Joey Gladstone

Merced qualified third behind rivals Joey Gladstone and Roger Starrette. With his nitrous-huffing Kawasaki ZX14 smoking from its Brock’s pipe, Merced raced his way to an all-NOS ’14 semifinal match-up with Starrette. “It burned one spark plug tip in the first round, and I think it got a little heat in the number three piston and messed up the piston ring,” said Merced. “I thought it was over after round 1!”

But the big ’14 was still making power and Merced raced his way past Starrette to meet and—crucially—have lane choice against Gladstone in the final.

The first 60 feet is vitally important to Gladstone’s all-motor DME ‘Busa against power-adder bikes like Merced’s, and Joey got a jump at the tree. But a left lane spin was costly to Gladstone, as Merced applied the spray and took the stripe.

IDBL Tech Director Will King tore down both Real Street finalists for a thorough inspection Sunday night. “Gotta love having actual tear downs in this day and age,” said Gladstone. “Feels good to have a tech inspector that is fair and stern. Much respect to the IDBL!”

Gladstone fell on the other side of the lane choice divide in the Orient Express Pro Street final, this time at the expense of his DME Racing teammate Terence Angela.

Two-time Battle Royale winner Angela was the weekend’s performance leader, qualifying number 1 with a 6.87 and top speed of 219.15 mph. But this weekend you needed the right lane to apply the nearly 700 horsepower of the world’s quickest streetbikes, and Gladstone earned it when he ousted Mark Gargiulo in the semifinal.

Angela wasn’t as quick when he beat Q1 leader Richard Gadson in the other semi, and wasn’t able to stay on the power in the final and watched from behind as three-time champ Gladstone took the win. “My DME team did the best job they could giving me a motorcycle that would get down the track every time,” said Gladstone.