Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 13: Houston Raceway Park NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES (Above) Team 23's Tony Mullen (near lane) became the s ixth distinct winner in the 13 NHRA eve nts run thus far th is season when he rode his Mall,com Suzuki to a final-roun d victory over six-time NHRA champ Dave Sc hultz (far lane) In the Houston final. (left) Mullen (center) and the rest of his Team 23 crew celebrate d their first NHRA win in front of their hometown fans at Houston Racewa y Park. ons hips on a spo rtsman motor cycle, but to kn ow how it feels to wi n an NHRA nation al even t, yo u 've just go t to do it becau se words can' t describ e it." . Mullen, w ho had never even attended an N HRA eve n t as a specta tor prior to his Pro Stock Bik e de but in 1998, qualified h is Mal l. co m Suzuki in th e By Kevi n McKenna BAYTOWN, TX, OCTOBER 29 -31 ot unlike his Team 23 teammat e Antr on Bro wn' s first NHRA vic to ry earlie r this ye ar in Dalla s, Tony Mullen ' s w in a t th e NHRA Mateo Tools Supemati on als in Houston didn't regist er very high on the Richt er scale. Mullen ha s been a st ar on the rise ever since team owner Harry Lartigue recruited th e former ProStar champ to rid e his Suzuki GSX-R in ear ly 1998, so when Mullen defeated Pro Sto ck Bike legen d Dave Sch ultz in the Houston final, it w asn't as shocking as it might nave seemed. After struggling early this 'season, Mullen has turned th e corner lately, and in Houston, he reeled off a string of career-bes t elapsed tim es on his way to the vic tory. "We've made it to the semifina ls a lot this year, but luck ju st wasn' t goi ng our w ay afte r th at ," sa id Mullen, who fin ishe d sixth in the points battle in 1998, hi s rookie year in N H RA com pe tition. "It wasn't that w e we re n' t performing, but so metimes things just d idn' t work ou t the way we hoped. " Win ning anywhere woul d have been special for Mullen, bu t to do it in Larti gu e' 5 ho m etown o f Houston carried wit h it an ext ra measu re of satisfactio n. "This is Harry's horne, and it is my seco nd horne ," M u llen co n tin ued. " I spend as much or more tim e here than I d o in Brad ent on, Flor ida. All that work has paid off. I d on 't eve n kn ow how to act. I've w on a lot of (ProStar) champi- ~ 14 McBride breaks on throuB_ _ _ h . h ile making an exhibition pa ss at the NHRA Matco . Tools Supernationals, Top Fuel Bike pilot Larry "Spiderman" McBride set a new performan ce milestoneby blasting down the quarter mile in 5.99 seconds at 243 mph, thus becoming th e firs t motorcycle rid er ever to record a sub-six-second run. For several years, Elm er Trett looked to be the prime candidate to smash through the six-se cond barrier, th e Top Fuel icon coming so close by firing off a 6.06-second run at Indianapolis Raceway Park shortly before the tragic accid ent that cla imed his life. Since then, th er e had been several passes made in the 6.2- and 6.1-second zone by both McBride and Tony La ng , but since Trett, n o man ha s co nsistently showed the ho rse power control req uired to break in to the fives . "It was the most incred ible thing I have ever don e in m y life," McBrid e said after makin g the run. "I k new it wa s fast - but I had no idea ho w fas t. Th e firs t half of the run was so sm oo th; smoo ther than I had ever felt before. At 800 feet, it blasted out like a ro cket! The fron t tire kept coming hi gher W six th sp o t with a 7.27 . His sched u led opponent in round one, Chris Reuter , broke, g iving Mullen a sing le run into the quarterfi nals. Most Pro Stock racers improved u pon their qualifying efforts on race day, bu t few improved as dram at icall y as Mulle n, who ran a 7.23 in round one an d ca me back with a 7.24 in th e se cond to stop Brown, his Team 23 teammate. In round one, Brown became ju st the seco nd rid er to ru n und er 7.2 s eco nd s , with a 7.1 9, but when hi s transmission w ouldn't sh ift into h ig h ge ar, he slow ed to a 7.27 and Mulle n got th e w in. While Mullen was quietly w orking hi s way throu gh the field , m ost of the atten tion was foc used o n th e ong oi ng po int s ba ttle bet w een Team Win st on's An ge lle Seeling and Vance & H in es ' Matt H ines . Seeling en tered the event and higher, and I sh ut it off ea rly [5.8 seconds in to th e run ] acco rding to th e datalog. "In the first 60 feet of the run, it actually ran slower than no rma l, 1.05 seconds," McBride sai d. "At the 330-foot m ar k, it registered 2.73-seconds, and a 3.97-seco nd half track. A t the 1000foot ma rk, it ran S.OS-seconds, wh ich is really good [normally the bike would run S.25-seconds. It's fu nny, though. We tuned it down, it spun the tire off the sta rting line, and it still did it...it 's amazing. McBride is no newcomer to the sport. H e has been racing Top Fuel since 1977, and has always been at the top of the qualifying list. His rid ing style ea rned him the nickname "Sp iderman," becau se he constantly hangs off all sides of the bike d uring a run as he tries to guide his bike down the track. And McBride w as actua lly a prot ege of Trett's in the early stages of his career. "Every run I make, he [Trett ] is with m e," McBride sa id . "Whe n he d ied, I made the promise to myself that he wou ld ma ke every p ass wi th m e. I have four of his T-sh irts han gin g up in my trailer, and ea ch time I suit u p, the firs t th ing I d o is pu t , on e on and talk to him . Peopl e can call m e weird or whatever , bu t th at' s how close he was to me ." With the five-second barrier no w br oken, McBride believes that th e Top Fu el class may m ake a quan tum lea p forward in performan ce. "H ones tly, because of the cylinder heads a nd clutch , I se e us r u nn ing in th e S.7-se co nd ran ge," McBride said. " It will take perfect conditions again, and it won't happen ea sily, but it is e n ti r el y possible. Not many tr acks will ho ld it , but m o re S.90s is going to be a norm, a n d Ga inesville should be the next place for it to happen." M ar ty Kane, dragbike.com

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