Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

2001 AMAIPt"OBtar MRE Sunshine stlensls Round 1: GeinesvlUe RlediM'BV STORV AND PHOTOS Bv MATT POLITO GAIl'IESVII.l..E Fl, MARCH 2-4 he AMA/Prostar motorcycle drag racing series kicked off it's 2001 tour dodging variable Florida weather at the MRE Sunshine Nationals in Gainesville, Florida. Eliminations were delayed by four hours on Sunday, causing a large portion of the event to be run at night. Only the top professional classes were not run to completion and wiJJ be finished at the Star Racing Nationals at Atlanta. The Top Fuel class saw no less than seven nitro-injected Harley Davidsons taking on the supercharged inline four-cylinder machines. Current champion Larry "Spiderman" McBride held the pole with a soft 6.52 elapsed time at only 158 mph with Doug Vancil on the Vance & Hines Harley claiming the second spot at 6.58/202. McBride stepped up in a big way during eliminations, running threestraight 6.1-second passes with an aggregate best of 6.11/219. In the final, McBride will face Ron Webb on the Fire & Ice Kawasaki out of Alas- Rickel' Gadson looked to be back on track after a disappointing 2000 season. Gadson took the win In Superblke on his Muzzys ZX-7R over the GSX-R of Mark Moisan. ka. Webb, a veteran Top Fuel pilot who infrequently makes the Prostar tour, steadily improved during eliminations, running a best of 6.38/215 to make the final. The Orient Express Funnybike class saw the favorites bow out early. Class champion Gary Clark didn.'t make a full run down the track all weekend and was eliminated in round one, as was the Kawasaki factory ZXl1 of Chip Ellis. Bryan Bennett, who made a dramatic last-session, single-lap qualifying effort to take the pole with a 6.67/195, went out in round two. The final will pit little-known Travis Davis, against Robert Giard, a long-time Funnybike campaigner who recently came back at the top of his game after a twoyear hiatus. In the Fast by Gast Pro Mod class, the top-four qualifiers made it to the semifinals. Leacling the pack was the Thompson Seven-Second Club. One run away was Kent Stotz, who recorded a stunning 7.86 at 186 mph on his Hahn Racecraft turbo Honda. In the semis to be run at Atlanta, Davidson will face Keith Dennis and Miceli will face Schnitz. The' most compelling class of the weekend was the Zero Gravity 600 Supersport class where a major performance barrier was breached. The top-eight qualifiers were eliminated early and a mid-pack runner stormed to a first-ever win. Team Green's Ryan Schnitz made history in the class when he recorded the first-ever sub-1 O-second run with a 9.990 at 133 mph in the second round of eliminations. Schnitz was put on the trailer in the next round when little-known Jeff Lenc scored a holeshot win. Lenc, running a '99 ZX-6R out of the Del's Performance camp, with backing from Pompton Honda-Suzuki-Ducati, got a semifinal bye and then took out the Team Green/K&N Motorsports ZX-6R of Norman Jackson in the fmal for the dramatic win. In the Mickey Thompson Top Eliminator class, Dave Norris took the victory on the Timblin Chassis Suzuki when final-round opponent Joe Long could not make the call. eN BVR Koenig Low Boy Suzuki of Louie Grist who held the pole and set a new record of 6.722 se'conds in his semifinal victory over a resurgent Steve Drake. The run was disqualified when Grist failed the fuel check, reinstating • Drake. On the 'other side of the ladder, the two Franco Performance bikes battled each other with new rider John Sachs edging out numbertwo-plate holder Tommy Miceli, 6.78 to 6.84. The biggest story in the pro ranks is Pro Mod champion Billy Vose running in the Lectron Pro Stock series this season. Vose, running a Byron Hines four-valve Suzuki had no problems adapting to the class and held the early qualifying lead with a 7.20 at 185 mph. Class veteran Paul Gast later pushed Vose back to the second spot with a 7.18/182. Both Gast and Vose went out with red lights, leaving a final-round match-up between the Trim-Tex bike of Joe Koenig and the number-five qualifier Steve Miles. The Kawasaki Superbike class ran to completion with Rickey Gadson taking the Muzzys turbo ZX-7R to the winner's circle with a final-round victory over number-one qualifier Mark Moisan on the American Turbo Systems Suzuki GSX-R750. Gadson ran low e.t. of the event at 8.02 seconds, 171 mph in the final as Moisan got out of shape and shut off early. The Schnitz Streetbike Shootout saw some spirited performances but was only run to the semifinals. Brock Davidson qualified the Team BDE/ competitionaccessories.com Suzuki Bandit on the pole with a 7.984, followed by Ryan Schnitz on the Adams Performance GSX-R and Tommy Miceli with a 7.99 on the Phil's House of Power GS 1150E. The run earned Miceli the last spot in the Mickey cu cl • &ainesville IIlIcewllY &ainenille, Flnrida Results: March 2-4, 2001 lllennd 1 at 81 SUPERBIKE: I. Rickey Gadson (Kaw) 8.024. 171.07; 2. Marl< Moisan (Suz) 34.859 16.78. 600 S

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