Two of the strongest riders in Pro Extreme Motorcycle met up in the final round for the second time in four races at the inaugural PDRA Thunder Valley Throwdown Saturday night at Bristol Dragway.
No. 1 qualifier Brunson Grothus continued his class-leading performance with a win over two-time and reigning world champion Chris Garner-Jones. Grothus left first by just a thousandth of a second, then he rode Robert Varela’s turbocharged Dallas Flat Glass Distributors Hayabusa to a weekend-best 4.02 at 185.54 to finish ahead of Garner-Jones and his 4.069 at 172.96. It was Grothus’ second win of the season.
“We definitely sealed the deal,” said Grothus, who thanked Varela and the Grothus Dragbikes team and support system, including his father, his brother, his wife, Dan Wagner, and Tom Klemme. “The bike was absolutely perfect and I’m just lucky I got to ride it. You just needed things to fall into place today. I was here 13 years ago and doubled up. Came back 13 years later and won. I don’t know what it is about this place, but it’s pretty special to me.”
As the No. 1 qualifier, Grothus earned a first-round bye run, which he used to take the tree and back off the starting line. In the semifinals, he left first and ran a 4.033 at 184.22 to take out young gun Brayden Davis, who posted a strong 4.066.
Garner-Jones qualified No. 2 on his nitrous-fed T.T. Jones Racing Hayabusa and ran a 4.12 at 174.57 to get past Tyron Lemons and his 4.569. Semifinal opponent Ashley Owens matched his .048 reaction time, but Garner-Jones stepped up to a 4.068 at 174.01 to beat Owens’ 4.117.
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