The NHRA Top Fuel Harleys

Grimes Goes Big in Texas

Words by Tom McCarthy
Photos by Joe McHugh

Tommy Grimes is after his first NHRA championship in a big way and he delivered big at the April 25-27 NHRA Mello Yellow Drag Racing Series’ 27th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries, in Baytown, Texas.

Grimes, driving the TFH of nitro Harley racing legend Ray Price, laid down low ET (6.24) and top speed of the meet (232 mph) on his way to his second consecutive win in as many races on the NHRA Harley Davidson Drag Racing Series tour sponsored by Akea and Ray Price Harley-Davidson. On April 4-5, just two weeks prior to the Texas race, Grimes won the NHRA race in Dinwiddie, VA, defeating Larry “Drums” Brancaccio in the finals with a 6.36 at 233 mph.

Now, after winning two of the first three races into the 2014 season, Grimes and his team are well on their way in seeking the team’s first NHRA HDRS Championship season.

“It’s a little early to be talking about the championship, but we are off to a good start. My team does their best and I try to match that effort, it takes a team to win a championship,” commented Tommy in a post race interview.

Randal Andras of Amelia, LA, was the number-one qualifier with a 6.295 at 211 mph.

At the race in Texas, Grimes qualified fifth out of ten entries seeking eight spots on the ladder with a 6.43 ET as the team worked hard to get a handle on the set up.

The rest of the qualifiers in descending order were: Jay Turner 6.296, Mike Scott 6.32, Mike Pelrine 6.35, Tommy Grimes 6.43, Brian Jernigan, 6.52, Damian Cowden 6.55 and Julian Seaman with a 6.89 elapsed time. High MPH of qualifying was Randal Andras during the third qualifying effort with a 230.37 MPH blast. Nitro Harleys running at or above the 230-mph mark are quickly becoming common place.

Of the two racers who did not qualify for the eight bike field, Kevin Boyer and Rickey House, it was very surprising to see House on the outside looking in on race day. House commented after the race, “We shook the tire bad during the first qualifying attempt so I just shut it off. On the second qualifier, the motor dropped a hole and blew ending our weekend. It will take us a while to get the engine repaired, but we’ll be back out in a few weeks.”

During eliminations on Sunday, in the first pair out, Grimes used a .046 reaction time to get a jump on Pelrine’s .090 effort that led to a 6.295 elapsed time for Tommy against Mike’s 6.34 as Grimes led the race from start to finish.