Friday - March 26, 2010
After a successful test at Gainesville Doug arrives at the Inaugural NHRA Four Wide Nationals at 2 Max Dragway full of optimism. Following a Friday morning meeting with NHRA to explain the additional blue lights to aid in the staging process, it was time to qualify. With seventeen bikes, Darrin McCurdy makes a single pass prior to the first four wide run. Doug was part of the first ever 4 wide group to qualify. With this being the first group of quads, there is a lot of interest at the starting line to see how the process will work. Three of the four had red light starts, including Doug. Doug runs a 7.065 @ 191.16 mph to put him 13th after round one. Rain showers halt racing, and the wait time was longer with drying four lanes instead of the usual two.
For Round two Doug runs 4 wide again and posts a 7.025 @ 191.00 mph to stay #13. Along with the change in the Christmas tree there is also a change in the normal qualifying process, usually only the top 12 times carry over to Saturday but at this race all times carry over.
Saturday - March 27, 2010
The weather is cooler but dry for Saturdays qualifying. On Doug's third attempt he leaves the line but the bike doesn't shift 2nd gear. Matt Smith and the team go back and think they have fixed the problem for the final qualifying round. Doug is 15th going into the final session, and again the bike leaves but this time doesn't shift 3rd gear and at the end of the track the airline to the shift cylinder had come off. Doug finishes qualifying in the #16 position. With the bike not shifting twice Matt feels the motor should be changed for Sunday.
Sunday - March 28, 2010
The final day starts with a large chance of rain early in the day. Driver introduction are held and the first round begins. Doug is running with Matt Smith #1 qualifier, Junior Pippin and Craig Treble. At the start all four go green, which has been a problem for some of the other groups. Doug leaves third and the bike runs a 7.14 @ 185 mph. After round one rain starts and forces the race to finish on Monday.
It is decided after Doug and Matt talked to make some additional changes to the bike before the next race in Houston and attempt to test.
On a high note, Mike & Patty Rome, along with Dennis Paul went to the AHDRA race at No Problem Raceway and ran the Doug's Top Fuel Harley. Mike qualified #3 and had a semi-final finish. The purpose of the trip was to sort out some clutch issues which seem to have been fixed.
Doug would like to thank his sponsors; Chesapeake Harley Davidson, Cecil County Dragway, Maryland Portable Concrete, Auto Lite, and Matt and Angie Smith.
Doug's next race will be the 23rd Annual O'Reilly Autoparts NHRA Spring Nationals. You can follow Doug on facebook or contact him at ds.horne@comcast.net.
