Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126520
E ~ E ~ 00 0') ~ D ~ C(") ~ >- ns ~ The showdown: Jim Bernard Inear lanel and Terry Vance unleash 800 plus supercharged. nitro-fueled horsepower in the final. Vance collected the marbles. Vance tops outhern -Nationals By Gary Van Voorhis COMMERCE, GA, APR. 26 Terry Vance, on his Suzuki/Vance & Hines Rac.ing Suzuki, put down a 7.71 second, 158.45 mph run to Jim Bernard's 8.84/161.87, on his Yamaha/Vance & Hines Racing Yamaha in the NMRA of the NHRA' , S Southe~ Nationals at Atlanta International Dragway. portion 16 "It a good run" 'd V ,sal ance was while awaiting the awards ceremony. "I'm sorry Jim (Bernard) had some trouble or it wouJd have been a show right down to the finish This is the . r : . II first time out lor what IS baslca y a 'k d h k II new .b I e an to . ave won ma . es a the time Byron Hmes spent work 109 on it worthwhile." "I knew I had a problem when I saw Ter 's front wheel out of the corner of my 7re," said Bernard afterwards. He had begun to drift toward the outside of his lane and the bike did not respond well to maneuvers to rorrect it . . makmg Bernard back off shghtly and that was that. Bo O'Brochta took his Terminal Van Lines sponsored Kawasaki to the top qualifying spot with a 7.503 second run in his first pass. ::1 ev~n shut off near the end, said O'Brochta, "because of the gusting wind." Bernard and Vance rounded out the top three at 7.649 and 7.644 ds . I . h . h b'k secon, respective y, 10 t e elg t i e field. The first round of quarter-finals saw O'Brochta put a wicked holeshot on Larry McBride. O'Brochta's winning 7 "7 d h I ET f h .., secon pass was t e ow 0 t e meet. Mc B'de n'd' a J 0 h nson H'Igh n 109 P ~. ' ed K k' er ormance sponsor awasa I owned by .former Top Fueler Danny Joh~son s,,:,d .later h~ ha~ made a bad chOlc; of t1re--changmg Just before the roun . . . Terry Vance g?t a sol~ run 10 hl~ round when Chns ~and s Kawasaki gave up before It started. The Redneck Racing sponsored bike blew back through the supercharger's popoff valve as it was being started and his ride was over. Jim Bernard and Dennis Sargent were next up with Sargent vowing not to let Bernard off easily. Unfortunately, Sargent got badly out of shape at the start and spent the rest of the run trying to get back in a straight line. Sargent runs a selfsponsored Kawasaki. The final run in this round pitted the R.C. Engineering/Davis Engineering Kawasaki of Wayne Davis against Marion Owens' Boss Hog double Harley-Davidson. Davis cut the lights clean while Owens came up with one balky engine a quarter way down the strip. On paper the first semi looked to be a hot one with O'Brochta and Vance having a go at it. "I ran conservatively in the first round," said O'Brochta before the start, "so we've turned things up a bit for this race." However, when they tried to start O'Brochta's bike it broke a rod with a big bang. "It's one of those things," said a disappointed O'Brochta. Vance then laid down a solo 7.59 second pass in an effort to get the lane choice for the final. Davis and Bernard met in the other semi with Bernard coming out on top after Davis' engine lost power after a superb start. Both riders experienced problems early on. Bernard and tuner Ron Teson spent an anxious time correcting a fuel problem -- the engine wouldn't run smoothly when the throttle was cracked wide open. Davis had his engine torn apan and thought he had an extra hour to work because he hadn't set his watch ahead for the change to Daylight Savings Time. He compressed what needed to be done into 20 minutes and barely made the staging area for the first round_ Vance and Bernard were all smiles in the staging area. "This is great," said Vance. "We staned our racing careers together_" "It's been a struggle to get things together," said Bernard, "and now everything is really in place." They staged, Bernard taking the left lane with Vance in the right. On the green Vance got the advantage off the line and held it as Bernard drifted toward the outside of the track using body English and throttle control to correct. It seemed as if the wall had a magnet in it for Bernard couldn't seem to straighten out. Vance wasn't having it all that easy either. He had begun to drift toward the center and was also leaning his weight to the opposite side of the drift to correct. "I had to shut off because I was getting too close to the center Line," said Vance. "It's been one heck of a weekend and this is a perfect ending." •