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TURNER GRABS DOUBLE WINS AT THE ROCK—VANCIL AND ROMINE AMONG SEVERAL WHO WILL SETTLE UP IN VEGAS

WINSTON-SALEM, NC, October 24, 2005 - Anticipation for AHDRA's East Coast finale proved worth the wait for the racers and fans who were on hand for the action-packed weekend at Rockingham Dragway on October 15th and 16th.

Perhaps most satisfied with the outcome of the annual Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Nationals was Jay Turner of nearby Greensboro, NC, who took victory honors in two fuel categories at his hometown track in Rockingham, NC.

Turner qualified sixth in the Screamin' Eagle Top fuel category out of 21 riders seeking a spot on a ladder reserved for just 16.

Riding the Mancuso H-D Nitro Harley, Turner had his slowest pass on elimination day with a 6.595 against Tak Shigematsu in the second round. Other than that not-too-shabby run, it was all 40's for the team.

Turner rode past fellow Carolinian Mark Cox in the opener with a 6.460 and in the semis repeated the number against championship contender Mike Romine. In the finals, Turner paired up with championship points leader Doug Vancil, who was the event top qualifier with a 6.433. (North Carolina's Tommy Grimes took top speed marks at 215.62mph.) Vancil got out of the gate first, but Turner brought on the Mancuso team consistency and caught him at the win light with a 6.491 at 206.80 mph to Vancil's 6.655 at 207.82 mph lap.

Armed with the tuning skills of Bobbie Buckley and the Mancuso crew, Turner was just as impressive in the JIMS Pro Fuel competition. He qualified #1 in the field with a 6.695 at 196.96 mph, and he never left the six-second zone during Sunday's elimination rounds.

Just as he had in the Top Fuel category, Turner faced a championship contender (Mike Lehman) in the Pro Fuel finale. Turner caught Lehman asleep at the tree (.207) while he jumped ahead with a .057 reaction, never looking back as he rode to a 6.686 at 204.79 mph over the 6.798 at 200.50 mph from Lehman.

Turner's double celebration in Rockingham doesn't make an enormous improvement to his national standing. It did, however, help create a tighter battle for those involved in the race for the championship title.

In Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel, Doug Vancil of Albuquerque is still out front in the "best of ten" points running. But Mike Romine of Sturgis, MI, is on his rear tire, you could say, with only two points separating the two racers. Even so, Romine did seal the East Coast championship title following the Rockingham event.

Mike Lehman of W. Palm Beach, FL, qualified #1 at the St. Louis outing with a 6.631 best lap. Vancil ended Lehman's chance for the event win when they met in the semifinal round, but Lehman is still mathematically in the points race (#3 position) and good performances from him at AHDRA's final two races could rattle this leader board.


Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel and JIMS Pro Fuel - Turner


Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel - Vancil


Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel - Romine

In JIMS Pro Fuel, Chris Streeter of Cleveland, OH, was sent to the trailer in the semis in Rockingham by Mike Lehman, but still had enough rounds under his belt to keep him on top in the national standings and secure the East Coast title. Lehman, of W. Palm Beach, FL, trails Streeter by 24 marks in the bid for the national championship.

With that in mind, the Screamin' Eagle Top Fuel and JIMS Pro Fuel Championships will be decided on the track at the JIMS Las Vegas Finals in Las Vegas on November 12th and 13th. To say that there's no pressure on those teams is quite the understatement.


JIMS Pro Fuel - Turner


JIMS Pro Fuel - Lehman


JIMS Pro Fuel - Streeter


In Kresto Pro Drag Racing, Phil Schmidt of Orangevale, CA, can relax a bit after mathematically putting himself safely out front in the national standings with his win in Rockingham.

Schmidt has been in a seesaw battle with John Breckenridge for much of the 2005 season. Breckenridge (of Sultan, WA) was the #1 qualifier in Rockingham and made his way easily to the finals, as did Schmidt. Schmidt got off to an early advantage with a .153 reaction and continued to the win stripe with a 7.410 at 166.05 mph over the .167, 7.676 at 163.79 mph from Breckenridge.

While Schmidt is set for the Kresto Pro Drag National Championship in Vegas, Willie Herschberger of Bradenton, FL, has secured the East Coast championship title.


Kresto Pro Drag - Schmidt


In S & S Pro Stock, reigning champion Rick Maney made an appearance at "The Rock" and took the leader board early with a #1 qualifying pass of 7.551 at 169.85 mph. On Sunday, he rode through his side of the ladder to face his opponent and successor to the throne, Dale Raudenbush of Old Zionsville, PA, who got the quick win light when Maney lit the red-bulb. Raudenbush not only sealed the East Coast title, but also will enter the Vegas competition with the national title sewn up.


S & S Pro Stock - Maney


S & S Pro Stock - Raudenbush

In S & S Pro Gas, Fred Collis of Clearwater, FL, held all the top numbers from the weekend with his #1 qualifying pass of 7.489 at 172.45 mph—a pass that left him wrestling the bike at the top end before safely bringing it to a stop—all the while miraculously staying on board the '05 Buell. While Collis fared well, reports were that the tire suffered damage that the team was unable to repair for Sunday's eliminations, and Collis was a no-show for his opening round.

Keith Browne (#4 qualifier) of Semora, NC, and reigning champ Brook McCabe were the final-round contenders, and McCabe came away with the win (7.772 at 167.88 mph) and the East Coast title, beating Browne's 8.149 at 142.00 mph.

Mike Lozano of San Antonio, TX, will be the undisputed 2005 Champ in S & S Pro Gas, but his day ended early with mechanical turmoil in Sunday's opening round.


S & S Pro Gas - McCabe


S & S Pro Gas - Lozano

Doug Ainsworth was unstoppable on the track at Rockingham in Samson Pro Modified competition. He took the #1 qualifying honors with an 8.236 at 159.25 mph, and in Sunday's eliminations, he soared down the track on an opening round bye with an 8.081 at 161.57 mph, an E.T. record. Before the day ended, he bettered that number in the semis (8.076) for the official new E.T. national record. The record going into Rockingham was 8.130, set by Ainsworth earlier in the season.

Maintaining his composure from that celebration, Ainsworth took on reigning champ Junior Pippin of Conyers, GA, in the Samson Pro Mod final. Ainsworth had plenty of horsepower left and took the win with a slower but sufficient 8.207 at 159.78 mph over Pippin's troubled 9.343 at 97.39 mph lap.

Pippin netted the East Coast title after the Rockingham event and heads to Vegas with a repeat national championship inevitable.


Samson Pro Modified - Ainsworth


Samson Pro Modified - Pippin


Earning the "tough weekend at the track" marks were the G2 Street Pro category top contenders.

Travis Lummus of Waynesville, NC, already has an unreachable lead in the national standings, but Rockingham is his hometown track, and all plans were to add another win to his substantial lead. Suffering early problems with his original entry, Lummus withdrew the bike during qualifying and entered a replacement, hoping for better numbers. He didn't get them, but he stayed in the show with the #4 qualifying spot, while Zach Johnson of Germanton, NC, grabbed the top spot with an 8.966 at 149.55 mph.

Things looked promising for Lummus in Sunday's opener when he ran the best number of the weekend with an 8.904 at 147.23 mph to advance with Johnson to the semis. That's when Johnson's trouble came—leaving before the tree activated and giving Lummus the instant win light. This was a painful loss for Johnson, considering that Lummus's bike went sour at the launch and leaving the KJC team wondering "what could have been."

Kendall Johnson, crew chief for his son, Zach, says the foul is part of racing, but the team was confident the run could have been his best ever. No one will ever know for sure, as leaving before activating the tree gives no recorded timing information.

Lummus was not able to recover the bike's performance after that semi win and in the final-round race with Jeff King (#2 qualifier) of Muscatine, IA, Lummus's bike broke again, and King finished the day with a 9.252 at 145.81 mph win light.

Lummus plans to attend the Vegas meet purely as a spectator since the East Coast and national titles are officially his. Johnson and King, on the other hand, will battle it out for the #2 plate in Las Vegas.


G2 Street Pro - Lummus


G2 Street Pro - Johnson


G2 Street Pro - King

"On the fence" for the season finale in Las Vegas is the championship battle in the S & S 124 Challenge category.

Joey Sternotti of Blackwood, NJ, went into the Rockingham meet with a narrow lead over Michael Ray in the standings. He captured the #1 qualifying spot at The Rock in the heads-up class, with a 9.414 at 138.78 mph, while Ray (of Memphis, TN) was the #2 qualifier.

On Sunday, as many may have predicted, the pair met in the final. Ray was first at the tree (.110) and rode past Sternotti, whose big-time wheelies are known to both slow him down and leave the crowd gasping. Ray's winning time was a 9.439 at 139.79 mph over the (.248), 9.511 at 142.61mph from Sternotti. The Rockingham win moved Ray in front of Sternotti in the national standings by eleven points.


S & S 124 Challenge - Sternotti


S & S 124 Challenge - Ray

More possible showdowns at The Strip in Las Vegas may come in at least two sportsman classes.

In S & S Super Sport, Mike Harrison of Uniontown, OH, came away with the Rockingham win and the East Coast championship title. That leaves the national title to be decided, and while Julia Holliday of Springfield, PA, leads Greg Krenik of New Placitas, NM, by 106 points, she will have to stay alive in the Vegas competition and hold off tough competition from Krenik to seal the deal.


S & S Super Sport - Harrison


S & S Super Sport - Holliday


S & S Super Sport - Krenik

In Performance Corner Super Eliminator, #1 qualifier Charlie Walker of Brandon, MS, went on to take the Rockingham win while Greg Kuypers of Bradenton, FL, secured the East Coast championship title.

Though Kuypers is happy with a divisional title, it's the national title that he'll be fighting for against a tough Donnie Huffman of Lakeland, FL, who could possibly win two titles for the 2005 season.

Huffman is the reigning champ in Super Eliminator competition, and currently sits 103 marks in front of Kuypers for the '05 title. Factor in the 20 points awarded per round, with only 10 races counting for the title?and this, too, will be fought hammer-and-tongs until the end.

Huffman will not have to fight the battle in Vegas for an SEP title, however. He secured that at Rockingham Dragway, despite a final-round loss to Curtis Talbott of Forest, VA. Bill Draffin of Tampa, FL had the best numbers in East Coast competition and was awarded the title following his Rockingham appearance.


SEP - Huffman


Mike Roberts of Akron, OH added more security to his Drag Masters Hot Street title following his win over Bruce Croneberger in Rockingham. Roberts picked up the East Coast title, and can show up in Vegas to pick up his national championship winnings—hands down.


Drag Masters Hot Street - Roberts

The same can be said for Jamie McNaughton of Milwaukee, WI. He was able to add that same security to his championship bid in Screamin' Eagle V-Rod competition with a win in Rockingham over Larry Edmondson, Jr., of Battleground, IN. McNaughton and Edmondson are teammates and the pair have been one and two respectively in the standings for much of the season. McNaughton is the new East Coast champion and will be named the national champion in Las Vegas, while Edmondson has secured the #2 plate.


Screamin' Eagle V-Rod - McNaughton

But there's more from Larry Edmondson. In Rockingham, nearly 100 racers entered the Syn3 ET category. At the end of the day on Sunday, it was Edmondson who reigned as the winner in the final over Bill Draffin.



In the SYN3 ET Championship standings, all bets are on Mt. Top, PA's Dan DeGood taking the repeat national championship title. He is just over 150 points ahead of second-place JP Hendrzak, a former ET champion himself. DeGood has secured the East Coast title and can do the same in the national standings, basically by showing up in Vegas.



Making DeGood's title extra special will be the fact that his son Brett DeGood has secured the East Coast and national championships following his win in Rucker Performance Super Gas racing in Rockingham. The father-and-son pair are set to take the championship stage together at the AHDRA national championship banquet on November 14th in Las Vegas.


Rucker Performance Super Gas - Brett DeGood


Syn3 ET - Dan DeGood

Early counts indicate that at least 10,000 fans took in the excitement at Rockingham Dragway.

Racers and fans alike now eagerly await the grand finale on November 12th and 13th at the JIMS Las Vegas Nationals presented by Barnett Clutches at The Strip-Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

For more information on the AHDRA-Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Championship Series please contact 336-924-2095 or visit www.ahdra.com.


Rockingham fans