Recent Top Fuel newcomer Damian Cownden followed up his first ever final round appearance at Grand Bend with his first career Top Fuel Harley victory in front of the biggest crowd of the year!

Cownden emerged as the victor in a strong field of 14, defeating Washington's John Breckenridge in the finals and running weekend bests of 6.66 seconds and 211.59 MPH during eliminations.

VIEW FULL EVENT RESULTS COURTESY IHRA.com

Mike Scott, John Breckenridge, Tony Clizbe and Glen Fraser all nabbed their first wins of the season on a tricky surface during the CMDRA's stop in Edmonton June 28-29.

The track had just been resurfaced before the racers threw all they could at the track. The green surface was difficult to tune to, only 4 fuelers reaching the 6-second zone all weekend.

The Pro Mods seemed to have less problems with the track as evidenced by Gary Christopher's 7.148 (dangerously close to Len Darnell's 7.136 class record), and Rabb's 196.16 actually eclipsing the existing class MPH record held by Gord Smith.

For full results, CLICK HERE (courtesy CMDRA.com)

Paul Crane made his third straight final and second straight win in St. Thomas Dragway's Performance Unlimited Quick 8 Streetbike series on July 10.

Crane earned a holeshot victory over #1 qualifier Neal Parker. Crane's nitrous Hayabusa was out of the gate first and ran a 9.12/152 to beat Parker's 9.08/156 on his turbo 'Busa. Parker qualified #1 with an 8.99/150.

The Suzuki Canada Walt Healy Motorsports EB Speed team had a rough start to the season at the CMDRA’s opening round in Ashcroft B.C. After many long nights leading up to the event, the team arrived at the track with high hopes.

READ ON...

An impressive list of West Coast Nitro Harley racers came out for the annual Rocky's Harleys By The Beach all-bike race at Grand Bend Motorplex.

Ron Houniet qualified #1 (6.72/201) and ended the weekend on top after final round opponent Damian Cownden stalled in the burnout box. Cownden, a second-year Top Fuel racer, had just run a personal best 6.66/212 before ending up in the sand traps at the end of that same run.

VIEW PICTORIAL FROM THE EVENT

'Canadian Mike' Mildon and rider John Poretti are the new owners of the Canadian Pro Street motorcycle record. On June 15 at Toronto Motorsports Park, Poretti piloted Mildon's turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa to a 7.816-second pass at 188.94 MPH - the quickest elapsed time ever recorded by a Canadian Pro Street bike. The team also recorded two more passes in the 7-second zone during the day.

A Canadian record payout, enticing bonuses, event t-shirts, race DVD - it couldn't be done without the support of the industry. A record $1200 to win/$450 runner-up, plus a $100 bonus for the first 200 MPH pass will again lure some of North America's best to Grand Bend Motorplex for the Suzuki Canadian Fastest Streetbike Shootout on August 10.

Suzuki Canada makes its Title Sponsor debut with the event this year
Hindle Exhaust Systems returns for sixth straight year
RCC Turbos/Richard's Custom Cycle continues to back Shootout
Canadian Kawasaki Motors Inc. supports its racers with Bonus Purse
Inside Motorcycles offers support and coverage again in 2008
Brock's Performance returns as sponsor and offers contingency
Fastpixs.com back as Official Event Photographer
Mickey Thompson - low qualifier sponsor

Paul Crane returned the favour to John Poretti when he reversed the outcome of the May final round during St. Thomas Dragway's monthly Quick 8 Streetbike race on June 6.

Crane ran an event-best 9.08 at 156 MPH on his nitrous-fed Hayabusa to take out Poretti's turbocharged ride. With the track being the great equalizer, the turbo bike was unable to hook while Crane made his best pass under deteriorating and cool track conditions.

The month before, Poretti's own nitrous-injected Busa took out Crane in the finals, 9.36 to 9.40.

For more info visit www.stthomasdragway.com

Andy Beauchemin is enjoying an early-season points lead after making two final round appearanced in the CMDRA's first two events of 2008.

The defending Pro Fuel champ has been running a new bike in Top Fuel this season. After winning in Ashcroft, Beauchemin was runner-up to Kevin Boyer in Medicine Hat, running a best of 6.73/200 that tied for Low E.T. of the Meet.

Gary Christopher is 2 for 2 on the season giving him the points lead in Pro Modified, while defending champs Ethan Barkley (Pro Street) and Kim Beachemin (Modified) both lead their respective classes early on.

For results from both events, CLICK HERE

Canada's ultimate Pro Street race just got a whole lot better thanks to Suzuki Canada Inc., new TITLE SPONSOR of the 2008 Suzuki Canadian Fastest Streetbike Shootout.

"This is an incredibly positive move for the event and the sport of motorcycle drag racing in general," stated Event Organizer Graeme Jones. "The Suzuki Hayabusa has been the motorcycle of choice for Pro Street teams for several years, so it's great to see Suzuki supporting this facet of the sport and giving back to its riders."

Visit the Official Shootout Website for the lowdown.

Hamilton's John Poretti took his street-ridden Suzuki Hayabusa to the win at the first Performance Unlimited Street Legal Quick 8 Bike race of the year on May 16.

The CMDRA's first Eastern series V-Rod Destroyer race was held on May 17-18 at Toronto Motorsports Park.

The top of the qualifying list was tight as Mike Duncan (9.50/136), Pete Thomson (9.51/133) and Dave Bispo (9.54/137) led the field into eliminations.

Last year's points champ Thomson met up with last year's points runner-up, Mike Duncan in the finals. Duncan got the holeshot and ran the quickest E.T. of the race, a 9.46 at 137.95 MPH to take the win over Thomson's 9.55/133.

For more info, visit www.cmdra.com

The CMDRA's Eastern Schedule is as follows:
May 17/18 - Toronto Motorsports Park Cayuga, ON
June 14/15 - Grand Bend Motorplex Grand Bend, ON
July 6 - Toronto Motorsports Park Cayuga, ON
July 26 - Napierville Dragway (1/8 Mile) Napierville, QC
August 9/10 - Grand Bend Motorplex Grand Bend, ON

For more info, visit www.cmdra.com

The Jan/Feb issue of Inside Motorcycles magazine has a pretty cool Pro Mod feature in it, written by yours truly! To read the story online, CLICK HERE!

Be sure to check it out in print with FOUR PHOTOS in total by some of Western Canada's best drag racing photographers.

Visit InsideMotorcycles.com to get 2 FREE TRIAL ISSUES!

The CMDRA's schedule is up!
MAY 17- 18 ASHCROFT, BC
JUNE 7-8 MEDICINE HAT, AB
JUNE 14-15 GRAND BEND, ON
JUNE 28-29 EDMONTON, AB
JULY 19-20 FORT ST.JOHN, BC
AUGUST 9-10 MISSION, AB
SEPT 13-14 EDMONTON, AB SEASON FINAL

For more info, visit www.cmdra.com

Ken Kent took out defending 11-time Season Champ Ron Houniet in the CMDRA Season Finale at Mission Raceway Park on Monday, Sept. 17 on a stellar weekend that also saw him claim the 2007 Top Fuel Harley Championship.

'07 marks Kent's first TF title since ' 95 and the first time in 12 years someone besides Ron Houniet has worn the CMDRA Top Fuel Harley crown.

FULL STORY HERE!!!!>>
PAUL GRANT PHOTO GALLERY HERE>>
SPEEDZONE/MRP GALLERY HERE>>

Bud Yoder from Michigan qualified first, set a new Pro Street record on Canadian soil and took home the win at the 5th annual Hindle Canadian Fastest Streetbike Shootout on Sunday, August 26.

Bud set the record in qualifying at 7.441/197.15 (!!!) and faced off with defending event champ Phil Stoll for all the marbles. Both riders had traction problems in the finals, but Yoder managed to get hooked up and cruised to a 7.71/189 to Stoll's slowing 7.98/161.

FULL STORY HERE!!!!>>

FASTPIXS.COM PHOTO GALLERY HERE!