Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Kawasaki-mounted David Schultz (near lane) beat Suzuki pilot John Myers (far lane) at the NHRA Southern Nationals Pro Stock final in Atlanta, Georgia. Schultz stops Myers at Atlanta By Todd Veney - ATUl\TA, GA, APIlI9-22 ave Schultz reacted j us t in time in the NHRA Sou thern Na tio nals Pro Stoc k fin als. By gun ni ng h is Kawaskai Ninja the ins tant he got the green (his reaction tim e was a perfect .000), Sch ultz go t orr th e mark ahea d of th e previously unstoppable John Myers - jus t in time to keep the 1990 NHRA seaso n from bein g a real blo wout. It' s been that bad for the rest of th e Pro Stock pack since Myers and Star Ra cing teammate Geor ge Bryce took o ver drag racing late last year. "You can 't sto p someo ne wh en th ey're on a roll ," said a relieved Schultz after hi s first win sin ce the 1988 NHRA U.S. Nationals. Since that 1988 career-to pping victor y, the co rnersto ne of hi s second co nsec u tive NHRA cha m p io ns h ip , Sch u ltz has watch ed from the sha do ws whi le " Pizza John " Mafaro and Myers controlled the sport. Mafaro, the 1989 NHRA Champion , and Myers, his heir appa rent, have won 10of th e II N H RA n 24 events since Schu ltz was kin g in '87 and '88. That Myers will win the cha mpio n sh ip this year seems a for egone conclus ion. H e has qualified o n the pole of every race since lat e '89, only this tim e he didn't have the' field co vered by mu ch . On hi s first run down th e hi gh-walled Atlanta Dragway, Myers rod e Bryce's Suzuki GSXR to a 7.766second, 173.51 mph run , but Schu ltz was right behind him and he never went away. Aft er tr ading shots with Myer s during two full da ys of qualifyin g, Schu ltz was seeded second, just hundredths behind Myers, with a 7.78/ 173. 11. Beginning elim ina tio ns from a pos iti on of pow er for the first tim e sin ce h is glory da ys of '88, he said, " I th ink I can match Myers blow for blow." " , Schu ltz made good o n that prediction on race day: H e covered th e quart er-mile strip quicker than Myers in each of th e three ro unds leading up to their inevitable fin al -round sho wdown. With Mafaro, th e reigning NHRA cha mpion , out of the race (hi s brother, was serio us ly ill ), the past and future kin gs of drag racing methodicall y worked their way through th e prelim inaries. " With an ob vious adva n tage o ver first-ro u nd o p ponent Zack Kaczal a (whose 15th-best 8. 14/ 167.62 left h im hope lessly behind Sch ultz's 7,7-second pace), Sch u ltz too k hi s tim e leavin g th e start ing line with a .260-second reaction tim e. By the tim e Kaczala go t around to leaving, Schu ltz was long go ne. His 7.87/170.61 crossed th e win stri p mor e than half a second before Kaczala 's 8.40/1 57.92. Myers got through th e round with a sim ila rly one-sided victory o ver former Pro Camp champ Rick Stetson, 7.93/166.32 to 8.12/165.77. Schultz and Myers then produced identical runs to win th eir seco ndro und races with veteran Lance Boyer and Californian Steve j o hnson , respectively. Schultz ra n a 7.802/171.78 to edge j ohnson's Slick 50-back ed Kawa- " saki; Myers ran a 7.803/172.01 to train length Boyer' s 8.09/ 165.22. Myers sto pped up to a 7.77/177.44 in th e sem i finals to beat Paul Cast, wh ose thi rd consecu tive 7.88 was no lo nger quick eno ug h to win. Myers' 177-mph speed (the fastest in hi story and too fast to be backed up within th e required I % for an officia l NHRA National record) was pas sed orr as a timing error by most observers, including bike owner Bryce, who wat ched the run from the start ing line. Though he didn 't come close to Myers' controversial speed, Schul tz did someth ing mor e importantly: He ran quicker, wh ich gave him lane choice for th e titanic final. Schul tz dropped rookie " Rocket" Ron Ayers' 7.90/ 170.00 with "a 7.768 /172.74 - the quickest run of eliminatio ns and just two-thousandths of a seco nd from Myers' track -record 7.766. Schultz, wh ose reaction tim es (and E.T.s) had gotten progressi vel y quicker as the race wo re on, guaranteed hi s first win in 18 months with the perfect .000 start against Myers. Myers improved on his cla ss-best .06-second reaction tim e average with a finalround .054, he still found himself in the hole by more than a half a tenth. Schultz opened up the gap considera bly at mid-track and pulled away to win convincingly , 7.84/171.4 2 to 8.23/142.74. After a di sastrously poor start, Myers tucked in and rode it ou t until he could see th at it was impossib le to run down Schultz. Schultz's impressive win , if nothing else, ma y give the o ther riders hope. It 's a lmo st impossibl e to beat j ohn Myers, but as Schultz kn ows, ir can be done. Cl'I

• Cover