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/126979
"Superbike" M ike Keyte of Florida topped Pro Stock competition aboard his Suzuki at the IDBA Firecracker Nationals. held in Norwalk. South Carolina's Nea l Lane. on a Kawasaki. was the top gun in t he Pro Comp class. The victory marked his third National w in of the season. IDBA National Championship Drag Race Series: Round 4 Keyte tops Pro Stock at Firecracker Nationals By Nina Holmes NO RWALK, OH , J ULY 18-19 Flo rida 's " Su perbike" Mike Keyte claimed h is second IDBA Pro Stock win of 1987 with a 8.29-second, 161.29 m p h run over runnerup Kei th Gray of Ohio at the Wiseco Pistons Firecracker Nationals. held in Norwalk . C Nea l La ne of South . arolina, wo n h is th ird IDB A 22 National of the season when he topped Virgi nia's Dwight S~I~0ll: in th.e Pro Co mp di VISIOn, finishing wit h a 7.75/ .1 68.86 performance, In th e Funny BI~e c!ass, Te~ry KIZer of Texas, wo n h~s first National event of t1~e year wit h a 1 ~.4 1133. 89 . rut;!. beating T.].. H ofmeister of Illino is ~fter bC?th nders suffered prob lem s in th e fma l run. T h i rd -fas tes t qualifi er Keyte, aboard a Suzu ki, face' Virginia 's Lester J enkins in th e' second Pro S toc k qu arterf inal. Kawasakimounted J enkins wa s out of the ho le first bu t Keyte was ahead past the tree a nd held th e lead th e entire q ua rter-mile. Keyte took th e win with a n 8.351159.29. New comer Gray took.an u pset win in hi s quarterfinal over second-fastest qualifier Sid Pogue of Oklah oma; Gray turned an 8.49/155.44. Other quarterfinal winners incl uded fast qualifier Dave Schultz (8.261160.14) and H a mp Osburn bo th of Florida. Keyt e a nd h is Suzuki bested Ninjamou nt ed Schu ltz in a side -by-side ru n to the finish du ri ng th e firs t semi. Keyte edged th e fast q ua li fier by a few hundredths of a second (8.33/ 159.86 to 8.355/ 160.14) to take th e win. G ray too k an im media te lead over Osburn in the second semi . a nd hel d It all th e way ~cros~ th e end speed ga te. HI S. wm m ng urn e was 8.~5 / 154 . 11. while Osburn went o ut WI th a n 8.57/ 155.44. Keyte, by virture of h is faster tim e, got th e la ne ch o ice and chose th e left lan e in th e fin al. Gray's crew double checked. th e wheel.ie bar o n hi s Kawasaki a nd both ri ders slowly and inten sely staged. Gray had almost T.J . Hofmeister clocked in with a record 7 .05-second quarter-mile time in the semi. but lost the Fun ny Bike f inal sitting at the line in neutral. Terry Kizer was f irst in qualifying and in the Funny Bike f ina l. seven-tent hs of a second on Keyt e co mi ng o ff th e lin e, but Ke yte q uick ly made it up a nd won th e National with an 8.29/ 161.29 pass. Gray co llected runner-up honors with a n 8.611155.44 sho wi ng. Upset after upset in quali fyin g and elim in ati ons was the o rder of the weekend in the Pro Co mp class. Kawasaki pil ot Seldo n upset fast qualifer J im Cooper in th e first Pro Comp qu arterfin al. The rid ers ' reac tion tim es were o nly a tenth of a second apart and th e race was tight until fire came o ut of Cooper's pipe, a co uple of bursts were hea rd a nd he slowed considerably. Seldon took first with a 7.992/1 6 1.29; Cooper finished with a 9.056/96.88. Pro Co mp point-leader La ne, who quali fied second-fastest aboard hi s Kaw asak i. bested Ji m Dod ich of Florida in th e th ird q ua rterfina l. La ne pos ted a 7.711168.54. In o ther q uarterfinal action, Flo yd Huntz of New York bea t Keith Cra btree of Ohio wit h a 7.94/1 66.67 run , and 1986 IDB A Na tio na l C hamp ion Steve Dra ke took th e win over New York's Mike Sins ki wit h a 7.83/ 167.70 ride. Dwight Se ldon staged agai nst Floyt Huntz in th e first P ro Comp sem i a nd with neither rid er rank ed in th e top 10, both wanted the win badl y. Seldo n was quickest o ut of th e hol e a nd took th e win with a 7.87/ 168.86 sho wing. T he second sem i p itted th e c u rre n t p oint lead er agains t last yea r's Nati onal champ . but cha m pio n Drake left before th e gree n and was at om at icall y o ut of th e ga me with a red light. Lane took th e win with a 7.72/168.22. Lane pu lled a quick reaction time in the fina l a nd took th e win o n hi s H&P Perform ance Kawasaki with a 7.75/168.86. stre tch in g his point lead. Seldo n, riding in h is fir st Nationa l fin al this year. had to settle for runn er-up honors when h is Ka wasaki cloc ked in with a n 8.17/ 166.05. Fast-qua lifier Kiser took an easy win over Ohio's Bill T im mo ns in th e first Funny Bike quarterfinal. Kiser clocked in with a 7.67/1 68.86, wh ile Timmons th rottled back abo u t midtrack and turned in a 10.42/ 80.72. H ofmeister. the first Funny Bike p ilo t to cloc k mor e th an 200 mph (turned in a t the Suns h ine Na tionals in Cincinna ti, Ohio, J une 20-21) faced Newcom er J ohn Phillips of New York in the th ird q uarterfi na l. H o fm eist er powered h is Suzu ki th ro ugh th e traps a t a record 7.18/ 204.55, eli mi nating Phill ips. who turned in a 9. 19/ 101.81 ru n . Other qua rt erfinal win ne rs were So u th Ca ro lina 's Bobb y Bak er (7.31 / 187.11) a nd Chris Iovine of Indiana (7.85/ 177.87). Bak er's turbo-boosted Kawasaki held th e edge over Kizer 's turboeq uipped Suzuk i during the initial 600 feet of the first Funny Bike sem i, but Kizer ca ug h t Baker and passed h im a t rnidtrack to take a tight wi n. Kizer claim ed a 7.23/ 176.82 over Baker's 7.39/ 184.80. Iovine was th e ' quickest ou t of th e ligh ts in the second sem i, but Hofmeister immediately left him behind a nd won with a record time of 7.05; termina l speed was 189.97 mph. H ofmeister chose th e left lane in th e fina l, but th e event soon became a n ticl irnat ic, Kizer left H ofmeister standi ng still o ut of the hol e. but a few feet o u t Kizer lost all drive whe n he lost his magn eto belt. H e loo ked back a nd H ofmeister was sti ll sitti ng a t th e lin e in neutral. Kizer wen t across the fin ish with a 16.41133.89 to win and pulled off the track. H ofmeister the n took hi s pass a nd finished second wi th a smooth 7.15/ 198.24. • Results PRO STK: 1. M ike KeYle (SUl, 8.29/ 16 1.29); 2. Keith Gray (Kaw. 8.61 /155.44 ); 3. Dave Schultz (Kaw. 8 .355/ 160 .14); 4. Hamp Osburn (Kaw . 8.57/ 155.44 ). PRO COMPo 1. Neal lane (Kaw. 7.75/168.86t 2. Dw ight Seldon (Kaw . B.17/166.05 ); 3. Floyd Huntz (Kaw . 7.94 /166.36); 4 . Steve Drake (SOl, no tim e). F/ BK: 1. Terry Kizer (SUl, 16 .41 /3 3.89 ); 2. T.J. Hofm eist er (SOl, no time): 3. Bobby Baker (Kaw . 7.39 / 184 .80 ); Chr is Iovin e (Suz. 7.95 /167 .29). TOP GAS: 1. Pete Bar nhan (8.23 / 165.14); 2. Ron Ayers (8 .5B/ 123.80); 3. Ronald Craig (8.462/ 152.54 ); Spero Lazarou (9.85 / 116.88). S/COMP: 1. Randy Pull um (8.74/ 140 .4 1): 2. Dave Canwright (8.73/ 135.341 3. Dave Pave ; (B.73/ 150 .25); 4. Ja ck Young (8 .7B/ 135.75). PRO GA S: 1. Tom Pull um (9.23 /138.67); 2. M ike Philli ps (9.14 /1 45.87); 3. Tom Sudman (9.23/ 128.76 ~ 4 . Rich Vearai n (10.33/1 24.3 1). S/GAS ELIM : 1. Ron Piacen t in e (10 .259 / 112.921: 2. Vic Force (10 .173 /12 3.29): 3. Smiley W ilson (10.23 /1 07 .66 ); 4 . M anin Jacobs (no ti me). S/ELlM : 1. Steve J acks (8.77 / 131. 39); 2. John Pear sons (9.73 /1 35.54); 3. Herb W ilborn Jr. (9 .27/ 142.181 4 . Terry Au smu s (no ti me). : COMP/ ELIM : 1. Paul We i xlmann ( 10 .5 6 / 120.48 t 2. Bill Woodruff (10 .22/122.45t 3 . Robin Ray (11 .15/11 3.21); 4 . Ron Slack (no lime~