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John Myer s (near lane) def eated former champ Dave Schultz at t he season- ending NHRA Winston Finals held at Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. NHRA Castrol Gil Championship Drag Race Series: Final round Myers rolls on at Pomona By Tod d Veney PO MO NA, CA, OCT. 26-29 Although " Pizza John" Mafaro dominated the 1989 drag racing season, winning five of eight National Hot Rod Association events and the overall Castrol Championship, h e m aynot be th e oddson favorit e to rep ea t in 1990. . 1 hid d h ' Previous y un era e Jo n Myers, o f Irondale, Alabama, 30 has m ad e a remarka ble la te-season run for th e top, winning th e Pro Stock fin al a t two of th e last three even ts o n , the NHR A tour a n d destro yin g o ne reco rd after a nothe r. Myers capped o ff a memora b le . year a nd ceme n ted his reputation a s a bona fid e su perstar with a wireto-wire victory at th e season-ending NHRA Win ston Finals. H e qualified nu mber one a nd set low elapsed time of every ro u n d , o f eli m i na tio ns , event u a lly d ra win g to within a h u ndredth o f a seco nd o f the 7.74 second National record he establish ed two months ea rl ier w h ile winni ng th e NHRA U .S. National s. Bu"t perhaps m ore gra tifying to Myers was that hi s semi -fina l an d fin al round win s came at th e expense o f th e two riders wh o had ruled th e two -w heeled set si nce a ll-ti me king T erry Vance's reign ended in 1986 - David Sch u ltz a nd Mafaro. In prepari ng for th ose la te-rou nd showdowns wi th th e only two activ e riders to have won th e Cas trol cro wn, Myers' a~d p artne!' George Bryce's Star ~aclllg ? UZU kl GS X R go t progr essively qui cker. Myers ro de th e revol utionar y bike to a 7.83/170.45 o n hi s first run down the famed Pomon a Raceway, bombing th e old 8.00/1 66.42 standard by the unheard-of ma rg in o f n earl y two tenths o f a seco n d. H e the n chipped a way a t th e trac k ma rk on eac h of hi s su bs eq ue nt q ua lify ing laps, ru n ni n g tim es of 7.80/ 171.88 a nd 7.79/1 70.6L Schultz, the o u tg o in g Cas tro l Champion, and Mafaro were the o n ly com pe ti to rs with in stri king dista nce o f Myers , but even th ey were nearl y a tenth o f a seco n d ba ck with ide ntica l 7.87 s. Pe ren ni a l threa t Lance Boyer , Finn ish Pro Stock Cha m p io n Vel i Mal in, a nd Van ce & H ines ride r Ph il T an nery joined the fro nt- ru n ne rs in the seven -second zon e wi th mid-7.9s, and Norm an DeVin e an d Keith Gray filled o u t th e to p h alf of o ne of th e qu ickes t s tart i ng gr ids , in m e m o r y with respecti ve runs of 8.00 a nd 8.01. Fro m there, th e field stretched to local rid er Michael Brennan , who ran an ease d-up 10.83 a t a mere 96 mph for th e 16th spo t. , In the first ro u nd , Myers dropp ed the track reco rd to 7.78 whil e "effort le ssl y e l i m i na t i n g '88 Winston Fina ls run ner-u p Ross Olmstead, who clocked an 8.26/162.1 3 using hi s o wn Su zu ki engine in Mafaro's spare fra me . Myers' second-round opponen t, Ma lin, a lso wa s using equ ipment provided by on e of his ch ief rivals. The Finnish star won th e firs t round with a very competitive 7.86/J 68.82 a boa rd Schultz's numb er-two ,mach ine. Performance wa s n ever a factor in th e race, h ow ever; Malin took off well befo re th e green lights flash ed for a bla tant red-light start. Though he won the race by default before he ever left the line, Myers ran just a 7.8 1 a fter la unching with the engine rpm too low , the o bvious resu lt o f being ca ugh t off guard by Malin's sta rting-li ne gaffe. " It really is distracting when your oppone nt mis ses th e gr een ligh t by t ha i m uc h ," Mye r s ex p la i ne d . " When you' re tha t pumped up, yo u take off wh en anything happen s. T he so und of th e other guy 's engine is like a gu n go ing o ff." Myers' 7.819 ela psed time nearly 'cost h im lane ch o ice for his a ll im porta n t sem i-fina l match with Ma faro , who was just a tick behind with a winning second-ro und tim e o f 7.820. (The rider with th e qui cker E.T. from th e previous round gets to choose hi s lane. ) Myer s took o u t th e new cham p in th e semis in a surp risin gly one-sid ed co ntest, 7.758/172. 14, to 8.02/169.61, wh en Mafaro got off to a poor start. Myers' 7.758 E.T. tem porari ly reset th e trac k record; th e 172.14 held up for a new track speed mark. That win set Myers up for a titan ic final-round clash with Schultz, who in addition to losing the n umber on e pl ate (wh ich goes -with th e Ca strol Championship ) in 1989, had also been completely shut out o f the winner's circle. Schultz 'im p ro ved dramatica lly from th e m id-7 .8s he'd been running in the first three rounds to a fin e 7.80/ 171.33 in th e fin a l, but he was edged by Myers in one of th e tightest sid eby-side races of th e year. Both riders left the starting line just two -hundred ths of a seco nd after th e gr een ligh t flash ed (the ir .020 a n d ;022 reaction times were th e best for the class), but Myers ' Star Ra cing GSXR had a little more power on the top end , running a 7.756/172.05 for th e victory a nd a new tra ck E.T. record. Mafaro was b y far th e best Pro Stock rider of the sea son, winning th e Castrol Ch ampionship by th e sam e la n d sl id e margin Schu ltz enjoyed in '87 a nd '88 and Vance did in most of the seasons before that. But Myers' late-season rise to prom in ence makes it obvio us that nex t year's points ra ce should be a wideopen affair for the first time in years . •