2024 PlayNHRA Nationals – Top Fuel Motorcycle
PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals
Virginia Motorsports Park
June 21-23, 2024
Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle
words and photos by Tom McCarthy
Please donate to the Salakari Racing / Ari Lapiolahti Recovery Fund
https://www.dragbike.com/salakari-racing-ari-lapiolahti-recovery-fund/
Eliminations Round 2 Report
Just after 3 PM EST, the second round of eliminations for the Pingel Top Fuel motorcycle series came to life. The ambient temperature was 95 degrees, with shifting winds up to 12 MPH and 43% humidity.
Mitch Brown opened up the session with his competition single bye-run, into the final round. Mitch made a full pull, putting on a show for the crowd, posting a 5.215 @ 185.31 MPH. This warmed up the right lane well for Larry McBride, who was cocked and loaded, right behind Mitch.
Micah Fenwick took to the left side of the VMP race surface and rolled into the water box, with his team, ready to rock & roll. With a nod from the starting line crew, both bikes fired up together and Micah warmed the tire first.
With higher temperatures facing both teams, the drivers performed conservative burnouts, as both bikes were already well warmed up, just from being in the oven that was Virginia Motorsports Park. Some spotty cloud cover gave some brief relief, but for all three days of this event, the National Weather Service issued a stern “Heat Advisory” between 10AM and 8PM for every day of this race.
As the bikes staged, Micah was off the line first quickly. Too quickly. Being a veteran motorcycle drag racer, Micah KNEW Larry had him covered in spades. So his only option was to chop the tree and try to get out on Larry. The -.263 red light was the end of Micah’s racing day, but he went down swinging and never relented.
Micah’s early launch distracted Larry, causing him to leave early too, but Larry’s -.076 RT was not as bad as Micah’s, who clearly was first and worst.
Nevertheless, Team McBride’s tune-up delivered a 4.934 @ 234.45 MPH performance. Micah’s elapsed time of 5.29 @ 196.27 was no match on this day, with or without the red light start.
During Q-2 on the previous day, Larry recorded a 4.92 @ 236 MPH under very similar conditions to, today. So his 4.93 @ 234, was just basically repeating the previous day’s run.
So far, Mitch has full runs of 5.55, 5.14, 5.36, 5.17, and 5.21 on his last pass. But this is drag racing, and it’s anyone’s race to win.
Eliminations Round 2 Preview
The second round of eliminations, or E-2, if you prefer, will commence at approximately 2 PM EST during the NHRA Virginia Nitro Nationals. The match-ups are as follows: Larry Spiderman McBride will race Micah Fenwick, and Mitch Brown will perform a bye-run while progressing into the final round of competition.
During yesterday’s E-1 match-ups, Micah Fenwick won his first round of competition in the Top Fuel motorcycle class against Bobby Malloy. While Micah is a veteran of decades of drag bike racing, he is a relative newcomer to Top Fuel motorcycle drag racing.
Micah has raced many, many different drag bikes during his many years, including F/B, TG bikes and is no stranger to high speeds. Since his Top Fuel bike, featuring a Race Visions Reborn chassis and an Alwine Top Fuel power plant, was completed close to 5 years ago, Micah has been testing relentlessly, creeping up incrementally on his tune-up. On multiple occasions, while testing at his home track, New England Dragway, Micah has run 6.0 to five-second, 660-foot, times. To half-track, he’s displayed they have their tune-up in hand.
His nitro-tutelage has been under the close watchful eye of John Alwine, his engine builder/supplier. Every pass, John can look at the data via computer and make suggestions to Micah and his team. During a recent interview, John said, “Micah is a great student, he does what needs to get done, he’s learning a lot, and he’s one of my best students ever.” This coming from the man who sent Korry Hogan down the 1320 at over 250 MPH multiple times. Micah will face his toughest test in E-2 today when he matches up against the toughest Top Fuel team in Top Fuel motorcycle drag racing: Team McBride.
In drag racing as in many motorsports, there is a saying that is inescapable, “There’s no substitute for seat time.” Few, if any, can match the seat time in the Top Fuel motorcycle that Larry McBride brings with him every time he sits in the hot seat. Larry began racing nitro bikes in the mid-1970s. He began racing Top Fuel motorcycles on asphalt in 1980 at the NHRA, US Nationals.
Going into this match-up, Larry is the number one qualifier at this event with a 4.92 @ 236.67 MPH. Micah Fenwick is the #4 qualifier with a 5.55 elapsed time. His quickest pass ever on his bike ever was his defeat of Bobby Malloy, on his last pass, 5.265 @ 189.50 MPH. If ever there was a David and Goliath match up in Top Fuel motorcycle history, this is it.
But this is drag racing and in this sport, anything can happen. Realistically, it’s anyone’s drag race to win.
This, of course, includes Mitch Brown, who will make a competition solo pass during E-2 and face the winner of the McBride vs. Fenwick contest later today. Mitch has been quietly going quicker and faster when needed. His team has been honing their skills, and as Mitch said earlier today, we are ready. It really doesn’t matter to us who wins the E-2 pairing because we are ready, no matter what. We are going to the final round, and we are READY!
Eliminations Round 1 Report
AT 7:23 PM, EST, the first round of eliminations unfolded for the Pingel Top Fuel motorcycle series. Larry McBride, had the bye-run for the five bike-qualified field.
By virtue of his #1 qualifying position, Larry McBride chose to run at the end of the session, not at the lead. This set the stage for the first pairing of veteran Bobby Malloy and Micah Fenwick. Micah’s team has been making consistent, competitive runs and looking stronger every outing.
With the first hint of yellow, Micah snapped the throttle open first and recorded an .035 RT to Bobby’s .100 RT. At half-track, Micah’s 4.068 wads a tick quicker that Bobby’s 4.169. At the 1,000’ stripe, Micah’s win light came on with a 5.265 elapsed time to Bobby’s 5.289. This is Micah Fenwick’s first round win in Top Fuel motorcycle racing, and it could not have come at a better time for the team.
The final pair of the round turned out to be Dave Vantine vs. Mitch Brown. Dave Vantine was first off the starting line, with a .091 RT and Mitch Brown was right on him like a shadow with his .097 RT to the tree. At the 660’ mark, they were still side-by-side, with eighth mile times of 4.073 for Dave, and 4.045 for Mitch. But Dave began drifting to the center of the track and he clipped a timing block.
While the time slip showed a 5.157 for Dave and a 5.178, for Mitch, Dave’s contact with the centerline negated his run and come tomorrow, Mitch will be in the semi-finals.
Team McBride closed out the session with another four-second pass, 4.975 to be exact, at 233.52 MPH. Eliminations will continue on Sunday, 23 June 24. The Top Fuel motorcycle E2 session is tentatively slated for close to 2PM tomorrow.
Round 1
WIN – Larry McBride / 0.317 / 4.975 / 233.52
Earned Bye
WIN – Micah Fenwick / 0.035 / 5.265 / 189.5
L – Bob Malloy / 0.100 / 5.289 / 214.45
WIN – Mitch Brown / 0.097 / 5.178 / 220.58
DQ – David Vantine / 0.091 / 5.157 / 224.43
Qualifying Round 3 Report
At 4:30 PM EST, the final qualifying round for the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle series concluded at Virginia Motorsports Park during the NHRA Virginia Nationals.
Leading the charge, Larry “Spiderman” McBride from Newport News, VA, secured the number one qualifier spot with an impressive 4.92 elapsed time at a blazing speed of 236.67 MPH.
This outstanding performance has earned Larry and his team the coveted bye-run in the five-bike Top Fuel motorcycle qualified field.
Round 2 Qualifying (1000′ Times)
Larry McBride / 5.006 / 218.65
Bob Malloy / 5.206 / 204.88
Mitch Brown / 5.364 / 194.27
David Vantine / 7.714 / 80.97
Micah Fenwick / 12.742 / 48.32
As we gear up for E1, set to take place tonight at approximately 7 PM EST, the competition ladder has been established.
Mitch BrownThe exciting matchups will feature Bobby Malloy facing off against Mica Fenwick, followed by a thrilling duel between Mitch Brown and Dave Vantine.
Qualifying Round 2 Report
At the PalyNHRA Virginia Nationals, the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycles were called to the lanes at 12:40 PM. The current air ambient temperature is 92 F, 42% humidity, pressure is 30.09, and the track surface temperature is 136.70 degrees. They were scheduled to run at 1:03 PM and, in fact, completed their session at 1:10 PM.
Larry McBride opened this round of qualifying in the right lane and announced his team is ready to race anyone, anytime, by laying down a straight-as-a-string, 4.92 elapsed time @ 236.52 MPH!
The next pair was Mitch Brown and Dave Vantine. Mitch Brown vaulted ahead quickly with a 5.14 @ 209.52 MPH. At the launch, Dave Vantine’s bike made a progressive move from R to L, and he adjusted immediately, but the motorcycle continued to drift to the left, forcing Dave to lift to avoid centerline complications. Dave was off the throttle well before mid-track and coasted the remainder of his pass.
In the final pair out Bobby Malloy recorded a 5.293 ET @ 209.36 MPH. Micah Fenwick lit the tire when his Top Fuel motorcycle was equal to the starting line tree, and he coasted at idle to complete his run.
Round 2 Qualifying (1000′ Times)
Larry McBride / 4.929 / 236.67
Mitch Brown / 5.145 / 209.52
Bob Malloy / 5.293 / 209.36
David Vantine / 11.704 / 68.5
Micah Fenwick / 12.259 / 50.35
Q3 is currently scheduled to be on track at 4:08 PM.
Saturday Morning Report
The Friday evening Q1 session for the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycles was challenging for the five Top Fuel Motorcycles who entered into this event.
Ambient air temps hovered around 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and with bright sunshine all day, the race track surface temperatures were in the 140-degree range. It was a challenging day for the tune-up artists.
Bobby Malloy, was the provisional number one qualifier, with a 5.20 elapsed time at 209 MPH, over the 1,000 foot race course. His team reported this morning they were happy with yesterday’s performance. They had a basic “A to B” tune-up in the bike and will only make minor changes to it for today’s Q-2 session, slated for 1:03 PM.
Micah Fenwick, the #2 qualifier, was the first T/F bike down the race course last evening. He was in the water box at 6:45pm. His first run of the weekend yielded a 5.55 ET @ 155 MPH. During a post run brief interview, he commented, “We were pleased with our first run, and we are mechanically good this morning. We are not changing much.”
In the right lane of the VMP track surface, next to Bobby Malloy was Larry “Spiderman” McBride. On Larry’s pass, his burnout was a short one, and when he went to stage, it was obvious audibly, something was different. In my over forty years, of watching Larry run, not once have I ever seen The Spiderman, double-bulb during staging. As Bobby Malloy was quickly completing his staging, just as Bobby went into the beams, Larry was at high-idle and he just could not hold the bike back any longer and launched before the tree activated. This of course did not yield any times for his run.
“We have to watch my high idle air screws on my bike,” he commented later, after the run. “Sometimes they can come loose due to vibration. This made the bike idle higher than normal and I was holding hard on the front and rear brakes with both hands, while trying to control the throttle – then it was just too much and I had to leave.” Let there be no question about it, come Q-2, later today, team McBride will be ready to rock & roll with a fresh effort.
Dave Vantine’s run of 7.91 @ 105 was not what the team was looking for in their initial qualifying effort. They will make changes for today’s Q-2 session.
Mitch Brown had a good looking, wheel-up launch for a brief instant, then the big tire broke loose.
He quickly aborted the run and coasted the remainder of his pass up to the first turn off. The bike sounded crisp on the burn-out and looked great during the initial hit. Mitch Brown and his team will come out swinging during Q-2.
The second qualifying session is slated for 1:03 PM, EST today, and the final Q-3 is projected to occur at 4:08 PM, to set the ladder.
Qualifying Round 1 Report
Q1 is now in the books for the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle series, at the NHRA Virginia Nationals. 90-degree temps, a high track surface temp and setting sun in the eyes of the racers, were all factors during this session on Friday evening. The individual times and speeds of the Top Fuel Motorcycle pilots are in the captions of each racer.
Bob Malloy / 5.203 / 209.01
Bobby Malloy ran with Larry, and recorded a 5.20 @ 209 MPH pass, for the quickest and fastest times of Q-1.
Micah Fenwick / 5.558 / 155.49
Micah Fenwick looked good on his pass, with a 5.55 @ 155.49 MPH over the 1,000′ of timed distance.
Dave Vantine / 7.913 / 109.34
David Vantine spun quickly and pedaled the bike in a valiant effort to save his pass. His scoreboard showed a 7.91 at 109 MPH.
Mitch Brown / 17.168 / 41.22
Mitch Brown left the starting line like with a good launch, but also lost traction early in the pass, and Mitch elected to almost idle down the track surface to a 17.16 elapsed time.
Larry McBride / Aborted pass
Larry “Spiderman” McBride had difficulties on his pass, mechanical issues were pulling the bike through the beams and they blew away the tire on the starting line.
Three rounds of racing in mid 90’s await the teams tomorrow.
Friday Afternoon Report
As of 1 PM on Friday, June 21, 2024, the Pingel Top Fuel Motorcycle Series will commence race number two of the four-race series, with the first qualifier slated for 5:30 today.
The two remaining qualifying sessions will be run on Saturday at approximately 1 and 4PM EST, depending on the tempo of the racing. Q3 will set the ladder and E1 will also run on Saturday at close to 7PM.
Sunday eliminations are set for E2 to be run at 2PM, followed by the final session at 4:45PM, EST.
Five Top Fuel motorcycle teams are set up in the pits as the event begins to unfold. From left to right, in the photo below, are Larry McBride, Bobby Malloy, Dave Vantine, Mitch Brown, and Micah Fenwick.
Unfortunately, the team of Jaska Salakari is not present, as the team suffered a catastrophic roadside traffic incident. The team had to stop on the interstate to re-attach the trailer that broke loose after a bad bump in the roadway detached from the ball hitch.
While parked roadside their trailer was struck by a passing tractor-trailer rig that destroyed the trailer and injured his team. One team member, Ari Lapiolahti, is significantly injured and is still hospitalized. They will not be attending this event.
For the five teams that are here at Virginia Motorsports Park, the challenges of racing are not just on track for this event. 90 to 95 degree temps, with high humidity are in the forecast for the duration of the event.
ABOUT NHRA
The National Hot Rod Association, the largest auto racing organization in the world, has come a long way since Wally Parks founded it in 1951.
Though it has grown into a global sports-entertainment business, NHRA has not lost sight of Parks’ original goal: to provide competitors a place to race. But now those places are deluxe supertracks in major U.S. markets, and the racing runs the gamut from 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragsters to 5-horsepower Jr. Dragsters. Drag racing’s journey through the decades has been sometimes swift, sometimes rocky, but always exciting and always worth the trip.
In the 1950s, top performance marks were 140 mph in 9 seconds. Today, they’re more than 330 mph in less than 3.7 seconds. Back then, winners earned little more than a trophy and bragging rights. Today’s racers compete for trophies and bragging rights as well as a share of more than $3 million in prize money.
In 2024, NHRA joined forces with Mission Foods to present the world’s fastest motorsports attraction as the flagship sponsor of the national touring series, the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
Under the leadership of President Glen Cromwell, NHRA raced forward in 2020 with a number of key initiatives, including a multiyear partnership with FOX Sports to televise NHRA events from the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, and the Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. FOX Sports networks aired more than 500 hours of programming throughout the year, highlighted by 22 race-day shows, including eight on FOX’s national network, in addition to primetime Friday night qualifying shows, and fans are in for more of the same this year.
NHRA has extremely loyal fans that are committed to the sport they love, and it’s easy to see why. They continue to have the best access to the behind-the-scenes action of racing. NHRA’s open-pits policy allows fans to get an up-close-and personal view of how teams rebuild engines. Drivers are often found in their pit areas, signing autographs and chatting with fans, who have the rare opportunity to get behind the wheel themselves in a variety of racing simulators in the Nitro Alley Fan Zone. Those are just a few reasons NHRA fans continue to be some of the most loyal in any sport.
For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
About Mission Foods
Great food is a great motivator. It brings everyone to the table and inspires us to explore all kinds of delicious destinations. At Mission®, it drives us to seek the freshest ingredients, simple recipes, diverse flavors and wholesome products that help us discover all the places our tortillas can go. There are better-for-you destinations like with our high protein, low carb, or gluten-free tortillas. Of course, tacos and nachos are favorite stops. We are always up for those. www.missionfoods.com
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