NHRA Northwest Nationals
Pacific Raceways
Aug 04-06, 2017
NHRA Nitro Harley
Ken Boyer, near lane, took down the Mickey Thompson Tires Nitro Harley champion Jay Turner for his first-ever Wally to close out the season by running a 7.888-second pass. That came while Turner had traction problems with his bike after grabbing an advantage on the tree in his sixth final of the year.
Eliminations Round 1
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIN | Kevin Boyer | TFH | — | .075 | 1.100 | 2.805 | 4.152 | 178.61 | 5.322 | 6.346 | 217.28 | — | |
| Toni Froehling | TFH | — | .064 | 1.221 | 3.697 | 6.867 | 68.07 | 10.498 | 14.292 | 55.21 | — | ||
|
12:49 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 78 degrees, relative humidity 57 percent, barometer 29.60 inches, adjusted altitude 2,324 feet, track temperature 110 degrees. Froehling fires and falls back right off the line. Boyer thunders away and makes the quickest pass of the weekend in the easy win. Kevin Boyer’s incremental times: 60ft-1.100 sec., 330ft-2.805, 660ft-4.152/178.61 mph, 1,000ft-5.322. |
|||||||||||||
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
| Randal Andras | TFH | — | .073 | 1.328 | 4.174 | 7.198 | 73.46 | 10.413 | 13.492 | 70.23 | — | ||
| WIN | Andy Beauchemin | TFH | — | .143 | 1.448 | 3.708 | 5.241 | 164.97 | 6.518 | 7.594 | 221.23 | — | |
|
Both bikes are in trouble early. Andras is away first and smokes the tire right after that. Beauchemin looked to have an easy win, but he gets loose right after that. They both are on and off the throttle, but Andy Beauchemin gets the win. He gives up lane choice to Boyer next round. |
|||||||||||||
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
| WIN | Tii Tharpe | TFH | — | .063 | 1.125 | 2.891 | 4.256 | 180.09 | 5.462 | 6.567 | 192.69 | — | |
| Len Darnell | TFH | — | .044 | 1.131 | 2.990 | 4.388 | 163.71 | 5.753 | 7.077 | 157.58 | — | ||
|
Tii Tharpe gets the win, as Darnell is in trouble early. |
|||||||||||||
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
| WIN | Jay Turner | TFH | — | .068 | 1.131 | 2.856 | 4.187 | 185.61 | 5.343 | 6.360 | 213.87 | — | |
| Rickey House | TFH | — | .104 | 1.168 | 3.039 | 4.662 | 145.25 | 6.200 | 7.753 | 135.63 | — | ||
|
House is late and never in the hunt, as he is coasting early. Turner makes his best pass of the weekend and will have lane choice over Tharpe in the next round. Jay Turner’s incremental times: 60ft-1.131 sec., 330ft-2.856, 660ft-4.187/185.61 mph, 1,000ft-5.343. 12:58 p.m. |
|||||||||||||
Eliminations Round 2
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIN | Kevin Boyer | TFH | — | .132 | 1.096 | 2.814 | 4.170 | 178.85 | 5.346 | 6.386 | 215.13 | — | |
| Andy Beauchemin | TFH | — | .098 | 1.504 | 3.980 | 5.603 | 153.07 | 6.906 | 8.202 | 164.19 | — | ||
|
2:22 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 80 degrees, relative humidity 53 percent, barometer 29.59 inches, adjusted altitude 2,510 feet, track temperature 121 degrees. Beauchemin gets a big head start, but his bike isn’t happy and the front wheel is up and down several times. Boyer gets the easy win. |
|||||||||||||
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
| WIN | Jay Turner | TFH | — | .065 | 1.104 | 2.820 | 4.165 | 182.82 | 5.409 | 6.556 | 191.08 | — | |
| Tii Tharpe | TFH | — | .049 | 1.092 | 2.826 | 4.213 | 165.64 | 5.541 | 6.837 | 165.90 | — | ||
|
Tharpe gets the lead initially and holds off Turner until near the 660 lights, but has to watch him ride on by for the win. Turner is celebrating his National Championship, announced before round one. Jay Turner’s incremental times: 60ft-1.104 sec., 330ft-2.820, 660ft-4.165/182.82 mph, 1,000ft-5.409. Tii Tharpe’s incremental times: 60ft-1.092 sec., 330ft-2.826, 660ft-4.213/165.64 mph, 1,000ft-5.541. Boyer will have lane choice in the final round. |
|||||||||||||
Eliminations Round 3
| LANE | DRIVER | CLASS | DIAL IN | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | OV/UN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WIN | Kevin Boyer | TFH | — | .103 | 1.123 | 2.874 | 4.601 | 130.14 | 6.301 | 7.788 | 150.46 | — | |
| Jay Turner | TFH | — | .044 | 1.591 | 5.610 | 9.329 | 64.48 | 12.616 | 15.485 | 76.88 | — | ||
|
3:34 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 82 degrees, relative humidity 51 percent, barometer 29.57 inches, adjusted altitude 2,619 feet, track temperature 121 degrees. Turner has prior eight wins. Three of them this year. Boyer has four prior runner-up finishes and one was against Turner. Turner is away first by a bunch, but the engine goes silent right after that and he is coasting. Boyer seemed to initially be on another strong pass, but the engine went sour early and he would have been a sitting duck against a competitive bike. Luck is Good! |
|||||||||||||
Qualifying
| POSITION | DRIVER | ET | MPH |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Jay Turner | 6.388 | 212.03 |
| 02 | Kevin Boyer | 6.392 | 211.86 |
| 03 | Randal Andras | 6.448 | 199.05 |
| 04 | Tii Tharpe | 6.519 | 194.1 |
| 05 | Len Darnell | 6.633 | 211.46 |
| 06 | Andy Beauchemin | 6.737 | 198.38 |
| 07 | Toni Froehling | 7.732 | 166.66 |
| 08 | Rickey House | 12.199 | 81.49 |
| 09 | Mike Beland | 12.522 | 89.86 |
Turner wraps up Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley title
With three wins and five final-round appearances, Jay Turner claimed the inaugural Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley title and was saluted Sunday at the NHRA Northwest Nationals, the final event of the season for the fuel bikes. The rider locked up the trophy at the penultimate event in Bristol with a runner-up finish against teammate Tii Tharpe thanks to a blistering start to the season. He only missed the final round in two races.
“It’s been a great year, not just for me but for our whole team,” said Turner, who’s been racing fuel bikes for 20 years. “Tii is fighting for second place and between us we’ve won five of the prior seven races. It hasn’t been as smooth as the statistics say – we’re running the bikes harder than we’ve ever run them, so there’s more maintenance and parts wear — but we’ve got a really good crew and it’s been a good year.”
Turner got his season off on the right foot with a win against Rickey House at the Winternationals. He missed the finals in Phoenix, but got right back into the winner’s circle in back-to-back races in Las Vegas and Houston against Mike Pelrine and Bob Malloy. That further extended the lead for the five-time winner in the category.
He then moved on to Topeka where he runnered up against Mike Scott. That marked Turner’s fourth appearance in a final round in just the fifth race of the season. By that time, he had accumulated a whopping 393 points. The class counts the best six races of the season.
That came in handy the following event, as Turner only picked up 40 points in Epping, a season-low for the rider. He bounced right back at Thunder Valley, reaching the final round again. That clinched him the title, and helped teammate Tharpe climb the standings in the process.
In addition to Sunday success, Turner ran the quickest elapsed time of the season, a 6.117-second pass during Bristol qualifying. He qualified No. 1 in both Thunder Valley and at the Winternationals, while getting into the quick half of the field a total of six times during the season.
[spacer color=”336699″ icon=”fa-trophy” style=”1″]
Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 24 national events featuring the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA. NHRA also offers NHRA Jr. Street for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 5 to 17. In addition, NHRA owns and operates five racing facilities: Atlanta Dragway in Georgia; Gainesville Raceway in Florida; National Trail Raceway in Ohio; Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to NHRA.com
