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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127213
l-< V ..0 o .... u o John Mafaro (far lane) turned an eight-second-flat run against Keith Gray's (near lane) 8 .06-second clocking to claim his.fifth NHRA win of the year. NHRA Castrol GTX Championship Drag Race Series: Round 7 Mafaro cruises to Heartland Park win By Todd Veney T O PE KA, KS, SE PT. 29-0CT. I John Mafaro blew away the Pro Stock field at the National Hot Rod Association's windswept Heartland Nationals for his most one-sided National victory of the year. The wi n, " P izza John's " fifth in seven Castrol GTX Drag · S ' hi R ac m g enes even ts t I S season, a lso clinched the Castrol 10 championshi p, a ti tle tha t other racers conceeded to him much ear lier in the year. Mafaro , who had won just o ne N H RA Nationa l event in a sevenyear professiona l career before 1989, has utterl y do mi na ted th is year, rac king up a 24-2 wo n-loss record a nd the season cha m pions hi p. H is Heartl and win was hi s most effo rtless of the season. H e breezed into victory land while th e on ly four rid ers with even a mathmatical sh ot at beating him for th e season-lo ng points tit le - David Schultz, J ohn Myers a nd Phil Tannery - were cu t d own in th e fir st ro u n d o f elm in iations. St unn ing upsets are a rare co mmod ity in Pro Stock racin g, wh ere th e a bove th ree riders a nd Mafaro seem ingly a lways take the top four qual ifyin g positions and all four semi fin al spots. At Heartl an ~ Par k, Topeka, as expected, th e big four were th e o n ly nders to brea k the seve n-second barrier. Myers was on the pole at 7.79/ 172.64, nearly dupl ica tin g the 7.74 NHRA record he set j ust four weeks earlier whi le beating Mafaro in the fina l round of th e biggest race of the year , the U.S. Nationa ls. Mafaro a nd Schultz, the o utgoi ng Castrol cha mpion, were a tenth back with respecti ve runs of 7.87/ 171.42 and 7.88/1 68.72. Tannery , in his first year o n the 1325cc Vance & H in es Suzu ki Katana, trai led in fourth a t 7.96/ 169.26. T wenty-m ph winds bl owing 0 (( th e pl ains and right down th e all new Topeka track slowed the bike co ntin gent tremendously on race day; not o ne bik e got into th e sevens in elm ina tio ns. T he ga les blew hard eno ug h to push some riders backwards as they in ch ed th e lightweigh t machines into the stagi ng beams. Sch ultz was stunned to learn as he go t 0 (( hi s bike at the end of the track af ter a n apparent fir st-roun d win over T om Wolbers that th e red-light in hi s lan e was glowing back a t th e sta rti ng line. Evid ently, Schultz's " Eagle-I " Ninj a wasn't exac tly on the sta rt ing line wh en th e race began. T annery, the acknowledged m as-, ter of th e " Christmas Tree" lights that sta rt each race, lost despite a trademark hol esh ot o n man y-time NH RA Nati onal event winner Rick Stetson. But what sh ould hav e been a ro u tine win was ruined when T annery's bike bogged so badly rig h t 0(( the line th at he almost £lew over the handlebar s. Every thing fell a part a t once for first-yea r pro Myers. H e was left at the line by Ru ss Olmstead, who ran just a n 8.27/154.87. But Myers fared much worse, falling 0 (( hi s qualifying pace by the unhea rd-of margin of half a second wh ile nearl y falling ' 0 (( hi s revo lutionary Suzuki GSXR bike: "The w ind wa s m akin g m e un comfortabl e before I'd even left th e line, but wh en I dumped the clutch, I slid right 0 (( the sea t." Myers exp lai ned. He fought for contro l through th e fir st three gears, got it , but then lost when his transm ission wouldn't fall into h igh gear. Myers still managed an 8.25/ 157.34, but because hi s reacti on tim e was threehundredths of a second slower, he lost by a hundredth. Mafaro had a much easier time of it in th e first round, and in ens u ing rounds. H e cru ised to three straight 8.0s to crush Steven Meiterrnan, Steve Dr ak e and St etson by at least a quarter of a seco nd. " Pizza John" ran an l1.O5/157.34 to o u td istance Meiterman's fouling 8.53/1 54.08, an 8.06/163.93 to beat Drake's 8.29/1 58.11, and an 8.071 163.5 1 to wipe o ut Stetson's 8.30/ 155.76. . Keith Gray adva nced to a National event fin al for the first time this season by getting faster in every ro und. He ran tim es of 8. 13/1 60.68, 8.13/ 160.65, and, in the sem i fin als, a n 8.09/ 16 1.43 to beat Boyer's identi cal 8.09/1 63. 60 by just threeth ousandths of a second. Gray co nt in ued to improve in th e fin al , but hi s 8.06 was edged by Mafar o' s su perior 8.00/165.71, the quickest and fastest run of eli m inations. Gra y shouldn't hav e to worry abo ut being ou tpowered next year; he 'll be ridin g th e '88 Suzuki Katana Mafaro used to dominate the Castrol GTX Championship so thoroughly in 1989. Mafa ro will take hi s last rid e on the a ll-conq ue ring machine at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds during th e season-end ing NHRA Winston Finals in Pomon a, California, October 26-29. •