Words and Photos by Bret Kepner
5/15/06
Created in 1979, the All-Harley Drag Racing Association consolidated the many fractured groups of Harley drag racers throughout the nation to become not only host to the premier competitors but the main liaison between the sport and the Harley-Davidson industry. Working equally with the H-D home office, local dealerships and clubs, the AHDRA event program also includes major charities.
Such was the case at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, at which the AHDRA produced the Gypsy Rendezvous Nationals in conjunction with Surdyke Harley-Davidson in Festus, Missouri, and Dale's Harley Davidson in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, with proceeds from the renowned Gypsy Rendezvous armed services fundraiser going to the
James S. McDonnell USO Club located at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis.Producing a fourteen-event schedule which includes races from Seattle to Gainesville and from Iowa to Texas, AHDRA National Events include a staggering sixteen differenteliminators of which all but one is run in a heads-up format.
While the lure of the AHDRA for competitors is its diversity and accommodation of every conceivable type of Harley-Davidson, the draw for fans is the largest nitromethane-burning show in two-wheeled drag racing. Three different categories allow nitro in three very unusual applications. The Top Fuel division is wide open with only a 200-cubic inch displacement maximum as a restriction.
Interestingly, superchargers are allowed but very, very few competitors have ever gotten the HD powerplant to survive with them; virtually all TFH racers use only mechanical fuel injection. Pro Fuel Eliminator permits carburetors or fuel 
injection on nitro with transmission-equipped bikes under a 122-cubic inch maximum and those using only high gear (direct drive) are limited to 151 inches. Pro
Dragster category bikes use a carbureted engine on nitro restricted to 122 inches with a high-gear-only drivetrain. Each AHDRA event attracts a minimum of two dozen nitro-burners and the association's annual World Finals extravaganza at The Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, regularly draws sixty fuel bikes with no less than thirty in Top Fuel alone!
The Gypsy Rendezvous Nationals pulled twenty-six fuelers and, with a $25 ticket, ($40 for a full event pass), and absolutely no admission charge for kids or active/reserve military personnel, live bands and plenty of food, AHDRA events just might be the biggest bargain in drag racing. How good is it? The patriarch of the Harley-Davidson movement, Willie G. Davidson (right), was one of many fans who took in the thrills at St. Louis!