Running multiple classes for the blockbuster Adams Performance/Monster Kawasaki team, no one expected 18 year-old BST Real Street champ Jeremy Teasley to be winless by the time June and the AMA Dragbike Summer Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, rolled around. And things weren’t looking so hot for Teasley there, either, when Jeremy gave away both Supersport and Super Street at the tree early on raceday. But Teasley made it pay on the bike he likes to ride most, the Friction Unlimited Kawasaki ZX14 Real Street bike. Was it a little bit of redemption for you, Jeremy? “Yeah, I didn’t do so well on the other ones. I really had to make up for sleeping in Supersport and not winning the last two races.” Teasley has had the quickest bike in the class. “This was way overdue.”
18-year-old Jeremy Teasley took his first Real Street win of the 2009 AMA Dragbike season during the Summer Nationals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
“It’s been a long time coming,” agreed Coby Adams, the builder/tuner of Teasley’s Kawasakis. Neither Adams nor Teasley are used to leaving the track without a plaque. “I thought we’d win first in Supersport, I thought we’d win first in Super Street, I thought we’d win first in Real Street. But it never happened. So we ended up winning first in Real Street, and we still will win all the others. And Pro Street is coming. We’ve been doing good with that thing.”
True enough. Though out in the first round of Orient Express Pro Street, Rickey Gadson and the Adams Performance / Monster Kawasaki ZX14 ran 7.54, 7.50 and 7.43 laps that left smiles on the faces of Adams and rider Gadson. "I haven't seen Rickey this happy since the first time we loaded up a ZX14 and won the first race ever entered by one,” said Adams. “He gives amazing feedback and his riding skill is hard to match. We have been having the best time this year, and it has been showing as the bike keeps improving."
“We’re making big strides in Pro Street,” agreed Gadson, AMA Dragbike’s winningest rider ever. “One of the biggest additions to the team this weekend was the presence of Devin Pearce from AEM, who flew in to tune the AEM standalone system, the first in Pro Street. Within a couple hours Devon had us surely pointed in the right direction and taught all of us a lot. I can't believe how much he knows, and how Devon’s knowledge translates into us going fast right away.”
"Devin knows the standalone AEM box better than anyone, and we have been nothing but impressed with how well AEM works with us and how easy these electronics makes things go fast,” agreed Adams. “We started knocking off a tenth of a second per pass and there is a lot left, as you will see in Indy."
"Coby did an amazing job tuning the clutch and Garron (crew chief Miller) preparing the bike,” added Gadson. “We went 1.34, 1.32,1.26 and 1.29 60 foots, which is very competitive.”
Rickey Gadson faced-off against fellow Monster Kawasaki rider Teasley in the Final Round of the Summer Nationals.
Back in Real Street, Teasley qualified second behind Keith Thompson, and NHRA star Chip Ellis qualified third. Ellis lost to Gadson in round 3, and Teasley beat Thompson in the semis. That set up the final between Jeremy and Rickey. Gadson left first, then both he and Teasley fought wheelies. Jeremy got to the stripe first with an 8.17 to Rickey’s 8.28. “With the finals coming down to Jeremy and Rickey, you couldn't ask for a better showing for Kawasaki than two ZX14s with the best riders in the finals,” said Adams. “Both guys did an awesome job.”
“I was just glad to get one of those Kawasakis in the winners circle,” said Jeremy’s dad, James “Crow” Teasley Jr. “It’s been a long time coming, it’s a hard job.” Did Crow come down hard on Jeremy after his mistakes at the tree in the other classes? “Jeremy gets on himself bad enough, I don’t have to get on him. We learn as we go, and he’s learning. Hopefully we learned enough lately to catch this title.”
Jeremy was wearing a helmet camera at Martin to help his riding.
"We went to Maryland International Raceway the week before the race in Martin and recorded the highest Real Street MPH of the event,” said Adams. “We were looking at the log between runs on the Innovate data logger, which makes the bike the best it can be at any track. We spent a lot of time preparing all of our Kawasakis for the Martin race. We went through all of our race engines making sure everything was ready and the best they could be. With the quality of parts we use, like JE Pistons, Carrilo rods, Muzzy’s, Marine Crankshafts, K&N Filters, Motul oil, and of course Kawasaki, everything looked better than new. It goes to show, buy the best and things will last forever. I can't thank the sponsors enough."
Jeremy was wearing a helmet camera at Martin to help his riding. “I’ve got an Innovate on it and the camera, so if I mess up they know I did it. They got two angles on me,” said Jeremy, who reiterated his love of the nitrous ’14. “If we put the big jets in it, it’d be a lot more fun!”
Teasley, Gadson, Adams and team will be having fun next at the AMA Dragbike Pingel Thundernationals, August 1-2, 2009, at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana.
2009 AMA Dragbike Summer Nationals - Real Street Results
Round Win/Loss Rider RT ET MPH
Finals W Jeremy Teasley 0.901 8.172 171.75
L Rickey Gadson 0.843 8.280 173.04
Round 4 W Jeremy Teasley 0.882 8.037 175.77
L Keith Thompson 0.880 8.424 168.57
W Rickey Gadson 0.866 8.209 172.41
L Single
Round 3 W Rickey Gadson 0.850 8.086 175.09
L Chip Ellis 0.886 8.187 174.40
W Keith Thompson 0.889 8.040 176.36
L Del Flores 0.888 8.226 167.91
W Jeremy Teasley 0.848 9.402 106.29
L Single
Round 2 W Chip Ellis 0.899 8.275 157.38
L Wes Brown 0.963 10.074 95.44
W Del Flores 0.921 8.412 169.84
L Karey McGee 0.985 8.401 167.31
W Rickey Gadson 0.874 8.203 174.40
L Richard Gadson 0.859 8.273 175.74
W Jeremy Teasley 0.916 8.045 175.76
L Tom Whytas 0.987 8.649 170.47
W Keith Thompson 1.055 8.015 171.09
L Chip Hunter 0.400 8.649 170.47
Round 1 W Tom Whytas 0.963 8.673 167.93
L Julian Vigay 0.852 10.011 109.51
W Wes Brown 0.942 8.690 158.52
L Dustin Bassi 0.911 8.759 165.47
W Chip Hunter 0.985 8.766 163.66
L Mike Claycomb 0.400 8.766 163.66
W Chip Ellis 0.914 8.305 171.77
L Richard Stuteville 1.074 9.850 159.09
W Karey McGee 0.938 8.352 171.74
L Corey Ballard 0.400 9.850 159.09
W Richard Gadson 0.892 8.232 172.40
L Daniel Cox 0.956 9.253 152.60
W Del Flores 1.019 8.310 173.72
L Maurie Misner 0.839 8.803 164.26
W Rickey Gadson 0.992 8.186 179.23
L Ryan Hable 0.992 9.388 148.14
W Jeremy Teasley 0.866 8.028 176.44
L Mark Dotson 0.949 9.675 173.76
W Keith Thompson 1.094 8.065 171.76
L Single
