Hall of Fame Drag Racings

Mike Konopacki - Class of 2017

admin — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 15:47:12 +0000

Mike Konopacki - Class of 2017 admin Fri, 01/19/2018 - 10:47

The thrill of NOT being strapped in is what makes him feel alive

Mike was born March 31, 1959, in Bowmanville, Ontario. That’s 19 hours of driving, some 1254 miles north of Gainesville, Florida, where he raced in the PROSTAR series more than once, back in the day.

Motorcycling started off for Mike at a young age, it was his older brother and his friends that taught him how to ride, “My brother and his friends were always the crazy ones, so I hung out with them and that’s where I learned to ride.”

Drag racing came early to Mike, “In the early 1980’s, I went to Cayuga and saw my first drag race. I was hooked.” Initially what attracted Mike was the adrenalin and the challenge of Sportsman racing, “it’s a challenge to try and run the number again and again, trying to hit that same number every time.”

Mike was first drawn to motorcycle drag racing as a sport in 1981 when he attended the US Nationals at ATCO, NJ and saw Terry Vance on that Top Fuel bike.

During the 1980’s Mike began motorcycle drag racing with his street bike at drag strips in Canada and in the USA. “My first race bike was a 1973 Kawasaki, 900 that was punched out to about 1075cc and it was my street bike as well.” As he developed as a drag racer, Mike cut his teeth at the local tracks in Canada, like Cayuga Ontario Speedway.

As the 1980 era wound down, Mike began paying close attention to sanctioned motorcycle drag racing on the National level. While he did race some CMDRA and IDBA events, his real heart was set on AMA/PROSTAR racing. “I was a loyal AMA/PROSTAR racer for years and did some local races as well but PROSTAR racing was the toughest and the best. I started racing with AMA/PROSTAR in 1991 in the sportsman classes of S/C and Pro ET, back when Super Comp was an 8.60 dial-in. At one national event in 2002, at Norwalk, Ohio, I won in three of four classes I entered.”

Mike was one of the early Sportsman racers to enter into multiple classes and race more than one bike at the same national event. His appetite for drag racing back then was immense and his success level was high. “I usually raced in three, sometimes four classes. It was a very hectic time on race weekends.”

Accordingly, Mike got in a lot of seat time, “For sure I’ve made over 23 passes in one day at a race. Now double that number for a two day national event and you can see how he honed his skills to a knife edge.

During Mike’s primary racing years, he amassed, over 100 final round appearances, over 400 round wins and 9 number 1 qualifying spots; between racing in Super Comp, Top Gas and ET racing class competition. His biggest win, or most memorable: his triple championship achievement during the 2009, AMA/PAROSTAR season.

Mike will be the first to tell you, he didn’t achieve this by himself; Mike’s family were always there for him with support and encouragement. Paul Gast and his Fast By Gast shop always did whatever it took to get him out onto the race track.

It has not been all glory and winner’s circle for Mike during his decades of racing. He paid his dues like most other drag bike pilots. His bad day happened in 1993 when he came off at Cayuga Speedway due to a high-speed-wobble. “I broke my shoulder and some ribs, I know what it means to go down.”

Mike could have turned Pro, as many racers do, but he chose not to. Truth be told, he held an NHRA P/S motorcycle license at one time and even entered one race. But that kind of racing was not for him. “I’d rather race my motorcycles than work on them. I don’t want to go to a race and bring my bike home in a basket and have to work on it every race.”

What kept Mike going for so many years as a Sportsman racer? “The thrill of NOT being strapped in is what makes me feel alive, that does it for me. I also enjoy seeing my friends and family at the races, talking to people and seeing the next generation of racers coming up.”

On occasions you’ll still see Mike at the races, sometimes in the pits talking to old friends and foes, other times on one of his bikes giving the new generation of racers lessons. Know this: if you’re a drag racer and you see Mike Konopacki line up with you some Sunday afternoon, don’t make any mistakes on your run or you’re very likely going home early.

Al Miles - Class of 2024

Vada — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 17:45:23 +0000

Al Miles - Class of 2024 Vada Sun, 03/23/2025 - 13:45

Nitro is Not Your Friend

Al’s first exposure to motorcycle drag racing was in Sturgis, South Dakota at the inaugural Sturgis bike drags in 1980. At that time, he got to meet some real icons of the sport. Bonnie Truett, a noted Nitro Harley racer invited Al to his drag race in Wichita - 8th annual all motorcycle event. It featured a plethora of Nitro bikes as well as lots of purpose-built gassers. He was Bit!

For 1981, Al campaigned an old Harley Panhead at Edmonton's Speedway Park and returned the following year with a new Harley Shovelhead to pick up the pace and sharpen his skill set. This bike ran high 13's and was a lot of fun. In the winter of 1982/83, he embarked on building a purpose-built Harley laydown gas dragster. This took about 8 months to complete and when the 1000cc bike was finally ready, the Speedway was no more; he took it to Sheppard raceway in Calgary and qualified in the top 16. That bike would set many track records including Saskatoon, Prince George and Calgary and was also a poster bike for Saskatoon and Prince George.

That winter this bike was backhalved to accept a car tire and an increase in displacement. Various incarnations of this bike were campaigned around Western Canada, Wichita and Spokane. They set records for a number of years and won many engineering awards from various Racetracks, Artistry in Iron, and Cycle Canada as well as Magazine appearances. The best this bike ran was 10.18.

Al spent 4 years working on getting a new race facility in the Edmonton, area until finally inking a deal with the Airport Authority for YEG. He was one of the original shareholders in the Edmonton venture.

For 1990, he sold the old bike and embarked on a new knees up gas bike. Displacement was increased to 1750cc and a new design chassis gave him a bike that weighed a scant 303 lbs. More engineering awards, magazine articles and track records followed. Best ET was 9.83 at Edmonton's new Capital Raceway in 1992. Jerry Gordon came on board as his Crew Chief at this time.

At the end of 1992, he purchased a blown-up Nitro Harley Sportster in Louisiana. It took 9 months to rebuild everything and on the inaugural trip down the Race City course in 1993 was rewarded with an eye opening, wheel carrying 9.29 pass and a hurt motor. He was learning that Nitro is not your friend! They went to Capital Raceway and ran an 8.69 with no damage. At the California Fun Drags in Sacramento, they made the semis before hurting their stuff. They then went to their very first All Harley Drag Race (AHDRA) Finals in Palmdale, Ca. and was first round loser there as the cases just pushed apart.

1994 saw a new frame added and built a new motor. They were ready to go racing! They won the All Bike Drags in Edmonton and had progressed to the point with the modified stock Harley cases that they would qualify #1 and not be able to make the call because our engine cases were splintered.

For 1995 we purchased a set of very Strong STD engine cases. That put the heavily modified Harley cases in the metal recycle where they belonged. In 1997, he decided to spend the season chasing the Western Series in the US with AHRA. They did the same thing for the next 2 years until they grenaded our ultra strong cases that were now built of unobtainium.

Due to product shortages, Al and Jerry embarked on designing and manufacturing their own billet engine cases. These were called Silver Bullet engine cases. Crankshafts were also extremely short in supply so we launched a modified crankshaft program at the same time.

2002 saw us win our first Season Championship and 2003 we were undefeated except for redlite loss and won another Season Championship. They also won an Event called the BIG RACE in Brainerd, Minnesota. This was the richest motorcycle drag race in history and were the only Canadian to win there!!

2004 was the year to design and build an entire bike c/w engine. This project was known as the Derringer Engine program; an exercise in designing and producing a bullet proof engine system that newbies would not go broke learning their craft. Al was very instrumental in this venture and Jerry Gordon is acknowledged as the father of the Derringer Engine. They were given the Nitro Cup for innovation and technology in Nitro Harley Racing. The Derringer engine program would become the world standard and still is.

Al spent a lot of time trying to grow the sport and spent 6 years on the CMDRA board of Directors.

Al won the Season Championship with the CMDRA in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and in 2013, won the Season Championship - undefeated. He was awarded the very prestigious Trev Deeley Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing as well as the Dennis Mark Award for Outstanding Achievement. He set CMDRA 1/8 Mile MPH record that still stands to this day.

Al continued to race and in 2019 set 2 CMDRA National ET Records. 4.52 1/8 and 7.29 1/4. These records still stand. At a race in Medicine Hat, Al crashed at 175mph and ragdolled down the track, spending 9 months in rehab.

In 2022, he started his 39th year of Motorcycle Drag Racing at 70 years of age. Not long after, Al was diagnosed with ALS and passed away November 19, 2024.