In the Hawaya Pro Fuel class, with six bikes entered, Kirby Apathy on his “Gunfighter” powered V-Twin was the man to beat with a 7.48 as the low number in qualifying. Little did everyone know, he had a lot more in the bank to come. Tyler Wilson, the number-six qualifier, drew Kirby in round one and never got close to the man. His 7.10 @ 178 MPH was the quickest ET of the meet in the class and a real stunner for the stab-and-steer crowd. Due to the unbalanced ladder with six bikes, Kirby got a single in the semi’s and a trip to the final round.

Rocky Jackson (near lane) got out on Kirby Apathy in the final round and they finished the race the same way they finished the 2015 racing season: with Rocky just out front in Hawaya Pro Fuel racing.

Rocky Jackson, the number one plate holder in MANCUP Pro Fuel racing, was ready for Kirby in the final round and the two close friends were ready for a good drag race. Rocky got out on Kirby right away and by half track the race was over. Not because of the holeshot, but because Kirby got a little greedy on the tune up.

“I should have left well enough alone after that seven-ten pass,” he commented after the race. “I got greedy and wanted to set a new record because I knew the bike had it in it. So I was a little aggressive on the tune up and when the bike came up on the launch, it hit the bars just a little too hard. This unloaded the rear tire, and then the tire shook and grabbed, but by then Rocky was gone.”

Kirby added, “I won’t make that mistake again.”

In the Falicon Pro Mod Series thirteen bikes entered the race and Travis Davis of Douglas, Ga., was the man to beat with his 4.08 #1 qualifying number. This earned him a single during E-1 and he laid down a fine 4.069 with a .004 light, announcing to all he was quite ready for all comers this day. And with that Travis proceeded to cut through the competition at this race like a hot knife through butter.

In E-2 he strapped a .005 reaction time on Jeff House and delivered another 4.0, with a seven, performance to eliminate Mr. House. In the semifinal round, Travis did much the same to Shane Eperjesi serving up a 4.090 to Shane’s 4.15 elapsed time.

Travis Davis was the winner in the Falicon Pro Mod series class. His Timblin chassis bike runs hot straight and true every pass.

In the final match up, Travis found unlikely hero, Terry Wynn, the number 13 qualifier, in the opposing lane. Travis dispatched him as readily as he did the others. Travis Davis finished outside the top ten in MANCUP points in 2015, but that’s not likely to happen this season.

Eleven bikes entered into the Nitrous Express Pro Open class on race day. Mark Rendeluk, of Oklahoma City, Okla., was the man to beat with his 6.53 @ 200 MPH delivered during qualifying. While he had the number-one qualifier spot, he was quick to note Joey Gladstone on the dreaded DME-sponsored “Tink-Tink” machine emerged during qualifying and the combination yielded a jaw dropping 6.68 @ 220 MPH pass from this impressive no-bars drag bike.