NHRA'S TF HARLEY DIVISION EMBARKS ON OMINOUS BUT EXCITING 2021 SEASON

by Tom McCarthy    Wed, 2021-03-10 12:54

With the 2021 NHRA, Top Fuel Harley [TFH] season about to start, both the racers and many NHRA fans can’t wait to see the big 1000 + HP Top Fuel V Twins thunder down the quarter-mile.

The season will kick off on March 12 – 14 at the NHRA Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals, held in Gainesville, Florida. One week prior to the famous “Gators” kicking off the 2021 season, there were eight of the big thunder-bike teams pre-entered.

Defending 2020 champion Randal Andras of Morgan City, LA tops the list, and he will be tough to beat, as will his teammate, Tii Tharpe of Pfafftown, NC. Tharpe won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019, while Jay Turner Racing [JTR] has essentially held a lock on the class since its inception.

Turner also won back-to-back NHRA TFH titles in 2016 and 2017, so either he or one of his bikes has won the championship since 2016. The last non-JTR team to win an NHRA title was Ray Price Harley Davidson in 2015, back when the TFH series was an NHRA, LODRS inclusion. Price’s rider, Tommy Grimes, was the champ in 2015, and since that time, the very talented and hard-working JTR bikes have bested all comers. The biggest question coming into the 2021 season is; Can anyone unseat a JTR team?

That’s going to be mighty tough to do as Turner has been burning nitro since 1989, and his education with legends Jim McClure, Elmer Trett, and his experience racing against Price, Bill Furr, Johnny Mancuso is graduate school grade. In drag racing, there is simply no substitute for seat time, and Turner has more seat time, more data than most all his opponents. Knowing what to do and when to do it is everything in racing at this level. Turner teams win more than anyone else because they have the experience and work as hard or harder than anyone else.

Bobby Malloy, of Media, PA, is the second most experienced contender to keep JTR on its toes, as he has been on nitro bikes since close to 1980. His unique direct drive machine and his attention to details are his calling cards, and Malloy is one of a handful of racers that will certainly serve notice he is a championship contender.

Ricky House is also a TFH strongman with a strong team. His crewman Mark Morgan, who was a vital teammate of Ray Price Racing, will keep House in contention throughout the 2021 season. Johnny “Red” Rhea, of Nashville, TN, with Mitch Brown riding for Rhea at the Gators, is also a going concern. Rhea has been burning nitro since the early ’80s, and if he can field a consistent pilot, he is capable of finishing in the top three without a doubt. So JTR once again has its work cut out to defend its titles.

The 2021 TFH season is in flux at this time with the National Hot Rod Association. As a series, they have lost their primary sponsor, Mickey Thompson Tires, as that contract concluded at the end of 2020.

The new NHRA TFH liaison, Rich Vreeland, in a recent interview, indicated, “The Mickey Thompson Tires Series has run its course in sponsoring the NHRA Top Fuel Harleys. Currently, the NHRA and the present crop of Top Fuel Harley racers are actively seeking sponsorship for the Top Fuel Harley series. The negotiations are on-going.”

The new NHRA TFH liaison, Rich Vreeland

This being the case, as the Top Fuel Harley teams prepare to enter the NHRA Gatornationals, there is no purse or payout for class contestants at this event. Vreeland added, “At the Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals this year, the TFH entrants will be racing for a trophy only, as we currently do not have a series sponsor. We are working diligently with NHRA to secure sponsorship by the next event, which we hope will be NHRA Charlotte. “

The National Hot Rod Association has offered up a ten-event season for the TFH teams, which begins at Gainesville; however, due to COVID-19 complications, the NHRA season is already being impacted, and the ripple effects have caused all parties to take a step back and reconsider how best to approach the 2021 season for travel and scheduling.

“The NHRA has given us the opportunity to have a ten-event season, but after polling the active teams that race within the NHRA TFH community, we have proposed a six-race series for 2021, with the NHRA Gatorationals being one of six,” Vreeland said.

There were 20 NHRA Top Fuel Harley teams only five years ago, trying desperately to find a parking space at the Gatornationals. Two teams were turned away as there was not enough place to park all of them. Now, in 2021, half that number are expected on the property, and with eight teams entered a week before the event, this is likely to happen.

Purse or no purse: these dedicated racers want to race at this level with the NHRA. Both the racers and the NHRA are doing everything they can to help keep the NHRA and the series alive.

Top Fuel Harley racers pre-entered for the NHRA 2021 Gatornationals are Randal Andras, Tii Tharpe, Ricky House, Bobby Malloy, Rich Vreeland, Mitch Brown, Tim Kerrigan, and Billy Jackson.

 

 

 

 
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