Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Drag Racing Round 7: Atco Raceway AMAIPROSTAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRAG RACING SERIES By Matt Po lito ATeo, i\q, SEPT. Hl-12 he AMA / Prostar U.S. Motorcycle ationa ls is the longest-ru nning and, in some ways, the most presti gious mot orcycle drag race in the world . For the past 35 years the event has b een run, un d er differen t sanctioning bodies, a t Atco Raceway in Atco, New Jersey. While the sport has progressed tre m e n d ous ly in m ore than three . decades, Atco remains mu ch as it was back in the day. Located on p rotected wetlands, the track managem ent had been stymied in its efforts to u pgrad e the facility. Still, Atco has been pri vy to so me of the mos t historic performances in the sport, an d that d id n't cha nge at the 35th ru nning of the event. While the h igh -h ors epo w er bi kes were h a v in g tr ou bl e getti ng d o w n th e track. , th e finesse classes yielded so me sensa tional new performance recor ds. The Top Fuel class returned to Atco for the first time sin ce 1995. Four-time d ef end ing Top Fuel ch a m pio n Tony Lang mov ed into the points lead for the first time this season following his second straight victory. Qualifying was led by former points leader Larry "Spiderman " McBrid e with an ea rly-s hu t-o ff run of 6.49 se co nd s a t a coasting 175 mph. Both Lang and Chris Hand cracked into the 6.4-second range during elim inations and were s lated to fac e ea ch other in the final. Hand never cam e to the line for the final , as hi s m ot or w ouldn 't light on all four cylind ers, forcing him to shut it off. Lang made the most of the sing le, running the best pass of the eve n t, 6.41 seconds, 213 mph. . Tom Perry took his first win of th e season in the Orie nt Express Funnybike class with a final-ro u nd victory over five- time finalis t Keith Lynn. Th ree- time cha mpion Gary Cla rk led qualifying a t 6.84/192 onhis HMP Kawa sak i but got out of sha pe and shu t off against Lyn n in round tw o. Perry, ridin g the MRE Suzuki, wa s by far the 'most consistent of the Funnybik e class at Atco, running a caree r-best 6.80 in round one and fol} owing it up wi th a pair of 6.90s to make his first final of the seaso n. Lynn, who has been a consistent 6.80 runner th is season, s trugg led at A tco and failed to crac k a pa ss under seven seco nd s for the entire even t. He had to cut it off early in the final and coast ed to a 7.16/164 as Perry took the win with a 6.94 at 192 m ph. Local hero Billy Vase scored his second Fast by Gast Pro Modified w in of th e season, ou tlasting forme r s tu dent and now archrival Dave Lombardi. The top quali fier was To m my Miceli, fresh off th e winning d ebut o f his Fra nco's Performance Koenig Suzuki, who ran a 6.99, and then 6.98/ 185 to lead the field. But Vase was right there. Qualifying second at 7.05, Vose brough t Ge n na rd Thomas' Cycle Sho p Suz uki to a 6.99 in rou nd one an d a pa ir of 7.01s - includ ing a 7.011 against the MRE ren tal bike ridden by UK Pro Stock champ Dave Beck in the semis - to make his fourth final of the year. Miceli and Lomba rdi were trading hot laps on their side of the ladd er and met up in the semis where Miceli go t the en h ol e sh o t b ut d oub le- shifted a n d ~ could n' t mak e up the di fference. In the en final, Vose, who dominated the class in ~ the mid-'90s, gave his form er studen t a ~ les s on , s tr a p p ing Lomb ard i wit h a ~ holeshot and d riving away for the win, . 6.99-7.15. . ~ Rookie Pro Stock sensa tion Fred Collis ex ten ded h is p oints lead to a near ~ a 42 lock on the number-one plate with his third -straigh t win in the Lectro n class . Collis, riding the Star Performance Parts Suzu ki, ga rnered his sixth straight pole with the quickest Pro Stock run in history, a 7.200 a t 185 mph. The nex t best rid er, defen d ing cha mpion Paul Cast, was m o re th a n a te n th b ehind ' a t 7.31/185. Bu t Collis had more in it. In the first ro und of eli mi na tio ns he becam e th e first Pro Stock rid er u nd er 7.2 seconds wi th a stu nning 7.192/ 184 against Dennis Mir ante . Co llis a nd th e Star team had to swa p eng ines following the ru n, which brought him bac k to mo re ea rthly numbers. Still, he had the field cove red with a 7.26 in his semifinal bye. On the othe r side of the lad der, Gast look ed to be on his way to his fou rth final of the year with a string of 7.3 second laps. In the semifinals he met Team 23 rider An tro n Brown, the Atla nta win ner, who had yet to ma ke a full pass in eliminations . Brown, un der th e tu n ing of Mark Pieser, cracked off a 7.27 in the semis to turn back Cast's 7.34 and ma ke th e fina l agains t Collis fo r th e secon d race in a row . Th e final was all Collis. He h it th e bes t reaction time of the class, a .416, a nd co up led it w it h a 7.27 to get by Brown 's 7.34 and take the w in. Kawasaki facto ry rid er Rickey Gadso n locked u p his third Superbike cha mpion ship at his home track with his sixth straigh t win on his nitrous-injected ZX7R. While Gadson was off his usua l 8.40 numbers early in the eve nt - he qu alified number one a t 8.74, just ahead of Ph ill Davis's 8.79 - he came alive in elimi nations. Gadson was no doubt sp urred on by the p er form an ce of Team Suzuki Spo rt rid er Brock David son, w ho has been struggling wi th the combina tion on his GSXR 750 all season. David son finall y put it all toget her in roun d one, h itting a 8.51 a t 159 mph to take ou t Davis. The run made Davidson the second-quickest rider in the history of the class and gave him the first leg of a new speed record . But Davidson went from eu pho ria to heartbreak in th e ne xt ro und when he su ffered a violent backfire which brought th e bik e to a h alt ju st ou t of the ga te. Gadson, mean whil e, stepped up to a pair of low-8.4 second laps to mak e the final agai nst Michael Iantorno on Bill Tarnucd's always-potent GSXR 750. Gadson crew chief Will King turned the wick up for the final, and Gadson left no doubt as to who owns the Superbike class, setting both ends of the record at 8.303 seconds, 162.82 mph, while Ian torno broke and coasted down the track. . The Kerker 600cc SuperSport class ha s been th e h o tt es t class on the AMA /Prostar tour this season and Atco was no excep tion, wi th a record 31 bikes making qual ifying laps. Team Green rider and po in ts leader Marty Ladwig led the field to take the pole as he reset his elapsed-time record to a 10.151/133 on his ZX-6R. Ladwig further lowered the record to 10.10 in a rou nd-one bye , and the n a stu nning 10.078 in rou nd two against Eddie Krawiec. Ladwig found ou t jus t how u nfo rgiving the 600cc SuperS po rt class is, as he stood the bike up in the next rou nd and los t to Ry an Sch nitz, 10.49 to 10.52. Sch nitz, rid ing a '98 GSXR ou t of th e Team BDE camp, stepped u p to a 10.37 in the se mi fina ls. It was no mat ch for Rickey Gadson, who wru ng a 10.20 out of his ZX6R to make his third final of the season. O n th e o t he r s ide of the lad d er, Atla n ta wi nne r Chi p Ellis wa s pu tti ng up some world-class number s on h is ZX-6 R, ru nnin g a 10.17 agai ns t Jason Kawasa ki facto ry ri der Rickey Gadson locked up his third Pro Superbike championship by scoring his sixth win and setting performance records at the AMAlProstar U.S. Nationals. Miller, and then a 10.11 agains t fello w Team Green member Chris Williams in the se m is . In th e a ll-Kawasa ki fin a l, Gadson got the holesh ot, but Ellis rod e arou nd him for his se co nd win of the seaso n, 10.15-10.28. In the sports man ranks, both Andy Baumbach and Rob Sch enz ma de tw o finals each bu t neither cou ld pu ll off the ra re d oub le win . Ba umba ch took the Top Gas title over Mike Kono pac ki but los t in Super Co mp to Scott Wall , w ho took his second wi n in a row. Schenz beat Lon ny Rueck ert in th e Su per Ga s final for the third time this season, bu t lost to Ken George in Pro IT. Local racer Steve Knecum took the Stree t IT trophy on his GS1150, ge tting by Jam es Wau gh CIII in the fmal. Atco Raceway Atco, New Jersey Results: September 10-12, 1999 (Round 7 of 8) TOP FUEL: 1. Ton y Lang (Suz); 2. Chri s Hand. FNY/BK: 1. Tom Perry (Suz): 2. Keith Lynn (Kaw ). PRO MOD: 1. Bill Vose ISuz): 2. Dave Lombard i (Suz). PRO ST K: 1. Fred Collis (Su z): 2. Antron Brow n (Suz). PRO S/BK: 1. Rick ey Gadson (Ka w): 2. Michael lantomo (Suz). 600 5 /5PT: 1. Chip Ellis (Kaw ): 2. Rickey Gad son (Kaw l. TOP G AS : 1. A n dy Baumba ch (Ka w): 2. Mik e Ko nopacki (Ka w). S/CO M P: 1. Scott Wan (Suz): 2. Andy Baumbach (K aw ). StGA S: 1. Rob Sche nz (Ka w): 2. Lonny Rueck ert (Suz). c. PRO ET: 1. Ken George (Sux); 2. Rob Schertz (Kaw). STRT ET: 1. Steve Knccum (5uz ); 2. James Waugh (Suz). Upcoming Round: Round 8 - Gainesville, Florida, November 12-14

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