Talk about starting your season with the Super Bowl, NHDRO is going straight to the Olympics with their $67,000 Big Bracket Shootout Season Opener presented by Liguori Drag Racing on May 13-16 at famed National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio.
Friday will see a 64-bike no-box ladder and 64-bike delay box ladder in action, both sides duking it out for $33,000 before facing off against each other for a $1,000 bonus.
Big Money bracket studs such as Roy Hagedorn, Dustin “Biscuits” Lee, Craig and Kevin Adams, Bruce Sauer, Brunson Grothus, David Liguori, Terry Hoke, Joe “Big” Deck, Keith “Shine” Dennis, Richard Gadson, Ryan and Trevor Schnitz, Jeremy Teasley, Rick Poole, Chad Isley, Janie Palm, Colton Gordon, Tom and Joe Klemme, Rylan Rowe, Jeremy Hicks, Chad Otts, Keke Jones and many, many more will be cuttin’ lights and playin’ stripes to get that NHDRO Big Check.
You can also expect all of these racers to take part in NHDRO’s standard program on Saturday and Sunday.
If Schnitz Racing Top Gas 8.20 index champion Jeremy Teasley wins on Friday, will he take the rest of the weekend off like a lottery winner? Not hardly. Jeremy and his Ohio family love to race and they will take on anybody who can run the index.
Jeremy Teasley
Ditto for M2.Shocks 8.70 Quick Street and MPS Pro ET champ Dustin Lee. The Tennessean has made a business out of winning and trading on his reputation, and the legend is just getting started.
Lee has invested his business in the future of the sport with Hard Times Parts & Service Jr. Dragster. Let’s get all of the Midwest’s Juniors out to National Trail.
BB Racing Super Comp 8.90 index champion Chad Isley will be there, but one champion who won’t is Advanced Sleeve Dirty 30 9.30 index’s Ron “Ju-Jitsu” Arnold. The Kentuckian has said he’s retired from drag racing and sold his bikes, but how long can that last? “I can’t quit you,” Arnold has been known to say in moments of tenderness about the sport.
Tom Klemme
Grothus Dragbikes/Klemme Performance Motorcycles Pro Ultra 4.60 has become the most popular class in the country. “It’s like bracket racing on steroids!” said East Coast legend Boo Brown. So detune your Pro Mod or jack up your Top Gas bike and go 4.60 racing!
MTC Pro Street champion Brad Christian will lead the Quicktime Motorsports, turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa team of Rudy Sanzottera and Brett Ware to take on all comers in this 650+ horsepower, street tire class.
Kevin Dennis Insurance Street ET will surely see huge fields both Saturday and Sunday, aiming to take Rylan Rowe’s crown away. Bring out your own streetbike and give it a try yourself.
You may have noticed VooDoo Grudge legend Keith Dennis’ name on the Big Bracket Shootout list. When the Muhammad Ali of Grudge racing is at the track, you know that the after dark trash talking and gamesmanship will be epic. Keep the cameras rolling because Shine will be trolling.
The Midwest’s largest motorcycle drag racing series—NHDRO—is truly the Home of Big Money Motorcycle Drag Racing. Brian and Niki Welch can’t wait to welcome their NHDRO family back to the lanes!
This story was originally published on May 10, 2021. 
