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.. Round 5: R 66 Raceway oute AMAIPROSTAR TRIM-TEX STREET FIGHTER NATIONALS By Matt Polito JOLIET, IL, JULY9-13 f ter attending h is fi r st A MA / Pros tar eve nt in 1995, Fred Collis had one th in g on his mind: rae\... ing a Pro Stock Motorcycle. Four yea rs later, his dream came tru e in a big wa y. Not only is he riding one of th e top bikes in the class, the Star Performance Parts Su zuki, bu t in only hi s fifth start he was able to come away wi th a win, ta kin g the title at th e Trim-Tex Street Fighter Na tionals at Route 66 Race way in Joliet, Illinois, "vith a fina l-round victory over the Ward Per formance bike of Steve John son. In 1998 Collis a tt e n ded Georg e Bryce's Pro Stoc k Motorcycle School and ju m ped into th e Pro Stock scene w ith bo th feet . H e land ed a sa les-and -mar ketin g positi on at Bryce 's Star Racing, th e home of NHRA po ints leader A ngelle Seeling; m oved to Am eri cus, Georgi a ; purcha sed the motor cycl e formerly rid d en by th e late Pro Sto ck Champion John My ers; and mad e hi s Pro Sto ck d ebut a t th e 1999 AMA / Prosta r Sunshine Nationals. With Jackie Bryce servi ng as cre w chief, Collis immediat ely became a pla yer . Ridin g a 150 0cc four- v al v e in Prostar' s "m ountain motor" Lectron Pro Stock Series, his average ela psed times have been better than most com pe titors ' caree r-best passes . While he has made it to the se m ifinals at every ev errt this sea son, he hadn't been abl e to crack in to the winner' s circle , losing to class cham pion Paul Gas t in h is on ly fina l-ro und ap pe arance. At Route 66 Raceway, Collis grabbed his fourth straight pole pos ition wi th a. number- on e qualify in g 7. 29 1 a t 187 mp h. During eliminations, he tu rned in th e second -q uicke st p ass ever fo r th e class, a 7.205/ 184, which was just a tick behind Seeling's record of 7.203. H e m ad e the final w it h a 7.24 wi n over Ge no Scali in the se mifi nals. In th e othe r semi , Johnson too k ou t Gast w ith a holesh ot, 7.32 to Gast's quicker 7.31. Johnso n got the holesh ot in the final but could n' t tum the number, falling off to a 7.45/ 176, as Collis took his firs t-ever win at 7.29/181. "It's g rea t to know what it takes to win one of these thi ngs," sa id Co llis. "1 can' t believe it happen ed so fas t. Winning after only five races of dri ving one of thes e mot orcycles is awesome. It's a real tr ibute to Jacki e a nd the team at Star." Th e Top Fti el e r s r e turned to th e AMA /Prostar tour for the fi rs t time since the Atlanta eve nt in March . Points lead er Lar ry' "Spiderm an" McBrid e led early qualifying fo r the su perc h arg ed n it ro burners a t '6.54 / 204 until C h ris Ha nd stole th e pole in th e.last sessio n with a 6.42 / 229 charge. McBride turned in th e quick lap of th e event at 6.35 with a firs t-ro un d wi n over Dan Butters and got by fou r-time and defending cham p Tony Lan g in the semis before meeting Hand in the fina l. McBrid e go t the holeshot in th e final but got out of shape and had to lift, openi ng the door for Hand, who scored his first win since Atlanta ' 98 with a 6.39/229 effort. Three-tim e defending Orient Express Funny bi ke Cham pion Gary Clark ca me to Route 66 Raceway with new bodyw ork and turbo co nfiguratio n o n his HM P Kawasaki. The results we re immediate, as Clark topped th e q ualifying sheets at 6.72 seconds at 201 m ph. Both Cla rk and Steve Suter record ed identical 6.682 elapsed times in ro u nd one, only to meet each o ther, in round two. Clark won the d u el', 6.78 to 6.82,-and b .tc~ (Above) Fred Collis too k his flrst-ever win in Pro Stock, runn ing as qu ick as 7.205 seconds on the Sta r Performance Parts Four-Yalve Suzuki. (Right) Chris Hand (near lane) turned back points leader Larry "Spiderman" McBride In the Top Fuel final, 6.36/229 to McBride's s hut-off 6.94/158. up th e 6.68 fo r the recordbu tfell to Geoff Po llard when he sp u n the tire in the semifinals. The final pitted Pollard against Keith Ly n n , w ho ha s been having a terrifi c seaso n w ith one win in three final-rou nd appearances. Lynn got the ho les hot b ut fi reba lled hi s gas /nitro us Kawa s ak i down the track. In th e ot he r lan e, Pol· Ia rd , w ho h ad ru n as qui ck a s 6.84, str ugg led but m a na ged h is first wi n wi th a 7.22, as L ynn coasted to a 10,86 tim eslip. Last season 's " Pro Roo ki e of th e Yea r," Da ve Lomba rd i, to ok an emotio na l first -ever win in the Fast By Gast Pro Modified Series , ge tt ing by class stand ou ts Tony Sabino and Billy Vose in the proc ess . Sabin o took his Franco's Per formance Suzuki to the number-one qualifyin g spot w ith a sh arp 6.77 /200 bu t b lew a piston in the semifi na ls, allowing Lombard i to drive around him and into the final, where he met Vose on Genard Thomas' s Suzuki. Vose, w ho got by th e Ori en t Exp ress Kawasa ki of Da ve Vantine in th e semis, gotthe hol eshot over Lombardi in th e final bu t backfired the exhaust off the bike and never made it down track. Lombardi took th e win wi th a 6.99/182 timeslip . Kaw as aki factory rider Rickey Gadso n con tin ued hi s dominance of the Superbike class with his fourth straight win on th e nit ro us-assis ted Crossroad Powers ports ZX-7R. Gadson qualified n umber o ne at 8.52 /158 and took Low e.t. honors with his 8.49 /159 final-round victory over first -time finalist John Petters on. Kerker 600cc SuperSpo rt Champion Keith Dennis too k his seco nd win of th e yea r in the h ot ly co n tes ted sportbike class. "Tea m Green" rid er Chip Ellis qualified number one at 10.26 / 131 and ran the best laps of eliminations - includi ng a 10.22 /132 - on his ZX-6R before .meet, ing Dennis in the final. Dennis scored a m onster hol eshot and h eld off Elli s' s 10 .30 with a 10. 38 for the w in on Joe Marasco's ZX-6R. The St ree t Fi ght er N at io na ls is na med for the heavy street-raci ng scene in th e nearby Chicagoland are a and as such w as the perfect ve nue fo r th e seco n d s t o p of th e t h ree-ra ce Sc h n ilz Quick est Streetbike Sh oot ou t fo r 180mph street-legal mo torcycles . Gary Wardosky took th e pol e with a 8.27 / 175 on his GS X-R11 00 and took out po ints lead er Tommy Miceli in the semifinals . C h ris Wi ll iams h it th e hot la p of the event on Da nny Cable's Suzuki GS1150 with a 8.19 /176 semifinal win over Keit h Denn is. Willia m s took the w in over Wardosky in the final, ,8 .45 to 8.55. T h e Spor ts man ranks s a w Bruce Sauer take h is th ird straig ht win in the APE Super Co m p Series and fellow C&B teamm ate Rob Schenz take th e win in th e RC Components Super2~ Series. O ther Sportsman winners include John Fine, ta kin g a first-ever w in in th e Star Perfo rmance Parts Top Ga s se ries, and d efendin g c ha m pion Ji m Ca r ro ll , pulling off his firs t wi n of the season in th e Pingel Pro ET Series. Philip Augustin e won the V-Twi n ET class and Rickey Gadson too k home th e big tro phy in Street ET o n his ZX-6R. CN Route 66 Race way J oliet, illinois Res ults: Ju ly 9-13,1999 (Round 5) TIF: 1. Chris Hand (MeU); 2 Larry M cBrid e (Suz>. FNYfBK: 1. Geoff PoIla rd (Kaw ): 2. Keith lynn IKaw ). PRO MOD: 1. Da ve Lombardi (Suz ); 2. Bill Vose (5uz), PRO STK: 1. Fred ColJis (Suz); 2. Steve Johnso n ISuz) , PRO S/ BK: 1. Ric key Ga dson (Ka w) : 2. John Petterson tKaw ). ST RT BK SHOOTOUT: 1. Chris Williams (Suz); 2 Gary Wardos ki (Suz) . . 600 S/5FT: 1. Keit h Dennis (Kaw) ; 2. Ch ip EI1i5 (Ka w ). TO P G AS: 1. John Fine IKaw k 2. Mik e Kono pa cki. S /CO M P: 1. Bruce Sa ue r IKaw ): 2. Robin Re dmann (Ka w) . S /GAS: 1. Rob Schenz IKaw), 2. Lonny Rueckert (Suz), P RO ET: 1. Jim Ca r roll (Kaw) : 2. Glend a Gi bbs (Ka w ). STRT ET: 1. Rickey Gad son (Ka w): 2. Mar k Mueller (Suz), Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Indianapolis, Indiana. August 13-15 • Round 7 - Atco, New Jel'SllY. September 10-12 45