Round one of Top Fuel Harley was upset city! Jay Turner strapped a holeshot on Bobby Malloy with a .016 reaction to the tree and Bobby was quick off the line with a .082 RT, then as they sped down track, Malloy just pulled away with his quickest ET of the weekend, 6.238 to Jay’s 6.348 – the win going to Bobby Malloy.
Rickey House, the number three qualifier then faced off with Billy Jack and House faltered, slowing to a nine-second elapsed time, while Billy Jack thundered past him on his way to a 6.68 ET at 207 MPH for the win.
Next out, Dennis Fisher faced off with Tii Tharpe and unfortunately, Dennis smoked the tire right after the hit of the throttle, just as he did in his previous qualifying pass during Q-4. So Dennis was forced to slow his pass. Tii Tharpe just boogied on by with an excellent 6.27 @ 224 MPH run, to advance to the next round.
In the final pair out, Doug Vancil was paired up with TFH rookie Beau Layne. They had similar reaction times to the starting line tree, but Doug Vancil’s bike malfunctioned as it did it’s last pass during Q-4 last night. So Vancil slowed to a 9.28, while Beau Layne motored on to a 6.48 @ 218 MPH win for the round.
In the semi-final round of racing, Beau Layne gave a great showing against veteran Bobby Malloy by running a 6.52 @ 209 MPH to Bobby’s blistering 6.34 elapsed time. Bobby, along with his team have done a great job of finding the power when they need it; and putting it to the race track. For Beau to advance to the semi-final round this early in his career speaks well for the future of this new TFH pilot.
In the other match up, Tii Tharpe again unleashed Jay Turner Racing horsepower and buried Billy Jack, who spun the tire and slowed early. Tii with a 6.33 @ 220 MPH ET to Billy Jack’s 7.62 @ 185, with Tii Tharpe going to the final round in his second consecutive race.
In the final round of racing for Top Fuel Harley, Tii Tharpe pulled away from Bobby Malloy for the win with a 6.31 @ 220 MPH pass that was more then Bobby’s 6.54 could handle. This is Tii’s second victory in the 2018 season and he’s off to a good note in a ten race season, with three races completed so far.
A big part of Tii’s success is the hard work and being a part of Jay Turner Racing. Tii made passes of 6.28, 6.33 and 6.31, to win the NHRA Gator Nationals.
The Mickey Thompson Tires, NHRA Top Fuel Harleys are all ready to go drag racing. All 8 qualified teams are cocked & loaded on Sunday morning. Number one qualifier Doug Vancil ran four qualifying passes of 6.36, 6.28, 6.30, and in Q-4 he posted a troubled 7.92. His first three passes were within .080 seconds of one another, which is truly astounding for a Top Fuel Harley motorcycle. Clearly, Mike Romine’s tune up and Doug’s driving skills are on-point to say the least. They will be tough to beat this race.
Fans seeking to watch the action live can do so via NHRA All Access or on Fox FS-1, please consult your local TV listings for broadcast times. Near real-time run numbers can also be found at Drag Racing Central. https://www.dragracecentral.com/
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