Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127377
eDRAG RACE Prostar Southern National Drag Race Series: Round I ~ Larry McBride (far lane) beat Tony Lang by .02 of a second in the Top Fuel fina l when Lang's motor blew less than 200 feet from the finish line. J ohn Myers (near lane) met Dave Schultz in the Pro Stock final for the third stra ig ht time and pulled off his first win. Myers on top at Southern National opener' By Scooter Kizer P h o tos by Auto Imagery GAINES\lLLE, FL APR. 7 •• or the thi rd straight ti me th is year, J ohn Myers and Dave Sch ultz faced each ot her in the final ro und of compe titio n at the ope ning round of the Prostar Southern Nationa ls, held at Gainesvill e Raceway. T hey faced each o ther the first two times at the firs t rounds of the NHRA Championship Drag Ra ce Seri es. After losing to Schultz in both previ ous meetings, Myers put it all togeth er to power hi s Star Racing Suzuki down the quarter-mile drag strip a bit faster than Schultz's Van ce & Hines Kawasaki in th e Pro Stock final. Round one action gave Schultz a bye run, while Myers faced off with the Mac Tool Suzuki of Ron Ayers. Myers defeated Ayers with a 7.847 second run F 32 at 170.81 mil es per hour. Ayers pos ted a troubled 8.123/167 .19 run . Paul Gast of G rant Island, New York, downed Chip Soll ey on the Pingel-sponsored Jimmy Adams ent ry after Soll ey developed troubles off the line. Lance Boyer 's 8.02/167 run defeated Don Deturck's 8.96/152. In semi action, Schultz beat Gast with a 7.84/171 run lO C ast 's 8.01/ 163 effort . Myers out-powered Boyer aft er nearly identical reaction times with a 7.86/17IlO Boyer's 8.16/166. Myers blasted ah ead of Sch ultz a t the start of th e final with a .404 reaction time, faster than Schultz's .539. Myers held the advantage for the ent ire sprint, wh ile Schultz's Suzuki broke at the 1000 foot mark. R ickey Gad son topped the Slick 50 Pro Co mp Ch all en ge, beating out Bill Hahn J r. in th e fin al. In an odd turn of events. Gad son pu rchased Defending World Champion Dennis Strickland 's Suzuki just moments before his qual ifyin g race and in the fin al faced off aga ins t the motorcycle that he had ' originally intended lO buy. Gadson had planned o n buying Hahn's Kawasa ki; but after Hahn turned in poor qualifying times on Friday, Gadson looked for another option. In eliminations, Gadson and Hahn both cu t through their races and into the sem i fin als. Hahn faced Thad Wiltz and easily downed the Kawasaki rider's troubled score .of 8.64/103 with his winning 7.68/170. Gadson faced John Sands, and topped the Honda rider 7.33/181.12 to 9.86/84.88. In the final , Gadson took th e early lead with a .550 reaction tim e over Hahn's .621. Gad son held the advantage throughout th e quarter -mile, while Hahn 's bik e broke near the 1000 foot mark. Gadson 's winning time was 7.339/181.45, besting Hahn's 7.939/ 134.71. La rry McBride of Newport News, Virginia, won the EBC Brakes Top Fuel Classic aboa rd hi s new Suzuki. McBride ran a stra igh t 7.04 to qualify th ird behind Elm er Treu 's 6.84 and T erry Kizer's 7.00. Kizer lost to Tony Lang in round o ne wh en a heavier clutch sp ring setup proved to be fatal, causing Kizer to red light away a 7.05/ 185 pass to Lang's 7.39/ 180. Trett downed Ralph Smith of Tampa, Florida, with a co me from behind win after blowing the tir e away through the eig h th-mile traps. Treu pulled through with a 7.44/19 1.53 to Sm ith 's 7.70/1 5 1. McBride easi ly defeated Stu Farra r with a 7.08/ 198 to a losing 8. 194/169. Ch ris Iovin e adva nced to the semi final s . by defeat ing Duk e McDonald , who broke d uri ng h is bu rnout. In th e se mi fin al s, Tre tt a n d McBride's top fuelers faced off in the first pa ir. Once again, Trett overpo wered the track and put the tir e up i n smo ke . McBr id e saw Tretr 's dil emma and backpedaled lO win with a 7.23/192.67 to Trett 's 8.46/185 . The next pair faced the two turbocharged! Nitrous Oxide semi finali sts of Lang and Iovine. Lang won at the tree with a .465 react ion tim e lO Iovine 's .541, while both racer s duplicated a 7.36 ela psed tim e. The fin al round of th e EBC Top Fuel Classic matched the nitro burning top fuel er of McBride against the gasoline turbocharged pair of Suzukis. . Lang pulled a slight advantage with a .491 reaction time and a 1.1 7/60 foot tim e against McBride 's .533 reaction time and a 1.20/60 foot time. Lang continued to lead at the eigh th-mile mark with McBride gaining. With less than 200 feet to go , Lang's motor let go , allowing McBride lO win wit h .02 of a second lOspare. The Rivera/Primo Top Fue l Harley Clash found World Champion Jim , McClure in the winner's circle with his 7.47/171.72 victory over Bill Furr's 7.76/166. C'l