Home Local Sports AMRA records broken at the Rock in Jim McClure World Finals

AMRA records broken at the Rock in Jim McClure World Finals

Billy Doherty leaves the start line in the right lane at Rockingham Dragway on Oct. 27. Photos by William R. Toler - Richmond Observer

ROCKINGHAM — Several new American Motorcycle Racing Association records were set at the Rock this weekend for the 33rd annual Jim McClure Top Fuel World Finals.

Billy Doherty, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, swept the Pro Modified class elapsed time and speed records after running 5.220 in the eighth at 132.51 mph, and 8.244 at 155.44 mph at the quarter-mile.

The previous quarter-mile ET was set at 8.308 by Maury Straubel at Rockingham Dragway a decade ago. The quarter-mile speed and eighth-mile ET were set in 2016 by Mike Nolen and Ryan Oehler, respectively. Jason Adams had held the eighth-mile speed record from 2011 at Beech Bend Raceway.

Tim Kerrigan of Wovato, California, raced to a 4.073 ET in the eighth to claim the fastest time in the Top Fuel class, beating out former record holder Jay Turner, of Julian, by nine hundredths of a second.

Turner had set the record — and still holds the quarter-mile speed record of 232.39 mph — at the Rock in 2022.

Joe Perry, of Kingsport, Tennessee, now holds the top quarter-mile ET in the Modified class with 8.902, surpassing the record of 8.912 set by Gary Douglass at Beech Bend in 2018. Douglass still holds the quarter-mile speed record of 146.46, and Nolen holds the ET and speed records in the eighth, both from the same race.

Jimmy Maikranz barrels down the track at Rockingham Dragway on Oct. 27 during the Jim McClure Top Fuel World Finals.

In the Street Bagger class, Jimmy Maikranz, of Houston Texas, set both a new AMRA and personal record hitting 146.15 mph in the quarter. His prior record was 143 mph at Summit Motorsports Park in both 2023 and 2024.

Maikranz also holds claim to the ET and speed records in the eighth set at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and the quarter-mile ET at the Rock, both set last year.

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“Rockingham Dragway has spent the last two years improving and the record-breaking weekend showcases the new surface and improved track prep,” Co-owner Dan VanHorn said Monday.

This isn’t the first record-breaking event since VanHorn and Al Gennarelli bought and renovated the track.

New records in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series were set during the Rudy’s Truck Jam in April 2023, and four world records were set this past May in Battle for the Thrones at Civil Wars.

Click here to read about Rudy’s Truck Jam.

Click here to read about Battle for the Thrones.

“We are proud of the accomplishments and even more proud of our staff,” said VanHorn. “This is a direct reflection of their efforts and professionalism.”

See additional photos from the world finals at the RO’s Facebook page.

This weekend, the Rock hosts Carolina vs the World on Saturday, followed by a test and tune on Sunday. See the Dragway’s website and social media pages for more on upcoming events for the remainder of the 2024 season.