NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
Bristol Dragway
Jun 16-18, 2017
NHRA Nitro Harley
Coverage by Tom McCarthy
Sunday
On Sunday when racing kicked off on time, for the NHRA Mickey Thompson Top Fuel Harleys, the first pair out was Jake Stordeur Vs Mike Beland. Jake had the better reaction time with a .036 to Mike’s .116, but shortly after launch, the transmission-sprag in Mike’s bike gave up and Mike was off the throttle early, sending Jake on to the semi-final round.
In the second pairing, Randal Andras out of the Jay Turner Racing stables found himself doing a competition solo as Rich Vreeland’s bike failed to fire. When asked what happened as to why the bike did not fire, Rich replied with a smile, “Driver error is what happened. We got the bike back into the pits and looked it over and it fired right up.” In drag racing, these things happen. Rich qualified 6th in the eight bike field and this was not the way he wanted his weekend to end, but that’s drag racing.
Next out was Jay Turner vs. Tak Shigematsu. As the bikes lined up side by side for burnouts, Tak’s bike sounded off key and produced no tire smoke. The bike limped to the starting line and Tak staged the machine for competition. Jay Turner wasted no time in delivering a “Coupe De Grace,” ending Tak’s day with a 6.44 @ 221.92 MPH blast.
In the final pair out for round one, Tii Tharpe faced off against Armon Furr. These two paired up for a good drag race and it started off just right. After the twin thunderous burnouts, they courtesy staged like the two professionals they are. Armon got the jump and was out by half a bike right away. But that Jay Turner horsepower came on like a freight train and Tii took the win with the quickest pass of the weekend so far: a stunning 6.268 @ 221 MPH, to Armon’s off-pace, 7.20 @ 196.13 MPH.
The semi-final round matchup, of Turner Vs Andras, Jay Turner was just quicker and faster than Randal Andras on the big end. Randal got off the starting line first with an excellent .036 reaction time to Jay’s .052, but Jay’s 6.42 @ 220 MPH was too much for Randal’s 6.56 @ 202 MPH. This round win sent Jay Turner off to the final round.
Tii Tharpe and Jake Stordeur then took to the track for their semi-final battle. They were very closely matched as the tree signaled go, Jakes .036 RT was a tad quicker than Tii’s .048, and they were wheel-to-wheel approaching half-track. About this time Jake’s bike broke traction and a loud BANG followed as he blew the motor. By design, the restraint straps holding the motor down did their job and while the motor was in rough shape, Jake was fine.
In the last matchup of the day, it was an all Jay Turner Racing final with teammates “Bull Dog” Jay Turner ready to race his buddy, Tii Tharpe. Jay posted a .051 RT to Tii’s quicker .047 reaction to the tree, and they were glued together for some 330 feet down the race track. Then something started going wrong on Jay’s bike. By half-track, as Jay Turner slowed, Tii just pulled away for his second victory in as many races.
The week previous to the NHRA Bristol Thunder Nationals, the Mickey Thompson Top Fuel Harleys were at New England Dragway, in Epping, NH for the NHRA New England Nationals. At that race, Tii Tharpe defeated Rickey House for his first NHRA “Wally” of 2017. So the NHRA Thunder Nationals win by Tii makes two wins in a row.
When asked how it feels to win two in a row Tii replied “Well it is fantastic! I got off to a rough start this season and most of it was me not riding 100%, but we turned that around. As for being in the final round against my friend Jay Turner, that’s bittersweet. I’m happy to win, that’s the scenario we are always looking for, but not to beat up on my friend. So we leave the starting line as Frienemies, and six seconds later we are family again, no matter what the outcome.”
This race was the seventh event in an eight race series, hosted by the National Hot Rod Association sanction. While the NHRA was gracious enough to pick up the tab and give the Top Fuel Harleys a home at the start of 2017, without a series sponsor, Mickey Thompson Tires and Wheels are now on board as the official title sponsor. In 2018, the Top Fuel Harleys will be racing for $97,000 in prize money, put up by M/T Tires and wheels.
The next and final race of the 2017 season for the NHRA T/F Harleys will be on August 4-6 in Sonoma, CA, for the NHRA North West Nationals.
ROUND 1
| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left | Mike Beland | .116 | 1.239 | 4.557 | 9.251 | 44.78 | 15.095 | 22.049 | 28.13 | ||||
| Right | Jake Stordeur – WIN | .036 | 1.147 | 2.948 | 4.401 | 172.89 | 5.670 | 6.755 | 205.38 | ||||
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1:26 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 86 degrees, relative humidity 54 percent, barometer 28.32 inches, adjusted altitude 4,541 feet, track temperature 128 degrees. Beland is a little behind off the line, gets about sixty feet out and the engine goes silent. Stordeur started drifting to the left early, gets close to the centerline at the end of the run, but was able to hang on and take the win.
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| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
| Left | Rich Vreeland | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| Right | Randal Andras – WIN | .126 | 1.140 | 2.905 | 4.278 | 179.90 | 5.478 | 6.523 | 204.11 | ||||
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Vreeland starts the engine, it dies and he is not able to get it restarted giving Andras the single run. Andras goes right down the groove with a good pass for the conditions and moves on to the next round.
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| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
| Left | Takeshi Shigematsu | .072 | 1.196 | 3.737 | 6.559 | 83.29 | 9.390 | 12.106 | 79.78 | ||||
| Right | Jay Turner – WIN | .074 | 1.149 | 2.891 | 4.239 | 184.25 | 5.419 | 6.443 | 221.92 | ||||
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Shigematsu hits the throttle, makes a move to the left, then has problems and the engine goes silent. Turner goes right down the groove with the quickest pass of the round so far to take the win. Turner will have lane choice over Andras in the next round.
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| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
| Left | Armon Furr | .091 | 1.273 | 3.191 | 4.730 | 159.85 | 6.064 | 7.204 | 196.13 | ||||
| Right | Tii Tharpe – WIN | .179 | 1.095 | 2.796 | 4.114 | 193.02 | 5.274 | 6.268 | 221.89 | ||||
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Furr gets out of the gate first but Tharpe reels him in before they reach the sixty foot mark. Tharpe goes right down the groove with the quickest pass of the weekend and pulls away for the win. Tii Tharpe’s incremental times: 60ft-1.095 sec., 330ft-2.796, 660ft-4.114/193.02 mph, 1,000ft-5.274. Tharpe will have lane choice over Stordeur in the next round. |
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ROUND 2
| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left | Randal Andras | .036 | 1.166 | 2.925 | 4.306 | 184.77 | 5.508 | 6.563 | 202.24 | ||||
| Right | Jay Turner – WIN | .052 | 1.137 | 2.875 | 4.230 | 184.57 | 5.409 | 6.427 | 220.30 | ||||
| 2:48 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 89 degrees, relative humidity 50 percent, barometer 28.28 inches, adjusted altitude 4,757 feet, track temperature 135 degrees. Andras gets out of the gate first but Turner reels him in quickly. Turner goes around Andras before they reach the sixty foot mark, then goes right down the groove and pulls away for the win. Jay Turner’s incremental margins: 60ft(0.013), 330 ft(0.034), 660ft(0.060), 1,000ft(0.083). MOV: 0.1208 seconds (approximately 36 feet).
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| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
| Left | Jake Stordeur | .036 | 1.134 | 2.956 | 4.846 | 114.09 | 7.000 | 9.224 | 94.75 | ||||
| Right | Tii Tharpe – WIN | .048 | 1.111 | 2.836 | 4.178 | 179.56 | 5.339 | 6.344 | 221.09 | ||||
| Stordeur gets the holeshot but Tharpe goes around him before they get to the sixty foot mark. Stordeur gets about 300 feet out, a flash of flames and sparks come from the engine and he is coasting at that point. Tharpe will have lane choice over Turner in the final round. | |||||||||||||
FINAL ROUND
| LANE | DRIVER | RT | 60 FT | 330 FT | 660 FT | 660 FT MPH | 1000 FT | ET | MPH | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Left | Jay Turner | .051 | 1.158 | 2.911 | 4.400 | 149.15 | 6.009 | 7.603 | 134.20 | ||||
| Right | Tii Tharpe – WIN | .047 | 1.148 | 2.917 | 4.283 | 179.47 | 5.484 | 6.549 | 205.01 | ||||
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5:07 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 81 degrees, relative humidity 66 percent, barometer 28.28 inches, adjusted altitude 4,350 feet, track temperature 113 degrees. Tharpe has one win, Epping this year. He has runnered-up twice, both times to Turner. Turner has eight wins. Tharpe gets a small advantage and starts to pull away. Turner gets about 600 feet out and the bike starts to slow, not sure why. Tii Tharpe’s incremental margins (negative if behind): 60ft(0.014), 330 ft(-0.002), 660ft(0.121), 1,000ft(0.529). MOV: 1.0586 seconds (more than 100 feet). |
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Saturday – Qualifying
At 2:40PM on Saturday, June 17, 2017, the final round of qualifying concluded for the Mickey Thompson Tires, Top Fuel Harley series. The session wrapped up just a matter of minutes before the skies opened up to cool things off for the racers and fans. With temps approaching the mid 80’s and humidity enough to make a snake sweat, the water was welcomed by some. It was definitely getting a bit hot on the track. At 5PM when track drying operations began, the track surface temp STILL stood strong at 115 degrees!
After three rounds of T/F Harley qualifying, Tii Tharpe’s 6.38 that he ran in Q-1 Friday night, was still low ET for the meet. His team mate, Jay Turner turned in an excellent 6.396 to move up to the number two spot and Randal Andras posted a 6.52, to put Jay Turner Racing 1-2-3 in qualifying. They pretty much locked up ½ the ladder except for Jake Stordeur (6.57) who claimed the 4th spot.
On the other half of the ladder, Mike Beland slipped to the #5 spot, but with consistent 6.50’s during qualifying, Mike has no complaints. Both he and Carl Pelletier are very happy with their performance. Even AR their sponsor from Hog’s & Heifers, was in a smiling mood today.
Rich Vreeland made an excellent pass in Q-3 (6.89) to move up the ladder one spot, and Tak Shigematsu’s 7.08 in the last session mode him up to the number seven spot. Armon Furr’s 7.08 in Q-2 put him on the bump and that was all she wrote for the eights slots on Sunday.
The biggest upset in qualifying was Ricky House not making the field. He as just 64 championship points behind Jay Turner coming into this event, with one race remaining in 2017 for TFH. With this DNQ, and Bob Malloy not in attendance this weekend, Jay Turner is a big step closer to securing his second consecutive NHRA Top Fuel Harley number 1 plate. The season isn’t over yet, but Jay’s more than a bike length or two ahead of his peers.
The DNQ’s for this race, Dennis Fisher, who really boomed a motor during Q-3, Kevin Boyer, Brain Jernigan, Tracy Kile, Ricky House, Benny Stevens, and Billy Jack: are all getting their bikes ready for the Bowling Green race next weekend. In fact, most of the racers who qualified for this race will be racing again next week in KY.
The eliminations ladder shows that Tii Tharpe will face Armon Furr, Jake Stordeur, will race Mike Beland, Jay Turner matchup with Tak Shigematsu and Randal Andras will duke it out with Rich Vreeland.
FRIDAY – Qualifying Round 1
Friday Afternoon Photo Walk Around
Friday Noon Report
Here at the NHRA Thunder Nationals, in Bristol, TN, we are under heavy cloud cover, but with the sun doing everything it can to peak through the clouds, from time to time. Track surface temperatures are hovering around 95 degrees Fahrenheit, near the noonday hour. The Top Fuel Harleys are currently slated for a 6:30 PM qualifying time for Q-1, during Friday evening.
AT 10:am in the pits, on Friday we have: Brain Jernigan, Benny Stevens, Jay Turner, Tii Tharpe, Randal Andras, Kevin Boyer, Billy Jack, Dennis Fisher, Tracy Kile, Jake Stordeur, Armon Furr, Chris Smith, Ricky House, Rich Vreeland, Mike Beland, and Tak Shigematsu are all here and Tech’d in. There are sixteen Mickey Thompson Top Fuel Harley Davidson drag bikes here, ready to race. Missing from the initial 17 bikes pre-entered for this race is Mike Scott, who had to withdraw at the last moment due to unforeseen circumstances.
Tak Shigematsu, all the way from Japan may be our long distance award traveler, but Benny Stevens of Perth, Australia could edge him out on that one. Benny, the world’s fastest and quickest amputee in drag racing, is here racing with team mate Brian Jernigan on Mike Bahnmaier Top Fuel bikes. Reggie Showers, former NHRA Pro Stock bike racer has a best of 7.02 @ 198 MPH in competition, and Benny, being a Harley T/F bike pilot, has a best of 6.75 @ 202 MPH to his credit.
Significant Top Fuel motorcycle history has been written here at Bristol Dragway. On Sept, 19-21, 1986, at the IHRA, WYCB-TV, Fall Nationals, 16 Top Fuel Bikes entered that event, which was an official DRAGBIKE! sanctioned points race. On Saturday Sept 20, 1986, during qualifying, Mark Miller, on the Brunson, Miller and Lundquist T/F bike qualified with a historic 6.989 @ 186.33 mph elapsed time. This was the first official breaking of the six second barrier by a Top Fuel motorcycle. Mark Miller backed it up with a 7.01 pass during E-1 on Sunday to officially usher in the era of six second Top Fuel bike racing.
Dorothy Olson of Jay Turner Racing is a wealth of information on T/F Harleys in the modern era.
Turning the back some 40 years ago: in 1977, at the NHRA Winston World Finals, there was a four T/F bike qualified field for the event which was the first “All seven second” T/F bike field. The number one qualifier was Joe Thronson on his T/F Harley double engine drag bike 7.76 @ 173 mph, Jim Bernard 7.85 @ 178mph, Kenny Annesley 7.86 @ 176 and on the bump was Ron Fringer with a 7.91 @ 176 mph. It’s interesting to note that it was four decades ago, the T/F bikes were just entering the 7’s and close to a decade later they entered the six’s. Then it took from 1986 to 1999 to enter the five second elapsed time zone when Larry “Spiderman” McBride ran the first 5, on October 31st, 1999.
AROUND THE PITS: Carl Pelletier and his team rolled in with their Top Fuel motorcycle about 9PM on Thursday night, with their rig attached to the back of a Tow Truck. Today Carl, Mike Beland and the rest of the team are tearing out the transmission, to make repairs to the rig.
DJ and Tak are here with their supercharged (Prochrager) T/F hoping to gain valuable tuning data and advance their racing program. Also in the tuning hunt is Johnny Vickers tuning for Dennis Fisher. Dennis has his Nitro F/B here and it’s produced a 6.50’s run before, so if they can make the field and gain valuable tuning data, they are all in. John Red Rhea has his new bike here as well with Chris Smith in the hot seat; the bike is a new build and nowhere near its potential just yet.
Jay Turner Racing has three T/f bikes in competition this weekend, no doubt Jay, Tii and Randall will make strong bids to qualify. Ricky House is only 64 points behind Jay Turner, who is out to defend his 2016, NHRA T/F #1 plate. Bobby Malloy was 143 points behind Jay going into the Bristol race, but he decided to sit this race out. With only one final NHRA T/F bike contest left on the books after this event, only Ricky House has a shot at besting Jay Turner.
THURSDAY
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals off to a BANG in Bristol TN
The official start to the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals has not even happened yet and the event is off to a big bang already. Seven NHRA luminaries participated in a Trap/Skeet shoot today on Thursday, as part of the pre-race festivities. Racers not only worked with the racing media, but the local television stations as well, to help support the Bristol Speedway though one of its charities. This not only helped raise funds for needy children but reminded local area residents that there is a big race at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend.
Jay Tuner busting a clay at the first station of the day today; Bull Dog style.
The Bristol Dragway Celebrity Shooting Tournament, presented by NRA, benefits the Speedway Children’s Charities (SCC). The SCC is the charitable arm of Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway. The event this year raised over $30,000 and was supported by many sponsors and included 10 different shooting teams. Marsh Regional Blood Center and Frito-Lay were station sponsors and other teams include:
- Bank of Tennessee
- ASR Metals
- Virginia Electric Supply
- Comfort Systems
- Texas Roadhouse
- Lonestar Entertainment
- Baker’s Construction Services
NHRA Drivers included NHRA, Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley racers Rich Vreeland, Chris Smith, Tii Tharpe, Jay Turner, and NHRA standouts, Del Worsham, Bo Butner, and Randi Lyn Shipp. A total of 47 participants filled the ten teams that entered competition today.
The entrance to the Kettlefoot Rod and Gun Club can be a challenge to find.
The Marsh Regional Blood Center team containing Rich Vreeland were the winners for the 2017 event with 157 clays downed. Each contestant was issued 50 rounds of either 12 gauge or 20 gauge shells. Some contestants used pump action, semi-auto, or traditional over/under shotguns. All hearing protection and eyewear were provided by the host club, The Kettlefoot Rod and Gun Club, located in Bristol, VA. The gun club is about a 35-minute ride from the Dragway.
The many sponsors who made this event possible gave much to charity this day.
Some might argue the best part of the day was the fantastic lunch spread put on by Texas Roadhouse, compliments of the house, to feed all in attendance. Pulled pork, BBQ or grilled chicken, baked potatoes; even the signature butter and pop-over rolls were on hand. But the truth be known, the best part of the day was the camaraderie and fun the racers had busting clays working with new teammates.
Each of the ten teams were stacked with contestants to balance out the competition, so the NHRA racers were spread out among the ten teams. As for the sharp shooting Top Fuel Harley guys: Chris Smith was top-gun with 28 clays downed, followed by Rich Vreeland (18), and Jay Turner and Tii Tharpe were tied at 16 each.
Local TV stations CH 5 and CH 11 of the Tri-Cities did on camera interviews with several of the NHRA racers.
When asked about his top-gun performance, Top Fuel Harley racer Chris Smith replied, “No special training really, I just get it from duck hunting I do every year.” Chris will be driving for John “Red” Rhea this weekend.
The real winners here were the various children’s charities for which close to 30,000 were raised today. Special thanks go out to Claudia Byrd, Betsy Hollerman and the Speedway Children’s Charities for putting this event together, Chanel 5 and 11 News Teams for being there, and to the NHRA for working on behalf of a noble cause.
THURSDAY @ Bristol: Currently in the Mickey Thompson Tires, Top Fuel Harley pit area the teams of Jay Turner, Tii Tharp, Kevin Boyer, Tracy Kile, Dennis Fisher, Billy Jack, Rich Vreeland, Ricky House, Chris Smith, Mike Beland, and Armon Furr. As of 6PM, many more teams are on the way, there are 16 teams pre-entered for this race, which starts tomorrow.
Thursday Gallery
The selections of shotguns for this event were excellent!
The NHRA celebrities were well received and they had a ball shooting today.
Rich Vreeland is the picture of happy, no matter what the man is doing, he just enjoys himself.
The shooters this day just had a smoke’n good time busting clays!
Chris Smith added to his shooting pleasure by toying with his shotgun shell extractions – he caught them each time.
Tii Tharpe, fresh off his NHRA T/F win at Epping NH last weekend is ready to go racing.
Dennis Fisher is going T/F racing this weekend with his AMRA F/B tuned by Johnny Vickers.
The leader board with all the scores of all the teams.
Rich Vreeland is ready to ride at Bristol!
Sharky, AKA: Ricky House will be chasing the Bull Dog this weekend. He’s in the pits, ready to go.
Kevin Boyer’s T/F bike get’s “The Treatment” before Q-1 starts tomorrow on Friday.
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Until Next time…
– Tom McCarthy |
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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
