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Tue, 11 Nov 2014, 14:49 PM

Grimes, Vickers Take Harley-Davidson Championships

Courtesy of NHRA Field Marketing
Photo copyright 2014 Bob Johnson Photography

GLENDORA, Calif. -

Tommy Grimes raced to his sixth win of the year and captured the NHRA Harley-Davidson Drag Racing Series Top Fuel National Championship this past weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Johnny Vickers, who had already clinched his championship in Pro Fuel Harley, added another win to his championship season.

Tommy Grimes celebrates Las Vegas win and Championship
Grimes was in a battle with Damian Cownden with the two separated by just 51 points heading into the final event of the 2014 season. Grimes, Pfafftown, N.C., had collected five wins so far where Cownden, Victoria, B.C., had three. Cownden took the top spot in qualifying and Grimes sat in the third spot which put the two on opposite sides of the ladder for Sunday's eliminations.

Both worked their way through rounds one and two with Grimes clocking in at 6.315 seconds at 220.73 mph in the final to take the win and put an exclamation point on his championship. Cownden suffered problems in the final and slowed to a 10.676, 80.74.

In addition to Las Vegas, Grimes scored wins at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va., Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tenn., National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, and Mission Raceway Park, Mission, B.C.

Johnny Vickers celebrates Championship
Vickers locked up his NHRA Harley-Davidson Drag Racing Series Pro Fuel Championship at Rocky Mountain Raceways in Sept., with a final round showing, and then closed out the season this weekend with the win over second place finisher Bill Bentz.

Vickers, Millers Creek, N.C., won five of his seven scored events including Baytown, Texas, Richmond, Va., Columbus, Ohio, and at Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Md.