King Kong Falls

King Kong Falls Hogs Gone Wild At Shady Side Dragway

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an Dockery

acers from across the

country came to Shady Side Dragway, Boiling Springs, NC, for Hogs Gone Wild Harley Bagger Racing on the second weekend of July.

Oh, Man was it hot and muggy in the pits, but the real blazing action went down on the drag strip.

Roger Edgerton manages the HGW points series with races at a few tracks on the east coast. He is helping to standardize classes and rules for the street bike based series. Harley Bagger Racing is cool since the bikes are closer to what we ride and you don’t see wheelie bars. Bring your quick bagger and they will find a class for you to race in.

One thing fans like about HGW and bagger racing is the rivalries and challenges. Since this type of racing evolved from street racing, there are several guys who challenge each other to “grudge” matches during the weekend. Sometimes for big money side bets, too.

But lots of those racers who came to North Carolina to take home the champion belts and money left disappointed. Local Carolina boys put them on the trailer and earned the wins.

A1 Cycles owned by Mike Beland in Maiden, NC, had an impressive team of race bikes at Shady Side. They won four of the main classes at Hogs Gone Wild. And a few of the wins came on bikes built in less than a week before the race.

Eddie Hans is new to HGW but took the win in the Beginner and ET classes. With Joe Gladden, Eddie helped build two bikes that they brought to the strip with no prior testing. Joe’s bike was the purple standout machine that consistently went down the track. He rode it hard to take the Street Class win against some heavy hitters in bagger racing.

The big race on Saturday was between Mike Beland on “Meth Beth” and Assim Chaudhry riding “King Kong”. Modern turbo machine versus older proven bike spraying nitrous oxide. Harley drag race fans know “King Kong” as the baddest bagger on the planet racking up 36 wins and zero loses over the last several years. Racers had to put up at least $5,000 for Assim to bring the bike out for a challenge. Even though he took their money, the last couple years his focus has been on his Hot Street bike and “King Kong” was retired to the garage.

Well, Mike and “Meth Beth” have been busting records lately and that brought “King Kong” back to the strip. The two serious racers and good friends faced off in the Pro Street Class semi-final round. The fans packed the sides of the strip.

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I think Gregg Dahl, the builder and tuner, had set “Kong” on full kill mode with lots of nitrous. When the spray kicked in the bike hooked up and tried to fly. But you can’t get down the strip quick with the front wheel high in the air so Assim had to back off. Mike posted good numbers for the run in the hot and humid conditions to take the win. This was the first time fans have seen “King Kong” get beat. Mike and Assim have planned a rematch for $10,000 at Assim’s Hogs Gone Wild race August 16 in Pennsylvania. That race should be live on Drag V Twin on You Tube.

Hogs Gone Wild events are family friendly and have lots more than just racing action. There was a bike show at the end of the pits near the Joker Powersports area. A sound contest brought out bikes with massive stereos to see who could blast the crowd the best. There were Burnouts For Breast Cancer where anyone could get on the strip and smoke it up.

If you needed a break from the kids, there was a play area and bounce house for them. But we made kids the center of the show when they faced off for a Power Wheels race.

Local bands played Friday and Saturday for folks who wanted to sing along and dance. One thing I like about more racially diverse events is the food. Instead of burgers, hot dogs and BBQ, I was chowing down on fried fish, chicken and okra.

Harley Bagger racing is growing and becoming more like professional racing. You may not be a racer but have a quick bike. Come on out and they will find a class for the you to race in. That past champ can always lose for many reasons and you take a win light.