Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

1iJ Terry Kizer captured back-to-back w ins in October at the U .S . Nationals in New J ersey and the K ing of the Hill Nationals in A labama . ..0 8 Q.) > George Bryce (background) won the Pro Stock class in Birmingham. wh ile David Schultz (foreground) dominated the division in New Jersey. o Z Kawasaki -mounted Jim Cooper topped the Pro Comp d ivision at Birmingham Dragway du ring the Manley Va lve King of the Hill Nationals. IDBA National Championship Drag Race Series; Rounds 6 & 7 Kizer tops .King of the Hill, U.~. Nationals By Nina Holmes MT. OLIVE. AL . OCT. 27 O ctober was a very good month ' for IDBA Funny Bike ace Terry Kizer. He piloted his Orient Express Suzuki into the winner 's circle a t the Manley Valve King of the Hill Nationals 'i n. Birmi ngham, Alabama 'o n October 11 , and . f,?llowed 'up WIth anot her i Iass e~ c ylCtory at th e U .S. Nationals m Atco, New J ersey, on Octob er 17. Th.e win s padded Kizer's poi nt lead III t~e battle for. th e 1.987 ID.BA Funny Bike Ch ampionship. Gomg into the IDBA MTC World Final s a t B.at on Rouge, Louisan a 's Sta te Ca p ita l Dra gw a y, sc he d u led for No vem ber 14 & 15, Kizer Will hol d a 3720-3030 adva ntage over fello w Suzuki rider 1'.]. H o fmeister. Kaw asa ki pi lo t Bobb y Bak er is listed third in the standings with 2920 poi n ts. T exan Kizer clocked in with a 4.58s~co nd , . 66.67. m ph r.un : o n the 1 eigh th-mi le strip a t Birmingh a m Dragwa y, th en wo n the q uarter-mil e compet itio n the nex t weekend at the U.S. Na tio na ls in Atco with a 7.083/ 188.67 clockin g. Suzuk i rider George Bryce topped the Pro Sto ck class in Birmin gh am wi th a 5. 161/ 135.96 ru n in the fina l, wh ile Ka wa sak i-mounted David Sch u ltz too k LO p honors in the Pro Stock d ivision in Atco wit h a n 8.2 12/ 159.85 sho wing . T he leader in the Pro St ock poi n t standi ngs a h er the two rounds is "S u perbikc" Mike Keyte. who was el im ina ted in th e semi -fi na ls in Alab am a a nd was the ru nn er-u p in i" ew J ersey. K eyr e leads the class with 3300 po ints. Sch ul tz Io l lowswi rh a close 32.90, and Bryce is third wi th 3130 po in ts. . . The Pro Comp wmner at Blrmingham Dragway was Kawasaki rider Jim Cooper , wh o turned th e tim ers a t 4.83/ 144.47. Neal Lane, an other Kawasaki pi lot , topped th e P ro Ca m p division the next weekend a t th e U.S. National s, stopp ing th e cloc k at 7.66/1 88.22. Goin g into the World Fina ls, Nea l leads the Pro Camp poi nt sta nd ings with 3950 po ints. Coo per is seco nd with 2990 a nd Suzu ki rider Steve Drak e fill s o u t the top th ree wi th 2900. Th e fo u r -seco n d zon e in th e e ig h th-m ile. once elude d by a ll co mers excep t Top Fuel rid ers. was cracked cons istent ly by th e Fu nn y Bik e ra nks in Ala ba ma . as was evidenced bv Charles Israel 's fast qual ifyin g rime of 1.598. Kizer roll ed into th e thi rd rou nd of q ual ifyin g a nd bro ke th e Fu n ny Bike termin al speed record wi th a 163.34 mph pass. He not o nly sha rrered th e o ld class record o f 158.46, set four years ago by Bo O'Broch ta, but a lso bested Sam Will s' Top Fue l record o f 160. 14 as well. Kizer backed th at up in roun d, f~lli r with " 173.08 sho t thro ugh th e l ig hr s , " It was ha rd to j udge by th e seat o f the pants if tha t (173.08 mp h run ) was for real o r not beca use th e eig ht h mil e g ives yo u so little tim e to think about it," said Kizer. Th e quarterfina ls beg an with Israel edg ing out Kawasaki rider Ru sty Quesenherry wi th a 4.65.V 152.81. IDBA Wor ld cha m p Bobby , Baker then wa s upset by second a ltern a te Chris Iovine, who ca me out of the hol e first and edge d Baker 4.779/1 55.7 1 to 4.816/ 148.52. Kizer had an easy tim e of it in the quar terfin al s wh en Hofmeister gave away the race by dr awing red , a nd Suzuki rider Steve T racy dr ew a bye to finish o ff the ro u nd with a leisu rel y 4.71/ 134;94 clocki ng. Israel too k o u t Suzuki-m ounted Iovin e in the sem ifina ls with a 4.6 1/ 152.03 ru n , and Kizer set up th e fina l showdo wn wh en he clocked a blistering 4.585 / 175.79 in hi s sem i, break in g the 170 mph barrier aga in, to beat Tracy. T he qu ickest side-by-side Funny Bike pass in the hi story o f dr ag racin g was recorded in th e Alab am a fin al. Israel was off first with a .533 reaction tim e, and Kizer came out of th e hole with a .552 reacti on. Israel tripped th e initial mph light first , but Kizer used the following 66 feet to power by Israel at the finish line. Kizer wasn 't sure he had caught up with Israel unti l he was to ld he wo n by owner/tuner O'Malley in the sh u toff area. ':We knew Charles was , go ing to be to ugh and I .thought it was a ll over at about the 100-foot mark when I cou ld see what loo ked like two bike leng ths between us," said Kizer. " I was abo ut to g ive up toward the end because I was drifting toward the in sid e lights. Bu t in th e last few feet I co uld feel it taking a set , so I went for it. " Kizer took a narrow , come -fro mbehind victor y with a 4.58/ 166.67 to edge Israel's 4.605/ 154.64. Kizer co llec ted hi s seco nd win o f th e month th e next weekend at th e New J ersey rai n date in Atco, Kizer powered his big Suzu ki to a 7.083/ 188.67 ru n in th e fina l, beatin g ru n ner-u p Tracy wh o clocked in with no tim e in the fina l. Kaw asaki mo unted Bak er took th ir d for th e da y wi th a n u n su ccessful se mi r u n agai nst Kiser of 7.720/1 88.26, and H ofm eister wo u nd up fourth wi th a no-time run in hi s sem i, whi ch was won by TrdCY. . Georgia 's Bryce won th e Pro Stock div isio n a t th e Kin g of the Hill event in thre e sho rt ro u nds afterqua lifyin g seco nd-fastest o n his Star Racin g Suzu ki with a 5. 192/ 135. 14. "Th is is th e fir st time I ca n rem ember not cha ng ing a nyth ing o n th e bik e," Bryce said. " All I did was ad j us t n1)' rid ing every ro und. T he fast qua lifier a t 5. I81/ 133.93, a nd Bryce's co m pe titio n in th e fina l, was Kaw a sa k i- rno u n ted Dav e Sch u ltz o f Flor ida . Sch ultz pulled to the b ur nou t are a nex t to Keith Gray in th e fir st quarterfi nal match up; both - rid ers were aboard Kawasakis with Ninja style bodies by Custom FRP. Gray turned double red a t th e start , giving Schu ltz the win with a 5.365/ 128.39. In th e second quarterfina l run , " Co wchip " Charlie Gressman beat " N itro " Nick Partin with a 5.223/ 134.53. Bryce took th e third run over Lester Jenkins (who sho wed red at th e start ) with a 5.206/ 134.94 clockin g . In th e fourth qu art erfinal rnat chup, Keyte collec ted the win o ver Chip So lley with a record tim e of 5.209/ 133.93. Schultz turned in th e qui cket Pro Sto ck rea cti on time o f th e weekend (.43 1) in th e first pass of th e semifinals to beat G ressm an with a 5.24/ 133.54. Bryce jus t edged Keyte in th e second semi run , beating " Su pe rbike Mik e" 5.233/ 134.33 to 5.287/ 131.97. A pi cture-perfect fin al fell into pl ace with th e number-one qua lifi er pitted ag ainst th e number-two qualifi er - Bryce vs. Schultz. Both men 's motorcycles had on-board computers, and bo th had learned something new with each pa ss. . T he starter hit th e button and they ' were gone. Schultz had the best reac tion time, .508 to Bryce's .514, bu t it was Bryce's win li ght that went on at the end of the ra ce. Bryce's winning time, 5. 164/1 35.96, was a new Pro Stock, eighth-mile record. Run ner-u p Schu ltz finis hed wi th ' a 5.228/133.54. It was Schultz and his fairingequipped Kawasa ki that took the Pro Stock win in New J ersey at the U.S. Nationals. Schultz beat Keyte, 8.212/ 159.85 lO8.24 5/159.0 1. Suzukimounted Ni ck Pa rt in took third overa ll with a n 8.6611 154.37 in hi s sem i, and Bad Dickson was fourth overa ll with a sem i run of 8.793/ 145.63. Orient Express-sponsored j irn Coo per, wh o has had his sha re of mech an ical failures in the Pro Camp class this seaso n, was si ngi ng a different tune in Birmingham - he wen t a ll th e wa y fro m number o ne qual ifer (4.73/ 146.58) to win ne r of th e fin al ro u nd. Coo pe r's nit ro u s Ka wa saki defeated Dwight Se ldo n's turbo Ninj a in the first quarterfin al run; Cooper turned in a new Nat ion al record tim e o f 4.767/ 147.79. In the seco nd run, Nea l Lan e, riding the T om P a zo lt turb o Kaw a saki , def eat ed new comer Steve Wo od ; Lan e pos ted a ca ree r-bes t 4.88 / 144.47. Steve Drak e clocked in with a 4.9 1/ 143.32 pass to defeat Sum mer National s winn er Bryan Benn ett in th e th ird mat ch u p , a n d Ninj amo unted Keith Cra btre e to p ped the fourt h run with a 5. 19/135.34 clockin g over Budd y Fo rbu s a nd his .sa n ita rv tu rbo Ka wasa ki.

• Cover