Sheltons Dirt Drags in Stanford, KY was the place to be the weekend of September 18-20 for the annual running Bluegrass Nationals. This year had a different feel to it because it wasn’t a PSDA sanctioned event like prior years. However, this event still grabbed the attention of racers from Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, California, and more.
Friday consisted of an all day test and tune and some grudge racing between some 425cc heavy hitters. Some delays due to the lights caused the Trophy Bracket race to be rescheduled to Sunday with the Open Bracket class. We also saw some jaw dropping passes from West Virginia’s Randy Williamson aka “Gizmo” on his turbo charged 1425cc Kawasaki motorcycle came off the trailer and ran a 3.05. Ohio’s Paul Moore and Steph Taylor ran multiple 3.0 passes on a few of their snowmobile powered drag bikes, including the debut of “Moose Knuckle” which is a 550hp 4 cylinder snowmobile powered drag bike, she ran a 3.028 @104MPH.
Saturday was the day for everyone to really be on their game. 7 shootout classes were ran, 2 of the classes were dedicated to a couple of fellow ATV drag racers who are no longer with us. Classes included:
- Hunter Waldrop Memorial Single Cylinder Shootout
- Brandon Spalding “ShowTime” 425cc Shootout
- Open Outlaw
- Open Triple
- Open Twin
- 650cc Twin
- 475cc/450lbs
Here is the qualifying order for each class:
Open Outlaw:
- Randy Williamson (Gizmo) – 3.018
- Steph Taylor – 3.076
- Jared Azevedo – 3.294
- Caleb Summers – 3.489
- Jeremy Crisp – 3.506
- Misty Barton – 3.514
- Kevrynn Slater – 3.655
- Bill Shockley – 3.714
- Hunter OHaver – 3.866
- Michey Jemison – 3.887
- Charlie Luttrell – 4.438
Open Triple:
- Steph Taylor – 3.162
- Caleb Summers – 3.497
- Danny McFarland – 3.744
- Leo Skidmore – 3.919
Open Twin:
- Jared Azevedo – 3.366
- Steph Taylor -3.391
- Kevrynn Slater – 3.657
- John Smith – 3.721
- David Turner – 3.761
- Dalton Noe – 3.775
- Michael Wright – 3.892
Hunter Waldrop Single Cylinder Shootout:
- Tre Allen – 3.599
- Brian Pfiester – 3.639
- Misty Lackey – 3.778
- Terren Allen – 3.827
- Caleb Summers – 4.345
- Joseph – 4.559
- Duane Vanderboss – 4.656
- Hunter OHaver – 4.875
- Zack Chesser – 6.784
Showtime 425cc Shootout:
- Tre Allen -3.495
- Jared Azevedo – 3.519
- Shane Oxendine – 3.535
- Austin Pittman – 3.563
- Justis Zie -3.621
- Zachary James – 3.661
- Jeffrey Curtis – 3.666
- Kavrynn Slater – 3.710
- Dalton Noe – 3.748
- Troy Lee – 3.756
- David Turner – 3.782
- Destiny Manley – 3.810
- Ethan Maddux – 3.843
- Michael Wright – 3.939
- Brandon McCulloch – 4.105
- Dakota Viers – 4.143
650cc Twin:
- Steph Taylor – 3.377
- David Turner – 3.515
- Shane Oxendine – 3.529
- Shawn Reeves – 3.574
- Misty Barton – 3.575
- Jared Azevedo – 3.648
- Austin Pittman – 3.651
- Kevrynn Slater – 3.765
475/450:
- Justin Spires – 3.809
- Carlos Corriea – 3.860
- John Smith – 3.908
- Trevor Feher – 3.950
- James Hayes – 3.957
- Aaron Gray – 3.959
- Ethan Maddux – 3.979
- Keith Scott Jr. – 3.983
- Erik Viers – 3.991
- Bill Cook – 4.016
- Danny Sanders – 4.04
- Michael Lee – 4.151
- Caleb Skidmore – 4.175
- Clayton Muncy – 4.189
- Lee Maine – 4.191
- Timmy Orberson – 4.202
- Brandon McCulloch – 4.495
- Rob Earls – 4.517
- Jermey Crisp – 4.53
- Mason Brumbaugh – 4.987
- Bradely Kloepfer – 5.094
After qualifying we were now close to sunset and the temperature made its drop from 74º to 55º in the night time. This meant keeping these machines warm may have been more challenging, but the numbers ran were impeccable.
Randy Williamson “Gizmo” became the first person to put a motorcycle into the 2s. In the semi final of the Open Outlaw class, Gizmo ran a 2.985.
The 425cc top 10 list prior to this event only had one team who had ran a 3.40 pass. When the evening was over there was 8. A truly astonishing and historical night for that class.
In the 475/450 class 8 spots on the ATV Drag Racer Top 10 list were set or lowered.
A couple of 650cc Twin bikes ran into the 3.30s. Steph Taylor of Ohio piloting for Justin Spires ran the lowest time of a 3.33.
David Turner of Wanna Play Racing from Michigan brought out his brand new 650cc Twin build and ran a 3.35 low. Misty Barton piloted Turner’s bike to a 3.37.
A few of the 475cc/450lb (475cc maximum and 450lb minimum) bikes dropped into the low 3.70s.
A couple of accidents happened to a couple of young and upcoming riders. Corie Galloway of Virginia rolled his drag bike while qualifying for the Open Outlaw class. It seemed he may have overcorrected when trying to turn the bike straight when it started to veer right. He was taken in an ambulance to the hospital and was back at the track less than an hour later with a few scratches on his hand and no injuries.
Kevrynn Slater of North Carolina also fell off her drag bike during eliminations of the Showtime 425 Shootout. “The bike drifted to the left when she launched it and then when the front end came down the front wheels were cocked. She tried to save it but couldn’t get it under control.” Said Kevrynn’ss mother Jeannine. Kevryn popped right up and was able to compete for the rest of the evening.
The 12:00 A.M. EST curfew came and there were still 2 classes to finish, the 650cc Twin and the 475cc/450lbs.
Saturday Winners:
Open Outlaw:
1st Randy Williamson
2nd Steph Taylor
Open Triple:
1st Steph Taylor
2nd Caleb Summers
Open Twin:
1st Jared Acevedo
2nd Steph Taylor
Hunter Waldrop Single Cylinder Shootout:
1st Tre Allen
2nd Terrell Allen
Showtime 425CC Shootout:
1st Jared Azevedo
2nd Jeffrey Curtis
650 Twin:
Split between Steph Taylor and Austin Pittman
475cc/450lb:
Spilt between Justin Spires, Carlos Correia, Erik Viers
Sundays Winners:
Open Bracket:
1st Brandon Rose
2nd Josh Sammons
Trophy Class:
1st Gary Hott Sr.
2nd Troy Lee
3rd Kevrynn Slater
4th Jason Sammons
Youth Bracket:
1st McKenzy Cable
2nd Tessa Rose
In addition to a great race weekend, 10 or more National Sand Drag Records were made or broken. Including WSDN’s own E/Pro Bike record. Kevin Cunningham from Pennsylvania built and owned bike ridden by Virginia’s Tre Allen ran a 3.578 with a 33 year old Quadzilla engine and backed it up with a 3.599 twice.
