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/127541
eDRAG RACE ProStar National Chameionshie Drag Race Series: Round I m Ste ve Rice (n ear Lane) topped Tom Hosteau (far lane) in the Top Fuel Final. Dennis Hinton (far lane) won the Pro Comp final over Robert Giard (near lane). In the Top Fuel H·D Final, Larry Stanley (far lane) bested Happy Ring (nea r lane). Jim Bernard (far lane) beat Dave Schultz (near lane) in the Pro Stock final. First-time winners 'dominate Citrus Nationals By Matt Polito GAINESVILLE, FL. M I AR. n a n even t th at sa w fir st -time wi n ners in a ll professio na l classes a n d t h e wreck o f th e world 's qui c kes t m o to r cycl e, th e ProS tar Motorcycle Drag Racing Associa tio n o pe ne d u p its nin e-event seaso n wit h the Ci trus Na tio nals at Ga inesville Racewa y in Flo rida . If the turnout was a ny ind icatio n , 1992 should be a banner yea r for Pro Sta r as over 350 bi kes were entered in the meet. T hey say ba d th ings ha p pen in th rees. Suc h was the case at the Ci trus Nat ional s as th ree riders went down over th e co urse ofthe event, in clud in g T o p Fue l Cha mpion Larry McBride. T he m ish a ps sta rted when Er in Vase flipped her Top Gas entry - a bike th at is no t eq u ipped wi th the sta ndard wh eeli e bar - right off th e line during th e first quali fyin g sessio n, br eaking her leg. In th e next sessio n. T op Gas com pe ti tor T odd Moor e mad e a hard left out o f th e ga te and too k o u t th e Gainesv ille Raceway Christm as tree. Moore was uninjured a nd went on to a sem i-final finish . McBride went do wn during th e first I 20 ro u nd o f el imi na tions d uri ng th e conclusio n o f a 6.90-second, 205 mph single bye ru n. Ru n n in g in th e righ t la ne, hi s supercha rged n itro methan efu el ed Su zu ki d rifted toward the guardrai l durin g th e last half o f th e co u rse a n d co nt in ued o n i ts path th rough th e tra ps. McBride reported th a t whe n he cu t th e th ro ttl e. hi s bi ke m ad e a ser iou s m ov e toward t he guardrai l and he was forced to ditch th e bik e. La ter a nalysis of the o nboard. da ta-r ecordin g co mp ute r indica ted th a t McBride was tra veling over 195 mph wh en he parted wa ys wi th the mot orcycle. (Ironi ca lly, McBride co mpa red riding a T op Fuel mo torcycle to jump in g out o f a n a irpla ne, d uri ng a pr ess interview after qua lifyin g number o ne a t 6.61/207 th e ni ght before.) H e su ffered a broken toe a nd a severel y scra ped elbow along wi th m ultiple bru ises a nd road ras h . Save for the engi ne, the bike, wh ich has run as quick a nd fast as 6.49/218, was to ta led. McBride plans to retu rn to com pe tition at th e next ProStar event and is cu rre ntly looking for rides to ma intain a posi tion in th e po ints whi le he waits for hi s new Race Vision crea tio n. whi ch sho uld see th e tra ck in eig h t weeks. With McBride o u t and fro nt -ru n ners Elme r Trett , T erry Kizer and Tony Lang unabIe to get their rides pr epared in tim e for th e ea rl ier- tha n- u su a l event . the T o p Fu el crow n was u p for gra bs. Stepp ing to th e forefront was Steve Rice, a Ka wasak i product su pport s pe cia l is t fro m Cos ta Mesa . Ca lifornia. Ri ce q ua lified his I260cc, turboch arged-an -alcoho l Kawasak i seco nd behi nd McBride wi th a 7.16/ 187 a nd pu t to ge th er a s tring o f cons isten t ru ns to wi n the titl e, taking o u t T om H o ustea u in th e fina l 7. 17/ 185 to 8.18/ 161. Fiftee n Pro Sto ck bi kes made th e show. ma ny hop in g to ge t fin e-tuned for th e N H RA Slick 50 Na tio na ls a week la ter. J ohn Myers debu ted hi s new Star Racin g '92 Suzuki Ka tana with a number th ree q ua lifying run of 7.83/ 169 wh ile Dave Schu ltz, cu rrent ly between sponsors, ran h is '90 Kaw asaki (which he has already so ld to Vel i Mil a n o f Fin land) an d q ua li fied seco nd wit h a 7.73/ 173. But th is race belonged to Ji m Bernard. Berna rd, from McHe nry, Mary la nd. q ual ified number o ne at 7.7 1/ 173 a nd went on to ta ke his first ProStar tit le over a red ligh ting Sch u ltz in wh at wo u ld have been a fantast ic fina l. 7.75/171 to 7.75/ 172. A large sho wi ng was recei ved in th e Harley-Dav idso n classes d ue to th e race _ bein g ru n d uri ng th e a n n ua l Daytona Cycle Week. In add itio n to T op Fu el H arl ey a nd P ro Stoc k H arl ey, th e top - gear-on ly Pro Dragster nit ro class was a lso contested . A total o f 33 H arl eys were entered . T he favorites went ou t ear ly in T op Fuel H arley as n umber o ne q ua lifier Bill Furr (7.37/164) suffered engine da mage and was a no-sh ow for elimina tions while J im ' McClure (7.48/ 176), still developin g th e Feuling fourvalve heads, fell in th e first ro und to Bob Spina. T he fin al saw Florid a's Lar ry Sta n ley tak e th e win wit h a 7.93/ 166 over a slow ing H app y Rin g. Den ver, Co lorado, resident Ph il H ow ell took th e titl e in Pro Stock H arley agai nst Ken Berr y, 9.33/ 136 to 11.1 8/ 125, as Doc Savage, from 'J on esboro, Geo rgia, went on to wi n Pro Dragster, 8.24/ 160 to 8.38/ 145, over Mike Fresi na . In Pro Camp, a firs t-rou nd gru dge mat ch between th e two most dom in ant riders in 199 1, C hampio n Rick ey Gadso n a nd n umber t wo -r anked Dwigh t Seldon, never ma terial ized as Ga dson threw a wa y a lo w E.T. of th e mee t 7.28/ 179 wit h a red ligh t, as Sel do n had tro uble o ff th e li ne and coas ted th rou gh the traps. First tim e fin al ist Dennis H inton, from Wilson, North Carolina, took his tit le wi th a 7.56/173 as Rob ert G iard, in hi s second fin al ro u nd in a row, red -li ghted. Spo rt sman wi n ners in clude Ri ck Perry in Top Gas, J oe Eckel in Su pe r Co rn p , J ohn Sha ver i n P ro G a s, Russell Love in Super Mod ified and Roy H agad orn in E.T. Ton y Mull en , wh o holds th e number o ne pl at e in Super Gas, won th e firs t leg of hi s titl e defens e with a brilliant, dead -on-theindex , 9.900 in th e fin al round. CN