AMA Dragbike Racing in Valdosta

VALDOSTA
In Valdosta, 17-year-old sensation Taylor Wood claimed his first win and did it from the number one qualifying position-in only his second year of national competition racing. Wood entered AMA Dragbike last year at the minimum-required age of 16 and went right into Pro Street. At the end of year he was turning heads with runs deep into the sevens at over 200 mph. He went on to finish tenth in the points.

Wood's final round opponent at Valdosta was Rob Budgell, a veteran who has been running Pro Street for a number of years with limited success. Valdosta was a breakout event for Budgell. He qualified in the second spot and set a new national elapsed time record of 7.125 seconds during eliminations, but Wood won the all turbo 'Busa final with a 7.20 to Budgell's 7.29.

COMMERCE
At the Commerce round there were again two new Pro Street finalists: Jeremy Teasley and Jason Dunigan.

Teasley has been a superstar of the semi-pro Sportsman ranks, taking back-to-back championships in Real Street and placing on the podium two years in a row in SuperSport.

Teasley qualified seventh in the Pro Street field in Commerce but advanced when his veteran opponents either broke, spun the tire or left late. In the money round he met champion snowmobile racer Dunigan who had his own storybook path to the final from the tenth qualifying position.

Teasley got a three-thousandths holeshot in the final and never looked back, winning with an unlikely 7.40 as Dunigan had trouble and was off the throttle at the big end.

These new faces mean the sport is gaining new popularity and talent. There is also a lot of buzz around the paddock about who will break into the six-second realm this year. This could be a record-smashing year in AMA Dragbike's Pro Street class.