ banquet provided by Dunigan Racing. No only did no one walked away hungry but a slew of Pro Street racer won prizes donated to the Shootout. Thank you to all the sponsors that posted prizes for the event. Below is a list of the donated prizes and the winners!

Prizes and Winners

DME Racing Swingarm – Derek Miller
MTC Gen II Multistage Clutch – Donnie Taylor
Portable Shade 9′ x 9′ canopy – Jeremy Teasley
Penske Shock – Jeremy St. Julien
Man Hill Garage Full Bodywork Hydro Dip – Joey Jobbe
Man Cup Pro Street Tech Card for 2016 – Michael Bayes
Dunigan Racing $200 Gas Card – Rocky Tinker
Dunigan Racing $200 Gas Card – Jamie Lopes
Dunigan Racing $100 Gas Card – Brandon Mitcham

Portable Shade MTC Engineering Dunigan Racing

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All things considered, the DME All-Star Shootout with the Man Cup at the World Finals has been a big hit with all in attendance. E-3 is slated for 1pm Friday and it’s to be complete by 5pm, just prior to Q-1 for all professional classes of ManCup competition. Can motorcycle drag racing live up to a five-day event similar to the NHRA Indy “Big Go?” That’s a big 10-4.

DME All-Star Shootout Dinner

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FRIDAY

Eliminations for the second half of yesterday’s DME sponsored $10,000, All Star Shootout commenced on time Friday afternoon, picking up the action with E-3 pairings. The racers were primed and ready when they hear the call to the lanes by ManCup veteran announcer Bill Hahn Jr.

Rodney Williford lead things off with a sound defeat of Bud Yoder, 6.87 to a troubled 8.84 elapsed time. Joey Gladstone made it to the big stripe just ahead of Jamie Lopes, 6.84 to 6.95 to advance to the semi final round match up with Rodney Williford.

On the other side of the ladder, Ehren Litton drilled the tree with a perfect .000 light against Jordan Haase, then out ran him 6.87 to Jordan’s 7.06 to advance to the semi-final round.

Michael Bayes, defeated Mark Gargiulo in a close one, 6.87 to 6.94 respectively. The racers returned to the pit areas and with much anticipation were ready for the next call about 90 minutes later. The final four were the toughest of the tough guys in Pro Street, 2016.

The first pair up in the semi-final round was Joey Gladstone Vs Rodney Williford. Joey’s .027 reaction time was good, but Rodney got the better of Joey on the tree with a slight advantage .022, then widened his lead over Joey with a stunning 6.77 elapsed time to Joey’s 6.86, ending DME’s title hopes for the All Star Shootout.

Michael Bayes was then defeated by Ehren Litton, 7.98 to 6.81 to set up an all Williford Racing finale with $10,000 on the line: Rodney Williford Vs Ehren Litton. Friends yes, but on the starting line there are no “friends.”

The final round of the DME All Star Shootout took place at 4:49 PM, with excitement in the air for all in view. After their burn outs, Ehren moved in first, followed by Rodney and in a flash they were gone. Rodney Williford in the left lane started drifting to the right by mid track and had to course correct and that was all it took: Ehren Litton was gone like a summer breeze. A cool $10,000 breeze.