AMRA Nitro Harleys Get One Round in at Bowling Green
Beech Bend Raceway, September 19-21, 2025
The huge crowd of V-twin culture junkies that descended on Bowling Green, Kentucky's Beech Bend Raceway got at least one sunny day of action in at the PennGrade1 AMRA D.C. Jones Memorial Fall Nationals.
After a full day of Harley-Davidson drag racing qualifying on Saturday, Sunday broke out with anything but sun. Rain finally eased to allow one round of Nitro-Harley and some pro gas class eliminations before returning and washing out the rest of the event.
Ohio racer Ryan Peery qualified number one (6.43 at 213 mph) in Johnny Mancuso's Circle M Ranch Top Fuel and advanced handily out of round one past Michael Balch on Red Rhea's bike. "Sometimes Mother Nature sucks!" said Peery, whose program has come together so well that he won the IHRA race the following weekend.
Points leader heading into the season finale at the Rockingham Raceway in NC was Finland's Samu Kemppainen, whose lead coming into Beech Bend was 1070 to Peery's 885. He qualified just behind Ryan with a 6.488 at 215 and easily advanced past Peery's teammate Buddy Johnson in E1.
Bad Apple Racing's Cameron "Flash" Gunter qualified number one at Byron Illinois in the Armon Furr Nitro Funnybikes but blew up on his very first qualifying pass at Beech Bend and was done for the weekend.
That left Jordan Peterson qualified number one at Beech Bend (7.03 at 176) on the Phil Lower-owned bike, tuned by Mike Romine. Then he got the solo pass in E1 when Gunter couldn't make it.
In the Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel lightning struck twice for Curt Sexton. After bending a rod and torching the head in Bryon, Illinois the same happened in the first round at Bowling Green. Running a back-up motor, he ran a 7.277 on Sunday morning but it was Mary Dangrow who qualified number one with a 7.32 at 167, then ran those numbers again in her round 1 win over Kyle Rogers.
Pro Outlaw ran their one round to completion, with Billy Doherty blowing the tire off his Pro Modified bar bike and losing to number one qualifier Jerrick Spinal and his turbo Bagger.
Jeremy Williamson was number one qualifier in Zipper's Performance Pro Bagger. The class was interrupted in E1 by the final shower that ended the day.
Russ Johnson qualified number one in Zipper's Performance Modified, Robert Alther qualified number one in Huffman Performance Super Gas, John Powers number one in Pro Eliminator 10.90, Chris Hoppe in Top Eliminator, Nick Boey in Thundermax Street Bagger, Jason Crisp in Axtell Cylinders Hot Street, John Shotts in BK Electric Super Pro 10.30, and John Poett III in Thundermax Street Eliminator 11.50.
Once the weather had forced a finish there was nothing for it but for the teams to wonder what might have been, pack-up and reconvene at Rockingham on October 25-26 for the Jim McClure Finals at Rockingham.
