AMRA Nitro Harleys Thundering into Bristol
The PennGrade1 American Motorcycle Racing Association (AMRA) series summer break is over, and they’re ready to roll their Nitro Harley-Davidson drag racing show into Bristol Dragway for the Spevco Thunder Valley Nitro Nationals! Nitro Harley lightning and thunder will rattle the beautiful track carved into Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains on August 16-18.
The ground-pounding, flame-throwing, Circle M Ranch/Dove Fuels Top Fuel bikes will headline this madness, and no Top Fuel Harley rider has tamed Bristol the way that Spevco’s own Tii Tharpe has. Tharpe won a string of races back when NHRA fielded the powerful, American V-Twins at Bristol, and fully expects to keep up this stranglehold with AMRA.
“I love this region of the Appalachian Mountains. It’s home,” says North Carolinian Tharpe. “For a sanction to host us at this facility makes my heart feel good. I have been graced beyond comprehension, the highest moments of my life have been here—win or lose—and I’m not a fan of losing.”
But it’s a tough deck that Tharpe will have to deal with, starting with his own teammate Jay “Bulldog” Turner—winner the last time out in Martin, Michigan. The North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Famer sets the standard in this sport that others must meet.
They will both have to face 2023 Rockingham Finals winner Jordan Peterson, AMRA champ Ryan Peery, California’s Tim Kerrigan, Finland’s Juha “Sushi” Hintukainen, AMRA’s own John “JT” Toth, former NHRA champ Randal Andras, Bad Apple Racing’s Tracy Kile and Jimmy “Mac” McMillen, Virginia’s Ziggy Stewart and more.
With fewer cubic inches and no transmission, Nitro Funnybikes still pack all the noise and excitement. Champion Jim Doyle, Bad Apple Racing’s Cameron Gunter, Armon Furr, Jason Leeper, and more will all face Milan winner Jordan Peterson and race for nitro glory.
Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel are smaller still and carbureted, but will fill Thunder Valley with nitro power, smell and noise. Champion Sam White overcame a recent dry spell to win a very competitive Martin race, and Bristol will be even more so. Cecil County winner “Bad Apple Mary” Dangrow, Norwalk winner Curt Sexton, Funnybike racer Leeper, Hot Rod Carlisle, Paul Anderson and more will battle round after round.
Not every bike at AMRA races is a nitro noisemaker, the majority are gasoline hot rods.Outlaw Street bikes take gas to its most mind-blowing limits, mixing it with nitrous or compressing it with massive turbos. Charley Douglass, Tim Grindle, Ken Miller, Kolman Gerencer and more are expected to launch their no-bar bikes to mind-blowing performances.
Outlaw racer Douglass also fields an Axtell Cylinders Hot Street bike, along with Martin winner Clayton Danford, Joe Petersen, Jason Crisp and more.
Add saddlebags to Outlaw Street bike and you’re not headed to Sturgis with your buds, you’re racing Zipper’s Performance Pro Bagger—turbo and nitrous behemoths throwing everything available in the mechanical and technological world to make all-out quarter mile assaults. Martin winner Chaz Kennedy, Jeremy Williamson, Rick Hunnicutt, Jeremy Justice, Matt Hillen and more are all expected to ride sky high Bagger wheelies at Bristol.
Slightly milder Thundermax Street Baggers will see riders Jimmy Maikranz, Martin winner Keith Evans, No Problem winner Dave “Paco” Cartwright, Jeff Boudreaux and more fight wheelies the whole 1320.
Ditch the stock frame and bolt on wheelie bars and you’ve got Pro Modified and Zippers Performance Modified. Legendary racers Gary Douglass, Billy Doherty, Dave Doremus, Keith Carper, John Price, and more favor this type of racing.
Pro Mod will again have a boosted purse courtesy of General RV and Imperial Vanners, so come get some!
Index classes are where the finishline games begin, and AMRA has them. Top Eliminator 9.30 index, Super Gas 9.90, Thundermax Street Eliminator 11.50, BK Electric Super Pro 10.30, and Pro Eliminator 10.90 feature studs like Donnie Huffman, Cody Hayworth, Chris Hoppe, Bryce Creek, Charlie Gerencer, Chris “Crank” Lanktree, Monty Garrelts, John Shotts, Robert Alther, Josh Maikranz, Kenny Satterlee, Rick Miller, Heather Jendruch, Chris Phipps, Chad Traynor, Crosby Blair, Bill Grove, Charlie Ange, Bob Willis, John Poett, Jim Clarke, William Quinn, Denny Nygran, Jeremy Wilson and more.
Many of these same riders will also enter Baker Drivetrain Eliminator Dial-in bracket racing, and so can you. Want to try your own American-made V-Twin out on the quarter mile? Bring it along with your safety gear and send it!
PennGrade1 AMRA’s Greg and Julia Baugh, John “JT” Toth and Marianne Miller, and Racers for Christ’s Dave Fernandez look forward to welcoming the whole Harley-Davidson drag racing family to beautiful Bristol Dragway—Thunder Valley!
Event Details
$25 per day, kids 12 and under FREE
Friday: Test & Tune – 3pm to 8pm
Saturday: Qualifying begins at Noon
Sunday: Opening Ceremonies at Noon; Eliminations immediately following.
AMRA thanks PennGrade1 oil, Zipper’s Performance, Hawaya Racing, Axtell Cylinders, BK Electric, Johnny Mancuso’s Circle M Ranch, Dove Fuels, Baker Drivetrain and Thunder Max.
This story was originally published on August 12, 2024.
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