Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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• DRAG RACING Round 7: Hous~on Raceway Park AMM'ROSTAR DRAG RACING SERIES sensa tion Da ve Lombard i in the final this time by a 6.99-7.04 margin. The cool qualifying air led for some spectacu lar numbers in the Lectro n Pro Stock series as the majority of com pe titor s hit career-bes t pe rforma nces. Points leader Pa u l Gast led the cha rge on his Dvnatek Suzuki with a 7.35, followed bv Jason Revis at 7.36 and Shawn Gann at 7.39. Pat Wise, To m Mice li and Da ve Lang followe d , all with timeslips in the 7.40s. Gas t held them all off in elim inations, running th e b est numbers of the day and getting by Revis in the final, 7.387.48, to take his fifth win of the year. While Gad son took hi s fir st win in th e 600cc class, he fa iled to make the fina l for the first tim e thi s season in a class h e h a s d omina ted - 750 cc Pro Superbi ke, Gadson was ou t of the run ning early, as he blew a mo to r on his first qu alifying lap and the team surprisingl y did not have the parts to make a repair. Th at opened the door for the nu mber-two man in the poin ts, David Mayo, w ho turned in a career-best 9.45/137 on the Rockdale Cycles ZX-7R to tak e the pole. Mayo bogged the bike to a stall in the final, allowing Michael Hartness to solo to his first win w ith a 9.97 on the M&H Suzuki GSXR. AMA / Pros ta r officia ls an nou nced major rules cha nges for th e Superbi ke class for 1999 at Hou ston . The new rules will allow the 750$ to run nitrous oxide and will also open the class up to no rma lly aspirated 900cc bikes. Th e postpon ed Sportsman eliminations w ill be ru n a t the season-endi ng Wo rld Finals a t Gai nesvi lle Racewa y. 'Novem ber 20-22. f~ Houston Raceway Park Baytown, Texas Results : October 1G-1 1, 1998 (Round 7 of 8) FNNY/B K: 1. Ga ry Cla r k (Kaw j: 2. Te rry Kize r By Matt Polito BAYTOWN,TX,OCT 1D-II . (-;j ickey Ga dson has been having a L.J\.) tough time in the Kerker 600cc 00 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 N l-o OJ .g ..... o U 24 Supersport series this season. The Muzzy Kawasaki factory rider may be the best-financed team in the class, but Gadson has been un ab le to break into the winner's circle in 1998. That all chan ged at the AMA / Pros tar Gulf Coast Na tiona ls a t Houston Racewa y Park , wh ere Gadson made it in to the winner's circle after ge tting by class sta ndout Keith Dennis in the final. Still, the win was bittersweet, as Denni s locked up the nu mbe rone plate for the season, and also set a new elapsed -time record for the class. The 1998 Gu lf Coas t Na tion a ls marked AMA / Pros ta r's retu rn to the Lon e Sta r sta te for th e firs t tim e since 1992. N ea r-perfect weath er co nd itions during Saturday's qualifyin g gave way to humid , overcast cond itions on Sunday . Alt hough a ll professio na l cla ss es were com p leted , persist ent, la te-aft ern o on s h o w e rs p o stpon ed th e final results in the Sportsm an classes. Dennis has been kn ocking them dead in th e 600cc class this season . On th e F&S ZX-6R out of Joe Marasco's Ma ximum Street Perfor mance shop, Dennis qualified w ith an a ll-time performance ma rk of 10.23 second s a t 132 mph at Houston to retain his lock on the numb er-on e q ua lifyi ng p osit ion in 1998. Gadson wa s second at 10.34, followed by scrappy privateer Chip Ellis at 10.34, Michael Phillips on th e Chees e Steak Davis ZX-6R at 10.36, and Team Suzuki Sport rider Brock Davidson, wh o turned in a 10.38 on his GSXR. Dennis looked to have matters in his own hand s in elimina tions, runn ing a string of low 10.30s , but he mi ssed a shift in th e fina l, a llowing Ga dson to take the wi n, 10.43 to 10.50. After sitting out the Atco , New Jersey , event, two-time an d defending Trim-Tex Funnybike cha m p io n Ga ry Clark had troubl e getting back in th e groov e at Hou ston, running a be st of 6.92 seconds at 187 mph on his Koen ig Kawa saki to qu alify seco nd b ehind Bry an Bennett's EFI Turbo Kawas a ki 6.88 / 191. Cla rk retu rn ed to hi s no rm a l form in eli mi n a tio ns , however, r unning three succ essive 6.70 runs and ge ttin g by a resurgent Terry Kizer in the final to take his fifth win of th e s ea s o n. Kizer, in fro nt of a par tisan hometown crowd, had ea r lie r run a ca reer- best 6.80 /1 98 on his ZX-ll turbo-a lcohol ma chine , but he fell off to a 7.16 in the final when his transmission skip ped a gea r. Ton y Sabi no a ll but locked up the Fast By Ga st Pro Modified series, scoring his fourth straight win in six finalround appearances on the Fra nco's Performance Suzuki. Sabino, who qua lified on the pole a t 6.97 second s, 192 mph, was the man to beat in elimina tions, hitting the low e.t. of every round. For the third race in a row , Sabino got by rookie (Ka w). PRO MOD : 1, Ton y Sa bi no (5 uz) ; 2. Dave Lombard i (Suz). PRO ST K: t . Pau l Cast (Suz) : 2. ja son Revis (Suz). PR O S/BK : I. M icha el Ha rtness (Su z); 2. D.t\lid Mayo (J(.lW) . 600 S /SPT: 1. Rickey Gad son (Ka w): 2. Keith Den nis (Ka w). Upcoming Round: Round 8 • Gainesville, Rorida, November20-22 (Above left) Rickey Gadson scored a bittersweet victory at the AMAlProstar Gulf Coast Nationa ls, when he won the 600cc Supersport-class final over Keith Dennis but lost the number-one plate to him. (Below) Gary Clark (far lane) defeated Terry Kizer (near lane) for th e victory in the Funn ybike class.