This past weekend Maryland International Raceway hosted a record sized crowd at the 21st annual WPGC Bike Fest with over 9,000 fans in attendance! The XDA continues to deliver the largest motorcycle drag racing event in the industry. The event also featured Live music, a Freestyle Motocross show, sound competition, custom bike show, a huge vendor midway, and a hot bikini contest.
The action on the track yielded a stout 810 entries for an exciting weekend of competition. The record spectator turnout enjoyed the variety of activities going down in the pits and the non-stop on-track action. With something for everyone, it’s no surprise this event grows every year.
Orient Express Racing Pro Street
Winner – Rodney Williford / Runner-up – Gaige Herrera
XDA’s WPGC Bike Fest is typically the warmest race of the season. But the warmer temperatures did not slow down the Orient Express Racing Pro Street riders. There were ten new personal best records sets over the weekend that show the strength and advancement of this class.
Justin Shakir is the ninth racer to break into the forties with a 6.482 pass that put him in the number one qualifying spot for the event. Shakir was making great consecutive passes at this event that would end in round two when his engine case broke during his burnout.
James Waugh made another big jump at this event, moving from a personal best of 6.930 to a 6.622, making him the twenty-second racer in the world to enter the sixties. Waugh would not get around Rodney Williford in round two of eliminations to end his weekend. Despite the loss, Waugh would still leave happy but with a little less hair, because apparently on team Shakir, the faster you go, the more hair your friends shave off your head.
Other racers that made minor ET improvements were Gaige Herrera 6.609, Ryan Hable 6.616, Kenny Brewer 6.647, and Curtis Brown 7.054.
Gaige’s 6.609 is also a new combo record for the Quickest Nitrous Hayabusa in Pro Street.
In the MPH department, Rickey Grayson with a 223.28 and Ricky Wood with a 221.34 will make their debut on the GOAT List. Ryan Hable and Kenny Brewer also made slight improvements with a 223.84 and 222.40, respectively.
And for the fourth race this season, Rodney Williford would pick off the competition round after round for another final round finish. Qualifying number two with a 6.505, Williford consistently took wins until he met a new competitor this season in the finals, Gaige Herrera. Herrera qualified with 6.609, and he too was making consistent strong passes all weekend that manifested him his first XDA Final.
The final was looking like it would be a good competition, especially considering Williford had some problems in the semi-final on his broke bye-run pass. The class was looking for Herrera to be the one to knock Williford off his throne, and his performance numbers showed he could do it.
In the final Herrera would cut his best light of the weekend with a starting line advantage of .030 to Williford’s .065. And as the two put on a good show in the final, Herrara couldn’t outperform Williford with a 6.619 to his winning 6.546. Williford remains undefeated this season, and #HeDidItOnPurpose.
DME Racing Real Street
Winner – Mark Hylton
Runner-up – David Stewart
In DME Racing Real Street, Mark Hylton ran his personal best and took the number one qualifying spot with a 7.498 on his all motor Hayabusa.
Hylton would prove unstoppable as he won every round of competition on his way to the final round where he met points leader David Stewart. Going into this race Hylton was only forty-four points behind Stewart, so the final would be crucial for Stewart.
In the final, Hylton would leave the starting line strong, but problems for Stewart wouldn’t get him past the first sixty feet giving Hylton his second XDA Real Street win! Hylton has closed the gap and is now only twenty-three points behind for a potential champion this year.
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme
Winner – Chris Garner Jones / Runner-up – John Collins
Shane Eperjesi took the number one qualifying position in MaxxECU Pro Xtreme with a 3.975. However, in round two of competition Eperjesi would be outrun by John Collins who ran a 4.006 to his 4.022.
John Collins would go on to the final to race Chris Garner-Jones. Jones qualified with a 3.992. And with Collins running a 3.992 in eliminations, these two competitors were well matched for an exciting round of action.
Jones got the starting line advantage with a .024 reaction to Collins .056. It was a close race at the finish line, and Jones would win his third event this season, running a 3.991 to Collins slightly slower 4.043.
MaxxECU Pro Xtreme is presented by Ace Mechanical, Billy Vose Racing, Dallas Flat Glass, Dunigan Racing, DME Racing, Grothus Dragbikes, Harley Haul, Rob Bush Motorsports, Robinson Industries, Schnitz Racing, Timblin Chassis, and Worldwide Bearings.
HTP Performance Super Stock
Winner – Jeremy Teasley / Runner-up – David Fondon
David Fondon took the number one qualifying position in HTP Performance Super Stock with an 8.762 on his 2020 Kawasaki ZX-14.
Jeremy Teasley took over the riding duties on Tauncy Soprano’s 2020 BMW S1000RR; the same bike Fondon won with at the last two events. These two teammates would find themselves face to face in the final round for a true hand clutch battle.
Fondon left the starting line first with a .096 reaction time to Teasley’s .106. But Fondon’s advantage would not be able to out power the BMW as Teasley took his first Super Stock win with XDA to end Fondon’s winning streak.
HTP Performance Grudge
The HTP Performance Grudge class saw a record turnout of 142 grudge bikes that included forty-two bull racers. The spike in grudge was surged by the Mad Dog 20/20 vs Melania race that was finally going to go down. After Chris Moore backed out of the race at the MTC Summer Nationals in May, he had another two months to prepare for this race. But despite the extra time, Melania still wasn’t ready to face off with Mad Dog 20/20. Moore Mafia fell to pieces on his first shakedown pass on Friday night. Moore spent Friday night repairing his bike into Saturday morning.
On Saturday he made three more shakedown passes while Mad Dog 20/20 sat quietly in the pits waiting to be unleashed. But Moore would back out of the race, after not being able to get Melania ready and had to pay up the Punk Out money. Luckily for the Mad Dog 20/20 fans that bought raffle tickets, $24,400 was raised and one lucky Gadson fan (Shanta Jones) went home with $12,200 in cash. With Gadson’s half of the raffle winnings, the Moore ‘Punk Out’ money, and the Lock-In money from the last race at VMP, Gadson’s team took home $17,950 just for having the biggest bark.
APE Nitrous Bulls
Winner – Richard Gadson / Hail Mary
Runner-up – Malcolm Phillips / Black Jesus
Richard Gadson on ‘Hail Mary’ took out his frustration of not getting a bite out of ‘Melania’ by dominating the APE Nitrous Bulls class. On his way to the final, he took out Lavar Delee on ‘Jizzle’ and Chris Moore on ‘Fort Nite’.
Malcolm Phillips on ‘Black Jesus’ made easy work of Gaige Herrera on ‘Pee Wee,’ Russell Dennison on ‘Jimmy Hendricks, and Desmond Spalding on ‘Authority’ as he made his way to the final to meet Gadson.
The final was exciting as both bikes left hard and stayed side-by-side until the win light came on in Gadson’s lane. This win put him in the points lead by only two points over Russell Dennison.
3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls
Winner – Jason Herron / Tik Tok
Runner-up – David Martin / Unknown
3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls saw a new face in the winner’s circle. Jason Herron on Spencer Calycomb’s ‘Tick Tok’ came out of the gate swinging. He took out heavy hitter Dave Page on ‘Pickin Pockets’ in round one, and then Junior Johnson on ‘Reparation’ as he made his way to the final round.
In the final, points leader David Martin on ‘Unknown’ was waiting for him. On his side of the ladder, Martin took wins against Joshua Jordan on ‘Italian Ice’ and Daniel Parker on ‘Boston George.’
Both riders gave the crowd an exciting final as they both left side-by-side and stayed in the throttle while they both fought to keep the power under control until the win light came on in Herron’s lane.
Despite Herron’s win, it did not change his points standing. However, because Herron knocked out Page in round one, David Martin now takes over the 3 Sixty 5 Monster Bulls points.
Tommie’s Motorsports DMV Bulls
Winner – Matt Dozier / Rick James
Runner-up – Desmond Spalding / Sho Nuff
In Tommies Motorsports DMV Bulls, two class newcomers dominated three rounds to face off in the final. Matt Dozier on ‘Rick James’ took down Derek Cash on ‘Hustler’, Jermaine Proctor on ‘Puffy,’ and Edward Thomas on ‘Da Setup’ to make it to his first DMV Final.
On the other side, Desmond Spalding on ‘Sho Nuff’ took down Kenyan Crawley on the ‘the Professor’, Cody Lowe on ‘Codeine’, and Sherell Blake on ‘Will Turner’.
In the final face-off, Spalding on ‘Sho Nuff’ was not the master of this final. Dozier left the starting line stronger, and Spalding could never catch up to him as the win light lit up for ‘Rick James.’
Vance & Hines 4.60
Winner – Shayne Proctor / Runner-up – Kenny Cornell
The Vance & Hines 4.60 class rarely sees the same winner twice in a season. But Shayne Proctor is changing the game with back-to-back wins.
Kenny Cornnell made it to his first final this season to face Proctor. Both competitors were cutting killer lights all day, and like so many times, the win lights are determined by the reaction times. Proctor cut a .052 to Cornnell’s .061. And that little bit would send Proctor to a second straight win when he ran a 4.610 and crossed the finish line first to Cornell’s 4.608.
1 Stop Speed 5.60
Winner – Dustin Lee / Runner-up – Carson Fields
1 Stop Speed 5.60 points leader Dustin Lee may not have made it to the final at the last event, but he made up for it at the WPGC Bike Fest.
After winning five rounds, Lee would face Carson Fields in the final. Fields had just won a race the previous weekend, and like Lee, he was in WIN mode. Unfortunately for Fields, he would react moments after staging leaving before his staging bulbs came down and handing the win to Dustin Lee.
Mickey Thompson Tires Top Sportsman
Winner – Robin Procopio / Runner-up – Pablo Gonzalez
Mickey Thompson Tires Top Sportsman is class full of the quickest heavy hitters in the bracket ranks. This was the first event this year that points leader Jeffrey Santin did not make a final-round appearance. Instead, Pablo Gonzalez, who attended his first XDA race this season, found himself in the final against Robin Procopio.
Procopio was running closer to her dial all day, and Gonzalez would have his work cut out for him. In the final, Procopio dialed an 8.28 and Gonzalez a 7.80. Procopio left the tree first, cutting a .074 reaction time. Gonzalez left with a .033 reaction time; however, he would never catch up to Procopio, allowing her to get to the stripe first with an 8.298 time to his slower 7.864. That’s only a margin of victory of .005 seconds or thirteen inches.
MPS Racing Pro ET
Winner – Jeffrey Santin / Runner-up – Dale Hamilton
It was Deja Vu in MPS Racing Pro ET at the WPGC Bike Fest. Despite the class having 156 racers in competition, Jeffrey Santin and Dale Hamilton would face off for the second final in a row. At the last event, Santin took the win over Hamilton, so naturally, it was Hamilton’s turn, right? After earning seven-win lights in the class, Hamilton would need to turn one more on if he wanted the win at this event.
In the final, Santin dialed an 8.40 to Hamilton’s 9.68. Hamilton left first with a .037 reaction, followed closely by Santin’s .031 light. Santin chased Hamilton down quickly and took another win running an 8.405 over to his 9.684. Santin pocketed $5,000 and is still at the top of the points lead.
Brock’s Performance Street ET
Winner – Russell Dennison Jr / Runner-up – Juan George
Over a hundred racers showed up to compete in Sunday’s Brock’s Performance Street ET race. For the second race in a row, a Floridian was in the final. After seven rounds of competition, Juan George from Kissimmee, FL faced Russell Dennison Jr. However, the race was anti-climatic as George turned on a -.022 red light in his lane, giving Dennison another win to add to his roster.
VooDoo Components Bracket Bash
Winner – Turon Davis / Runner-up – Dale Hamilton
The VooDoo Components Bracket Bash hit a record with a colossal 159 entries on Saturday. After seven rounds of competition, Turon Davis and Dale Hamilton sat at the ready across from each other in the final round, eager for the $3,000 win. Hamilton took himself out of the running and sent Davis straight to the winner’s circle when he cut a devastating -.007 red light.
Hard Times Parts & Service Friday Gambler’s Race
Winner – Ben Knight / Runner-up – Jeffrey Santin
The Friday night Hard Times Parts and Service Gamblers race was another success after its recent upgrade allowing a sixty-four bike field in the $4,000 to win bracket race. Ben Knight took the win over the 2021 standout Jeffrey Santin with a perfect reaction time running 9.172 on his 9.15 dial. Knight’s perfect reaction time also earned him $100 cash bonus from JTNorton.com
The XDA will head back to Virginia Motorsports Park for the 3rd Annual Bike Bash on August 20-22, 2021. There will be over 700 Professional, Sportsman, and Grudge motorcycle drag racers will be battling it out for cash and bragging rights in another round of “Running of the Bulls.”
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