Quick Finish at The Rock
The East Coast-based MiRock motorcycle drag racing series finished its season with very quick runs in the two top professional classes at the Lee's Performance Fall Bike Nationals November 17-18 at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, NC.
Schnitz Racing Outlaw Pro Street racer Dave Norris capped off his first championship season with the first 6-second, nitrous bike, no-bar pass ever on the face of the earth. Norris nailed the milestone in the final qualifying session on Saturday with a 6.980 at 193.16 mph.
He and Dan Wagner had the DTM Performance-built Suzuki set on kill all day Sunday to back up the record. That deed was still undone when the final rolled around, and Ronnie Procopio, also on a DTM Suzuki, was set to pick up any pieces Norris left on the table.
Procopio had solved his own bike's performance issues in time for the semis and had lane choice against Norris, who spun the tire at the hit of the throttle in the final. Procopio laid down a sweet 7.103 to score his second win in only his first season in the class. Norris raced in every Outlaw final this year.
Anthony Navarro, 2006 Pro Sportbike champ, delivered double trouble to the field by bringing his identical twin brother with him to Rockingham, but it only took one Navarro to win the final over '06 Outlaw champ Rodney Williford. Rodney nailed the tree but started wheelieing at about 60 feet. Navarro, known for his consistency, stepped up with a blindingly quick 7.651 for the win. That's quicker than the record, but Navarro didn't have a back-up.
Anthony gave much of the credit for the quick pass to Velocity Racing boss Barry Henson. "Barry put a tune-up in it and told me not to even bother to look at it, just ride it," said Navarro, who beat number one qualifier Dimey Eddinger in the semi when Eddinger's motor went soft on the big end.
Vinnie Demito, who, like Navarro, is a contractor from Pennsylvania and rides a Velocity turbo Hayabusa, took the Pro Sportbike championship despite red=lighting to Williford in the semi. "A Velocity bike has won the Pro Sportbike championship every year since the class started," noted Henson.
No-bar specialist Matt "Footloose" Davies strapped on the extra wheels and won the 5.60 eighth-mile class on an old school '76 Kawasaki. Richmond, Virginia's Davies beat fellow Virginian Jim Shifflett in the final. Number one qualifier Jason Herron lost to Shifflett in round 2, and Robin Procopio took the season title.
Davies's brother Clay took double honors over the weekend, winning Saturday's Pro ET final over Ashon Dickerson and Sunday's Street ET final over Adrian "I Might Be My Cousin Barry Purnell" Jones. Construction worker Clay rode his Kawasaki ZX9R in both classes. Andy Lynch overcame Chris Barnett's .002 light to win Saturday's Street ET final, and Damon Williams beat James "Mutt" Ghibbs in Sunday's Pro ET final.
Young Ohio no-bar pilot Ricky Ward won FBR Shop Quick 32 over BayBay Yarbrough in the final. Yarbrough broke out trying to catch Ward after falling behind .061 to .031 at the tree.