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pace 8.18. In the tint roaDd be had a bye run. ~ up was Bo O'Brochta ft.. Deunis Sarpat. O'Brochta laid clown low E.T. and top speed with a 7.62 at 185.29 to Supam', 8.21/170.15. JUD Bernard was IUJIPCIR to pit bit Yamaha apiDat Il.- CoIIim but Collin', HGIIda crackaI a cue and munched a craDk when a blower belt let go cluriDg quaIifyiDf. But that didn't beIp Bernard that much. The atarter IDCIlOI' for the Yamaha had brokal a abaft . . SatunIay and dl'ona to repair it raakt:d in ~ ~ . ODe Jut attempt prIl'I'M to be &uiduD and the bike IIaIUd. AI Bernard brouPt the bike to the tiDe owaer Roo Teaon mad£ a pare 01 pnyer with hit baoda oaly to lee the bike u. a chain on the run. If the Ca1ifonIia. baaed team could beat tknwe'- they had a chance to win the race. In the aecond roaDd the oaly two racers to win a NMlL\ crown in Top Fuel tbia ~ had to meet, Vance and O'Brochta. Vance left O'Brochta by a1m0lt two bW:a as the Kawasaki IpWl the tire. But at the other eud Bo was turning it on while Vance drifted to the edge of the lane and had to shut off to avoid going off the track. The win lixht went to Bo and Vance coaated through with a 9.89 at only 85.79 mph. Bernard had a bye run and laid down the team's bat run in IIOIDe time with a 7.77/178.21 mph. Bernard and Bo were in the Iioal and Bernard bad the lelia fal'OJ'able 01 the lanea. But again O'Brochta IpWl the tire as Bernard launched 1RIl. The Yamaha started to burn piacoIII and loae power at the other eud while the Kawasaki was chuJiuI. The win went to Bernard with an 8.07/158.75 to Bo's sIigbtly quicker 8.06 at lBO.OO. For T _ Ud Bernard it was the tint victory in a fnuuatiD«-- -' eX) en CN .... Q) ..c o ~ u o FunnyBik. Only the faatat apt mae it into Funny Bih "'imina~ and for the second time in a nnr Vmcr Santangelo, the paiDa leader, failed to qualify. Six Funny Bih riden were to be iDdueted into SeftIl Secoud Club at the banquet that Dip but DO one was able to hit the _ during the day. Number one qualifier Terry Kizer put a_y the __ populu Harley of Ray Prier in the fiut I'IIUDd, 8.24/161.87 to Prier',8.95/1!5.69. In the aecond roaDd Kizer met the DDtDber three qualifier, Bob LytbIIL Kizer . prnaiIecl with an 8.29/15~toa 9.17/157.54. The IiDal pined KDer', MTCIMr. Turbo Kawaali apiDat the Orieat Expraa bih oiJaa &aup. BaaP had beateD Ken Laudwher and Jim Cooper on bit _y to the 6DaL AI the two approached the ItartiDa tiDe a ..,m game bepn. BaaP waited a ftI'J lung time to . . . did Kizer. YmaDy SauP IIIOftd to the tiDe. The pair left teJFtber but it qaidIy ........"'" mcIeat that SauP" Ita..ui was - . ita dutch and Kizer took the win with a 8.56/169.49 to Sa.', 10.17 at W_', (Topl So O'Brochta I.,.. 18nel.mok.. tM tire .. Jim Bemerd .k.. tM hoIeehot In Top FueI.IMIddleI Bob c.rpenter 121 topped Terry V--=e In Pro Stock.lAbovel Funny Bike winner Terry Kizer. Bernard, Kizer, Carpenter win NMRA U.S. Nationals By Steven Crosby Photos by Greg Guerln.llo ATCO, NJ, OCT. 5-4 The classic themes in literature are based on the conflicts man encounters against other men, nature, machines or himself. Everyone of these themes had a story to go with it at the 15th U.S. Nationals at Atco Dragway. At some drag races one lane is good and the other is ·slippery. Saturday qualifying at 10 Atco was a choice between a bad lane and a "why bother" for any motorcycle which had a big tire. Pro qualifying was unimpreuive all day except for the 8.85 Pro Stock run by Bob Carpenter in the middle afternoon. The wind was also a serious problem on Saturday. Temperaturell were in the low ~ all day and there was a strong era. wind blowing acn8 the track. Terry Kizer was a1mOM blown off the track on one run as the front wheel on his Funny Bike was lifted off the ground and only an imitation of a Winston Pro rider in a tum saved him from injury. By Sunday the wind had died down and temperatUrell were in the middle 60s but traction was still hard to fmd. Top Fuel Suzuki's Terry Vance qualified number one in Top Fuel with an off 99.55. Pro Stock Pro Stock c:amr down to a battle 01 the DDtDber one and two quaIifien, Bob Carpenaer and Terry Vance. Carpenter, a reuDt tra. . . . .t to New Jeney, bad been tatiD« the alippuy Atco track the week befon:. It I""'M'CI to make the diffaeace as be qualified on top with an 8.85/148.51. Vance was number two with a Jut minute 8.94. Randy Muoa and Mike &eyre rounded out the top four with 8.94 an 8.97 timet, iiEiopect:i....'. Carpenter had a bye in the tint round and ran the meet', bat time at 8.82. In the aeamd roaDd the Itory was the falter bike otei m ins the slower bih's better reactiaa time. In each race it was a come &om bebind Yictory. Carpenter defeated lteyte, 8.89 to 9.12. a.- beat "PizzaJobn" Mafaro, 8.95 to 9.20. Vance beat Carpenaer's new empJo,er, Joe FoIpre, 8.85 to 9.17. In the fint roaDd Vance let top apeed of the meet with a blast 01152.54 mph. The aemia pitted Carpenter apinat Muoa. V~ had a bye to the Iioal and ran aD 8.94/151.51. Carpenter knew be was in deep APi- Mason, who had becomr very clllllliatent on hit Kawaaki. Carpenaer took a half bih lead off the tiDe and it was juat moup to defeat ae- by half a wheel .. Carpenaer ran a 8.91/148.76 to Muon', better 8.88/148.02. The IiDal . . a fwmj)j.r ODe with • unfamiliar mcIiDg. The two SuzukiI left the line with a sIigbtly better reaction time by Carpenter. Vance couldn't get around him and Carpenter won with a 8.85/149.00 to Vance's right there 8.85/1SO.75. It was the first time in mer a ~ in Pro Stock that Vance bad been defeated in aD all out race. RC Spor1MI8n Cup The top Spai lIiiWl class rider of the year was to win '5,000 from RC Engi. neering. Going into the U.S. Nationals the top four in the standings had uaed their five race quota and had to hope the rat would fail to pall them. The bat chance to win was held by Jim Dodich, but be failed to win his claas and did DOt mae it into IiDal elimina· tioos. The only other two with a chance were Modified riders Paul G_ and Ed Warren. The two were teeD tryiJII to ~ out what they had to do to win, mcluding meet each other in the third roaDd. But that never c:amr to pus • Galt went out first roaDd wben bit bih wouldn't shift into third pro Warren was on hit _y, but had to win in the final with bit Hoada to capture the big 1DODeJ. He made it to the 1iDal. The prasure was imJDrlll" as the difference in winDing or IoIina was' mer three graDd. Warren had the handicap bead ItUt but cou1d DOt hold off Lance Boyer. AI J'DDDeI"·up Warren .m-d winDing the RC Cup by 50 points. YiM in the RC Cup standings was Frankjonel m. In other IJICli IIiiWl action Rich S - defeated Rid Gero in Pro <:Gnp. Joe Ye&F uaed a bolabot to win Super Mocti&d on bit Yamaha mer the record aeuing run of Mih I'biIliJII on a VHR Suzuki. Jay WiJIon won to campetitioa; Lance Boyer in Modified; TCIIil Faucher was the victor in Stock and TCIIil AJIIIeaey won Combo. .,. ......... At the NMlL\ banquet aewual apeciaI awarda were pm out in additivn to the DDtDber one plate bnplliea for 1981. Pro Rider 01 the Year went to Terry Vance while bit partneI' BJi'UIl HineI receited the Pro ..........- 01 the Year award. Rookie 01 the Year went to Funny bike rider Vmcr S...taJlFlo who woo the class in his tint ~ of campetition. Sparmnan Rider 01 the Year was the RC Cup champ Frank Jas- III. Sparmnan mechanic: went to the fti'J popular Rid StetIOD. Murdock RaciDI EnteIpiiaea was the recipient of the Maunfacturer of the Year award. SPo-" of the Year was a tie between U.S. Suzuki, who a1Io _ the Manu· facturer's Cup, and Manley. The guya at C'JC/4 N _ _ the media award. • Results -.A ....TIONAL CHAMI'lONS FOR 1111 TOP RIEL: 100'8lacNa~. R--.. ~ Twny 1Carae-t. PRO STOCK: PROCOIP. _T:ev:'''";'CSud. CSud. SUI'BIMllW&l: _~CSud. COl Liii ilIN: co-et Iryw lK8wI. MllW&l: 1 CSud. STOCK:T ~lK8wI. ~T _ /lwv-ttHcri. lit &POImlMo1lN OJ' - . STANIlIIIliS: 1. ..... II; 2. Ioo/r. 1 Ed ~ 4. VIc r-5. _ ~ DcllIcIl:7. co-et"........ ~ .. ~...-..:1O'T.... ~ .