With planning beginning early this summer, two-time European Top Fuel Bike champion Per Bengtsson was the driving force behind bringing five race teams from Sweden and Norway to Cecil, Georgia, for the Manufacturers Cup. While he was able to qualify his ride, nicknamed “The Beast,” third in the eight-bike field with twin 6.39 runs, he wasn't able to turn that into a win. Still, he said the learning experience alone was worth the trip. “Now we know how to do it,” said Bengtsson. “We’re definitely coming back.”

Technically, Rickard Gustafsson’s turbocharged Suzuki didn’t belong in Top Fuel, but rather in the eighth-mile Pro Comp class at the Manufacturers Cup. However, the rider from Falkenberg, Sweden, said he “didn’t travel halfway across the world to only race halfway!” The guy is tough, too. After passing the finish line in round one of qualifying Gustafsson drifted left out of the groove and impacted the left guardwall at SGMP. He didn’t go down, but grinding along the concrete barrier wore a hole through his leathers at the knee and then through his skin to create an inch-and-a-half wound that exposed the bone of his kneecap. Naturally a trip to a local hospital was in order, but Gustafsson refused any painkillers, saying he still had a race to run! The fine folks at Vanson Leathers set him up with a loaner racing suit while they made repairs to Gustafsson’s leathers and he went on to qualify fourth before being ousted from round one by Tii Tharpe. “There’s no way I wasn’t going to race,” Gustafsson said. “It didn’t hurt that bad.”