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00 0') ~ 00 CN I-< Cl) ..c o -' c.J o IClockwlH from top leftI CoIllna and the R.C. Engineering crew get their trophy from NMRA'a Jim HerrIL &em ~ Nt a MW 7.27-ucond ET record. Terry Vence amoked to aecond, aettIng top apHd along the way. The ell- Impormnt final race . . . ColIna getting off the line aheed of Vance 1__ 1e".I, "BRA Winston World Finals The Seoreerer's lasttrlek By Dale Brown Photos by Brown IRVINE, CA, OCT. 17·18 Russ Collins officially retired the double-engine blown Honda Top Fuel dragster "The Scorerer," with a victory in the motorcycle portion of the National Hot Rod Association's Winston World Finals at Orange County International Raceway. Collins won the race at the starting line when his initial ad· 14 vantage off the line and subsequent 7.56 second run at 191.48 mph stood up to Suzuki-mounted Terry Vance's quicker 7.52/192.50. "We've been working on this thing day and night," said Collins. "We worked on it until 5 a.m. this morning. I guess it goes to show that hard work pays off." Though he didn't win, Olr.lahoma's Sam Wills came away from the meet with the new Top Fuel elapsed time record. Wills and the Motorcycles Unlimited Kawasaki ran a near·record 7.50 to wind up as top qualifier. Wills lowered the record in the first round when his motor blew midway down the track. " The meet provided near·optimum record setting conditions. The track was in good shape and the rubber laid down by the many cars provided excellent traction. In fact, in the automotive Top fuel class, a six-year·old ET record was broken when the event's winner turned in a 5.57-second quarter mile. Qualifying Eight bikes showed for an eight·bike field, so no one was bumped out. As mentioned before Wills was the quickest with a 7.50/195.96 run. On the pass however, the bike scuffed a piston and the team headed for the Vance and Hines shop for a teardown. Vance's VHR Suzuki was the second fastest in qualifying, turning in a 7.55 at 192.50. Collins was the third bike on the ladder with a best-ever ET of 7.56 at 191.48. The pass was at no little expense, however, breaking a piston, rod, head, cylinder and a couple of valves. The team headed directly for their Gardena shop and the Sorcerer was soon down to its frame. Jim Bernard was the fourth fastest qualifier at 7.78/164.55 on the Tcson &: Bernard Yamaha. He was followed on the ladder by the Keith Davis Kawasaki, which turned in a 7.99/175.09. The rest of the field, Harley-Davidson mounted Keith Ruxton, Clyde Rawlinlls and Marion Owens had ETs of 9.54, 10.76 and 12.47, respectively. Ellmil'Nltiona The first race of the day was the pairing of Wills and Davis. Wills, who had beaten Bo O'Brochta in the fint round of the IDBA World Finals the week before, saw Davis get the holeshot, but he clOlled it up immediately with a record ET of 7.27 at 191.08. Since he had already turned in the necessary within.one·percent back up run with his 7.50 qualifying mark, Wills had himself a record. "I love it," grinned Wills in the pits after the run. "We've been working for this a long time. I just hope we can go a little quicker in the next round. Davis got me out of the hole - we had a little bit of a clutch problem and I couldn't stage it as hard and deep as I wanted to without chancing a red light," Davis ran a 7.95/171. 75. The next race featured Collins and Rawlings. Collins was fmt away from the line, but the big 'Fueler nearly got away from him about 100 yards down the track. "The tire turned on me and sent me sideways. I couldn't steer it away from the wall. Something this big you can't steer. It e.iclr.s its own direction." Collins fmaUy corrected the errant run with a wcll:timc blast on the throttle and went on to turn in an 8.94/167.91. Rawlings went 11.12 at 85.48. Vance and Ruxton were next up and it was Vance all the way with a heads·up 7.29/194.58 to Ruxton's 9.46 at 142.65. This run by Vance would stand up as the high mile per hour run of the day. The final race of the first round was Bernard VI. Owens, and the Yamaha topped the Harley double with an 8.07/180.72 to 10.57/99.66. Collins had near disaster strike aftt!1' the fint run. Collins was towing the Sorcerer with a Honda ATC down the return road with two other ATV drivers, not looking where they were going, coming the other way. Collins screamed at them, but they didn't reo act until the last moment, panicking and heading straight for Collins. Russ hit the brakes and mana~ to avoid a collision, but in the incident the tow rope wrapped around the Sorcerer's front tire, cutting and flattening it. Mter pushing the bike a half mile back to the pits, Collins borrowed a front tire off Davis' bike to prepare for the next round. The second round paired Wills and Collins and Vance and Bernard. Wills was first out of the gate against Collins, who again got croucd up leaving the chute. But just after shiftlng into high, Wills' machine blew two pistons and Collins raced past at the big end, turn· ing a 7.66/186.55 to Wills' slowing 7.94/155.44. Vance got a bye run out of his contest when a fuel fitting broke looec on Bernard's machine, spiUing nitro on the track. Vance turned in another 7.29, this time going 187.49 to earn his choice of lanes on the final run. The final was one of the best races in recent memory. Collins got the edge on the start - his reaction time was .511 seconds to Vance's .590 - and the double stayed straight. Vance made a gallant effort, turning in a faster run, but Collins CI'OlIICd the finish line first, running a 7.56/191.48 to Vance's 7.52/192.50. One previously unsuspected bit of damage from the incident after the first round showed up on the track" in the last round: The handlebars, con· nected by links to the fork crown, were dama~ and during the run the handlebars came looec. "It wasn't that bad," said Collins, "you just usc the handlebars to stage with. After that you steer with your body and your feet. Still, I wouldn't want them to come completely off." "We ran well, but we got smoked," said Vance. "I didn't get a good light. And we didn't give Russ enough credit for going strong. We thought if we had a good run we'd win." Mtcr its six·year career, the Sorcerer was retired a winner. Collins put it bluntly: "I'll never ride that thing again." •