****INSERT [PA_bike-before-fire] AND SIDE BY SIDE [PA-bike-after-fire] CAPTION:

There is a big difference in the before and after photos.

Within minutes of Larry's engine explosion, Jason Dunigan of Dunigan Racing, a Pro Street bike racing operation, sat down at his laptop in his trailer and started filling out a Go Fund Me form to help Larry get back on track. Jason, who wants zero credit for this, simply felt it was the right thing to do, to help the Cycle Specialist team, aka Larry McBride, get back to drag racing. Why?

In Jason's words, "Larry is the heartbeat of motorcycle drag racing. We all have this opinion he's immortal. I don't want people taking him for granted. He's the show; he's a class act along with his brother and crew. We're a stronger circuit with him out there." And that sums up what’s unusual about this entire rather usual, fuel bike blows up a motor while drag racing set of circumstances.

Here’s why: as uncomfortable as this fact of life will be for some people, the reality of the situation is this: sometimes in life, there is nothing as unequal as the equal treatment of unequals. People don't need to like this, but they do need to recognize this and deal with it. Not everyone will agree, but such is the nature of the reality of this unusual situation.

As one racer mentioned in social media, "If I blow my motor up, no one is going to Go Fund me." This may be true, but then again, unless a racer can claim to have run the first ever five-second elapsed time, run more five-second passes than any other drag bike, and has helped Top Fuel bike teams from every corner of the globe, there is no equal to Larry McBride. Not at least in the eyes of many of the motorcycle drag racing faithful. Larry “Spiderman” McBride is not just any motorcycle drag racer.