Top Fuel Harley racing is back in the NHRA spotlight this weekend at the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
Its continuation on the 2022 calendar is unknown at this point, but there’s optimism among the competitors that it could be back at full strength in 2023.
The eight bikes on hand at zMAX Dragway this weekend aren’t racing for much more than glory, but the racers will take that – for now.
“This is what we lobbied for. We needed to be here or we were just going to disappear into the abyss,” said Jay Turner, whose 2017 NHRA crown was one of many in his career. “That’s why we put an effort forward to bring five bikes and make sure we have a full field. We want a program that works for NHRA and for the racers so that we can have a good class and the class can grow back like it was and where we want it to be.
“This is the first time they’ve ever given us any concession, and I’m looking at that as a positive. They’ve never wavered from that, and this time they did.”
The concession is that NHRA didn’t require an entry fee from the teams this weekend. On the other hand, there’s no purse to offset the racers’ expenses. That said, exposure on the biggest playing field is invaluable for the competitors.
“Last year we kind of made a suggestion that if we could not pay entry fee or crew, we’ll come and still help keep it alive so you can still showcase us and get our name out there to potential sponsors,” said Ryan Peery, who captured the rival AMRA and AHDRA titles in 2021.
“It’s give and take. We’ve got to try to help find that sponsor, and we do that by being at the track to give them a product they can showcase. There’s nothing else like this. A lot of people like to compare us to Pro Stock Motorcycle, and those are fun to watch as well, but this is a different animal. Running on nitro is unforgiving. It can be special when it runs great – and it can be special when it doesn’t run great.”
Top Fuel Harley was part of the NHRA slate last year, but not in a full-scale capacity; i.e., there wasn’t a series sponsor, so the fact that Randal Andras repeated as champion was unofficial. In 2021, the small number of shows were funded by sponsors rustled up by the racers.
Chris Smith, a Funny Bike national champ a year ago, won NHRA’s 2021 Top Fuel Harley finale at Texas Motorplex. He will mount up on another Turner bike this weekend for with hopes of repeated success.
“There’s value here, we just need to get some of those people that are interested here to the race track to see what we really do,” said the Tennessean. “Hopefully we’ll have some of those guys out this weekend to get them excited and hopefully be a part of this class.
“I know the fans love it. We’ve tons come by this morning and say, ‘Man, we’ve missed seeing you guys this season.’”
Apparently, NHRA has missed having the nitro Harleys as part of the show, too, and that’s an encouraging sign to Tii Tharpe, who captured the 2018-19 NHRA titles.
“I believe they do want us. They’ve asked us, they kept us around after last year,” he said. “It’s a struggle for everyone right now to find sponsorship. Hopefully we can just work together and hopefully get back to a 10-race deal. It’d be real nice to have an attractive purse for everybody next year. We’ve got opportunities to race other places that pay a good purse and we’re ‘the show,’ but us being out here is good for all sanctions. It draws attention and awareness.”
Bob Malloy, who posted the quickest NHRA Top Fuel Harley pass in 2020 with a 6.096-second blast at Indianapolis, agreed that the presence of his class is important for the racers and the sanctioning body.
“It’s a good show and people love to see them,” he said. “We’re just hoping they can put something together here and get a series sponsor going again because we want to be here, the fans want us to be, and NHRA does, too. NHRA really does want us here, but we have to put a program together.”
Peery called the lack of a solid, busy NHRA slate for the Top Fuel Harleys “disappointing,” and said it’s a situation that he believes should be a relatively simple one to solve.
“All of us racers, this is what we live for. We love to compete against each other and ourselves,” he said. “But it ain’t cheap. There’s got to be something that we’re racing for other than a Wally or a plaque.
“It’s frustrating. You would think that a sponsor would step up and see the potential that they would get with exposure and TV time. We’re not asking for the world. And if you look at some other classes, we’re fairly cheap in that department. We’ve just got to find that right sponsor to get that info to so they can see it. It’s not my department to do that, so hopefully the guys at NHRA are doing it, and hopefully we can get something in place for next year or maybe later this year.”
For the time being, the only other appearance at an NHRA national event will be May 13-15 at Dinwiddie, Virginia. The racers are hopeful that tentative plans for appearances at Bristol (June 17-19) and the U.S. Nationals (Aug. 31-Sept. 5) come to fruition.
