Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

f-i 8 ~ ~ David Schultz (6 ) topped Barry Kogut (9) in t he f ina l to win the NHRA Pro Stock Nationals in Ind ianapolis. Schulz (6) beat. Terry Vance (1) in a quarterfinal and claime~ the point lead in the race for the championship. NHRA U.S..Nationals Schultz wins, takes over points lead at Indy Drags By Duane Johnson/Fast Graphic Service INDI ANAPOLIS, IN , SEPT. 6 David Schultz captured his third-straight win of the year in NHRA Pro Stock competition at the 33rd Annual U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway P ark. In doin g so, h e too k a su bstantial lead of 592 poin ts over th e . ht T V ' th C · mig y erry ance m e astrol GTX Mo torcycle Cham- 32 p ionsh ip. As stra nge as it may seem, Vance is no longer a t the head of th e class in Pro Stoc k. The win ne r o f 23 NH RA eve n ts a n d num erou s Na tional Championsh ips has lost t heedge t? S<:h ~I tzan d h is u l tra-trick Kawasaki Ninja (two on-bo ard data r ecorder s a n d a ra r e du al-p lu g head!). H ow ever, Vance 's Bryon Hinestuned Suzuki still mak es a ll th e hor sepow er in th e world, bu t Vance has recentl y lost th e co nsis tency needed to go the four ro u nds to win a Na tional. For exa m ple, Vance took his bik e. to an off -the -trailer 8. 11 du ring the first q ua lifyin g sessio n. That was good enough for the n u m ber o ne qualifying posi tio n. The next day he went even quicker wi th a n 8.07, which was a new NH RA Na tional record. (Va nce held th e previous record at 8.09.) Reinfor cing the fact that the bike is the strongest in th e field is the fact that Vance eq ua led the 8.09 at the N H RA NorthStar Nationals two weeks before th is race. What Sch ultz had goi ng for him here, a nd at the last th ree races he has captu red, is cons istency. Co u ple tha t with the second best times during eliminations and Schultz had th e advantage. Iro ni ca lly, Sch ultz was ac tua lly stru gg li n!? during elm in ations. He qual ified III the n u m ber six spot with . a n 8.13 th at ca me in hi s initia l effort. On his remain in g th ree attempts, the Fort Myers, Flonda, ace h it high 8teen s a nd low 8.20s. Not exac tly ju n k tim es, but not rea ll y wh at was needed to cover a field running personal best ' tim es. Sch u ltz di scovered that the wh eelie ba r bu shing s had worked loo se, which caused th e chassis to flex radi call y on th e launch. H e had h is hands full controlling the bike and lost va luab le time in th e process. He pinpointed the prob lem lat e Sunday ni gh t, which permitted th e good n u mbe rs to co me ba ck for elimina tions. The great trac tio n at Indianapolis Raceway Park resulted in one o f th e best field s in N H RA P ro Stock h isto ry. T he bum p o f 8.42 wasn 't too impressive. bin the fact that the to p dozen riders hammered o u t career bes t times certain ly raised some eyebrows. T he first ro u nd prod uced th e expected winners save for two races. Number two qualifier Mike Keyte (8. 10) went down in defea t to runnerup a nd Vance & Hines rider Barry Kogut, af ter Keyte's Suzu ki developed a serious igni tion mi ss. Addi tionally, Kawasak i rider Steve Joh nso n, spo rti ng a " Sch u ltz" Ninja fairi ng o n his mount, la id a hol esh ot o n number th ree quali fier Rick Gero (8. 12) and held o n for the win, 8.24 to Gero 's 8. 18. A climactic Vance/Sch ultz meetin g took place in the seco nd ro u nd. In ro und o ne, Van ce bogged the mo tor off th e lin e but still had eno ugh to get by Randy Mason. He mad e th e same mistak e here, but Schu ltz's bike a nd ridi ng were unforg ivi ng. H e cra n ked o ut a personal best E.T. a nd speed at 8. 11, 163.99 to take careof Van ce's o ff-pace 8.21, 161.98. T here was a no ther sto ry to th e race, however. After Sch ultz did hi s dry hop across the li ne, the engine suddenly d ied. Wh ile his wife Meredi th p ushe d hi m back nearl y 60 feet to th e sta rti ng lin e where his starter was locat ed. Vance waited. Under th e ru les, Vance cou ld have staged and ta ken a green light wh ile Sch u ltz was bein g pushed back. Van ce's wa it was a noble effo rt, but not o ne that necessaril y cost h im the race, accord in g to Vance. He reported th at he was not co ncentrating o n th e engi ne rpm a nd didn 't have eno ug h th rottle for th e track bite a nd that the wai t ha d no t rattled him. . R uss Olmstead th en lost a to ugh one to Kogut a fter he slid back on the sea t under acce lera tio n a nd , whil e fig hting to pull himself for wa rd , mi ssed a co u p le of shifts in the midd le o f th e run. R ick Stetson then ended J o hnso n 's da y with an 8.15 whi le J o h nson cu t the best number o f his ridin g Career with a n 8.20. Fin all y, J ohn Ma faro los t a very close o ne to George Bryce, 8. 157 to 8. 155. In the sem i-finals, Bryce ra n th e quicker time aga inst Kogut, but th rew it o u t du e to a red-li ght start. Stetson looked as if he was going to be stiff com pe titio n for Schultz in th e o ther p airing , but fe ll o ff hi s previ ous- round 8. 15 to a n 8.20. which was no match for Sch u lz's 8.13. Goi ng into the fi na l, Sc h u lt~ certa in ly rated the edge. H e had the better tim es over Kog u t and was running a mor e cons istent race. The o rily card Kogut had left to pl ay was to take a q uicker lea ve on Sch ul tz, a ri sky move a t best. Unfort u nately it did not payoff for Kogut, as he left wa y too early, red-l ighted, and a u to m a tic a lly g av e th e win to Schultz, wh o was appeari ng in h is fourth consecu ti ve N H RA final round. Schu ltz was runner-up a t the Cajun Natio na ls, and won the Summerna tiona ls, and th e Nor thStar Nationa ls. Wi tho u t the points lead, and wi th only two races left o n the season, . Van ce will be hard pressed to catch Schultz, especia lly if Sch ultz continues o n hi s ho t strea k. As Sch ultz has proven over th e last few mon th s, he is not a rider you want to have on your dance card. Just ask Terry Vance. •

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