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/126789
Elmer Trett sustained injuries in a crash early in the weekend. cerned for the condition of Trellthan he was, at the time, for the numbers on his ti me ticket. The run made Wills only the third person to run in the 7.0 range in history. Only Bo O'Brochta (7.08) and Terry Vance (7.05) had accomplished the feat previously. (Vance went 6.98 @ 203.61 mph at a non-official race in 1982.) [n the absence of Elmer Trell, Top Fuel qualifying looked like thi : Wills first at 7.03, Brian Johnson on the Richie Rich Racing Kawasaki next at 7.53, then Larry McBride on his Blue Magic Kawasaki with a 7.72, and Craig Burns on the R&W Motors, Race Design Kawa aki on the bump with a 7.82. In round one, Sam Wills du ted Larry McBride's Kawasaki running 7.21 at 191.89 mph to McBride's 10 ing 7.62/176.81. The other pairing aw teammates of sort, Johnson and Burns, running against each other. Both riders were aboard machine that had some allegiance to Race Design. When the dust had cleared it was Brian Johnson going into the finals to face off with Wills. John on running a 7.48 to Burns' 7.70. Both Wills and Johnson studied the track carefully before they staged their machine. Wills, perhaps more accustomed to the NHRA starter, Bu ter Couch, took a .05 holeshot lead from Johnson and held it for his first NHRA crown ever. Sam recorded a 7.28/192.10 for the win while Johnson was far from embarrassed by his superb 7.35/192.3'0 pass. In the semi-finals, for the accompanying Funnybikes, Terry Kizer caught a break when John Sands' Honda would not shift into third gear. Sands had cuta .09 light against Kizer's .43 light. Kizer nipped him in the lights when he ran a 7.80/177.86 to Sands' game 8.26/164.53. Kizer's margin of victory was a scant .13 seconds. On the other half of the ladder George Bryce III and Charles Israel were re-enacting the final from the U.S. Nationals in 1983. The two Americus, Georgia, racers both wanted to reach the final again this year, but for Charles Israel here is where the dream died. Bryce got a solo when Israel lost fire in the burnout. Bryce ran a 7.6 /175.78 and took lane choice in the process. As the pair lined up for the final Bryce was confident that if he ran as well as he had been all day he would have the edge while Kizer had to be a lillIe worried as he had been slowing down mostof theday. When the light turned green Bryce had taken a tip from John ands and left Terry at the starting line. George cut a .05 light while Kizer was forced to give chase with a .12 reaction time. Bryce was not about to be denied for the second year in a row and he made his best pass of the event in defeating Terry Kizer. Bryce ran a 7.61/178.92 to Kiz'er's 7.63}17S:2~.ยท .. . ...