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Expectations Exceeded at XDA Superbike Showdown

For the second time this year, the Xtreme Dragbike Association (XDA) brought the best show in motorcycle drag racing to Virginia Motorsports Park for the Inaugural Superbike Showdown.
 
With cooler temperatures and a great weather forecast, serious racers came out for a chance at over $45,000 in purse money. And the spectators showed up for them, making this a well-attended event to exceed expectations!
 
Orient Express Racing Pro Street
Winner – Rodney Williford 6.75
Runner-up – Jordan Haase 6.82
#1 Qualifier – Jeremy Teasley 6.645
MPH Record – Rodney Williford 226.13
 
This weekend once again proved why Orient Express Pro Street is the most exciting class to watch in motorcycle drag racing. For starters, we have had a different winner at every event this year. The qualifying ladder showed the quickest field in Pro Street history with thirteen racers in the 6’s! This class is full of killers, and no one can look at first-round pairings and guess who the winner will be.  
 
The Penske Pro Street Shootout once again made qualifying exciting as racers had to do battle as they tried for a good qualifying position. Williford, Dunigan, Schnitz, and Hable all ran way off their regular numbers first round to send Teasley, Shakir, Connelly, and Lopes to the semi-final.
 
Connelly had an easy pass to the final as Lopes was broke. Teasley took out Shakir with a 6.64 to his new personal record of 6.69 bringing the fans to their feet for this pass. As the DME Racing teammates headed to the final, points leader, Chris Connelly was looking for a win to keep his momentum moving forward. However, a rare red light gave the win to Teasley giving him back to back wins in the Penske Pro Street Shootout.
 
On Saturday night with the cool air, everyone was expecting someone to come out and put a 50 on the boards. However, the class had a meeting and decided to keep everyone in suspense for another month! However, what we did see was some big moves up the GOAT list. Justin Shakir with a 6.68, Richard Gadson a 6.68, Jason Dunigan a 6.716, Chris Connelly a 6.766, Jordan Hasse a 6.768, Darion Payne a 6.824, and Jamie Lopes with a 6.926.
 
On Sunday the excitement continued. In round one Darion Payne took out the Connecticut Gangsta Mark Gargiulo, and go on to the semi-final. In round two the entire DME Racing team would be taken out of the competition to leave their fans stunned. And after that, the Williford team could not, and would not be stopped. Williford and Haase took out Payne and Shakir in the semi-final to put the young Jordan Haase in his first Pro Street final! Never knowing what Williford is going to pull out of his pocket, we anticipated a big ET on the board, but instead, he delivered the quickest Pro Street mile-per-hour with a 226.13! Haase hit the tree first and stayed in front of Williford until the eighth-mile when he turned on the magic and started pulling ahead of him to take the win with a 6.755 to Haase’s 6.824.
 
With this win, Williford moves to the top of the leaderboard going into the season finale. However, this race will feature a thirty-two bike field to create five rounds of competition that will work in favor of some racers while also making it harder for points if they lose first round. There can be no missteps for Connelly if he wants to get his lead back and win his first championship. 
 
DME Racing Real Street
Winner – Spencer Claycomb
Runner-up – Anibal Merced
#1 Qualifier – Spencer Claycomb 7.704
 
DME Racing Real Street is the only class to have a champion declared before the season finale. Rookie Spencer Claycomb dominated this weekend with a number one qualifying position and an event win! This now puts Claycomb at ease as he merely needs to show up at the season finale to be declared the 2018 Champion.
 
Mike Sweeney Jr. had a stand out weekend as he was running his best times this year. He took the number two qualifying position with a 7.78 and went on to make it to the semi-final. Sweeney may have made it to the final, but instead gave Anibal Merced the advance as he cut a red light on the tree to end his weekend.
 
In the final, Merced had the starting line advantage, but Claycomb overpowered him with a 7.839 to his 8.313 pass.
 
And as for Alisha Malone, her first seven-second pass still eludes her, after a first-round loss, Malone did not pack it up; instead she made a few more passes with the grudge class to try and fine-tune her bike. She is a woman on a mission and will no doubt be out testing before the season finale rolls around.
 
HTP Performance Grudge
Pro Nitrous: Winner – Red Bull / RU – Dead Man Walking
Pro Extreme: Winner – Uncle Sam / RU – Kool-Aid
 
Once again, the HTP Performance Grudge class turned it up with the ‘Running of the Bulls’. And this time a Bull took the win. In Pro Nitrous six racers weren’t afraid to lock it in for some real competition. Yellow Jacket, Under the Influence, Red Bull, Bad Influence, Dead Man Walking, and Gravedigger all put on a show Saturday night with fast passes. But in the end, it was the flexing CJ Fair on Red Bull that would take out Richard Gadson on Dead Man Walking. Fair had a definite starting line advantage as he left quicker with a full bike length by the time they passed the tree and Gadson just couldn’t catch him.
 
In the Pro Extreme class, Jeremy Teasley on Kool-Aid took an easy win in round one as Chris Moore’s, Cash is King struggled to get off the starting line. Uncle Sam had a bye in round one as the competition in this class just wasn’t willing to throw down. In the final round, it was neck and neck to the eighth-mile but Rodney Williford’s stripped down Uncle Sam would push past the Sugar King for the win. Running of the Bulls will return at the XDA season finale next month.
 
Vance & Hines 4.60
Winner – Richard Gadson
Runner-up – Michael Ostrowski
#1 Qualifier – Edward Murphy 4.601
 
It was a VMP sweep for Richard Gadson in the Vance and Hines 4.60 index class. This was Gadson’s second win of the season, both taken at Virginia Motorsports Park. Richard faced fierce competition in the final round against Michael Ostrowski. Gadson’s reaction time of .012 to Ostrowski’s .026 was the starting line advantage he needed as he ran a 4.671 to his 4.66 respectively.
 
This win sent Gadson to the lead in points as the points leader, Michael Thyen lost in the semi-final round against Ostrowski. Boo Brown and Mac McAdams who are also in championship contention lost early in rounds, to give Thyen and Gadson a lead on them going into the season finale.
 
The FBR Shop 5.60
Winner – Jim Mauro
Runner-up – Freddy Frazier
#1 Qualifier – Freddy Frazier 5.601
 
In FBR Shop 5.60 points leader Jeremy Teasley took a first-round loss to leave the gate open for his competitors to close the gap on his seventy-four point lead. Boo Brown made it the semi-final and will be Teasley’s most significant threat going into the finale. Freddy Frazier and Jim Mauro both led qualifying with 5.60 runs and would be our match-up for the final round. Frazier would cut the tree with a .009, but it would not be enough to take out Mauro as he ran a 5.617 to Frazier’s 5.674. With this win, Mauro should see at least a top ten finish in points for the season.
 
Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s
Winner – Jeremy Teasley
Runner-up – Boo Brown
#1 Qualifier – Herbert Simons 8.883
 
The Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s class have been a points battle all year, and this event knocked Duane Jackson out of that number one spot. Boo Brown and Jeremy Teasley who were both hot on Jackson’s heels going into this event made it to the final round. At this point, Teasley had already taken the points lead after Jackson lost in round three. Boo Brown needed this win if he wanted to gain points on Teasley. But this would be another final of the weekend that would end at the tree when Brown cut a .009 red light giving Teasley the win and more points. But no one is out of the chase yet. The last event will be a battle!
 
Mickey Thompson Performance Top Sportsman
Winner – Bob Carlson
Runner-up – Dustin Lee
#1 Qualifier – Ryan Bonitatis 7.439
 
Ryan Bonitatis for the fourth race in a row took the number one qualifying spot in the Mickey Thompson Performance Top Sportsman class. The number one qualifying ET was 7.439 and the bump spot ET was 8.71 making these racers well matched for their five rounds of competition. Bob Carlson and Dustin Lee would both chop their way through the field for a final round match-up. Bob Carlson would hit the tree faster (.022) than Lee (.051) to take the starting line advantage he would need to win this final. Carlson ran an 8.426 on an 8.40 dial, and Lee ran an 8.219 on his 8.20 dial. This win sent Carlson back into Pro ET where he would go on to win that class as well for a 6K payday.
 
MPS Racing Pro ET
Saturday: Winner – Mac McAdams / RU – Jerry Turner
Sunday: Winner – Bob Carlson / RU – Dale Hamilton
 
MPS Racing Pro ET Saturday racing Mac McAdams dominated his side of the ladder for seven rounds before making it to the final. Fairweather racer Jerry Turner showed up for the first XDA event this year and also dominated his side of the ladder to meet McAdams in the final. McAdams cut the tree and took the advantage to the stripe with a 7.866 on 7.84 dial to Turner’s 9.093 on a 9.07 dial.
 
For Sunday Pro ET, it was Bob Carlson who could not be stopped. After taking the win in Top Sportsman, Carlson re-entered Pro ET in round six to win two rounds there to get him to the final of Pro ET. This is the first time this year that the Top Sportsman winner has been able to make it to the Pro ET Final and Carlson wasn’t going to let this win slip away. His opponent in the final was points leader Dale Hamilton, and Pro ET is his playground, so this would be the toughest round Carlson would face for the weekend. But the excitement would come to a halt when Hamilton gave the win to Carlson at the tree with a .012 red light.
 
Brock’s Performance Street ET
Saturday: Winner – Austin Bridge / RU – Shayne Proctor
Sunday: Winner – Duane Jackson / RU – Derrick Milbourne
 
Brock’s Performance Street ET Saturday racing saw a repeat winner as Austin Bridge for the second event in a row took the win on a Saturday night. In the final round, he would meet his match with Shayne Proctor. In the previous round, both racers would cut their best lights of the day with Proctor hitting the tree with a .004 and Bridge a .008. In the final Bridge would take the starting line advantage with .016 to Proctor’s .033, and that advantage would give him the favor at the finish line taking the win over Proctor.
 
In Sunday Street ET, the win finally came home for Duane Jackson. Jackson has earned wins this year in Crazy 8’s and 5.60 but has not fared well in the ET class. But this weekend that changed when he won sixth round before meeting Derrick Milbourne in the final. By this time of the day, Milbourne had won numerous rounds in several classes, and this race looked to be an excellent match-up for action. But Milbourne would let his fans down when he cut a .001 red light giving an instant win to Jackson.
 
Friday Gamblers Race
Winner – Robin Procopio
Runner-up – Derrick Milbourne
 
With great weather, the Friday night Gambler’s race brought out thirty-one racers ready for competition. Robin Procopio and Derrick Milbourne earned four round wins before meeting in the final. Both racers were cutting great lights all night, and both have had a great year with many round wins and class wins. But it was Robin Procopio that would celebrate another victory running a 7.91 on her 7.89 dial over Milbourne’s 9.027 on his 8.96 dial.
 
For full qualifying and round-by-round results of the event, visit www.xdaracing.com.
 
The XDA ends their season at Maryland International Raceway with championships on the line for the 26th annual DME Racing Fall Nationals on September 21-23, 2018. This event will also feature the 6th annual Orient Express Pro Street Battle Royale with a total purse of $14,000 along with another ‘Running of the Bulls’ Grudge Battle. This is an event you do not want to miss, Fall Air = Records!

This story was originally published on August 29, 2018. Drag Illustrated

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