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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127404
- ~~- --~~~~~~~~-------------------------------------------- In the final. John Myers (near lane) convincingly topped Jim Bernard (far lane) on Heartland Park Topeka's 2.5 mile drag strip. Myers scores big at Heartland Park Topeka By Todd Veney TOPEKA, K SEPT. 27ยท29 S, he sa me two ri ders wh o sho t of f th e start i ng line in th e 1990 NHRA H eartland N at ion al s fina l - J oh n Myers and J im Bernard - charged down the drags tri p tha t serves as straightaway for Heartland Park T opeka 's 2.5-mile road course aga in in 1991. They switched lanes - Myers now in th e right, Bernard in the left - but th e o u tco me was th e sam e: Myers won , and won co n vinci ngly. Yet th e circumstances su rrou nding th eir final-round encou nte rs co u ld not hav e been less alike. Befor e taking th e g reen in last year's fin al. Myers , wh o won more drag races last season th an al\ o th e r riders co m b i ne d , alread y had mathematicall y clinch ed th e 1990 NHRA Ch ampionship. Th is year, it a p peared that nothing sho rt of divine interventi on would allow th e likeabl e Alabama rider , who had won just one race this season , the Summernationals , to prolong hi s reign and retain th e coveted number one plate. Miraculously, he got one. Two-time NHRA Champion David Schultz, Myers ' arch rival who dominated the first four races of the ninerac e '91 season, fouled in the second T of four rounds of elimi nations, leavin g the starti ng lin e before the gree n by the smallest detectable ma rgi n - o netho usa ndth of a second. Schu ltz was upset by U.S. Na tio na ls runner-up Paul Gast, and sudden ly th e th ird champ ions hip tha t mos t fans had con ferred upon him (he also won backto-back tit les in 1987-88) in Aug ust is no w wi thi n str iking distance of both Bern ard and the defen ding champ himself, Myers. After losin g the last round, Bernard, who has finish ed second at more th an half th e races he's ever run , sti ll sta nds - where else? - in second place , 566 poin ts beh ind Schultz. (Myers is j ust 130 beh ind Bernard; each ro und won is worth 200 points.) "The last two yea rs , th e poin ts race has been a runaw ay," Bernard said, " 'but with two races to go at thi s point, an y one of us co uld tak e the titl e." Pow ered by a new two-valve Suzuki engine prepared by Sta r Racing's Geor ge Bryce (who owns Myers' team ), Bernard qualified o n th e pole for the first time in his young career with hi s best run ever - 7.76 seconds - but s lo we d dramaticall y in Sunda y's eliminations. The 22-year-old " natura l" who took his long-overd ue first career victory in seven finals wee ks ea rlier a t dr ag racin g's mos t presit gious event, th e U.S. Na tionals, somehow managed to adva nce to the last ro und again despite losin g mo re tha n a 10th of a second on race da y. Bern ard's Maryl and-based Suzuki GSX R did get progressively quicker, p icki ng up exactly o ne-hund redth of a seco nd in prelimin ary -rou nd wins over the 16th and last q ua lifier, Russ Nybert (7.89), racer/anno uncer Steve johnson (7.88), and U.S. Na tio nals runner-up Paul Gast (7.87). Wi th the best reac tio n tim e of the season for any rider at any race - .00 Isecond - Bernar d sent j ohnson to th e co ntro l tower, wh ere he serves as colo r com mentator when not in competitio n, and conte m p la ted retarding his reflexes for the upcoming final. (Ha d he let th e cl u tc h o u t .002-seco n d soo ner, like Schultz did in th e second ro u nd, Bernard would have been au tomati cally disqualified for a foul start.) " I' m kind of worried about redlighting in th e final," Bernard admitted. "T ha t's what happened to me last year." Myers, inspired by johnson's raving about Bernard's reactions over th e public-address system, was gunning for a sim ilar reactio n tim e in the final after defea tin g Cliff Wrigh t, Steve Meiterrnan , an d Hines (who qualified number two with a career-best 7.80 and reset th e track record of 172.47 mph) by a trai n -length with runs oJ 7.82,7.84 and 7.85. "Steve forgo t that I had a .013 reac tion time in the same ro und," Myers said. "T hat just made me go for it mor e in the final." True to hi s wor d, Myers was go ne ju st .008-second after th e gree n flash ed and nearly a 10th of a second ahea d of th e usuall y lightn ing-quick Bernard, giv ing h im an insurmoun table bike len gth lead before they went by the " Chris tmas tree." With every poke of the ai r-shaft bu tton, Myers in ched further ahea d, and with h is best run of th e even t, 7.81, he covered Bern ard 's 7.85, which was the per ennial finalist's best pass after his 7.76 track record in q ua lifying . "I'd rather not even think abo u t the cham p ions h ip right now; it just adds extra pressure. and you need to be focu sed," Myers said. "When you go to th e starting line, yo u need to think about the Christmas tree and that's it. The less I have to th ink about, the better." or