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gree n. Bernard ad vanced int o the final with a strong 7.754/179 .28 . The final ca me down to a battle be tween the California Yamaha and the Florida H arley-Da vidson . When the ligh t tu rned green the two m achines left even but Berna rd im mediately ex perienced some wheelsp in a nd ro lled off a nd on the th rottle not once but twice . Meanwhile th e Stua rt motorcycle was motoring down to t he finish lin e. Unbelie va bly, after the second throttl e ro ll off. Berna rd 's bike fina lly hooked up a nd he blasted on towards the Stuart machine a nd vict ory . Berna rd managed to pa ss the Harley a nd in doing so th e N a tiona l Number O ne pla te holder won his firs t NMRA event of the season. Bernard's winning tim e was a 8.29 /116 .97 to Stuart's 8.589/165.74 . Super Eliminator Bob Carpenter (near lanel put a holeshot on Terry Vance to take the Pro Stock final. running a 9.053/144.69 quarter mile . Carpenter back on form at NMRA Indy Nationals By Greg Guarinello INDIANAPOLIS. IN , J UNE 28·29 Bob Carpenter returned to the winner's circle after adjusting to a new job and a brand switch, at NMRA's U.S. Nationals held in spacious Indianapolis Raceway Park. Carpenter, head of Research and Development at R .C . Engineering, set low ET (9.034) enroute to his first win ever aboard his new Suzuki Pro Stocker . Joining Carpent er in the win ner's circle wer e: J im Bernard (Top Fuel) and Mike Bruso (Super Elimin ator). Top Fuel 14 The number one qualifier was Da nny Joh nson's blown Kawasaki. Jo hnson ran a 7 .651 at 188 mph which held up for low ET of the meet an d high mph . T he Nationa l Nu m ber One Yamaha of Teson a nd Berna rd wound up in the number two spo t. Bernard rod e the b ike to a 7.770 /177 .16 . Midwest Na tiona l champ Frog Thacker put th e Naff-Lewis-Thacker Kawasaki fuel er into third position with a 7.920 /181.08 pass . Rounding out the top of th e field was Southeast National champ. Elm er Trett . The potent twin Harley-Davidson ran a 7.921 /173.41. Round one of eliminations was really an underdog's dream as two of the top four qualifiers were up set. Leading the parade was number five . qualifier , Roland Stuart . Stuart's double Harley used the Raceway Pa rk conc rete pad perfectly as Roland la id a n 8 .3 10/ 169.81 clock ing on th e normally ha rd charging Johnson. johnson slowed down to an 8 .564 at 176 .12 mph in a losing effort . Next up were Frog T hacker's blown Kawa sak i and La rry McBride 's rad ica l blown H arl ey. Whtle T hacker was the undisputed favorite. McBride and Bell had other plans. When th e light turned green th e Virginia based H ·D bombed out of th e hole , putting Tha cker in a position to play ca tch up. As Frog ga me ly tried to overtake the flying Ha rley, he lost an engi ne. assuring th e McBrid e and Bell mach ine an upset win. On t he ru n McBride clocked a n 8.323 /1 67.91 mph to Thacker's losing 8. 4 11/ 147 .34. T he th ir d pairing saw Jim Bern a rd face off against his old rna chine. the H ickman and Hand " Red · nec k Exp ress" ridden by Chris Hand . The two ride rs left even and only the electric eye could tell the cro wd who won. T he win lights were lit in the Yamaha's lan e as Bern a rd ra n a 7.9 26 with no mph record ed to Hand's close 7.967 /175 .09 . The final ru n of the round saw Elm er Treu's twin Harley take on th e new blown Kawasaki of Steve Cooper. Treu took his "grea t American Freed om Machine" to the win with an 8 .039 , 169.17 mph pa ss over Cooper's losing 8 .843 at . 163 .04 mph . The second round began with the two first round ups et winners facing off against each other. Both the McBride and Stuart Harleys left even , but , in a tight race , th e Stuart rna ch ine sq ueezed out th e win , posting an 8.547 /166 .66 to McBride's losing 8.5 90/ 154 .37 . The other sem i final was to be ra ce betw een th e Yamah a of Teson and Bernard versu s T rett's Harley. As the pa ir staged , th ou gh , Tret r's rna chine displayed a prob lem in the front motor an d lost fir e as the liJ;:ht turned As is becoming the habit in Super Eliminator, Mike Bruso on th e Power Enterprises Kawasaki was fast qualifier with a new national record 7.827 at a record 177 .86 mph . Bruso's biggest co m pe titor, Jon Baugh, was the nurn bel' two qualifier aboard th e Orient Express Kawasaki. Baugh ran a new A/DT record ET of 8.116/166 .97 . Baugh la ter lowered that mark to an 8.04. The number three qualifier also set a new ET record as George Babor a boa rd the Orient Express Funny Bike ra n a n 8.384 /16 1.87 . Number four qualifier Bob Mallo y, recently added to the R .C . Engineering ra cing team , ran a n 8 .430 /161.87 . Eliminations began with Bruso downing Bruce Litton , eas ily 7 .839 /175 .78 to Litton's 10.64 /89.10 . George Babor on the Orient Express Funny bike also had an easy time as he defeated Sonny Michalowski with an 8 .73 /152 .54 to Sonny's. 9 .771 /148 .76 . The other O rien t Express motorcycle , with Jon Baugh aboard , ea rn ed a spot .in the semis despite bogging badly on the line. Howard Key got out first but developed a problem in the mid-range and had to watch his starting lin e adva ntage disappear. Baugh won with an 8.597/166.97 to Key's 10.471 /90.72. Bob Malloy ended th e round with a freeb ie into the semis as Steve Stordeur broke and was unable to make the round . Malloy ran an 8.393 /161.29 . Round two saw Mike Bruso going up aga inst Babor. The two riders left together with Baber's front wheel high in the air. At about th e 500 foot mark the stiff side wind grabbed Babor and mo ved him int o Bruso's lane , givi ng Mike th e au tomatic win . Bruso went int o th e finals d espite a ra th er slow 8.395/ 166.36. Babor ran a losing 9.350 /1 42.65 . J on Baugh and Bob Mall oy fought it out for the othe r finalist as Baug h took a close win, running a n 8.333/163.3 3 mph to Mall oy's 8.340/ 160.7 1. For the third National in a row, th e fin al ca me down to the A/F Power En te rp rises Kawa sak i and th e A/DT Orient Express Kaw asak i. When th e gr een hit Bruso was gone , taking a slight lead and building on it all the way to the finish line. The win was Bruso's third in a row in NMRA National competition . Bruso ran an 7.962 / 172.41 to Baugh's 8.373/163.33 . Pro Stock Bob Carpenter showed why he's the reigning Pro Stock National Number One with a tr emendous performance and show of consistency. Carpenter's reactions coupled with some very consistent times proved to the Pro Sto ck world that he was indeed back for an all -out assaul t on the class . Carpenter led all qual ifiers with a fin e 9.050/144 .92 run on the R .C. Engin eering Suzuki . The second posi tion was filled by Terry Vance of Va nce and Hines Racin g . Terry took t~e ~l;lZ.u k~ •.to !l.9.. ! 1 ~ /147 ..54 . : '~ u pe r . , "bike MIke Kyte was' the numberthree man as he ran a solid 9.144/142.85 with the red and white Kawasaki . Cedric Johnson was the fourth qualifier with a 9 .209 /140 .62 run on the Kawa saki. Round one got underway with Carpenter taking th e ea rly bye with a 9.042/145 .39 . The second run sa w "Su pe rbike Mike" Kyte going up against th e Kawasak i of Jay Wade. Mike too k a slight lead off the line but shifting problem s in the mi d ra nge gave W ade all th e time he needed to go by for the win , running a 9.45 7/ 139. 75 to Kyte'a 9.544 /1 36.98. Vance was nex t up with his Suzuki to go aga inst Vicki Farr's R .C . Engineering Kawasak i. Vicki put a slig ht holeshot on Terry, bu t T erry caught her at the top of second ge ar a nd went on to an easy win . Vance ran a 9.17 5/145 .16 to Farr's 9.324 /140.40 . Cedric Johnson and Butch Pace ended the round as the two Kawasaki riders squared off. Pace's mount was ob viously hurt smoke was coming out of th e exhaust p ipe as Butch wicked the throttle. Cedric wasted no tim e on th e green and took a commanding lead , running a 9.253 /140 .18 mph while Pace clicked off, recording an 11.397/86 .28 . Carpenter opened up the second round with an all too easy victory over the Kawasaki of Jay Wade. Carpenter left on the first hint of green and went on to run a 9.063/144 .69 to Wade's losing 10.593 /88 .14 . The other semi final saw Terry Vance ca tch up to and pass Cedric Johnson as Terry ran a 9.082/145 .39 to Johnson's 9.414/ 140 .18 . The final in Pro Stock was a familiar sight , but the turn of events was much different. In fact there were two final runs in Pro Stock as a malfunction in the tree caused the two riders to be given a handicapped start for the first run . On the rerun , Carpenter got Vance out of the hole and ran machinelike down the quarter mile for his first win of the season. Vance ran a 9 .230 / 143.76 in his losing effort while Carpenter ran a 9.053 /144 .69 to put a smile on a trackside R;'ss Collins' face . Pro Ca mp Geoff Masters opened up elimina tions with a 9.13 1/141.50 bye run on the Wiseco·sponsored Kawasaki . Points leader Rick Stetson then put away the A/G Harley of Bill Baker; the Honda running a 9.441 /137.61 . to Baker's 11.254/116 .73. Mike Puglia was the next victor as he easily handled Larry Sterl ing's A/G Harley, running a 9.68 11 136 .61 to Sterling 's 10.577 /114 .50. St eve Dunbar was th e onl y HarleyDa vidson mounted rider to su rvive the round as he knocked off fellow A/G Harley rider Mick Benbert , running a 10.04 8 /128 .93 to Benbert's losing 12.026 /108.43 . T he semis opened with Masters catching a good light as the Kawasaki rider defeated Stetson 's Honda , 9.127 / 140 .18 to 10.449/83 .41 mph . Mike Puglia ended an y hopes of a Harley winning when his littl e Kawasaki two ~troke dragster defeated Steve Dunbar's Harley. 10.051 /136 .98 to A/G Dunbar's 10.63 /125 .52 . The finals pitted Midwest Nationals champ Masters against first time Pro Comp finalist Puglia . The two riders Jeft even but the Masters' Kawasaki lit the win light. Geoff posted a 9.249 / 138 .88 to Puglia's 9.889 /133.13. Masters' win on Ron Krol -owned, Krol Cycle, Wiseco and Klotz sp onsored Kawasaki is the second straight for the team . • Result s COMP EUMINATOR: 1. Paut Gas!,9.967/13O .81 tKaw l; 2. Dann y Voak IYam). MOD ELIMINATOR; r .Leece 80yee , 10.349/132.15 (Suzl; 2. Steve MolitOC' (Suz). .03 STOCK ELIMINATOR: 1. Ed Hedrick, 12.482195 IKawl; 2. Vic Force ISUl I. COMBO ELIMINATO R: 1. )lie Force. 13.752190.72 tHonl; 2. Jef f J ohn son. ET: 1. Larry Ballard. 11.7SB (Han): 2. Kevin Gilham (Kawl.