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/126939
Elmer Trett qualified at 199.11 mph and went on to win the final over Mark Miller. The win gave Trett the Top Fuel number one plate. Pro Gas competition saw Tom Layton and his Kawasaki down Roy Hagadoorn. Layton turned in a 9.24 run to top Hagadoorn's 9.26. George Bryce, in the' far lane, narrowly edged Dave Schultz, near lane, in Pro Stock. Bryce's reaction time earned him the win. DragbiJ(e National Championship Drag Race Series: Final round Gainesville wins to Trett, Bryce By Tom Loughlin GAINESVILLE. FL, NOV. 15-16 The 9th Annual Dragbike USA National Finals at Gainesville Raceway featured action that was hotter than ever. Special attention was paid to the Top Fuel class as the meet would determine the number. one plate holder in that class after the most competitive Top Fuel season since 10 the SpOrt's in eption. Sixteen entrants tried to make. the select eight-man field and some of the great names in the SpOrt had LO sit out the contest-names like Larry McBride, Mike Malone, Phil Jiminez, Chris Hand, Terry Stonecipher and Duke McDonald. And it took two qualifiers breaking-the Mr. 'Turbo Hofmeister and Larry Hayes-LO get the world's quickest mOLOrcycle, the 6.98 second machine of Mark Miller, into the field along with homeLOwner Roland Stuan. uper field? Sure, 7.23 low ET for Elmer Trett at a record 199.11 mph. In round one, Trett took out Bobby Feeler with a 7.56/192.30 as Feeler's Kawasaki broke. ext, Rusty Quesen- berry' tar Cycle turbo pulled a tremendous upset and beat defending champ Bobby Baker's turbo in an offpace te t, 8.44L08.47. Stuart's winged uzuki then knocked out Charle Israel's turbo, 8.15/177.16 to 8.46/ 108.04. and Miller on the Brunson Miller/Lundquist/Bill Hahan prepped rna hine returned to winning form with a 7.42/182.55 win over th new Kevin Tooma entry which wa trailered after turning in a losing 7.79/180.00. Round two saw Treu top tuan, 7.427/192.71 to 7.98/182.18, and then Miller earned his way into the final against Treu with a 7.58/180.36 win over Quesenberry, who clocked in at 8.001/161.87. The stage was set. Miller had to beat Trett LO win the number one plate. Miller's terrible qualifying effon, ninth in the 16-man field, and Treu' fa t qualifying effon had given Treu a 70-1 oilll lead at the evelll, and his speed record of 199.11 added 75 poillls to his total, The two were even on rounds won going into the final and Miller weill to the line with a 25-point lead over Trett, but needing the victory LO hold him off. Had Miller duplicated his best Gainesville Saturday night time in qualifying (a 7.19), he would have topped the field in qualifying and completely hut Trett out of the title picture. Miller's taleof woe is nearly beyond belief. On Saturday morning, the world's quickest motorcycle and race team came to the track "on the hook" as their motorhome and trailer conked out on the way to the track. That was only the beginning of their troubles. With a totally new combination, Miller came to the line on his first qualifying shot and blew a rear tire, crashed into the guardrail and damaged the machine slightly. His best effort Saturday was an 8.23, good for seventh position that night. But ~hat didn't last long as the team came to the track on Sunday with nitro deleted from the turbo's diet to compensate for less than ideal traction caused by the cold temperatures during the Saturday night session. Well, LO make a long sLOry short, the car runs the previous night had beaten the track into a really good bite situation and Miller came up short on power. Several others had left their machines alone and they qualified the Miller's BML machine right out of the program. But as mentioned, two machines broke and Miller made th e progra m. BML team boss Fred Brunson said, "Well, we usually qualify number one, then lose. This time we've qualified so lou y that we're going to win." Brunson was nearly right, but a red light in the final capped Miller's trying weekend and sealed [he number one plate for Trett. Holding nothing back, Trett boomed to a 7.54/196.93. Twenty-three Funnybikes LOok their best shot at Gainesville and 18 urvived to report for the first round of the all-run conte t. In the final, Neil Lane took the win over Pete Barnhart, 8,033/ 161.29LO 8.15/164.83. Red hot qualifying and recordetting performances by Dave chultz and Mike. Keyte highlighted early Pro tockaction,butSuperbikeMike broke two ro kers upon firing up for round one and retired, heartbroken, from the meet. After Keyte's retiremem, the class competition turned into a Dave chultz/George Bry e show. In the final, Bryce kno ked the tree down on the gate job, topping Schultz .436 to .525 in reaction time. The pair then ran down the quarter-mile trip as if they were tied LOgether and when they flashed through the finish line lights, Bryce had won with his slower 8.41 (8.848 total) and 157.61 topping the 8.33 (8.858 total) and 159.85 of Schultz. fou can't get much closer than that! The Pro Competition class, which pits nitro Harleys against big-inch Japanese ga cammers with carbs, was won iJ) a most unusual way by a Harley ridden by Sonny Michalowski. John Sachs cruised to the win in the final at 8.43/153.06 after Michalowski got sideways on his launch and crashed into the concrete guardwal!. But due LO a mi understanding by Sachs, regarding engine size in Pro Comp, his machine was disqualified, and the win given to Michalowskirubber side up. Mick Bengert boomed to a stunning 8.40/151.51 to win the Pro Dragster final over Bill Furr's 8.61/ 147.05. The Pro Gas win went to Tom Layton over Roy Hagadoorn, 9.24 to 9.262. The no wheetie-bar Pro Street class was LOpped by the new National number one plate holder Kenny Williams. Williams downed Mark Conner in the final, 8.61/161.29 to 9.38/ 141.28. Mike Hodge took the Super Gas win back to the Precision Cycle Works shop in Miami, edging out Bob Sinc1air.Hodge'swinningnumber were 10.22/118. Competition Eliminator's final had (wo teammates, Jim Haulser and Andrew Rosamilia of Hausler Engineering, facing each other. The win went to Hausler with a uperb 9.18/ 142.40 to Rosamilia's 9.94/131.19. Eighty-seven machines responded LO the fir t call in ET Bracket racing and LOpping the field was horneLOwner "Rapid" Roy Johnson. Johnon LOok all the marbles home with a 9.77/125.34 over runner-up Bob Pellegrini's off-pace 10.75 on his 10,49 dial-in. Production Eliminator's number one plate weill LO Dan Laginestra even though he [jni hed econd LO the Harley 883 Evolution Sponster of Jim Foust. Foust' performance on the A lion Cycle Works/Fisher H-D elllry was a record-seui ng one as he turned in a 14.49/83.87 winning run while Laginestra and his Honda 700 turned in a 13.42/ I00.44. •