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GRIMES TAKES ANOTHER NITRO HARLEY-DAVIDSON VICTORY AT NHRA EXHIBITION EVENT

Grimes and Vancil Making a Habit of Meeting in the Final

TOPEKA, Kan. (June 4, 2007) - Tommy Grimes continued his winning streak at NHRA exhibition events on Sunday. In fact, his competition hasn't changed much either. Grimes faced Doug Vancil in the Nitro Top Fuel final for the third time as some of the biggest stars of the AHDRA series made the first of three scheduled appearances at NHRA POWERade national events in 2007. Grimes rode his Ray Price owned and tuned Harley-Davidson to a 6.321-second pass at 226.39 mph to beat Doug Vancil's 6.426 at 218.23 on his Vance & Hines Motorsports Harley-Davidson. It was the third time the two riders have faced each other at an NHRA exhibition final, but the second time they have raced each other this season. Grimes beat Vancil in both of the final rounds at the 2005 NHRA race held at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., as well as the 2006 event in Phoenix. Vancil, however, earned the AHDRA victory over Grimes earlier this season at the national meet in Commerce, Ga. "Doug whipped me in Atlanta and I told him before the final that I owed him one," Grimes said. "Once the race was over, he said we were even. Winning was fantastic and I think hitting the 226-mph mark was just awesome. We just wanted to come out here and do the best we could." Grimes also took the top qualifying honors for the weekend. Grimes posted a 6.406 at 220.69. Vancil was second in qualifying with a 6.560 at 217.81. The Winston Salem, N.C., resident said the performances started out shaky for everyone this weekend.

Tommy Grimes Doug Vancil

"I think the track came around a bit and the traction just got better," Grimes said. "I had some problems on Friday and I went over and talked to some of the Pro Stock drivers and they said they had issues spinning the tires (and losing traction) too. But the NHRA does such a great job prepping the track and we were able to overcome those issues and run some quick times. Our Harley-Davidson just got better with every pass." The AHDRA racers will have two more chances to earn an NHRA event this season. AHDRA competitors will also be at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway (July 6-8) and the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park (Oct. 5-7) in Richmond, Va. Grimes will be at both, as neither is too far away from home. He'll be there because his owner gave him the chance just before that first win in 2005. "Ray asked me to ride the bike just days before we won Chicago in 2005 and I've been honored to keep riding it ever since," Grimes said. "It takes a lot of nerve to let another rider get on your bike and Ray helps me all the time. He's so patient and we have a good time at every event. Especially if we can walk away with the win." The next AHDRA Screamin' Eagle championship event will be held in Norwalk, Ohio, June 9-10.