PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE
The nitrous bikes found the going extremely dicey in their first shot at the track but, by the completion of qualifying, offered the fans eighth-mile wheelstands and solid performances. Ron Procopio, whose “Legion of Doom” North Carolina Suzuki Hayabusa has been one of the most potent in ADRL racing, led the field with a 4.385/159.66 only two thousandths of a second ahead of Darian Guillory’s similar Illinois rig.
In the first round, only three winning riders didn’t run under 4.4 seconds; legendary bike racer Mimmo Marciano’s solid black New York-based Hayabusa paced the round with a 4.33 at a whopping 168.53 mph. The opening stanza’s best race came when T.T. Jones’ “Batman” Hayabusa stopped Robert Hunnicut’s North Carolina Suzuki in a 4.38/164.63 to 4.39/159.21 bout by eight thousandths of a second.
Marciano fell to ADRL PXM Speed Record holder Coodee Thomas in the second round in the closest race of the entire Dragpalooza IV event; Thomas’ Georgia Hayabusa hit a 0.007 RT and a 4.348/161.04 to Marciano’s 0.017-initiated 4.341/166.58 for a true win-margin of only three thousandths of a second. Guillory suffered the heartbreaker of the race when he fouled against the Kawasaki of Monte Campbell and threw away Low ET of PXM, a fantastic 4.32/160.77.
T.T. Jones got past Scott Gray’s Florida Kawasaki with a 4.39/162.37 and Procopio advanced with a great 4.34/166.70 over Mantez Thompson’s Alabama Suzuki. In the semis, Jones hit a 4.36/165.82 to oust Campbell on the last remaining Kawasaki and Procopio clocked a 4.35/159.95 when Thomas fouled. Prior to the finals, Jones had simply refused to touch his bike after three runs within three hundredths of a second; Procopio had three runs within nineteen thousandths but felt the track could take a bit more power in the title bout. Procopio was correct; a 4.330/160.54 and a four hundredths holeshot scored the first ADRL win for the “Legion” while Jones settled for his second ADRL runner-up with a slowing 4.41/165.01. Ironically, Procopio was the only victorious racer who hadn’t won a previous title in the ADRL/Flowmaster/National Guard series.
PHOTO EXTRA
