AMRA Bringing Harley Good Times Back to Beech Bend
The PennGrade1 American Motorcycle Racing Association (AMRA) series was stuck with an extended summer break when rain cancelled the August Bristol event, but their Nitro Harley-Davidson drag racing show is ready to thunder back into Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The PennGrade1 AMRA Biker Rally & Drags will bring the best that the Harley performance and lifestyle has to offer to this classic drag racing and party venue along Kentucky’s Barren River on Friday through Sunday, September 20-22, 2024.
The ground-pounding, flame-throwing, Circle M Ranch/Dove Fuels Top Fuel bikes will headline this madness, and defending race winner Jay “Bulldog” Turner expects to park his brutal beast in the winners circle at the end of the day.
He’ll have a stout field to face, though, starting with his teammates Tii Tharpe on his Spevco mount and John “JT” Toth.
They will all have to face 2023 Rockingham Finals winner Jordan Peterson, AMRA champ Ryan Peery, California’s Tim Kerrigan, Finland’s Juha “Sushi” Hintukainen, Virginia’s Ziggy Stewart, the short-stroke, big-head behemoth of Derrick Nelson, 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 and Tadashi “Reggie” Saitou, Armon Furr, Jason Leeper, and more will all face Michigan winner Jordan Peterson and race for nitro glory.
Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel are smaller still and carbureted, but will fill the Barren River Valley with nitro power, smell and noise. Champion Sam White overcame a recent dry spell to win a very competitive Michigan race, and Beech Bend 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 bikes and you’re not headed to Daytona for Biketoberfest, 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. Michigan 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, Michigan winner Keith Evans, No Problem winner Dave “Paco” Cartwright, Jeff Boudreaux and more fight wheelies the whole 1320.
Ditch the stock frame and strap 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.
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 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, and John “JT” Toth and Marianne Miller look forward to welcoming the whole Harley-Davidson family to legendary Beech Bend.
Event Details
$20 per day
Friday: Test & Tune – 2pm to 7pm, live music 8pm to midnight
Saturday: Qualifying begins at 10am, bike show 11am to 1pm, live music 8pm to midnight
Sunday: Track action starts at 10am
The track website is https://beechbend.com/dragstrip/
The track Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/BeechBendRacewayPark
AMRA thanks PennGrade1 oil, Zipper’s Performance, Hawaya Racing, Axtell Cylinders, Spevco, BK Electric, Johnny Mancuso’s Circle M Ranch, Dove Fuels, Baker Drivetrain and Thunder Max.
This story was originally published on September 17, 2024.
The post AMRA Bringing Harley Good Times Back to Beech Bend first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
