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/126845
~ (.0 .... Q.) ..0 E Q.) > o Z . •Automatic Resets ·Calibret.. to ANY wheel siz. 'large, e.sy-to-r.ed display •Accurate to 5 feet per mite 'Speedometer readout • Bettettes stay in for entire ..eson "Eaiilly swil$:hes to Kilometer. "Records your top speacI reached during the run . . , (A bo ve) Sam Wills leav es t he line hard in t he near lane. runn in g against Elmer Trett in Top Fuel. Wills won and set a 200-mph record. (Below) Terry Vance won Pro Stock and set both ends of the IDBA record. . ' DBA Nati onal Championship Drag Ra ce Series: Final round Cell Todey 504/882-3107 leO/Performance Products P.O. Box 1294 Bayou Lacombe, LA 70445 200 mph Top Fuel r ecord, win and title to Wills at Gulfpor t By George Hoffma n GU L FPO RT, MS, ocr. 12-13 T op Fuel racer Sam Wills made drag racing history when he beca m e th e first rider to break the magic 200 m p h barrier more than once in a sa n ctioned m eet by posting record- - - - 1985- - ~IOTOCROSS d es N'."T I O N'S setting runs of 200.22 and 200.89 m p ha t the IDB A World Fina ls at Gulfport Intern a tion al Dragway. Wills' run of 200,89 mph , See The Ame ric an Team Beat The World For The Fifth Time! See Ge rman Pre· Rac e Ce remonies. Three Matos Plus , Tro p hy Presentations! . onlv ' $69.95 ~ plus $3 .00 for sh ip ping & handling Spe Cify Bet a or V HS " That' s a whole lot cheaper than going . plus you and friends can watch over and o ve r! " Send certifted chedl or money order In o personal checks) to : VIdeos by Professor Balley P.o . Bo. 1 30 Aden. VA 2 4 0 54·0130 " Since 1948" CAUFORNIA MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE AGENCY " D ON'T PA Y THR O UGH THE N OSE TO GET WIND IN YOUR FACE" (714) 956-5222 (2 13) 637-0751 32 P.O. Box 3B78 • Anaheim, CA 928 03 wh ich h e tu rned in th e Top Fu el fin al to defea t a rch r iva l El mer T re tt a nd clinch th e ser ies title, goes into th e record books as th e mark. Bo th we re ru n n i n g Kaw a sak i -ba s ed mounts. " T op Fu el has co me down to a tuner's war," sai d Will s. " Elme r an d I'ha ve eno ugh horsep ow er to go 200 mph so it's just goin g to be who ca n di a l in th eir co m bina tio n fir st and get th e po wer to th e ground." Will s drew first blood . After passes o f 194 and 197 in his first two qualifyin g ru ns , Will s, in th e "s lower" lefth and la ne , turned a 200.22 m ph p ass a t 7.36 secon ds. " Us ua lly w he n yo u go to high gear on a pass th e fro nt end will slow ly dro p down," sai d Wills. " O n th is pass, I h it h ig h a nd it j ust rea red back harder. I kn ew I was flying. " T h e pressure sh ifted to Trett , even more so since only 140 poi nts sepa ra ted hi m from Wi lls in th eir titl e chase. To ov ercome th e defic it T rett need ed to set a record and win th e fin al . Wh en Trett ro lle d to the line fo r h is fo urth round run in the "q u icker" right la ne, Dave McClure ha d just pos ted a 7.90-seco nd pass o n his Pro Cam p H arl ey. Trett went stra ig h t a nd true wi th the timers reading 7.291200.22 to g ive T reu th e top q ua lifying spo t via a q u icker ela psed ti me and the sam e speed as Wi lls . Will s elected to ru n in th e unda y mo rning session to see if he co u ld dia l in a bit more . T he track had j us t received a coa t o f VHT tractio n co mpo u nd and Will s ran a n amazing 7.27/212.01. Lat er. Will s sa id, " J'rn not rea lly su re th e speed is right. I th ink I carried th e fro nt whee l ove r th e timing lights a nd tripped the lights with m y rear wheel. " Allowi ng for thos e circu msta n ces, Wi lls ru n was still in th e 204 m p h ran ge. T he firs t round o f elim ina tio ns p itted T rett a n d his Tret r's Speed a n d Custom Kaw asa ki-based " Mo unta in Magic" mach ine agai ns t rook ie Dave Cook a nd h is Mo to rcycles U n lim ited Kawasak i. Trerr's 7.228/180.54 was the win ner, bu t as he rolled through the traps smoke was spew in g from th e engine from a brok en rod du ring th e run . Wills, o n the Virg il Na ff Raci n g m achi n e, fa ced the turbo- charged Ka wa sa ki of T err y Kizer. Kizer kn ew h e wou ld h ave to cu t a ligh t to beat Wills, but h e was o ut too quick a nd red-lighted away h is chances. Wills wo n with a 7.28/ 198.89 pa ss. T he fina l bet ween T re tt a nd Will s wou ld deci de everythi ng an d lit erally bro ugh t the lon g season do wn to j ust one pass for a ll the marbles. Wills ca me o ff th e li ne first wit h Trett ro arin g off a h ea rtbea t la ter. Abo ut 50 feet o u t it looked as if T rett was gaining o n Wills. T hen , it hap pen ed . A sligh t cha nge in th e pi tch of Trett's m otor, possi bly a sligh t ove r- revving for a sp lit seco nd, an d flames eru p ted from th e two left exha us t p ipes. T re u 's ru n was over. Meanw hi le, Wills wa s rocketin g to a 7.166/200.89 for the wi n, the tit le a nd a Nation a l record. "The rear tir e brok e tract ion for just a n in sta nt wh ich ca used th e engi ne to ov errev" said T re tt as he exp la ined wha t happen ed . " I felt ba d for Elme r," sa id Will s. " Bu t I have to th an k h im beca use if h e hadn ' t p ushed me so hard I never would hav e run as well as I di d." Terry Vance ha d a lready clinc hed the title in Pro Stock befo re th e Gulfpor t round. At th e World Fin al s he se t abo ut not ch in g records and didn ' t ta ke lon g to do so , lowerin g bo th ends in hi s first rou n d agai ns t Mark Sauro to 8.2 1/ 161. Mike Keyte's holesh o t eva pora ted aga inst Dave Sch u ltz in th e next run while Ru ss Nyberg quickly.m ade Randy Mason a spectator. Pau l Ga st beat Char lie Gressman to mo ve to th e next ro und whi le Benn y Men s, J ohn Ma faro , Stuart H31mby a nd Steve Miles a ll picked up wms, Vance an d Schultz staged a very close ru n in the quart erfin al s wit h Schultz off th e lin e fir st an d holdi ng h is own until the transm ission balked. Nyberg did awa y wi th Gast and Mens via a good rea ction time, and made Maf aro a specta tor. The round en ded with Mil es wi n n ing afte r. Hamby broke a motor. Sem i actio n sa w N yberg ge t a n edge o n Va nce off the lin e, but Vance ca me o n strong with a n 8.23/ 160.14 for th e wi n . In th e o th er pai ring it was Men s a nd Miles , b ut Miles' 8.39/1 56. 11 proved to be the winni ng run . Th e Pro Stoc k fi na l pa ired th e Vance & H ines Racing Suzu ki of Vance against Mil es a nd hi s M&M Racin g Kawasak i. Miles, in order to try to end tran smission pro blems whi ch have p lag ued him th ro ughou t th e season, switch ed to a four-speed u n it from Or ient Express before the meet a nd thi ngs were wo rking very well. Van ce ca me off th e line hard and never looked back. tu rn ing a win n in g 8.27/ 159.29 to Miles'losin g run o f 8.428 /156.79. •