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/126846
.... Q,) ..0 E Q,) > o Z Terry Vance (Suz. GS1150, near lane) turned an 8 .37 sec., 1 5 9 mph pass to defeat Craig Burns (Suz. GS11 00) in the first Pro Stock round. (Bel ow, left) Vance and his Byron Hines-prepared Suzuki won four of f ive 1985 NHRA/ NMRA Nationa ls to keep his number one plate. (Bel ow, right) John Mafaro . NRRA Winston World Finals Vance prevails in Pomona By D avid Lindstrom POM O NA. CA. OCT. 19-20 Terry Va n ce, aboard the Vance & Hines Suzuki, swept the Pro Stock field with an 8.38, 157.72 mph run at the 21st Annual Winston World Finals at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomoona, California. Vance , who sat in th e number-two qua lifyin g spot with an 8.372 after Sat- 26 urday' s runs, did it th e hard way. A broken tran smission on h is fi rst p ass resulted in a do-or-die situa tio n, since th e Nation al Hot Rod Association (N H R A) alloued th e Pro Stockers on ly two qualifying runs. C harli e Gressm an. with on ly 10 run s on a new Kosma n Chassis Suzuki , nail ed down top q ua lifier o n h is first ru n - an 8.359 pass , " I gal in the ba ck of th e line for th e seco nd run to see if a n va ne ran faster, " sa id G ressman . " No o ne di d ." Bu tch Spencer. who o wn s Gressm an's Suzuki. was so elated with hi s Van ce & Hines-bu ilt m o tor th ai o n Sundav he hi red a n a irp la ne to circle the' tra ck w ith a banner in tow . readi ng, "Tha n k Yo u Vance & H in es - Bu tch ." In fact. seven of rhe eig h t top positions sport ed Vance & Hines motors. The eigh th . T ommy Bolton, runs a Ron Durhambuilt Suzuki using a Vance & Hines head a n d cylinder . Barry Kogut an d John Mafaro were th ird a n d fourth qualifi ers w ith runs a t 8.395 a nd 8.450, respec tively. Kogut, current ly ran ked number two in th e Internati onal Drag Bike Associat ion, m ad e th e tr ip to Pomona from hi s h ome in J acksonvill e, Florida , aft er Byron Hines o ffered h im hi s Suzuki for a ride. "It took meonl y two runs to feel co mf o rta ble o n th e bik e, but it 's not as qui ck as m y Kawa sak i," sa id Kogut. Fifth an d sixth qualifier s. Gary ' Pen a (Kaw) a nd Craig Burns (Suz), tu rned in bests o f 8.469 and 8.4 76. Both o f th eir second runs were slo wer, as it was with a lmos t everyo ne. The afternoon heat, a m ild head wi nd a nd excess ru bber o n the track were the cul prits. The NHRA crew did th eir best to keep th e rubber pee led o ff th e start li ne. but even wi th two scra pes a day . precise wheel spi n was difficu lt. Tommy Bolton a nd Lou C uviello rounded o u t th e to p eig ht wit h 8.496 and 8.571 passes. Cuviellowas having tran smission a nd other problems . T he root of hi s disa ppoi nting 8.57 ru n beca me appa rent when he pulled the to p end a nd fo u nd fo ur bent va lves a nd tw o cracked pi stons. A quick Sat urday n ight trip 10 th e nearby Vance & Hines shop had every th ing , bac k together for Sun day. Fi rst ro u n d eli m ina tio ns pitted Gressm an an d Pen a . Pen a pulled o ff a h ealth y hol esh ot wh ich he held to the fini sh , with a n 8.55 to Gressm an 's faste r but di sappoint in g 8.54. Bol ton a nd Kogut paired off next, but Bol ton promptly red-lighted. "I knew I needed to make u p one -tenth o f a secon d o n Barry (Kogut ) at th e lin e, bUI I cu t it too close by six onc- hu ndred ths of a seco nd ." said Bol to n. " I sa w hi s red lig h t, but I had to flo g it for a good ET and lan e cho ice. T he fa ster ca rs ha ve a ll been in the right lan e a nd th at 's wh ere I wanted to be." sa i ~1 Kogu t. H is slip read 8.37 , whi ch was th e best in round one and second best for th e da y. The third pair staged Vance vs. Burns. Van ce had a one-tenth faster quali fying run than Burns. Vance cut a close light and jumped to a so lid two-bikelength lead in first gear. " I' pulled even with him in seco nd . but Vance just stea dily motored away and had me by two lengths a t the ligh ts," Burns said dejectedl y. Cuviello and Mafaro squared off for the fin al run , which was the slow est of th e round. Cuviello had an 8.57 run to Mafaro 's 8.62. Both rid ers were ca ug h t sn oo zing on th e lin e a s both had high reaction times: Mafaro a .520 and C uviello a .554. Cuviello got th e jum p . a nd lat er sa id . " I co u ld h ear him ga in ing o n m e rig h t u p to th e ligh ts." In th e fir st ro u nd of semis. 'Kog u t had hi s righ t-la ne choice, but didn 't need it as Pen a. stagi ng in a p ool of oi l.was sh u t do wn o n the li ne by the a ler t NHRA crew . A starter boss scre w had worked loose on Perra's bike. ''I' m g la d th ey spo tted it, " said Pen a. "That could have ru in ed my whole da y." Kogut so loed in for Sunday's low est ET of 8.32. The next stage had Vance vs. Cuvi ell a . Vance p ull ed off a no ther win at 8.44/ 158.50, but it was h is slowest ru n of the wee ke n d . C u viello was ne ver in th e hunt with a slo w reaction tim e o f .554. Wit h most of th ese Pro Stoc k m ot ors ch u rning ou t comparati ve h or sepow er figu res, reaction times mu ch a bov e .500 just abou t spe ll di saster. " I' m usu ally down in th e mid- to-high .40s," said Cuviell o. " Bu t I'm happy adva nc in g thi s far - the compe tition here has been fierce:' The Kogu t vs. Vance fin al looked lik e it co u ld be a sq uea ker, co ns ide ring Kogut ha s turned in th e meet 's best o f 8.32. But th e sh owdown never sa w th e green . T he cra n k in Kog ut's Su zu ki signed o ff wh en hi s crew plugged in th e sta rter. Vance so loed th rough with hi s da y's best pass at 8.38/ 57.72. • Results 'l , Terry Vance 8 .38 sec.·167.76 mph ; 2. Barry Kogut DNF; 3 . Gary Pena ONF; 4 . Lou Cuviello ONF.