Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Terry Vance (1) and Mike Keyte went head-to-head in the Pro Stock final. but a sour motor caused Keyte to red-light. g iving Vance an easy win. Elmer Trett captured the fastest Top Fuel heads-up run in IDBA drag racing history on his Cosworth Piston -sponsored Kawasaki. Cajun Pro Stock win to Vance 'DBA National Championship Drag Race Series: Round 2 Wills, Trett blister By George Hoffman Edgewater Park BAT O :'\ RO UG E, LA, MAY 27 By Lee Bida CINCINNATI , OH ,l\IAY 18-19 Californian Terry Vance and his VH R /U .S. Suzuki GS l150 topped P ro Stock and set quickest E.T. of the meet at the ID EA Sunshine Nationals at Edgewater Sports Park. In Top Fu el , Sa m Wills a nd Elmer Treu brought th e fans to th eir feet with th e fastest heads-up run in IDBA drag racin g hi story. 14 Will s a nd Trett, th e n umber o ne and two qua lif iers, respectivel y p u lled to th e stagi ng a rea a nd th e g ra nd sta nds sudde n Iv became a m ass o f s ta n d i ng p eop le . Th ey rumbl ed th ro ugh their burnouts a nd Trett staged fir st as Will s edged to th e line. T he lights o n th e Christma s Tree went to a m ber, the n gree n a nd th e two were gone. T re tr's Cos wo rt h P isto ns -sponsored Ka wasa ki broke th e rear tir e loose righ t o ff th e lin e, but th e smo ke d isa p pea red at about the 500-foo l mark . Will s' Naff Racin g Kawasa ki haled the rea r tire at about the 600-foot mark. Will s got th e win li gh t a nd a ll eyes turn ed to th e to wer above h is lan e a s the nu mbers ca me up: 7.50 seco nds at 196.93 mil es per h our. A cheer went u p a n d th en th e eyes turn ed to Tret ts scoreboard wh ich showed 7.58 seco nds a t 199.1 1 a nd pandem onium brok e loose. Will s a nd T re tt sp lit reco rd mak ing ho no rs for th e weekend wi th Will s droppi n g th e E.T. to 7.264 seconds whil e T reu u pped h is o wn to p speed record to 199. 11 mph fro m a p revious 197.36. T he fir st o rde r o f bu sin ess at Edgewater was unfi ni sh ed business from th e Gulfport Spring Nationa ls a nd th e ru n n ing o f th e Fu nny Bik e fin a l from th ere between George Bryce and Bo O 'Brochta, Bryce laid down a 7.74/ 158,45 to start off h is weekend to th e NHRA Cajun Drag Racing Nationals: losin g O ' Bro cht a effo r t of. 7.899 / 170.77. . Bryce m ad e o n ly o ne run o n his St a r Cycle Suzu ki tu r bo gasser in Fun n y Bik e qualifyin g , but it was a 7.633 ru n good for th e top spot in th e field a nd th en h e parked the hike. Bryce worked his wa y to th e fin a l with a win o ver Bern ard Kin g in rou n d o ne w hi le C ha rles Israel, o n a Bryce-sponsor ed mo unt, str uck g rem lins a nd Bryce was o n his way to th e fina l. Bill Timmons , on the Timmons Cycl e Kaw a sa ki, earn ed his ticket to th e fin a l wi th a win ove r th e broken ma chine o f Ma rk Mill er a nd a 7.93 / 169.8 1 pass pa st Sq uea ks O 'Con n or. T immons ha d h is worst pass, a n 8.06/ 168.85, agai nst Bryce in the fina l whi le Bryce was cooki ng up a 7.608 / 176.12 to tak e home th e money. Only 0.54 seco nds separa ted top Pro Stoc k q ua lifier Vance from Ral ph Pitl ock, the l.6th and last rider in the fie ld. Va nce's 8.290 pass in qual ifying stood as th e qui ckest o f the meet, but h e didn ' t need to di p that low 10 co me a wav wi th a not her wi n in the final. Va n~e sor ted h is way thro ug h the field turnin g run s a t 8,4 I, 8.1 0 a nd 8.35 fo r h is place in the fina l. Dave Sc h u lt z, o n th e Da ve's Carbur etor Serv ice Kaw a sa ki, slo wed dow n some as he wo rk ed h is wav 10 th e final via a win over R uss Ny berg, a so lo when J ohn Maf aro brok e, a nd a strong ride pa st Ra nd y Maso n in th e sem i. . Vance, o n th e VH R Raci ng / U.S. Suz u k i-s po nso red S uzu ki , dusted Sch u ltz in th e fina l with an 8.399 / 157.06 run to a losing 8.865 / 153.06. • Terry Vance and Mike Keyte staged another pair of their P ro Stock final confrontations with Vance the winner via a shutdown 9.384 second, 122.98 'm p h pass after Keyte red- _ ligh ted o n th e start . H o wever , the num bers don 't tell the entire ' story . T h e se tt in g was th e N H RA Cajun Na tion als, which hosted th e P ro St ock bi kes as a pari o f th ei r ca r raci ng p ro g ram at Sta te Ca pito l Dragw ay. - Vance, a board the lJ .S. Suzuk i, Vance &: Him's Racing , Arcel-spon so red S uzu ki ca me to Bat on Rouge dia led in and readv 10 ru n as eviden ced by th e three 8.30-second ra nge pa sses he made during elimi nati o ns a nd his strong nu m ber o ne qua li fyi ng po sit ion. In round o ne . Va nce laid do wn a n 8.-10/ 157.50 an d parked h is bike to do color co m ment a ry in th e to wer for the second ro und : T he nu m ber two qu a lifier was Keyte wi th h is fas test pass o f the wee ken d . a n 8.506 / 154.85. Dave Sch u ltz gu rhcrcd th e num ber three spot wi th h is n ew 1400c(' Vance &: Hines-bu ilt Ka wa sa ki. T he 8.508/ 156.8·1 that Sc h u ltz tu rn ed was a bit off his 8.37 bes t a t Gainesville. The nex t two q ualifiers - Ba rr y Kog ur a nd Ra nd y Ma so n - were a lso using la rge-d ispl acem ent Kaw a sa kis 10 bail ie the q ui ck ness of th e new S uzu kis . Thev were a ble to ru n a n 8.512 /153.38 'a n d a n 8.575 / 151.87. resp ectivel y. Kogut 's bike is ano the r Va n ce &: H i n es crea t io n. while Mason 's is a hom eg row n engine that Larry Cook does th e hea ds fo r. Because o f th e IDBA's new weigh I break s th is year (the N H RA P ro Stock races use the IDB A ru le book ) wh ich a llow the Ka wa saki s 10 ru n a bo u t 30 pou n ds lig h ter . ma n y o f the bik es are ru n n ing a full . 10 q u icker th an last year. T he r u le cha nge was do ne to offs et so me of th e ad va ntages o f Suzu ki's lfi-va lve head whi ch is much mor e ab letodel iverpow er a lllh rough t he power ba nd as co m pared to Kawasa ki's eight -va lve arrangement. T he lar ge di sp lacem ent Ka wasak is are now a ble to deli ver usable mi drange power with o ut being anc hored down by last yea r's addi tio na l weigh t. As w ith m ost dra g raci ng , th e fir st rou n d usua lly sees the seven fas t guys el im ina te th e seven no t-as-fast guys. T his h eld true excep t fo r Kogut and Steve Miles. Kogu t has been ru n ni ng ver y qu ick la tely a board hi s Regen cy Kaw asak i, whil e Miles, wh o ca n run very fast , has been ha ving trouble kee p in g rhe tran sm ission wit h in th e co n fi nes of th e cases o r getti ng it to sh ift gea rs in numeri c o rde r. T hi s time Miles' bi ke decided it wou ld sh ift from firs t to seco nd wh en i t felt lik e it, wh ich j ust h appened to be ab out tw o feet o u t o f the ga le - th a t is how yo u get a n 8.882 OUI o f a n 8.30s mach ine a nd sti ll turn a 154.37. Ma r k Macintosh o f M&:M Racing, th e bike's tu ner sa id, " T he wh ol e transm ission is brand new . T here's no t o ne o ld part in it, but it sti ll shi fts ea rlv." En ter Bvro n Hin es, wh o ca me over a n d la id tiext 10 th e bi ke for 10 m inu tes peering u p in to the transm ission . Aft er H ines not iced wha tever a tu ner like Bvro n ca n notice, th e tr ansmission was" co m p letely d isassem bled a nd reassembled - a ll in secl us io n. Wh en th e bike was ro lled back o u t the re was co ns idera bly mor e sm ili ng go ing o n as th ough the pro blem had tru ly been rectified , Well , to Kog u t's di sm a y, i t had. T he IwO ro lle d to th e li ne. When the lights ca me dow n , M il es was o u t first a nd a t eig h t reel was still in Iirs t gear, but sp in n i ng th e rea r tire. T hi s a ll ow ed Kog ut 10 in ch u p . Then , as thi ngs wou ld ha ve it, Kog u t's bike lo st spark fo r a sp lit seco n d a nd Miles ro lled to the wi n . Mi les turned an 8.555/ 155.97 to Kog u t's 8.858 / 155.22. Ro und two ga ve Van ce a bye run o n w hi ch he turn ed a n 8.332/ 157.39. (Co n tin ued to page /6)

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