    ro Stock, Pro Gas and Pro Mod are the core of the AHDRA’s (All Harley Drag Racing Association) “gas” classes. This season they have a new look as the racing sanction realigned the classes to more closely reflect their racer base.In any racing sanction, class configuration is a key to success. Classes should follow a logical progression of cost and performance. The challenge is to give the racer an attainable path while keeping a good show for the spectators. If the gaps in the cost/performance matrix are too large, a racer’s progression to the next class is hampered. Having small differences between classes makes more classes, which is confusing for the spectator and stresses the racer base to the point where participation–and thus competition–suffers. By far the headline of the AHDRA’s racing show is the nitro classes: thundering beasts that run the quarter mile in just over 6 seconds at 220 mph, shaking the ground–and the grandstands–in the process. But for the drag racing purists, Pro Stock is the class of choice. Known as the premiere “gas” class, Pro Stock shunned the mechanical power adders and exotic fuels introduced into the sport. Pro Stock is also the finesse class, where painstaking engine development, highly skilled rider performance and rigorous tuning combine to produce results a few thousandths of a second at a time. Pro Stock is the most widely recognized of motorcycle drag racing classes due to its inclusion in the NHRA’s POWERade National Event series. While the AHDRA kept its Pro Stock class traditional, the NHRA class evolved to big, purpose-built, 60-degree v-twin motors with fuel injection. “In 2002 we allowed NHRA rules in our Pro Stock class,” said AHDRA President Craig Tharpe. “There was an uproar from the people currently running the class. They said the NHRA bikes had an unfair advantage and they would come to our races to cherry-pick. We changed the rules back to what they were and the racers stopped coming anyway. It bit me two ways.” While Pro Stock should be a feature class for the AHDRA, only a couple of racers were showing up to each event. But there was a bright spot. The Pro Mod class–almost a junior Pro Stock class–was flourishing with strong participation and competition. The Pro Mod racers felt so strongly about their class they formed an association to help AHDRA promote it. “The Pro Mod racers were almost like a family,” said Tharpe. “They would always have a barbeque on Saturday night at the races and if someone wanted to enter the class they would help them put a bike together and run it. They saw the value in strong competition.” The decision was made before the start of the 2007 season to open up the Pro Mod rules and make them into a new Pro Stock class. “Our Pro Mod turned into what Pro Stock used to be,” said AHDRA Technical Director Bill McGrew. “Now the price isn’t out of hand and parts are available. Pro Stock turned into a class with $100,000 motorcycles. The cost knocked a lot of guys out.” Meanwhile the modern NHRA Pro Stock bikes were allowed to run in the Pro Gas class, a mixture of nitrous bikes, turbo bikes and the big-inch EFI bikes. “Pro Gas should be the quickest gas class,” said Tharpe, noting that the current national record is held by Chip Ellis on the Drag Specialties Buell. “But sometimes competition would suffer because there were so many configurations. Guys would come occasionally with some wild machine. They never made enough races to work the bugs out.” In the background was the X-Mod class; truly the entry level in heads-up, professional-style Harley drag racing. X-Mods were relegated to running in sportsman index classes before the AHDRA ran them in a limited schedule in 2005. With the realignment with Pro Stock it was only logical to rename X-Mod to Pro Mod and run them on the full Screamin’ Eagle Championship series. The new class structure gives a logical progression from simple Pro Mods to wild Pro Gassers with the AHDRA’s own Pro Stock class filling the gap. “It worked out great,” said Tharpe. “I have had no complaints. Our participation in Pro Gas and Pro Stock is up. The new Pro Mod class is showing 9-14 bikes which is solid for it’s first year on the entire national circuit.” “It made it better for everybody,” added McGrew. “It’s better for the racers, spectators and the AHDRA. Competitors are coming back while money is getting tight. We must be doing something right.”  Pro Gas Pro Stock Pro Mod
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