Norwalk Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio hosted the AHDRA Buckeye Nationals this weekend, June 3 & 4. The large and vocal crowd in attendance saw a big field of Harleys battle for the event wins, and several incredible runs were laid down.

In Top Fuel Harley action Stan Verheigen, all the way from Heerlen, Holland, recorded the quickest and fastest runs of his racing career and ended up as the number one qualifier in the 16 bike Top Fuel field with a 6.911 @ 200.04 miles per hour. Verheigen, who had never drag raced until just under a year ago, has done very well in his short career, he lasted until the semi-finals at Norwalk with his Dixie Frames/Hammer V-Twin equipped entry. The Top Fuel final saw 1995 AHDRA Top Fuel Harley Champion Mark Conner from Texas, up against Jamie Emery from Maryland. Conner had a slight holeshot over Emery at the flash of the green, Emery had just enough power to win a close race at the finish line stripe though. Emery used a 7.02 @ 185.60 blast to nip Conner's 7.11 @ 181.56 tire hazing effort. Emery and his family were happy winners as Jamie took his first ever AHDRA National Event win back to Coltons Pointe, Maryland. Stan Verheigen's 6.911, 200.04 qualifying run was Low E.T. and Top Speed in Top Fuel at Norwalk. The 700 horsepower nitro Harleys are awesome to watch!

The All Harley Drag Racing Association runs three nitro burning Harley classes, incuding Pro Fuel. The Pro Fuel bikes were very impressive with Steve Lundstrom of San Jose, California, actually setting Low E.T. of the event with an incredible 6.825 @ 184.27 shot that was quicker than anyone in Top Fuel at Norwalk! Lundstrom and his Chicago Joe prepared bike thundered to the event win as well, using a 7.05 @ 159.71 in the final to stop Mike Rice of Medina, Ohio. Rice had problems at the launch in the final and ran a trouble plauged 13.27 @ 128.97 on his Sportster. The 6.825 blast by Lundstrom's Arizona Motorsports/Trust Me Racing Harley is one of the quickest, if not the quickest run in history by a high gear only motorcycle. Unfortunately, Lundstrom did not get the required 1% backup run for the new AHDRA elapsed time record, as his next best run was in the 6.90 zone, just a few hundreths short of the backup required. The team reported that the 6.825 was result of the only run of the weekend where Lundstrom used the newly installed high speed leanout on the bike. AHDRA Pro Fuel National Champion Mike Bahnmaier had Top Speed at 191.32 miles per hour.

The third nitro class AHDRA runs is Pro Dragster, for carburated, high gear only bikes. With a 122 cubic inch limit on the V-Twin engines in this class these machines are like baby Top Fuel bikes, they can still run impressive numbers though. The final looked to be a real war, as arch rivals Scott Truett of Wichita, Kansas went against Larry "Drums" Brancaccio of Nutley, New Jersey. Truett is the defending AHDRA Pro Dragster National Champion, while "Drums" is a multi-time AHDRA National Champion in this class. What looked to be a great race was over quickly as "Drums" Brancaccio had problems just off the line and Truett ripped to a 7.69 @ 166.82 for the victory with the Truett & Osborn bike. Earlier "Drums" had qualified number one at 7.63 @ 163.93 m.p.h., and then set Low E.T. with a 7.559 in the first round. Truett took Top Speed in Pro Dragster at 168.69 miles per hour.

Other winners at Norwalk included; Dirk Higgins (Pro Stock), Ken Browne (Pro Gas), Darren Mauldin (Modified), Travis Lummus (Street Pro), Junior Pippin (Super Gas), Ray Matlock (Super Sport), Dale Miller (Street Eliminator), Jeff Eboch (Screaming Eagle Performance), and Chris O'Conner (E.T.).

Ken Browne was especially impressive in his Pro Gas win with his AHDRA National Champion turbocharged Harley as he set new National Record at 7.641 seconds on his way to the victory. Browne is one of the few racers that has a handle on making a turbo Harley work.

The next AHDRA National Event is coming up at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Colorado on June 17 & 18.