PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE

Defending PDRA Pro Extreme Motorcycle champ Eric McKinney won the first three races in 2015 from the number-one starting position. Chris Garner-Jones won the next three. His final-round opponent in each of those wins? McKinney.

"Like I said at the last race, I really look up to Eric, he does a great job out here and I'm just trying to compete," Garner-Jones said.

In Maryland, McKinney held the number-one position heading into the fourth and final qualifying session on Saturday morning before eliminations began that afternoon. When qualifying was over it was Garner-Jones on top of the list, however, with a 4.08 pass at 168.83 mph aboard his '14 Suzuki, with Travis Davis second at 4.09 and McKinney's 4.10 bumped down to third in the 16-bike field.

Round one saw Garner-Jones ride to an easy 4.12 win after Eran Pielert's bike broke on the launch, with McKinney getting by Garner-Jones' dad, T.T. Jones, with a 4.14 pass. In round two, Garner-Jones ran 4.13 to handily defeat Brad McCoy's 4.23, while McKinney made a 4.10 solo run when teammate and crew chief Ashley Owens failed to make the call to stage.

McKinney made a 4.11 pass at 174.75 to earn a close win in the semis over the 4.12 at 172.98 mph by class veteran Paul Gast, but Garner-Jones seized lane choice for the final with a convincing 4.06 at 170.19 over the 4.11 at 169.74 posted by Dave Norris.

The final round saw McKinney leave with a slim .005 advantage off the starting line, but something faltered in his bike and he slowed to a 4.17 at 168.70 while Garner-Jones set low ET for the event with an impressive 4.03-seconds ride at 170.45 mph.

With four races remaining on the schedule Garner Jones has climbed into second place overall behind McKinney and knows the momentum has shifted in his favor, but realizes it still will be difficult to wrest the championship away.

"I think I maybe can catch him, but I'll need some help; I need him to go out in some early rounds," Garner-Jones said. "It's very tough; he's very tough. I'll never catch him if he keeps going to the finals with me."