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NITRO CLASSIC:
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The American Drag Bike Association (ADBA) attracted nearly 90 two-wheeled entries to its annual Nitro Classic July 22-23, at Atlanta Dragway. However, only four Pro Mod cars showed up to contest the Charlotte, TN-based sanctioning body's new "Wildbunch"class. Still, ABDA President Buford Edwards said he was pleased with the event. "It's still coming together," Edwards said. "I'd like to see us get up to an eight-car field eventually, but for now I'm just happy to see the Wildbunch fitting in so well to our format. We've managed to clean up a lot of the rough edges around the Harley crowd and I think it's made us a lot more attractive to spectators. I see the cars being here as just another step in that direction." Edwards said he'd also like to see a bracket race for local cars running alongside his currently all-Harley motorcycle show, and perhaps even introduce a few new bike classes with foreign makes competing."We've developed our events over the last few years to the point that we know we can bring in a couple of thousand people per race on a consistent basis, but it's costing more and more each year to rent the tracks, pay the people to work at them, and pay the racers to race. We're at the point where we need to expand," Edwards explained. The Hot Rods and Harleys concept has worked out good so far; both types really seem to like the other. I just think that's the way to go. RAIN RULES The ADBA features three nitro-burning classes with no percentage restrictions for the mixture. It makes for a wild time on two wheels. When the race was called, Top Fuel Harley top qualifier Jim McClure (6.863 at 205.51 mph), was still in contention, heading for the final after beating Sam White and Stan Verheijen in the preliminaries. Scheduled to stage against McClure in the final was Warren Hill, who squeaked into the seventh qualifying spot with a 7.258 at 161.19 mph effort in his final attempt on Saturday. Hill narrowly defeated number-two qualifier Bill Furr in the first eliminator, then beat Steve Moore to reach McClure. Furr fared a little better in Pro Fuel, as he qualified third, had a bye run in the first round, and beat Jamey Dickson to reach the pre-empted final against mike Rice. Number-one qualifier Roland "the Tupelo Tornado" Gibson couldn't get his bike started for his first-round match against Rice, then Rice received another bye when Chris Streeter couldn't answer the call for the semis. In Pro Dragster Bike, the final nitro-breathing class, Billy Counts earned a first-round bye thanks to his number-one 7.815 at 161.30 mph qualifying pass. Counts recovered from a bad launch to win the nest round, while his opponent, Michael Mulderink Jr., went up in smoke. On the other side of the ladder, Doc Savage easily handled Mike Nicholson in round one and took a bye in the semis to reach the final. With only one entry in the SS/FL division, Paul Moore, who went 12.519 at 105.89 mph, was the only bike winner determined by the ADBA in Atlanta. MOORE MAKES PROGRESS The Spartanburg, SC-based heating and air conditioning pipefitter edged "Chicago Joe" for the win in round one on raceday, but his day ended with a smoking rear tire in the semi-finals against Warren Hill. Moore said he lost his sponsorship deal after the crash, so he'll run a limited schedule of ADBA events the rest of the year with perhaps a couple of IHRA appearances later this summer. He plans a return to a full racing schedule in 2001 if sponsorship is secured. "I won't starve to do this," Moore vowed. "I've done that before and it's just not worth it."
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