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AHDRA Penn Nationals (Above) Bill Furr (far lane) set new Top Fuel-class records as he plowed through the field to take the win at the AHDRA Penn NatiPnals at Numidia Raceway. Furr downed Dale Nungesser ~near lane) in the flnal round. (Left) Furr (center) and company pose In Victory Circle. By Mike Willis NUMIDIA, PA, MAY 15-16 • That noise you just heard was the sound of records falling at Numidia Raceway. During AHDRA's Penn ationals in the rolling hills of northeast Pennsylvania, one world record and a dozen track records were shattered. In fact, the com- . petition was so fierce that venerable Jim McClure broke a world record - and still lost. The ultimate winner broke his own speed mark - which he had set less than an hour earlier - while winning Top Fuel. Among the performances worth noting were the remarkably consistent Top Fuel runs of Bill Furr, who blistered the asphalt for a new track e.t. mark and a new world speed record. Furr's best time was actually his last run on Sunday, when he turned in an amazing 6.746-second run at 206.32 mph to earn the Top Fuel championship, running more than 14 mph faster than Dale Nungesser, whom he met in the championship race. Because Furr did not have the opportunity to back up his 206mph run, he had to officially settle, as far as the world record was concerned, for a top end of 203.52 mph and a low e.t. of 6.818 seconds - both of which were set in Sunday's second round. In fact, it wa Furr who set the tone for Sunday's face-offs by turning 200 mph during the first practice run of the day. Joe Marchant notched a low Modified-class e.t. of 8.898 seconds in Sunday's second round. That was a track record. The world mark remains the 8.736 and 154.40 mph turned in by Fran Rayburn at Rockingham, the former in 1996, the latter in 1997. An astounding Pro Stock run of 7.993 seconds and 163.78 'mph was turned in by Dirk Higgins - only the third time in history a Harley has burned a sub-eightsecond run. A track record, Higgins' run was just a shade off the world mark of 7.971 set by Dan Baisley last October. Tii Tharpe took over the top spot in the national Modified point standings, although he didn't win the class. Tharpe, a student at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, finished second to Marchant. Tharpe's N championship time was 9.015 seconds at c: 139.47 mph, while Marchant turned in ::::0 .., an 8.962-second e.t. and a 146.74-mph 28 top end. Tharpe had the quicker reac- . 8! . tion time (.426 seconds to Marchant's .442), but by the 1000-foot mark, Marchant had a razor-thin edge (7.437 seconds to Tharpe's 7.465) and used it for the win. In Street Eliminator, Frank Dove Jr. took the title after Timothy Janczak redlighted. Dove, the world's number one in the class, turned a 9.762 and 144.76. Janczak missed a perfect light by just four-hundredths of a second, but it was enough to hand the victory to Dove. Scott Truett won the Pro Dragster category and took the national points lead when he edged Mark Cox. Truett jumped off the line in .523 seconds, ran the eighth-mile in 4.872, covered the first 1000 feet in 6.336 seconds and tripped the finish lights at 7.629 seconds and a top end of 170.77 mph. That was better than Cox's 7.790 time. In the Wicked Road Warrior Pro Fuel class, Robert Stewert leaned his bike far enough over to send sparks flying at the end of his championship run, but his time of 7.431 seconds and speed of 154.66 mph were good enough to beat Armon Furr (son of Bill Purr) by about two-ten ths of'a second. Stewert had a .526-second reaction time, compared to Furr's .581, and stretched his lead at the 1000-foot mark (6.080 seconds to 6.278 for Furr) and hung on for the win. On Sunday, Furr squared off against Tony Mattioli in round two, and kept clicking off sub-seven-second time (6.818 this time out) and over-200-mph speeds (202.93). Mattioli was quicker off the line (.490 vs. .510 seconds);but at the 330-foot mark, the race was over; Furr tripped the light in 2.967 seconds to Mattioli's 3.105. At the 1000-foot mark, Furr was clocked at 5.713, Mattioli at 6.078. That put Furr in the title match against unges er, who dusted Tommy Sloan. ungesser turned in a 7.116-sec- ond time and a 177.33-mph top end to Sloan's 8.575-second time and 120.14mph speed. This raCe was over almost as soon at it started. Sloan's reaction time was .600, while Nungesser's was .481. In Sunday's opening round, Mattioli advanced with a 7.26-second e.t. and 172.34-mph speed to nip John Feehan in the day's first run. Mattioli led all the way, with a reaction time of .504, compared to Feehan's .533. Then, in one of the stranger runs of the day, McClure squared off against Furr. The two ran spoke to spoke down the entire quarter-mile, and when it was over, McClure had turned a 6.92-second time and set a world record of 203.54 mph. However, Furr turned in a 6.8 second time and a top end of 203.52 mph, taking the win. McClure led at the 6O-foot mark (1.125 vs. 1.160 seconds), but at the end of 1000 feet, Furr moved an eyelash in front, turning the distance in 5.770 seconds to McClure's 5.829 seconds. It was the only time anyone including McClure - could remember a racer turning in a record run and still losing. The only major upset in Top Fuel in Sunday's first round was Sloan' besting of Larry "Drums" Brancaccio, who qualified second. Brancaccio finished in 7.81 seconds, compared to Sloan's 7.62 time. Sloan had qualified seventh quickest. Reaction times on the tower com puter showed Brancaccio off the mark at .687 seconds and Sloan off in .503 seconds. Brancaccio settled for third. Also in Sunday's first round, Nungesser moved to th.ird in the national Top Fuel points with a decisive win over Bob Spina, 7.12 seconds to 7.81 seconds. In Pro Fuel, Robert Stewart bested John Feehan in round one, Bill Bertolette beat Joe Konopka, and Armon Furr, who qualified sixth, beat number-three qualifier Russell Mildenbrand when MiJdenbrand's machine couldn't answer the bell. The Pro Gas finals had oni y two machines competing, with David Angelonis topping Gary Stround. It was the first day on the bike for Angelonis, but you couldn't tell: His reaction time was .463 of a second to Stroud's .588 of a second, and at the lOOO-foot mark Angelonis had a 6.725-to-7.054-second advantage. Final: Angelonis turned 8.089 seconds and 163.54 mph; Stroud turned 8.481 seconds and 155.52 mph. In the Screamin' Eagle class, Jeff Eboch edged out Bill McGrew, although McGrew's reaction time was .452 of a second, compared to Eboch's .632 of a second. The ET-class title went to Dan DeGood, who also won the "Showdown at Sunset" for the third consecutive week. Susan Wevodall was second in the ET class, while Hank Green was second in the Showdown. In the Junior class for bikers aged 11 through 16, Jordan Hasse beat Casey Bertolette for the title. Has e had an e.t. of 14.539 seconds and a top end of 45.78 mph. eNumidia Raceway Numidia, Pennsylvania Results: May 15-16,1999 TIF, 1. Bill Furr (Oix); 2. Dale Nungesser (Dix). PRO/F: 1. Robert Stewert 0"1-0); 2. Armon Furr (Ojx). PRO/STK: 1. Dirk Higgins (H-O); 2. Tommy Harmm (H-D). PROIDRG: 1. Scott Truett (Fas); 2. Mark Cox (Fas). PRO/G: 1. David Angeloni 0-1-0); 2. Gary Stroud (H-D). MOD, 1. Joseph Marchant (Bue); 2. Tii Tharpe (H-DJ. ST/PRo.l. Bill McG""w (Bue); 2. Bob Bolen),. (H-D). SISPT, 1. David Doremus (H-D); 2. Craig Kirsch (H-D). ST/ELIM: 1. Frank Dove Jr. (H-D); 2. Timothy Janczak (H-D). SCRMN EAGLE, 1. Jeff Eboch (H-D); 2. Bm McGrew (}i-D). ET, 1. Dan DeGood (H-D); 2. Susan WevodaU (H-D). SHOWDOWN, 1. Dan DeGood (H-D); 2. Hank G,een (H-D). JR (11-16): 1. Jordan Haase (Hon); 2. Casey Bertolette.