On the same weekend as the IHRA event in early April, the NHRA T/F Harleys were waging war in Las Vegas at “The Strip.” At the NHRA, 17th Annual Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Mellow Yellow race, nine T/F Harleys vied for the eight competition slots for Sunday’s race.

On the outside looking in, was Kevin Boyer of Edmonton, Alberta, CA, who’s 7.82, did not make the cut. The bump-spot was a 7.42 held down by Dana Meeks, of Enumclaw, WA. who faced #1 qualifier Len Darnell, of Vancouver, WA (6.413 @ 213 mph) in the first round of eliminations.

While all eyes were on Len Darnell going into eliminations, it was the Pelrine brothers, Mike and Craig, of Nova Scotia, that stole the show. They tore through the ladder to meet up in the final round on their ABS Racing (All Steel Builders) nitro Harleys.

Mike Pelrine with his new “Procharger” supercharged nitro Harley was running strong all weekend with a quickest elapsed time of 6.36. Brother Craig’s 6.76 and 6.73 delivered in eliminations made them a well matched pair for the final round. That is till Mike’s fuel line failed during the final clash, just after the burn-out.

Craig was forced to solo for the win and he delivered a respectable 6.71 at 206mph for the win. It’s interesting to note Mike Pelrine’s blown, nitro Harley produced a 6.456 at 251.20 mph, on April 1st, no-less, to shake things up a bit. However NHRA’s review of the run voided the potential blockbuster number and his 225.97 MPH run delivered in round E-1 was the official high MPH for the event.

While the Professionals ranks have been busy for the nitro bikes, there has been a bit of a dark cloud over a few racers in the Sportsman ranks of motorcycle drag racing.

Two popular motorcycle sportsman racers are currently in hospitals recovering from bad car crashes in separate incidents. They both have a very long road of recovery ahead of them. Fellow racers and motorcycle drag racing fans will be somewhat relieved to know these two racers are fighting for their lives with the best of support.

On Saturday, March 26, 2016, Tyler D’Anthony of Watertown, CT, was in a bad traffic accident when the BMW car he was traveling in veered off the roadway and struck a tree at about 2:30AM. Of the five occupants in the car, Tyler suffered the worst of the crash. He has been unconscious since impact.

As of Sunday April 3rd, 2016, Tyler has opened his eyes more than once in the last few days. He has been unresponsive, but his health has improved markedly. Thursday, March 31st, Tyler was taken off the ventilator and is breathing on his own now. His family has been at his side the entire time.

Tyler’s dad Nick commented recently “we are just overwhelmed by the response of drag racing community. Racers from NH, NY, CT, and MA have dropped by or called, offering their help. Even from as far away as Canada. We can’t thank our extended racing family enough for your support; it means the world to us.”

Eldred “Baybay” Yarbrough was also the victim from a horrific crash on Friday night, March 18th, 2016. Baybay was racing at Headhunter Dragway in Eatonton, Georgia, driving a grudge car when it flipped, rolled and caught fire. He is burned badly over 90% of his body.

His mother has been at his side since the night of his crash and she remarked recently “The prayers are helping, keep them coming!” There is no way to measure the power of prayer but the value of it to the family and friends of these crash victims is immense.

There are Go Fund Me support pages for these deserving racers and the families welcome your support.