So no one was really anticipating anything other than the usual sensory thrills of Top Fuel motorcycles when McBride and Vantine lined up for their first pass on Sunday—not Vantine’s first 5, and certainly not the first ever side-by-side 5. But BAM! There it was. “I’m just glad I didn’t leave before the tree was activated!” said Vantine, who redlit by -.116, then ran a MIROCK record 237.46 mph on the 5.97 second pass.

McBride ran a 5.79 in the other lane. “In 3200 foot air?” said McBride. “Those are impressive numbers. We had 110 grains of water, and we don’t like to see that. But our oxygen readings were good.

“I really can’t say enough about the track, the staff, and the other racers. It was actually an honor to be there. I’ve been racing 36 years and absolutely I’ve never been treated like that at a race track—ever. They really appreciate us being there. I can’t even say how many racers—at least a hundred plus—came up to me and said they appreciate us coming. I’ve never had track staff in the lanes come up to me and say they were sorry they called us up so early. I’m blown away.

“And Jason (MIR promoter Jason Miller) and his dad Royce (MIR owner) were so nice. They have water in the staging lanes, they have a canopy for the racers, they have fans. It’s phenomenal. The bands, the contests—I’ve never seen anything like it. And it was all so professionally run. And the way they prep the track, that’s a show in itself. Phenomenal.”

With all the hoopla over Top Fuel, Orient Express Pro Street had a chance to operate out of the high-pressure glare of the spotlight for a change. “It was nice,” said champion Joey Gladstone. His team’s DME Racing turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa has been at the forefront of the race for the sport’s first 6.80 street tire pass, and for once they got to work in the shadows.

And in the shadows they thrived, qualifying number 1 with a 6.95 and eventually hitting a top speed of 220 mph. Gladstone worked his way to a final round pairing with June runner-up Doug Gall. Gladstone took the tree, the stripe, and stretched his lead in the points. Pro Mod/bracket racer Mac McAdams made his Pro Street debut on “Wigsplitter” and won Pro Street B.

Rickey Gadson is once again a major player in DME Racing Real Street. After runner-upping in June on his turbo ZX14R, Gadson qualified number 2 this time around behind David Merks and his RS Motorsports turbo ‘Busa.

RS Motorsports had three bikes in the semis, with Merks losing to teammate Jeremy Teasley on a holeshot. Gadson then beat RS team boss Roger Starrette in the other semi to set up a June final rerun with class champion Teasley. Jeremy took the tree on his sinister black, nitrous-huffing RS Motorsports Kawasaki ZX14, but wheelied as Rickey’s turbo power came in smoothly and powered him across the stripe for the win.