With only two test runs on a class of motorcycle he’s still getting used to, Len Darnell didn’t have the highest expectations going into his first National Hot Rod Association Top Fuel Harley racing event in early February.
But maybe he should have.
The Hazel Dell mechanic, 43, floored the oddly shaped bike for the win against Joey Stenotti in the NHRA Winternationals in California, finishing the quarter-mile straight track in 6.8 seconds at a speed of about 175 miles per hour.
And this is only the first of several races to come, he said.
“The Harley, it’s twice the size and three times the horsepower of other bikes I’ve raced,” Darnell said. “It’s crazy. It’s quite a bit bigger and louder, but I love it. I wouldn’t trade it back for nothing.”
Darnell’s next race will be April 10-12 in Las Vegas. Those that want to follow his progress can do so at www.dcrtopfuel.com, the official site for Damian Cownden Racing, his team.
Darnell, who was born and raised in Vancouver, grew up with racing in his blood.
“My mom and dad both drag raced, and I grew up at the racetrack,” Darnell said. “Since I was about 15, I raced cars, but at 20, I switched over to bikes because I just love motorcycles.”
He started racing a Honda 600 street bike, then moved to a pro-modified Suzuki, which he raced for several years.
He met Damian Cownden at an event in Canada, and Cownden asked him to ride the Top Fuel Harley bike for him for the season.
“This is the first time I ever raced a Harley, although there are so many after-market parts on it that there’s not much Harley left in there,” Darnell said. “The tuning is the really big thing for this kind of racing.”
The odd V-shaped apparatus on the back of the bike keeps it from flipping at high speeds. And steering the bike is a little bit different than your average Saturday cruise along the back roads.
“That’s called your wheelie bar,” Darnell said of the back attachment. “Your front wheel stays off the track the whole way because of the speed, so you have to kind of steer with your body.”
Darnell, who is 6 foot 2 and weighs about 210 pounds, said the Harley class suits him far better than racing Suzuki bikes. He was too big for them, he said.
“To run Suzukis, you need to be really light,” Darnell said. “I’d have to drop to 180 pounds to race. With this I can actually weigh what I want to weigh. It can handle just about anything.”
The prize money from racing likely won’t be enough to give up his day job anytime soon. But Darnell, who owns Hazel Dell Muffler & Brake, said it isn’t really about that so much as it is about racing and having fun.
“We’re not doing it for a living, but the prize money helps us pay for entry fees and gas,” he said.
The California event was the first of four stops in 2015 for the NHRA Top Fuel Harley drag racing series at the NHRA Nationals. That series also joins the NHRA Lucas Oil Series at 10 events across the country later this season.
After Las Vegas, Darnell and the racing team will head to Ohio for May 15-17. For more on Top Fuel Harley racing, visit http://topfuelharleyracers.com.
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