With two wins this past weekend at Rockingham Dragway, Jeremy Teasley and the Adams Performance/RS Motorsports Kawasaki ZX14 made it three for three HTP Performance Real Street victories so far in 2010. In response, the Mickey Thompson Performance Tires MiRock Superbike Series is placing a bounty on the Ohio teenager’s head. The bounty is open to anyone outside of the Adams Performance/RS Motorsports team that can knock off Teasley. Each race that the bounty goes uncollected will see the total increase, and if Teasley makes it through the season undefeated he will collect the bounty himself!
Teasley’s first win of the weekend came on Saturday against New Jersey superstar Rickey Gadson and his Carpenter Race Engines ZX14. Sunday’s Real Street final saw what’s become a common sight—Teasley racing Adams Performance team boss Coby Adams. Jeremy took the tree and ran a record-setting 7.83, while Adams wheelied in the right lane and lost.
HTP Performance’s Ryan Schnitz missed the race after injuring his shoulder when the front washed out on the Brock’s Performance BMW S1000 the previous weekend at Martin, Michigan, and the two-time champion HTP Suzuki GSXR1000 sat parked for the Rockingham race.
Orient Express Pro Street number 2 plateholder Rodney Williford led the weekend in his class, qualifying number 1 with a 7.21. That’s one of the quickest Pro Street laps of the year so far, as the class struggles to get back to the near 7.0 form of last season. Williford was able to sit out later qualifying rounds and start Sunday off with two consistent 7.25’s.
Despite losing compression, defending champion Vinnie Demito was gaining ground on the other side of the ladder. Both slowed in the semifinals, as Williford recovered from a starting line spin out of the groove to barely nip Jeff Nordeen at the line and meet Demito in the final. But Demito sacrificed the motor in his semi and, with rain approaching, track officials couldn’t allow the time it would take to match up Taylor Wood’s spare motor to Vinnie’s Hayabusa. Williford collected the win by default. Demito didn’t go home empty handed, however, picking up the rain-delayed Honda-Suzuki of Sanford Spring Open race win over Ricky Wood on Saturday.
Gadson didn’t lick his Real Street wounds long, taking House of Speed Crazy 8’s on his other ZX14. It’s a major adjustment for a pro racer like Gadson to hit Crazy 8’s .500 tree and play the index class finishline game, but Rickey pulled it off, beating Barry Pryer in the final when Pryer spun and wasted a killer .005 light.
There was no crying time for Georgia racer George Jones, who beat Jimmy Shifflet in the Motorcycle Tire Outlet 5.60 final. Don’t feel too sorry for Shifflett, who beat redlighting Jason Herron in the FBR Shop Quick 32 final.
Nitrous Express Pro ET wins went to Clay Davies and Jay Windsor, and Schnitz Racing Street ET to Ron Arnold and Randolph “Boo” Brown Jr.
Greg Wallace won the weekend’s biggest grudge race on his Slush Puppy Hayabusa over the one-and-only Billy Vose and the heavily-touted Jumpin’ Jack Flash ‘Busa. Neither bike seemed at it’s best, with Flash clearly missing a stage of nitrous due to a clogged solenoid. Can anyone say “Rerun?”
The Mickey Thompson Performance Tires MiRock Superbike Series races next June 5-6 at the Fast by Gast Summer Showdown at Maryland International Raceway in Budd’s Creek