APE Real Street Report ­ Valdosta 2

Text and photos by Matt Polito

Jeremy Teasley capped off a spectacular championship season in the APE Real Street class taking a win and setting a new national elapsed time record at the AMA Dragbike XXX Racing Fuel National Finals at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta Georgia.

With his newly-minted championship and a #2 plate in SuperSport, the young Teasley established himself as one of the top sportbike drag racers in the country.

Teasley, who locked the championship by simply qualifying, did so dramatically, qualifying on the pole at 8.142 to re-set his own national record on his '08 turbo Hayabusa. Gilbert Coranado, who had struggled in early qualifying on his Highlands Kawasaki/Muzzy's ZX-14, got a quick dyno tune by Hitman and immediately jumped to the second spot at 8.33.

From there the pack tightened up with John Hall, the best liter bike in the field, taking the third spot at 8.35 on his GSXR and Del Flores claiming 4th at 8.38 on his XXX Racing Fuel Busa.

An interesting addition to the field was GT Tonglet, the former NHRA Pro Stock competitor who debuted in the class in 10th spot at 8.76.

Teasley and Coranado were clearly the class of the field, laying down 8.20 runs like clockwork. Teasley clicked off an 8.14 in round three and then opted not to make a run in his semifinal bye as Coranado put an 8.29 on Todd Schnitz riding the Jones Performance Cycle ZX-14.

The final was over early as Coranado hit a -.013 redlight. Both riders ran 8.31 e.t.'s.

The win was Teasley's fourth in a row and fifth total for the season in six straight final round appearances. Coranado finished the season with two wins in four final round appearances.

Teasley won the championship by a solid 115 points over Coranado and 178 over third place finisher Johnny "Turbo" Dobrin on his Exoticycle nitrous Busa.

Rules changes are being bandied about for next season including a proposal to ban turbos, making it predominantly a nitrous class. There is also a proposal to make more steps to the rider weight/wheelbase combinations.

The APE Real Street class had a very successful debut on the AMA Dragbike tour in 2008 with a total of 44 racers competing in the class throughout the season.

APE Real Street Report ­ AMA Dragbike Fall Nationals, Norwalk, OH

Story and photos by Matt Polito

Jeremy Teasley continued to distance himself from the rest of the APE Real Street field at the AMA Dragbike Fall Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH.  With his third win in a row and the re-setting of the national elapsed time record to 8.18 Teasley has an almost insurmountable lead in the points and is set to take the #1 plate in the class.

Teasley recorded the 8.18 on his '08 turbo Hayabusa in the second round of qualifying to take the top spot in the field.  Teasley was followed by Todd Schnitz on the Jones Performance Cycles ZX-14 and John Fernandez on his Brock's Performance-backed '08 Busa.

Teasley got a bye in round one and did not make a full pass.  Low e.t. of the round went to number 7 qualifier Del Flores on the XXX Race Fuel Busa with an 8.54.

Teasley was lined up against Flores in the next round and took him out with low e.t. of the round at 8.34 to Flores' holeshot-initiated 8.51.  Schnitz had the next best pass of the round at 8.48.

Teasley got a bye in the semis when his opponent, Doug Witt on the Vance & Hines Busa, did not make the call with electrical problems.

On the other side of the ladder Richard Gadson ­ quietly making rounds with mid-8.50s ­ took Schnitz out on a holeshot 8.70 to Schnitz' quicker 8.68.

Gadson, who has a Super Street win this season, entered his first Real Street race of the season on the Hinds Motorsports Hayabusa set up for the MIROCK True Street class.  The bike was raised up and the wheelbase shortened 2" to make it Real Street legal.

Gadson took the holeshot over Teasley in the final, .083 to .150, but Teasley had too much motorcycle. Gadson turned in a game 8.60 but Teasley flew by him with an 8.25 at 182.97.  It was Teasley's fourth win of the season in five final round appearances.

Teasley had run as fast as 18369 in qualifying ­ eclipsing the 180.67 mph national speed record held by Schnitz ­ but opted not to claim the performance for the record.

Teasley's only competition in the points chase, Gilbert Coranado, did not make the Norwalk event.  Since races drop two races ­ and Teasley had a zero-points race when he did not compete at Atlanta ­ there was no damage in Coranado missing the event. When the other race drop is figured into the equation, Teasley leads by 112 points.  If Teasley makes the National Finals at Valdosta, qualifies and takes the tree in round one, he will lock up the championship.

APE Real Street Report ­ Atco

Story and photos by Matt Polito

Jeremy Teasley continued his assault on the APE Real Street field with his third win of the season, getting a final round win over Gilbert Coranado at the Orient Express US Motorcycle Nationals at Atco Raceway.

Teasley was coming off a scintillating performance at Indy where he re-set the national elapsed time record with a stunning 8.29.

While the record remained intact following Atco, Teasley, not only proved that the 8.29 is not only repeatable, but made it seem paltry.

John Fernandez took the first shot at the record with his second-straight number one qualifying performance with at 8.217 on his Hayabusa to lead the Atco field. Teasley took the second spot at 8.27 and the pair was clearly the class of the field: The next best was John Hall took the third spot nearly two tenths behind at 8.46 on his GSXR1000. From there it was two-time winner Coranado at 8.62 on his ZX-14.

Then came the grudge session on Saturday night. News quickly spread through the pits that Teasley hit an 8.15 on a test lap. You could hear the air come out of the collective balloon.

Things calmed down a bit on Sunday but still Teasley set the pace, running the low e.t. of the first two rounds of eliminations running 8.30 numbers.

The semifinals setup with Fernandez facing Coranado, who had lane choice by virtue of an 8.42 in the quarters. After identical lights Fernandez struggled to a 9.12 as Coranado made his third final round appearance of the season with an 8.56. Teasley broke the beams under power and chose not to make a lap on his bye run.

Coranado got the holeshot in the final and again ran a respectable 8.42 but Teasley lowered the boom, charging to an 8.14 at the first-ever 180 mph speed recorded for the class. The ET was too quick to be backed up within 1% for the national record (he would have needed to run an 8.22 at the same event) but Teasley definitely set the bar for the class.

Teasley holds a 19-point lead over Coranado but when the two dropped races are taken into account he leads 453 to 392. Johnny "Turbo" Dobrin is third with 378 followed by Fernandez at 332.

Competition in the APE Real Street class resumes at the AMA Dragbike Fall Nationals at Norwalk, Oct. 11-12.

APE Real Street Report ­ Indianapolis

Story and photos by Matt Polito

APE Real Street action at the AMA Dragbike Pingel Thunder Nationals at Indianapolis saw the young Jeremy Teasley again rise to the top with his second win of the year as well as setting a stunning new elapsed time record.

John Fernandez took the pole in qualifying with an 8.502 at 169 mph on his turbo '08 Busa to edge out Teasley who turned in an 8.505.

Teasley, racing a Velocity Racing-equipped '08 Hayabusa owned by Shawn Igel, responded in the first round of eliminations with a crushing 8.29 at a booming 177 mph. The run dropped the national elapsed time record by 15 hundredths of a second and was 5 mph over the speed record.

In round two Todd Schnitz, riding the Jones Performance Cycles-prepared turbo ZX-14 of Willie Brooks, hit back hard with an 8.30. It was only the second Real Street event for Schnitz, who was asked by longtime friend Chris Jones to ride the bike.

"The bike started out with a simple turbo kit and just evolved," said Schnitz. "Chris rides the bike back and forth to the bank."

After Schnitz made his presence known, Teasley volleyed back an 8.40 and the game was on.

Teasley and Schnitz traded quick laps in the following rounds although each had received competition byes and opted not to make runs on subsequent rounds.

Indy saw the competition debut of Coby Adams, crewchief for the Monster Kawasaki Super Street bike of Rickey Gadson. Adams qualified 7th and ran as quick an 8.43 ­ better than the national record going into the event.

The final was spectacular. Teasley and Schnitz left within 4 thousandths of a second of each other and both ran better than the previously established record with Teasley's 8.29 turning on the win light to Schnitz's fine 8.30.

When the dust settled Teasley left with the e.t. record at 8.293 and Schnitz took home the speed record at 180.67 mph.

It was Teasley's second win in three final round appearances this season. He thanked Barry Henson of Velocity Racing and Hitman Dyno Tuning.

APE Real Street Race Report ­ Bristol, TN

The AMA Dragbike Summer Nationals at Bristol Dragway saw double action as the race hosted final eliminations for the rained-out Atlanta event.  The double-dip highlighted the parity in the class as four different riders made the two final rounds.

Atlanta eliminations picked up in round three with the race being run 1/8 mile - established due to conditions during the original running of the event.  

The final was a nitrous-vs-turbo battle between a pair of '08 Hayabusas.  John Fernandez took the win on his nitrous bike, getting a holeshot over Eddie Chapman and then pulling away, 5.77 to 5.81.

Fernandez, who is sponsored by Brock's Performance and Richies Tires, started drag racing motorcycles in 2004 with his brother Jason. "This class is for us," he said.  "With the short wheelbase and everyone running the same power it is a rider's class.  We feel nitous is the way to go."

The Bristol event saw the first repeat winner in the class this year when Valdosta winner Gilbert Coranado took the final round win over Memphis winner Jeremy Teasley.

Coranado lost is trusty ZX-10 to a spun bearing a week before the event and scrambled to prepare a nitrous ZX-14 he was setting up for Super Street competition.  Coby Adams helped get the bike up to spec and Coranado took the bike to the number one qualifying spot in the 24 bike field at 8.56 seconds running 170 mph.

Adams was called into action a second time when Coranado burned up two pistons making test laps during Saturday night grudge racing.  Adams and his team swapped a motor in the bike Sunday morning.

The final came down to the top two qualifiers, Coranado and Teasley.  In a classic, Coranado took a holeshot win, his .036-iniated 8.59 taking out Teasley's quicker 8.58.

Todd Schnitz scored low e.t./top speed of the event with a stunning 8.40/175 run in the first round of eliminations.  Teasley ran a 8.41 in the semifinals against Jared Wall.

The APE Real Street class continues at the AMA Dragbike Thunder Nationals at Indy in August.

APE Real Street Report - Memphis
Wall stands tall; Teasley wins on new bike

Story and Photos by Matt Polito

Competition in the APE Real Street class heated up in Memphis as new riders - and new racebikes ­ shook up the field.

Unknown Jared Wall stunned the competition, edging class standout Johnny "Turbo" Dobrin out of the number one qualifying position with a 8.51 elapsed time at 168 mph against Dobrin's 8.52/165 on his turbo Busa.

Wall, who took off time from his duties at the Air National Guard to attend the event, was competing in his first APE Real Street competition. Wall, who gets backing from 2 Wheel Technology and Doghouse Racing, raced his '05 Busa in Super Street for one event last season and decided to Real Street was more his thing. "I think I was the only racer with a stock clutch in Super Street," said Wall. "Real Street is a better class for me."

Following Wall in qualifying was Dobrin (yes, on a nitrous bike), Jeremy Teasley (8.58) on a new '08 Busa, Valdosta winner Gilbert Coranado (8.62) on his '05 ZX10 and Del "Hollaback" Flores (8.65) on his XXX Race Fuels Busa.

All five top qualifiers made it to round two where Flores lost "the battle of Brownsburg" to Doug Witt on the Vance & Hines Busa. The other favored riders advanced.

On of them was Teasley who was riding an '08 Busa with a single stage turbo that Rocky Ward built to run at 64 inches. After a few test sessions Ward offered to shorten it up to 60 inches and if Teasley would ride it. He didn't have to ask twice.

Teasley set the new elapsed time record of 8.448 in his quarter final race against Coranado. Ironically, Coranado ran an 8.43 in Valdosta but did not claim the record.

In the semifinals Teasley hit a very businesslike 8.51 on a single as Dobrin dodged a bullet: winning with an 8.95 when Wall stood it up and shut off early.

Dobrin got the holeshot in the final but the kid brought too much to the table. Teasley scored the win with a 8.57 to Dobrin's 8.66.

They say that a bike's value is never greater than right after a win. Ward must have believed that as he sold the bike when he got back to Ohio. Brings the old marketing slogan, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday" to a new level.

APE Real Street Results: AMA Dragbike Atlanta

By Matt Polito
Photos by Matt Polito and Chris Simmons www.dragbikephotos.com

Rain stymied the AMA Dragbike MTC Elmer Trett Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, canceling the test session on Friday and qualifying on Saturday. Making matters worse, the track was recently re-surfaced and had no rubber on it. A process that usually takes weeks had to be completed on a damp Sunday morning.

Race officials persevered and produced the best event they could: The race would be run 1/8 mile with one shot of qualifying starting at 12:00 noon and eliminations running until it became unsafe to do so. At 9:30 PM the evening dew dropped and the plug was pulled. Two rounds of eliminations had been complete with the rest of the race to be run-off at Bristol, TN.

Gilbert Coranado's domination of the APE Real Street class at Valdosta quickly evaporated as Coranado's final round Valdosta opponent, Johnny "Turbo" Dobrin grabbed the pole with a 5.66 elapsed time at 135 mph on his NOS Busa to lead the 20-bike field by more than a tenth. Chris Cason held the second spot on his nitrous ZX-14 at 5.77/135. Coranado, who won the Valdosta event from the pole, was sixth.

Coranado got things back up to speed in round one of eliminations running a 5.74 to take out Matthew Bishop but found himself on the wrong end of a holeshot in round two against #16 qualifier Eddie Chapman with Chapman's 5.73 staying ahead of Coranado's quicker 5.72. In the same round Cason lost to APE rider Chip Hunter on his Hayabusa.

Meanwhile Dobrin slowed but got by Mark Billiter in round one with a 5.89 before getting back up to his qualifying pace with a 5.67 in round two to take out Julian Vigay.

The Vance & Hines nitrous Hayabusa ridden my MIROCK standout Doug Witt came into it's own at Atlanta. After a shaky start at Valdosta, Witt qualified third at 5.81 and turned in the low e.t. of the opening round of eliminations with a 5.71 winner over Eric Williams. Witt caught a break in round two when Del "Hollaback" Flores redlighted away a 5.90 to Witt's tire-spinning 5.98.

When competition resumes in Bristol, Witt will take on John Fernandez, Hunter will race Chapman and Dobrin gets the bye.

Coranado Stars In APE Real Street At Valdosta

By Matt Polito

Gilbert Coranado was the star of the first-ever APE Real Street competition held at the AMA Dragbike B&B Promotions Bikeweek Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta Georgia. Coranado, from Galena Park, Texas, ran the table in the class, qualifying number one, set low e.t. of the meet and taking the event win, scoring a final round victory over Johnny "Turbo" Dobrin.

Real Street moved from an exhibition class last season to a full championship eliminator in 2008. The last exhibition event of 2007 proved to be an accurate indicator of what was to come as Coranado beat Dobrin in that final round, run in Gainesville, Florida.

Coranado, who runs a Kawasaki ZX-10, stepped up to Real Street after running 1000 Super Sport at Texas Shootout events.

"I put a swingarm and a dry nitrous system on it," said Coranado. "It was simple. I still ride this bike to work."

He also decided to gain 10 pounds to take advantage of the additional wheelbase given to heavier riders.

Coranado qualified on top of the 22-bike field with an 8.589 at 163 mph, followed by Dobrin (8.65/166), Mark Billiter (8.75/163), and Jeremy Teasley (8.75/167).

Coranado was unstoppable in eliminations, running low e.t. of every round including the hot lap of the event at 8.499 in the first round on Sunday. Indy's Justin Doucet ran top speed of the meet at 171.64 mph in a first round loss to John Fernandez.

Coranado got by Teasley in the semifinals 8.50 to 8.85 and earned lane choice as Dobrin could only produce an 8.69 on a semifinal bye run.

The final was a dead heat out of the gate, with Dobrin leaving by the thinnest of margins, .098 to .099. Coranado took the mid-track advantage and the win 8.53 to Dobrin's 8.72. Both riders clocked 159 mph.

"This is a perfect class for me," said Coranado. "Someone my weight has a really hard time in Super Sport. This is a low-cost way to race heads-up."

Coranado thanked sponsor Highlands Kawasaki, bike builder Jason Thompson, crew chief Troy Jackson and Kevin Cook.

The APE Real Street class continues at the AMA Dragbike Elmer Trett Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA April 5-6.