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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127972
DRAG RACING AMM'R S ARDRAG OT ACIN IE R GSER S By Matt Po lito GAINESVILLE, FL, NOV. 20-22 MA / p ros ta r e n d ed it s 199 8 . motorcycle drag racing season in a big way with the 10th annual World Finals at Gainesville Racewa y. Alw ays the lar gest event of the seaso n, Ga inesville topped itself th is yea r w ith hu ge fields and record bumps in a lmo s t all p rof essional cla sses. With a reco rd number of en tries, the event was the la rgest ever in the hi story of th e sport. Even though all but one of the number -on e pro pla tes was locked up goi ng into Ga ines ville, the event held h igh dra m a , w ith t he m os t exci ti n g series of final roun d s of the seaso n. The one cham pio nship up for grabs was i n Top Fu el w h e re three -t im e d efendi ng cha mp Tony Lang was hold ing off a stro ng su rge from Lar ry "Spid errn an" McBride. But even th a t pa ir would have their wo rk cut out for them, as a st rong Eu ro pea n contin gent bolstered the co m p etit io n to p ro d u ce an eig ht-bike field that qu alified u nder an unpreced ented 6.92 seconds . Lang took the pole with a stout 6.19second ela psed time a t 230 mph, but McBrid e sco re d th e qui ck la p of th e eve n t wit h a caree r-best 6.17/ 227 semifinal wi n over Chris Han d . Lang locked u p the ch a m p ions hip with h is fi na lro un d a p pea ra n ce, b u t o nc e aga in McBrid e won the season-e nd braggin g rig ht s, with his second victory of the season. In the final, McBrid e overca me a Lang holesh ot with a 6.39 to tu rn back Lang's quicker 6.38 ET. One-thousand th of a second se p ara ted the bikes at the finish line. The Wo rld Finals always s e es a s tr on g n itro H ar ley presen ce in th e Trim-Tex Funn ybike field, and 1998 was no ex ce p tio n . A to ta l of 10 V-twins showed up at Gainesville to take on the A 00 0\ 0\ ...... ~ l-< Q) ..c .§ u c Q) 16 Round 8: Gainesville Raceway import bikes, with seven of them making the final field of 16 bikes. The top four qu alifiers we re Harl eys, led by Jay Turner' s 6.66 seconds/205 mph. The ZX-l1 of Kaw asa ki rid er Steve Rice wa s th e on ly im port le ft by th e semifina ls, and Rice lost to Ha rley lege n d Jim McClu r e, w ho turned in a stro ng 6.89 in .the final but lost to Mark Revels, who u sed a hol esh ot-in itia ted 6.93 to take the wi n. Points ch am pion Ga ry Clark d eb u t ed a n ew Koenig Kawasaki at the eve nt an d went out in round one. Q u ali fyin g in the Fast by Ga s t Pro Mod ified series wa s led by new cha mp ion Tony Sabino on the Fran co's Performan ce Suz u ki at 6.88 seco nds /194 mph. The top four qua lifiers mad e it to the se mifina ls, w he re Sab ino took ou t th e S&K bike of Scott Valetti, an d Billy Vase advan ced past Rick Bunt in g , w ho brought the Fast by Gast bike back in to comp etit ion after it b u rn e d to th e ground at Atco. Vase, a fou r-time cha m pion wh o has been d abbling in both Funnybike a nd Pro-Mod this season, proved he is still a player by putting a holeshot on Sabino in the final and scoring his first win of the yea r, 6.93 -6 .92. Va s e pra cti call y owns Gainesville, winning the eve nt for the fifth time in the last six seasons. A record 32 bikes sho wed u p for the Lectro n Pro Stock series and produce d a recor d 7.49 bu m p. Team Win sto n rid er Ange lle Seeling held the po le at 7.26 seconds. Bot h Seeling and two-time points cham pio n Paul Gast wen t out in round two with broken cam chains. Th e fina l pitted the Su noco Su zu ki of Dave Schultz agains t the Bob Carpe n te r - po were d ma chin e of S te ve Jo hnson. It was Johnson who go t th e h o lesh o t w ith a sharp .419 rea ct ion tim e, but a small oil leak caused th e rear wheel ' to sp in wildly right off the li ne . It co u ld n ' t happen a t a wo rse time, as Schul tz had p rob lem s on the run and coul d only p roduce a 7.99 in the final (after a s tring of 7.30 passes ) to take th e wi n. Alt hough Tea m Mu zz y Kawas aki fac tory rid er Rickey Ga dson has been the dom inant force ,in the Pro Superbike class this seaso n, David Ma yo proved a worthy competitor, ta ki ng his second w i n of the sea son o n hi s ZX-7 R a t Gai nesvill e. Ga ds on reset his own ET record for the class a t 9.31 secon d s in qualifying bu t fell off to a 9.52 in th e final as Ma vo rod e arou nd him for a 9.51 wi n. ' In the Kerker 600cc Supersport class, Gadson scored his second stra igh t wi n over p o in ts cha m pio n Keith Den ni s, w ho was rid in g th e F&S Z X-6R. But w h ile Ga dson's w in ove r Denn is a t Houston came by way of a missed shift o n Denn is ' s p a r t , Ga dso n w o n Gain esville the old-fa shioned way: on a holesh ot. Mich a el Ph ill ip s took th e n u m berone qua lifyi ng posi tion on the Ch ees e Stea k Da v is Z X-6R w it h a s to u t 10.28/1 29, follow ed bv Dennis, 00.31) Gadson, 00.35) a nd the Team Suzu ki Sport GSXR of Brock Davidson 00.42). Phillips and Den nis ran the best nu mbe rs in eli m ina tio ns, bu t both fe ll to Gadso n ho les h ots . Gad son too k o u t Ph illi ps .in the sem is, need in g on ly a 10.39 to ge t by Phillip s' 10.34. In the fina l, Gads on hit a sha rp .519 reaction time to get the early lead on Denni s, and the Mu zzy bike had the ho rsepower to stay ahead , recording a 10.38 to Denni s's 10.35. ' Andy Baumbach, one of the m os tfeared racers in the Prostar' s sportsman ran ks, went to two fina ls bu t came up em p ty at Gainesville, los ing reactiontim e advantage in bo th classes. Baumbach lost to the Schultz Race Produc ts bike of Craig Adams in the fina l of the Star Performance Pa rts Top Gas series Lar ry " Spiderman " McBri de (near lane) recorded a career-be st 6.17 elapsed time en route to t he final ro und and earned his second win of t he seaso n during the AMAlProstar World Finals at Gaine svill e Racewa y. McBride go t the' holesh ot on points champion To ny Lang (far lane) and took the win In th e closest Top Fuel fi nal ever, 6.39-6.38. and to the Ward Perfor ma nce Suzu ki of Brian Johnso n in the Pingel Pro ET final. Paul Cooksey mad e h is second final ro u nd a p pearance of the yea r a good one, taking the APE Supe r Comp title over Ron Procop io. Flori da brack et ace Lonny Ruec kert took the RC Componen ts Super Gas wi n w ith a final-roun d victory over Ohi o's Jack Miller. In Street ET Jim Ca rroll brough t Sonny Fishpaws brand- new Triu mp h Speed Triple (with 127 miles on the odometer) to the winner's circle aft er Chi ca go street terror John St Pierre red-ligh ted in the final. Th e 1999 AMA /Prostar season wi ll pick u p w her e it left off, going back to Ga in e svi lle fo r th e MRE Sun shi n e Na tionals, February 26-28, 1999. I~ Gainesvill e Racew ay Gainesville, Florida Results: November 20-22, 1998 (Round 8 of 8) T IF: 1. Larry McBride (Su z); 2. Tony Lang (ru m) . F/BK : 1. Mark Reve ls (H · D); 2. Jim McClure (H-D>. PRO MOD: 1. Bill Vase (Ka w); 2. Tony Sabino (Suz ). PRO STK: 1. Dave Sc h u ltz ~(Suz); 2. Steve Johnson (Suz). PRO SIBK: 1. David MdY (Kaw ): 2. Rickey Gadso n O (Ka w). 600 S/S I'T : 1. Rickey Gadson (Ka w): 2. Keith Dennis (K aw) . TO P G AS: 1. Cra ig Ad am s (Su z ); 2. An dy Bau mba ch IKaw}. S /CO M P: 1. P a u l Coo ksey ISu z): 2. Ro nal d Procop io (Suz) . S/GAS : 1. Lonn y Rue ckert ISuz) : 2. Jack Mille r (Ka w). ' PRO ET: 1. Brian John son (Suz ); 2. Andy Baumbach (!