Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 3: Route 66 Raceway DRAG RACING AMAIPR S ARSTREET OT F IGHTER N ATIONA LS IOUEr, IL,jULY12 ~-:::JiiI~ he AMA /Prost ar motorcycle dra g racing se ries continued with th e inau gural Stree t Fighter ationals a t th e brand-new Route 66 Race w ay, jus t so u th of Chicago , Th e event sa w the con tinua tio n o f several winning s trea ks, a vet eran scoring his first win in years, and a family-backed rookie simply blowing aw ay the competition. Top Fuel legen d Larry "Spiderrnan" McBride captured hi s fir st e ven t title since 1991 with a fin al-round vic tory over three-time se ries champion Tony Lang. Lang qu alified number one with a 6.44 elapsed time a t 224 mph but had pro b lems g e tti ng the powe r to th e gro und during elimi natio ns. In the final, h e s mo ke d the tir e to a 6 .95 / 210 a s McBride took the win, shutting off earl y to a 6.62/ 184. " It wasn 't pretty," said McBride, "bu t We turned the win light on." McBride set low e.t. and top speed of the meet with a ca reer- bes t 6.31/ 226 r ec ord ed in th e semifinals aga ins t Atlan ta winn er Chris Hand. Gary Cl a rk len gth e ned his p oin ts lead in th e Tr im-Tex Funnyb ike class wit h his second wi n in three final-round appearances this season. Clar k, the twotim e d efending seri es champion, qu alified his Koeni g Kawasaki number one at 6.783 seconds and ran consistently low 6.905 in elimina tions. His tou ghest com .petition came in the semifina ls against Ka wa sak i rid er Steve Rice, who hit a 6.95 to Clark's 6.92. Clark took the event win w it h a 6.938 in th e fi na l a gainst Geoff Pollard, who red-li ghted . Rick Bunting rem ained undefeated in th e Fast By Gas t Pro Mod ified series, taking ou t Ton y Sabino in the final for the second straigh t eve nt. Sabino, who qu a lified number one a t 6.99 seconds, ran the low e.t, for the class in the first round wi th a 6.939/195. Sabino got the holeshot in th e final bu t broke downtrack, hand ing the win to Bunting, who s te p p ed up to a 6.970 . Roo k ie Da ve Lombardi mad e a name for him self in the class, qu alifying number two at 7.02 a nd running a 7.003 in th e semifi na ls again st Bunting. The Lectron Pro Stock se ries sa w a s hocker when rookie Shawn Gann, on his famil y's unsponsored Su zuki, simpl y outperformed top riders su ch as Dave Schultz, Pau l Gast and rookie sensation Antron Brown on Troy Vincent 's Team 23 Suzuki. Gann qualified number one at 7.41 and ran consistent 7.40's in eliminations - the only rid er to do so. In the final, Gann met Rickey Gad son, wh o sco red holes hot wins over Brown and Schultz to make the money ro und . Gad so n took the holeshot ove r Ga nn in the fina l, but his Suzuki didn't have eno ugh steam, falling to Gan n, 7.485-7.579. The win made Ca nn, 20, the youngest rid er to win a Pro Stock event. T he s po rtbi ke cla sses saw a p air a three-r ac e win s trea ks co nti nue wit h Ka w asaki fac tory rid er Ga dson o n ce again d ominating the 750cc Pro Su perbike class an d Keith Denn is taking the win in Kerker 600 SuperSport action. Gadson qualified the Muzz y Kawasaki bike number one, set low e.t. and top speed in th e fir st round at 9.588 /139, and cruised to the final, where he took out David Mayo for the second time this season. Gad son hit a strong 9.60 on his ZX-7R in th e final as Mayo had clu tch problems and slowed to a 15.61. While th e performance ad vantage Denn is held over the SuperSport field has e va po ra te d, th e cagey ride r put Joe Marasco's F&S/MSP ZX-6R in the win ner' s circle in Chicago. Dennis qualified number one at 10.37/ 129 but slowed during eliminations. Still, Dennis held a definite ed ge, running the best pass on race day in the final, a 10.41/131 , to get by the Michael Phillips on the Keith Davis ZX6R for the second straig ht event. Ron Legau lt took th e St ar Performan ce Parts Top Gas 'series title in sty le. qualifying number on e and ge tti ng th e holeshot against Da vid Ta yl or in th e final. Jeff Waller sco re d his fir st -ever Prostar win. getti ng by one of the sport's toug hest rid ers, Mike Konopacki, in the AP E Su pe r Co m p final. Bru ce Sauer ea rned his second win of the yea r w hen Harry Alexande r red -lighted in the fina l of the RC Componen ts Super Gas Series . Jim Dem erl y too k the win in the Pingel Pro ET Series wit h a sha rp .518 finalro u nd reaction tim e aga inst John Fine, and Ron Edwards won Stree t ET, beating Steve Knecum in the final. . Th e Street Figh ter Nationa ls was also th e first of .t hree e v ent s to co n te st AMA /Prost ar' s Quicke st Stre etbik e Shoo to ul. Desi gn ed fo r s tree t- le ga l machines, competition is held in Un limited, Mod ified and Stock classes, with all bikes required to ru n a paced 25-mile .r oa d co urse to prove street-ability. Keith Dennis held the pole in the u nli mited class, set ting th e elapsed -time record to a stu nning 8.190 on Joe Mar asco's MSP GSXR. Dennis, w ho won the event at Indy last season, mad e it to the fina l, where he met the Hahn Racecraft GSXR of Ke nt Stotz. Sto tz , the 1995 event cha mpion, hit a 8.20 in the semif inal an d then put up 8.219 at top speed of the class - 178.28 mph - in the final to get by Dennis, w ho slowed to a 8.45. Gadson took D anny Cable's Suzuki to an undisputed win in the Modified class, qualifyin g number on e, set tin g both low e.t. and high mph at 8.53/161 a nd taking the fin a l-rou nd win over Dennis, 8.56 to 8.69. Dave Stewart held the top numbers in the Stoc k cla ss at 8.85/158 but lost by a holeshot to Mark Gardner in the semifinals. Phil Stoll took the Stock win, be ating Gardner in the l":\ final, 9.34 to 9.36. Route 66 Raceway Joliet, Illinois Results: July 12, 1998 TIF: 1. Larry McBrid e (Suz) ; 2. Ton y Lang (SU7.). FNf\TY/BK: 1. Guy Oa rk (Kaw); 2. Geoff Pollard (K" w). PRO MOD: 1. Rick Buntin g (Suz); 2. To ny Sabin o lSuz) . PRO STK: 1. Shawn Ca nn < Suz) ; 2 Rickey Gadson lSuz) . PRO SI8K: 1. Rickey Goldso (Kaw); 2. David Mayo n { Ka w }, 600 5 /5PT: 1. Keith Denn is (Kaw); 2. Micha el Phillips ( Ka w ). SlCO MP: 1. Jt!ff waller (Suz); 2. Mile Konopacki (K" w). SlC AS: 1. Bruce Sauer (Kaw); 2. Harrv Alexan der [Ka w) . • PRO IT: t . Jim Demerlv (Ka w); 2. John Fine .( Ka w ). STREET ET : 1. Ron "Ed wa rds (Suz); 2. St ev e KnecumlSuz). HARLET ET ; 1. C ur t Sr ic ke ns ( H-D); 2. Pau l Summers

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