Allen unstoppable at Grand Bend

From Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada

GRAND BEND, ON -- With an eerie calmness, Nick Allen goes about the business of maintaining a stranglehold on the National Harley-Davidson V-Rod Destroyer Series, to the frustration of his competitors, but also to the satisfaction of his supporters at Redline Harley-Davidson.

Once again, Allen proved to be unstoppable last weekend at the Rocky’s Harley-Davidson Father’s Day drag racing event in Grand Bend, ON. In fact, the western contingent ran roughshod on the eastern boys’ playground, bullying their way to the final as Allen faced off against Jeff Pitre, who made the long 5,000-km journey all the way from Yellowknife.

Saturday’s qualifiers set the stage for what would become one of the closest and most competitive events to date, as five different riders finished the day within a half second of each other.

Pitre, of Midnight Sun Racing, sponsored by Pido Productions and Harley’s Hardrock Saloon, and riding their V-Rod bike, finished in the top spot with an ET of 9.541 and a top speed of 138.24, a record achievement despite the thick air and hot conditions that smothered the drag strip all day.

Close behind, Allen ran a credible ET of 9.554 and top speed of 133.96. Eastern champ Dave Bispo, riding for Rocky’s Harley-Davidson, posted the best top speed of the day at 139.62, but his higher ET of 9.560 relegated the London, ON rider to third place for Sunday’s elimination rounds.

Stubbornly in fourth place was former champion, Burlington, ON’s Pete Thomson, riding for Rocky’s Harley-Davidson, posting a top speed of 138.31 and an ET of 9.578, just ahead of western rider Shawn Rude, riding for Heritage Harley-Davidson.

Also in the mix were Chris Fox of Fox Racing, who duked it out with newcomers, Motorsport Plus of Kingston’s Mitch McCallum and Thunder Road Harley-Davidson-sponsored Paul Guerrieri.

The opening set of eliminations saw Pitre make quick work of a startled Guerrieri. Next up, Thomson narrowly held off the speedy Rude to move himself into contention, while, with the day’s top speed of 139.79 mph, Bispo removed Fox from further contention.

In a close battle, young upstart McCallum on the G-Mac Electric, MacDonald Construction Harley-Davidson V-Rod almost chased down Allen, but the cagey veteran held him off for the win by a mere 0.034-second and 2.83-mph top speed.

The second round of eliminations saw familiar foes, Rocky’s Harley-Davidson-sponsored Bispo go up against the reigning champ of Redline Harley-Davidson, Allen. When the tree timed down, Bispo was off with Allen hot on his tail. The two adversaries settled the bet, with Allen getting his best time of the weekend and breaking the beam first with a top speed of 139.38 mph, while Bispo limped home with a disappointing top speed of 131.79.

Next up, Pitre finished strong in the closest run of the weekend, barely ahead of a hard-charging Thomson, beating the Burlington, ON rider by a marginal ET of 0.49 and speed differential of only 0.006 mph.

With the eastern contingent now out of competition, the final battle would become an all-western shootout with Canadian champion Allen facing off against Pitre. When the light flashed green, the two riders looked tethered as they ran the one-quarter, and it was not until the white light flashed over Allen’s scoreboard that the winner could be decided.

For his efforts, Pitre was rewarded with a strong runner-up finish, while Allen again proved his mettle in winning the event with a strong ET of 9.474 and a top speed of 137.78 – proving once again that it is going to take a lot of work to de-throne the reigning Canadian champ.

The Rocky’s Harley-Davidson V-Rod Destroyer action will resume July 10-11 in the western series at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton and in the east at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, ON.