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o 00 0') .-4 Ru•• Collin. end hi. Top Fueler Sorcerer returned to 8CtI0n. ColHna w.. runner-up to winner So O'Srochta. Rick Stetaon Inear Ianel carne ciON to winning Number One In the Pro Comp dlvlalon. but Geoff Mann Ifw' Ianel woulc:l not be denied. O'Brochfa, Bruso, Vance aMasfers scoreaf NMRAf'na'e By Greg Guerinello ATCO, NJ, OCT. 4·5 With over 400 motorcycles in competition and a spectator crowd that pack.ed both sides of the quaner mile for its entire 8 lmgth. the NMRA seuon finale at Atco Raceway took on imponant meaning. This wu the race that would decide the division champs for the 1980 leuon in most clUlleS u well u determining the winner of the covened R.C. Engineering Sportsman Gold Cup. With the large competitor tum out for the event, the R.C. Cup and the number ones would he even harder to win u many more rounds of competition would he necessary to win the event. The man who hu terrorized Top Fuel ranb of late, Bo O'Brochta. wu at it again and took his poSition atop the qualifying ladder. Perhaps the biggest IUrprilIe of the meet wu Ruaa Col1ina who put his newly renovated Sorcerer into second qualifying poeition. Elmer Trett, Larry McBride, Roland Stuan, Jim Bernard, Steve Cooper and Frog Thacker rounded out the top eight. O'Brochta opened the fint round of eliminations by trailering Stuan. The Terminal Van Line entry ran a 7.619 lIeCond/185.56 mph pass while Stuan clocked 8.798/165.15. The next pairing wu to have been Trett and Cooper, but Cooper cruhed hard on Saturday requiring NTgery on his left ankle. Steve Ruggerio, the fint alternate, took Cooper's place. However. he lost his primary chain doing a burnout and Trett took a solo to the win. Collins and Bernard were the next pair up. Neither rider came clOle to put performances u Collins put Bernard on the trailer and advanced to· the semis. Frog Thacker's new frame for his Kawuaki worked just fine u he made McBride a spectator. Round two opened with another of those O'Brochta/miracle quaner·mile puses. Bo took the radical Kawasaki to a sub·record clocking of 7.276 seconds at 189.87 mph. Needless to say Bo's opponent, Elmer Trett, wu left to pack up u he could only muster an 8.027/172.74. On the other side of the ladder a very much "unretired" Ruaa Collins faced Frog Thacker for a shot at the finals. It wu no contest though u Frog took all the teeth off of his sprocket during his burnout. Collins ran a 7.958/185.18. The final wu now berween the two record holders .. O'Brochta, who holds the ET record and on two occasions hu run under it and Ruaa Collins who holds the MPH record. As Collins brought the double blown Honda to the Tine, the crowd wu on its feet. When the green hit O'Brochta left harder than anyone hu ever lIeeD him leave and it wu obvious that he wanted that ET record even lower than it wu. Collins, meanwhile, seemed to skate on the panially cool race surface. At mid·track it wu all O'Brochta and the excitement wu growing in the crowd, would Bo get the record? Collins tried all the tricks that he knew to correct his problems but to no avail. Meanwhi1e Bo, caught whatever dilIe_ wu plaguing Collins u his frame flexed somewhat allowing his distributer to anack aJ(ainst the motor destroying the mag cap. Bo continued sputtering and spitting down the track for the win. Collins recorded an off pace 8.51/116.75 pus whi1e O'Brochta brought home all the marbles with a clocking of 7.74/156.25. Super Eliminator quaner finals Ir.'t underway with top qualifier Mike Bruso euily covering Alan Arbor. Bob Malloy wu the next winner u he eliminated the only Harley in the field .. Jim McClure's .. with an easy run. John Baugh had an easy time in trailering Jim Cooper while Eraldo Ferracci made Mike Murdock a spectator. Bruso opened the second round with a win when he defeated a red-lighting Bob Malloy. Bruso took the Power Ent. Kawasaki for a 7.99/172.74 mph ride. Jon Baugh wu the winner of the next race, though it wu a toll up from the starting 1ine. Baugh lined up acroa from rival Eraldo Ferracci and when the green ~t hit Ferracci wu long gone. As this wu Baugh's last obltac1e-between him and Mike Bruso for the Super Eliminator points Championship, it looked like all wu lost. When the two riden got out past the Christmu Tree it wu Ferracci by a full bike length. When they got to mid·range it wu still Ferracci. When they got to the fint mile per hour light it wu still Ferracci. The Orient Express crew of Jack O'Malley and George Babor had a sinking feeling that the leuon WU over. But, through IlOIJle miracle BauJlt wu able to get: put Ferracci and mp him at the lights. The showdown wu back onl The two top Super Eliminator camps went about busiDelll u usual, preparing for the biggest race of the year, but it wu easy to lee how nervous everyone wu. The Power Enterprises crew ofD, Frank Chatterson, Shoe and Bruso went about their task quietly u did the Orient Express crew of Jon Baugh, George Babor, Tommy Foley and Jack O'Malley. The stage wu let, down through a seven month leuon all the marbles rode on the lut eight plus seconds. The bikes were fired, the burnouts done, riders were instructed u to where the bike should line up, fingers were crosaed. The race wu now in the hands of the riders. The pre· staged lights were lit, the riden alternately pulled and then pushed on the throttle grips, the air wu thick with tension. This was it! Bruso took the early lead and ~ ooce did he look bacIr.. The race wu his, the lIeaIOD wu his, Super Eliminator Number One wu his. Mike ran an 8.02/175.74 to Jon's 8.51/165.15. Pandemonium broke 100ee OIl the starting line. Although the Pro Stock Number One plate wasn't on the line .. Terry Vance hu had already lIeC\Ired it·- the action wu hot and heavy none the less. Rivals Vanee and Bob Carpenter led the qualifying. However, the number three qualifier wu a bit of a surprille -' Thomu Klarlr.ner traveled from Sweden to take that slot. Mike Keyte, John Sachs, Ed Ryan, Jay Drieder and Chris Lynn filled the remaining slots. Vanee dropped Sachs in the opening round with K1arkDer putting Krieder on the trailer. Ryan feJl to Carpenter and Lynn took the final win over Joe Folgore who took Keyte's place after Keyte lunched the bottom end of his motor. KIakner Ir.Dew he had to get off the 1ine quickly in order to be Vance in the lIemi. He tried too hard and red· liKhted. Carpenter euily downed chrlsLynn. The final wu rather anti-dimactic as there wu no Number One plate on the 1ine, but Vance did his best to malr.e it exciting. Terry not only defeated Carpenter, but, he also tied his record letting ET in doing 10. Terry clocked an 8.77/150.25 to Carpenter's redlight 8.92/145.16. Pro Comp wu another division where the championship wu on the line. The two competiton involved in the year·long challe were Rick Stetson and Geoff Muten. Muten, the low qualifier, led off the eliminations with a bye. Stetson went to the lIemi with a win over Bill Baker while Mike Puglia defeatedJay Doyle to end the round. The lIeCond round saw he anticipated showdown for the championship. Masten took the round and Number One by defeating Stetson. Geoff ran a fine 8.99/145.86 to Stetson's 9.42/159.55 pus. Mike Puglia ended the round with a solo run. The fmal pitted Masters' four·stroke Kawasaki against Puglia's two-stroke Kawasaki. When the green came down Masten took off for the other end with Puglia in pursuit. Puglia never <;aught Masten and Pro Comp went to the Ron KroI machine ridden by Muters. Muten ran an 8.99/145.86 to Puglia's 10sing 9.58/159.51. Jim Yodick red·lighted away the final in Competition Eliminator in anticipation of the handicap given to Gary Goodwin. Modified Eliminator racing saw Denny Johnson win his second event of the year in easy fuhion u he had a bye in the fint round. wu the recipient of a gift by red·lighting Jore Haugh and then had Wayne Robertson red·light in the final for another effonless run_ Ed Hedrick worked his way through the Stock Eliminator ranb to come up with the division win. The final saw Hedrick win a tight race with Phil Bal1ageon. The final in Combo Eliminator wu all Pave Peceraro u he put down a 12.54/104.28 to Rickard Daly's 11.87/108.82. Peceraro wu just .08 off his dial in the win. •