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ERecords fall at NMRA ; -Golden Gate Nationals E o By Greg Guarinello 00 FREMONT , CA, AUG . 9· 10 -~ ~ ~ NMRA's first trek to the rolling hills of northern California proved to be a 24K gold experience. Fremont Raceway, site. of the Golden State Classic, provided racers and spectators alike (j') 6b ~ with the quickest and m?st ~xcit. ing motorcycle drag race m history Th fi t 7 30 d n in Top e Irs '. secon r u . Fuel, the First Pro Stocker In the eigh t second, 150 mph range, the first gasoline-powered motorcycle to run under eight seconds, the first B/G bike in the eights and the first 120·plus mph run by a stock motorcycle were witnessed by the 4,000 plus spectators. Top Fuel Top Fuel qualifing was highlighted by the top five competitors runt~.ing in t~e seven second zon~. By race s end, SIX Fuelers had run In the sevens for the first time in h~toryl Leading the pack . was Bo ~ Brochta on the TermIn~1 Van Lines-owned, Karat.a Enterprises-sponsored Kawasaki . O'Brochta, the National ET record hol~er, ha~ head IPlsket proble~s dunng quahfing, having b.lo a p,alr .wn of them. After some frantic thrashing Bo rolled out to make the next to the last run of qualifing. Anxious for his shot at the Fremont surface, O'B rochta fired up as the su.n slowly set behind the surrounding hIlls. Th.e motorcycle rumbled as Bo brought !t to the lll~~ ; when the green came 0'.' It was obVIOUS to the people watching th~t h<; had a good pass going. As the quiet of the afternoon surrounded the complc:x: the anno~,nceme~t came to the waiting crowd. For 0 Brochta, a new World Record, 7.30 secondsl" Bedlam broke out all over the Fremont compl~x as the fans buz~ed and fellow fuel riders shook their heads and headed to congratulate the smiling O'Brochta, O'Brochta's 7.30 /188 pu t him solidly into the number one spot. Number two position went to the Kawasaki fueler of Danny Johnson, clicking off a 7.727 /188 . The number th ree qualifing spot went to the NaffLewis-Thacker Kawasaki ridden by Frog Thacker. Thacker's numbers were a 7.796 /185 . National number one Jim Bernard was locked into the number four spot as the Yamaha ran a 7.823 /181. The first round opened with O'Brochta on a bye run. Not being one to lay down in front of a huge crowd, Bo let it all hang out, backing up his national record with a 7.371 /190.67. Nex t up were Thacker and the blue, white and red Kawasaki of Wayne Davis . The pair left together with Thacker going up in smoke at the 400 foot mark. Frog backed off of the throttle and got the smoke problem under control. Davis, meanwhile, had his motor shut off momentarily as he shifted into high gear. Thacker was able to get by Davis at this point but was himself passed at the top end. Davis then held on for the win , running a 7.659/180 .72 to Thacker's losing 7.957 /17 1.10 . The third pairing was scheduled to be Elmer Trett versus Danny Johnson. However , Jo hnson, crashed in an early morning time trial. After a trip to the hospital, Johnson was released with a broken > 16 collarbone, wrist and arm along wit~ so~e expected road ras h . .Joh~n s accident allowed Trett to single Into the semis. Elmer took the Harley. Davidson to a 9.106/170.45 run. The final run of the round Bernard against Marion Owens . Bernard got the Yamaha out first with Owens in hot pursuit. The Harley developed problems though, as a drive chain jumped off the sprocket. Bernard took the victory, 7.810/181.45 to Owens' losing 13.50 seconds with no mph recorded Round' two opened with O'Brochta taking on.the surprising Wayne Davis. O'Brochta launched the Terminal Van Lines green machine first and held off the hard charging Davis on the big end. O'Brochta's time was 7.411 /180.36 while Davis ran an outstanding 7.506 /185 .56 , fastest of his career in the losing effort. The other semi final saw Trett's Harley taking on the Yamaha of Teson and Bernard. 'Trett seemed to have some low gear problems which allowed Bernard to take a rather easy lead and the win . Bernard ran a 7.948/183.67 Trett's troubled 8.679/179.64. The Top Fuel final at the Golden State Classic brought together two of the toughest competitors in the class Bernard and O'Brochta, As the tw~ riders left the line , O'Brochta took a sizable lead over the game Bernard. At the 1000 foot mark Bernard saw his chances of winning ':'ere slim and shut · down the Yamaha. Thus Bo O'Brochra had completed his incredible racing weekendl Bernard ran an 8.517/129.87 to O'Brochta's 7.524/181.08. . Super Eliminator Q.ualifing in Super Eliminator was as exciting as Top Fuel. The number one spot again fell to Mike Bruso on the Power Enterprises A/F Kawasaki. Bruso ran a 7.921 /174 for his position. Close behind Bruso was Terry Kizer on the Mo Parsons-owned MTC/Mr. Turbo sponsored A/DT , the first rider to bring a gasoline fueled motorcycle into the seven second zone. Kizer ran a 7.928/166. Another A/DT, this one ridden by Jon Baugh, and sponsored by Orient Express Motorcycles was in the number three spot. Baugh, the Southeast Nationals; champ , ran an 8.15 /167. The newest member of the R.C. Engineering racing team , Bob Malloy, took the number four spot with an 8.220 /164 pass. Mike Bruso opened up eliminations as he took his Kawasaki on a 7.925 /173.41 bye run. Next up were Russ Glashan's and Jon Baugh both on Kawasakis. . Baugh's A/DT got out slightly ahead of Glashan's A/Fueler and held on , running an 8.749/166 .35 to Glashan's 10.677 /106 .76 . Kizer took on George Babor on the next pairing. Kizer got a tremendous stan enroute to defeating th e Kawasaki funny bike, 8. 178/165 .13 to 8.67 /155 .97 mph. Mallory and Don Hemsl ey ended the ro und as Malloy took his Kawasaki to an 8.437 /148 .76 . Bo O'Brochta set a record 7.30-aecond run at Fremont. -, Meanwhile, Hemsley was running a 9.189 /88.40 in the losing effort, The final round pitted a pair of A/DT's against each other as Baugh faced Terry Kizer. When the riders left the starting line the race was even, but quickly, Kizer pulled ahead of Baugh. When the win light came on in Kizer's lane the numbers read: Kizer 8 .039/1~6.05 , Baugh 8.387/161 .29. Pro Stock For the first time in motorcycle drag racing history, the top four qualifiers all ran in the eightsl With a new National ET and MPH Record qualifing went like this: Number One was Terry Vance on the Vance and Hines Racing-owned, Suzukisponsored motorcycle at 8.795/151.261 The number two spot went to Vance's rival , Bob Carpenter. Carpenter, on a Suzuki sponsored by R.C. Engineering, ran an 8.859/147. The number three spot went to . Cedric Johnson, who took his Kawasaki to an 11.976/144. Rounding out both the top half of the ladder and the eight second zone was none other than the "Old Man" himself, Russ Collins . Russ ran the ex-Bob Carpenter Kawasaki to an . 8.990/145. The bump spot was a monumental 9.374, making this the tightest field of Pro Stocks in history. Eliminations got under way with a pa ir of Californians facing off. Larry Cook, aboard his Kawasaki was up against Vance. Terry ran the quarter mile in 8.791 seconds at 150.00 mph to easily outdistance Cook's 9.045/144.92 . Johnson was up next in his duel against Randy Murray. Cedric put in an 8.970/145 .16 pass enroute to an easy win over Murray's 9.494/139.53 . A pair of old Pros were up next as Mike Keyte squared off with Bob Carpenter. Keyte took the holeshot lead but Carpenter went by him in second gear to advance into the semi finals. Carpenter's time was an 8:880 /147 .29 while Keyte ran a 9.011 /145.39 . An old face in a new class ended the first round as Collins brought his Kawasaki up to face the Kawasaki of Lee Hayes. The two riders left together but, the superior motor in Collins' machine proved itself with Russ taking the win, 9.074/145.39 to 9.224/145.39. The second round pairings saw two Vance and Hines Racing motorcycles squaring off against each other while the two R.C . Engineering bikes would do the same on the other side of the ladder sheet. Terry Vance went against Johnson and Terry took his motorcycle to an easy win on the run with an 8.926/150. Johnson, who had been in the eights all weekend could only muster a 9.154/144.23 . On the other side of the ladder the R .C. Engineering team was preparing to do battle, Carpenter and Collins. Russ was determined not to make it easy for the younger Carpenter and the clocks proved that he didn't. Carpenter took the win with an 8.924/146.34 pass but Collins was breathing down his throat ' with a 9.069/144.92 run. As it has many times in the past the final was a battle between the top two Pro Stock riders in the country. Carpenter and ' Vance both came to the line knowing that all the marbles were on this one run. When the light turned green the racers took off with only .one purpose, to light the win lights. However only one rider could do that and this time it was Vance motoring on for the win , running an 8.8071151.26 while Carpenter was less than a tick behind with an 8.872/147.05. The stunning win along with both ends of the Pro Stock National Record went to the estatic Vance and Hines Racing Team. ProComp Leading the pack was Geoff Masten as he took the Wiseco/Ron Krolsponsored Kawasaki to an 8.919/147 clocking. Masters' run was ' the first B/G eight second pass in NMRA history. Locked into the number two ' spot was Rick Stetson. Stetson, aboard a Honda ran a 9.297 /140 mph for his spot. The final pitted Masters against Stetson and Masters was clearly the favorite and he didn't disappoint. Geoff took the Ron Krol machine to an easy victory, clocking a record 8.896/147 .54 to Stetson's losing 9.213/142.63. Results COMPEUMINATOR: I. J im Yodock. 8.7031166.17 CSuzl: 2. ElvinGo\IIIio nc-!. MODIFIED EUMINATOR: 1. 0... Ragon. 10.047n 21.131K8wl: 2. Rog8' Lewio CK8wI. . STOCK EUMINATOR: I. VIc Forte. 11.l1B/122.81 ISuzI; 2. DoleW_ISuzI. COMBO: 1. JeIf Johnoon. 14.923187.20 lHonl. ET 1: I. Dale W_, 9.7031136.74 CHonI: 2. Mike La*1K8wl. ET 2: 1. Ron 13.078186.82 1K8w1: 2. Mike -.annc-!. NEWNMRA RECORDS: TOP RJEl: So CY8rochltliEn7..30. AJDT: Torry~ 1ET17.928. PROSTOCK: TorryV.... (En 8.791,IMPHI161.28. BIG: GooIl-.1ET18.-. EIGT: Dick Emmono 1ET19.73. IMPHlI36.33. EElG: RobinMiller len 9.478, IMPHII39.10. FFIG: Rendy Howoe len 10.431. ElF Shonnon Huat- (En 10.88. : AlA:. Elvin Go\IIIio len 9.011. AAJA:. TonyDelIET19.ll64.(MPHII39.98. DIA:. John Cunninghom len 10.675. IMPHlI23.79. D/AT:Jim Yodoc:kIEnB.70,IMPHII66.17. FFIA:. MikeHolmM len 10.661. ClM: RlcIt GeroCEn9.438. IMPHI 13B.87 . DIM: 0... Ragon (En 9.B18 fMPHlI33.72. , F/MT John Griego 1ET19.066,IMPHlI60.28. : G1MT: NomoIlnJce 1ET19.688, IMPHII48.34. HIMT: IIucky Mooreo CEn 9.288. 11M: l.orTy NeIoon len 10.88, IMPHII18.B9. J/MT: DoleDuttonlen 9.882. IMPHII37.81. KIM: Pot Doyle 1ET111.336. IMPHlI15.ll6. :JelfJ""'-n1ET114.B97.IMPHl87 .54. PIM AIS:VIC Forte len 11.087.IMPHlI22.61. CIS: Jim Dodich CEn 11.96.IMPHllll.94. AISS: er.Ig Ilumo CEn10.787. ClSS: Rog8' McPheIIlEn 11.099, IMPHI121 .62. _don.