On the other side of the ladder, Merced was thriving on great reaction times. Qualified sixth, Anibal rode his nitrous-huffing '14 around Tom Federici's supercharged 'Busa in a close Round 1 race. Next he caught number 1 qualifier Eddie "Who" Chapman snoozing at the tree, advancing despite a huge, quarter-second performance disadvantage to Chapman's turbo 'Busa.

For the final round, Merced (near lane) faced another turbo 'Busa, this time Dobrin's. Merced nailed a massive starting line advantage for another holeshot and the first-ever Real Street win for the Puerto Rico native and all-around nice guy. Merced also left MDIR with the Real Street points lead.

Two-time Orient Express Pro Street champ Gladstone doesn't even need great lights to keep his record-setting, DME Racing-prepped, Vance & Hines turbo 'Busa ahead of the competition in that class. Gladstone had a huge advantage all weekend as the rest of the field struggled in the heat of the afternoon.

Number 1 qualifier Gladstone took the stripe every round with huge margins of victory over Crystal Jackson, former teammate Ehren Litten, and Mace Motorsports racer Darion "Nanu" Payne on his path to the final.

But the rest of the field featured tight, side-by-side racing. Michael Bayes was having a great weekend on his baby blue Ronnie Mitchell Racing "Sandra Dee" turbo 'Busa out of Detroit. Bayes was clicking off personal bests after his return from a seriously dislocated shoulder suffered in a top-end crash last year. Mitchell sported his biggest smile in many events as Bayes slipped past Richard Gadson on Brad Mummert's nitrous, old school, air-cooled Suzuki GS in Round 1, then easily past spinning teammate Jason Angela in Round 2. Semifinal opponent Doug Witt sat up on his NOS 'Busa at mid-track after the bike wouldn't shift and Bayes was on the way to his first final.

Bayes put a .039 advantage on Gladstone at the tree, but Mitchell had Sandra Dee's wick turned way up for the final. Bayes spun and wheelied while Gladstone clicked off another 6.80-something for the win.

Vance & Hines 4.60 is growing at a phenomenal rate, with 30 bikes entered at the Summer Nationals, a record-breaking turnout for the IDBL's newest class. Bobby Lovingood and Steven Shriver fought their way to the final round, where Shriver broke out by .007 despite taking the tree by .008.

Robert Parker

The 4.60 class may soon have as many entries as Carpenter Racing Crazy 8s. Robert Parker won the 8.88 no-bar index class over Ben "Hardest Working Man in MC Drag Racing" Knight, but Knight was lucky to leave Maryland with his skin intact. He was as close to flipping his 'Busa over backwards at mid-track earlier in the day as one could be without actually flipping, then should have crashed again when the bike came back down and went into a wicked tank-slapper.

An exhilarated Knight came right back around for all the other classes he was still in. Having just redlit in another class, Knight took the tree too soft against Parker in the Crazy 8s final and broke out trying to catch up. It was Parker's first win in Maryland.