Top Fuel Drama Leads Rockingham Nitro Harley Story
34th Annual Jim McClure Memorial World Finals
Rockingham Dragway, NC
October 24-26, 2025This report was prepared by Tim Hailey. Enjoy everything there is to read, see and watch about motorcycle drag racing and more at https://www.eatmyink.com
The annual AMRA Jim McClure Memorial Finals all-Harley drag race is exciting enough on its own. But when the Top Fuel points leader had to be airlifted out of Rockingham Dragway following a vicious 222 mile per hour crash, and his teammate met number two in points in the final to preserve or lose his championship, that drama amped up tenfold ...
That’s exactly how it happened at the biggest Nitro Harley drag race on the planet, dedicated to the life and exploits of the late, great Jim “Da Judge” McClure.
 |
| Ryan Peery - Winner of Johnny Mancuso’s Circle M Ranch Top Fuel |
With the previous two events rained out after qualifying, Finland’s Samu Kemppainen had a commanding Johnny Mancuso’s Circle M Ranch Top Fuel lead when he and his Chris Stewart Racing team unloaded at The Rock.
Despite a successful test day, the script then turned quickly against him as he hit the finish line (on his first qualifying pass for a 6.34 at 222 mph) with the big bike twisting sideways the moment he pulled the chutes - throwing the Finn hard to the asphalt.
When the helicopter arrived, it was clear to everyone that Samu was seriously injured, the bike heavily damaged, and his championship run over.
 |
| Samu Kemppainen |
 |
| Jordan Peterson - Winner of Armon Furr Nitro Funnybike |
The air was thick with tension as qualifying revealed struggles all around. Only two rounds were run, and many bailed on the second one after temperatures dropped during the lengthy clean-up following Juha “Sushi” Hintukainen’s spectacular, flaming oil-down.
So Kemppainen’s time was good enough to hold up for number two qualifier behind Chris Smith’s 6.22 at 223. Ryan Peery sat in fifth in the order (and second in points) with a 6.43 at 227 behind Jay Turner’s third place 6.35/214 and Tim Kerrigan’s fourth 6.40 at 215.
Sushi’s was one of several bikes that were unable to make the call on Sunday, and he was scheduled to race Peery, who improved to a 6.37 at 228.
 |
| “Bad Apple Mary” Dangrow - Winner of Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel class |
Robert “Ziggy” Stewart was another no-show. His opponent, Jordan Peterson, advanced with a 6.52 at 232. Like Schwartz and Sushi, number four qualifier Kerrigan was also out for E1 on his Stephen Vickers (Hawaya Racing) built-and-tuned Top Fuel Harley.
Elsewhere in E1, Smith posted an AMRA record-setting 6.18 at 233 against Jason Pridemore, who went down fighting with a 6.48. Number six qualifier Kile had to face his own Bad Apple teammate—Cameron “Flash” Gunter. Defending Nitro Funnybike champion Gunter was making his Top Fuel debut and qualified well in 11th. Kile advanced 6.44 to 6.83.
 |
| Hot Rod Carlisle |
Other E1 winners were Turner, Billy “Jack” Jackson, Jim Doyle on Dan Grindle’s supercharged bike, and Rickey “Sharkey” House—who defeated Byron number one qualifier Paul Anderson.
Peery responded to Smith’s 6.18 challenge by casting consistency aside to oust Billy Jack in round two with his own .18. After looking like the solid favorite for the race win, Smith was done in E2 when his bike drifted to the centerline and he had to let out, losing to House. Kile and Peterson also advanced.
Peterson improved to a 6.30 against Kile’s improving-but-losing .36 in the semis. Peery slowed to a still-winning 6.25 against House, just missing backing up both ET records by “like .008,” according to Ryan.
That set up a winner-take-all final that could go either way. Peterson couldn’t win the championship, but the race win would secure the title for his hospitalized teammate. With the win, Peery would overtake Samu in points.
And Peery wasn’t going to be denied, nailing an .035 on Peterson’s .092. Peery won with a 6.26 at 231 while Peterson slowed to a 7.26/139.
 |
| Frederick Beaulieu |
As a class, Armon Furr Nitro Funnybike had a difficult act to follow. But spanning both classes was Peterson and his Phil Lower-owned bike tuned by Mike Romine. Peterson came to The Rock with the Funnybike points lead and smoothly sealed the deal. He qualified number one with a 6.76 at 182, then ran 6.75 at 199 on his round one bye.
Number two qualifier Jim Doyle had no E1 trouble with the local bike of Kevin Cambell. A sharp match-up was between Universal Fleet and Tire’s Racin’ Ray Robinson and the turbo alcohol bike of Keith (rider) and Pete (builder/tuner) Browne. Browne took a slight .087 to .098 advantage at the line. The two very different combinations raced side-by-side until Robinson’s bike brightly torched a head at half-track or so.
Browne’s bike faltered in the semi while Peterson sailed to a 6.71 at 199, and former champ Doyle slowed to a 7.21 at 168 on his bye run. Doyle’s performance indicated a problem, and that indeed kept him from competing in the final, where Peterson ran out a 6.68 at 199.
The Hawaya Racing Pro Fuel class didn’t have the crash-and-overtake drama of the Top Fuel points chase, but instead featured good, old fashioned, tight competition. “Bad Apple Mary” Dangrow was the runaway Pro Fuel points leader this year, but the Rockingham win was very much in play.
The qualifying order took a tumble that reflected the tightening competitiveness of the class. Hot Rod Carlisle rode Harriet Ann and Michael Blair’s bike to the number one spot with a 7.27 at 171 mph. Sam White finally found the lost performance in his original “Terminator” bike and was second with a 7.342 at 178, followed by Mary’s 7.345/174.
She ran a winning 7.23 in E1 against Jay Beasley. Carlisle ran 7.31 to beat Hayley Caulk, while White slowed to an 8.38 to beat Kyle Rogers.
 |
| Dwayne Gee |
The best race of the round was Belle Rose runner-up Ken “Stubby” Hultman’s win over Jim “Bad Influence” Martin, who took the tree .171 to .180. But Stubby steamed to the win with a 7.63 at 177 to Martin’s 7.65 at 156. Loren Potter, John Jenkins, and Curt Sexton also advanced.
Dangrow improved to a personal best 7.17. White no-showed against Stubby. Hot Rod had the bye while Sexton and Jenkins both ran 7.50, with Curt’s .090 advantage at the tree making the difference.
Mary ran a 7.22 in the semis to beat a slowing Hultman, while Sexton frustratingly redlit (-.004) away a 7.36 against Carlisle’s vulnerable 7.57.
The final was all Bad Ass Mary, as she put up an .091 to Hot Rod’s .284, followed by her 7.27 to his 7.48. A great, great weekend of Nitro Harley racing with an undefeated season for Mary.
Finns Elmeri (rider) and Jaska (builder/tuner) Salakari made several exhibition/test passes on their unique 4V OHC supercharged FuelTech Harsh V-Twin.
Gas Harley winners and champs are Nick Boey in Zipper’s Performance Pro Bagger; Boey and Jimmy Maikranz in Thundermax Street Bagger; Dwayne Gee in Pro Outlaw; Jason Crisp in Axtell Cylinders Hot Street; Kimberly DeShields in Zipper’s Performance Modified; Richard Hillgass and Chris Hoppe in Top Eliminator 9.30; Kevin Laughman and Jeremy Wilson in Huffman Performance Super Gas 9.90; Bryce Creek and Matt Hauser in BK Electric Super Pro 10.30; Chad Traynor and Austin “Hammerhead” Hughes in Thundermax Street Eliminator 11.50; Jim Clarke in Pro Eliminator 10.90; and Stephen Lacy in Baker Drivetrain Eliminator.
Bryce Creek ran a memorial pass down the track for the late, great Donnie Huffman with Donnie’s son Jamie and wife Lisa.
The Nitro Harley racers thank Bad Apple Racing, Chris Stewart Racing, DayStar Machine and Cycle Concepts, White Lightning Racing, P and C Johnson Trucking, RP Motorsports, Hawaya Racing, Road Rage Motorcycles, Universal Fleet and Tire, and Johnny Mancuso’s Circle M Ranch.
