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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