FURR GETS UPSET WIN IN RAY PRICE TOP FUEL CHALLENGE Thornley Loses in the Final but Wins AMRA Championship in Pro Fuel Class   ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – In a field that included reigning NHRA Top Fuel Harley champion Jay “Bulldog” Turner of Julian, newly-crowned American Motorcycle Racing Association champ Jake Stordeur of Goshen, Ohio, and international standout Takeshi Shigematsu of Iyo, Ehime, Japan, Armon Furr wasn’t even a blip on the radar entering Sunday’s Ray Price Top Fuel Challenge at Rockingham Dragway, the featured event in the 26th annual AMRA Jim McClure All-Harley World Finals.   Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it was the second generation rider from Orangeburg, S.C., the eighth and final qualifier, who hoisted the hardware.  Although he has a solid racing pedigree as the son of Nitro Harley legend Bill Furr, the younger Furr has raced only infrequently the past several years which made Sunday’s success all the more gratifying.  READ MORE EDMUNDSON LONE CAROLINA WINNER AT ROCKINGHAM Tennessee, Florida Drivers Beat the Rain To Prevail in NHRA Summit ET Finals   ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – Fayetteville’s Chip Johnson and Clinton’s Steve Foley came close but it was high school student Hunter Edmundson of Pekanello who kept the home state from being shut out Saturday in the NHRA Southeast Division Summit ET Finals at Rockingham Dragway.   Edmundson used a .010 package to turn back Gage Burch of Palmetto, Fla., in the High School final, denying Burch a double-up win at The Rock.  He earlier had driven his 1980 Chevy Malibu to victory in the Sportsman Race of Champions.... READ MORE BULLOCK WINS AGAIN IN ORIGINAL SUPER CHEVY SERIES Rosberg, Reardon Win Match Race Titles; Alford Prevails in Footbrake Bracket   ROCKINGHAM – Nashville’s Phillip Bullock extended his mastery at Rockingham Dragway by driving his venerable 1966 Chevy station wagon to its second Top ET victory in three years in the Original Super Chevy Show Series.   Bullock beat Raeford’s Tommy Strickland in Sunday’s final giving him bookend wins in the all-Chevy event: victories in 2015 and 2017 around a runner-up finish in 2016.  Other winners included Raleigh’s Richard Alford Jr. in Footbrake, Ken Myrick of Julian in the DOT Street Tire class and Ronnie Locklear of Rowland in the Trophy class.   Rockingham’s Terry Rosberg won the jet car match race with Joe Zaccaro at a best speed of 290.01 miles per hour while Walter Reardon of Savannah, Ga., drove Scott Cozzali’s 1955 Chevy Bel Air to victory over Kip Kauffman of Elgin, S.C., in the “Clash of the Classics” shootout.  READ MORE ‘ROCK IS BACK’ MANTRA AMUSES, CONFUSES TRACK OWNER Record-Setting Weekend Just ‘Business as Usual’ at Rockingham Dragway   In the wake of last weekend’s ManCup Fall Nationals at Rockingham Dragway, track owner Steve Earwood admitted that he was both amused and confused by suggestions that his track “was back” after Niki “Niki Zak” Zakrzewski, Rodney Williford and Larry “Spiderman” McBride set the motorcycle world abuzz with record-shattering performances that included a 255.29 mile-an-hour top end speed from McBride’s Top Fuel Bike.      “I didn’t know we’d gone anywhere,” Earwood laughed.  “The Rock has been a destination track for anyone looking for maximum performance since we’ve been here and that’s been a source of great pride for me and my entire team.             “There’s nothing magic about it,” Earwood said.  “I just takes money, passion and commitment from a whole lot of people.  You don’t just sweep it off every week, throw down some traction compound and hope for the best.    “Everyone talks about track prep but it doesn’t make any difference who’s doing the prep if the track surface isn’t up to specs.   “That’s why we’ve repaved the track with a special mixture of asphalt five times,” Earwood said.  “We’ve torn out the old concrete and poured new, we’ve ground down bumps and filled in dips and we’ve consulted with companies that specialize in competitive surfaces and followed their suggestions.”   The payoff for all that expense and effort is a weekend like the one just passed in which Zakrzewski became the first woman to break 200 miles per hour on a drag racing motorcycle, and in which McBride recorded the fastest bike speed ever.   “You enjoy the moment,” Earwood said, “but then you have to go back to work.  We have the Original Super Chevy Show coming to town this weekend and those guys deserve a consistent, high-traction surface as much as the motorcycle guys, the ADRL Pro Mods or even the NHRA Pro Stock racers who test with us on a regular basis.” “You can teach track prep,” he said, “but you have to start with something worth ‘prepping.’”   Top performances at the ManCup Fall Nationals at Rockingham Dragway: (1) Fastest speed on two wheels, 255.29 miles per hour by Larry McBride, Newport News, Va.; (2) fastest woman on two wheels, 205.82 mph by Niki Zakrzewski, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; (3) quickest Pro Street elapsed time record, 6.667 seconds by Rodney Williford, Rougemont, N.C.; (4)  quickest Real Street ET record, 7.652 seconds by Dave “Super Dave” Stewart, Mooresville, N.C.; and (5) first side-by-side motorcycle 5-second run in open competition when McBride defeated Chris Hand of Navou Ala. in the first round, 5.957, 248.66 mph to Hands quicker 5.885, 222.95 mph.