Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

:--. . .-. ...-~~ I t 5 . ;;,.... -~-I ,,,- AMA U,S. Drag Racing Championships - Round 6: Indianapolis Raceway Park L-,'_race __ '~_· chose the Kawasaki ZRX1100. Fitted with a progressive nitrous system, the bike debuted at the 1999 AMA/ Prestar World Finals with less-thanrespectable results. Competitive performances eluded the team and the bike suffered engine damage on near~ Iy every run. The final appearance of the nitrous-equipped bike was at the 2000 Chicago event, where Gadson ran an 8.55-second elapsed time with the machine - just about the time Brock Davidson cracked a 7.97 on his nitrous-injected Suzuki 1200S Bandit. In drag-racing terms, a half a second is a short eternity. Muzzy parked the bike, vowing not to return until it would be competitive, The ZRX next saw the racetrack in September 2000, outfitted with a turbocharger and a host of specially designed components, There were signs that the program was starting to come together. Gadson would make it to the later rounds, an~ recorded the team's first seven-second run at Rockingham. Quietly, the team made it to the number four spot in the points, The Prostar Indy event saw the completion of elimination rounds postponed from the ill-fated Canada STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATT POLITO INDIANAPOUS, IN, AUG, 10-12 ob Muzzy is not a man who takes easily to losing, With numerous AMA Superbike championships to his credit, he is almost expected to win and win often, When Muzzy got into drag racing a few years back (Muzzy himself competed in drag races in the 1960s) and retained Rickey Gadson as his rider, wins in Superbike and 600 SuperSport were frequent. One class that the Muzzy Kawasaki team couldn't seem to get the job done in, however, was the Schnitz Streetbike Shootout. But at the AMA/Prostar Pingel Thunder Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Muzzy and Gadson made their mark, taking the win in Streetbike Shootout in dramatic fashion. "It was a feeling of completion," Gadson said after the win. "We accomplished what we set up to do two years ago." Open to street-legal motorcycles, the Streetbike Shootout has few restrictions: 68-inch wheelbase, DOT rubber, and working electrical systems are the main requirements. The class is made up predominately by nitrous-injected Suzukis, but when Muzzy decided to enter the class, he R 48 AUGUST 29. 2001 • DUD • e n e _ s Dragfest event, Gadson qualified number three at Canada and marched through eliminations, making it to the semifinals, where he was turned back by the eventual winner, Kent Stotz, on the mighty Hahn Racecraft turbo Honda CBR 1100XX Blackbird. "We ran so strong on Saturday at Indy, I felt there was no one who could beat me," Gadson said. "When my bikes are running this good, I don't feel any pressure." Sunday's eliminations looked good from the start. Gadson opened up.with an 8.01 and ran a 7,99 to make the quarterfinals against ·Davidson. Gadson earned a personal victory with a 8.01 win ticke~ against Davidson which set up a semifinal rematch with Stotz, "The bike was wheelieing in second gear," Gadson said. "Rob said he wanted to take power out of it in second and I told him if he was going to Lany "Spidennan" McBrI recorded his 17th career 'J win lit Indy, tying the Trett for mollt win'" take it out in second I wanted more power down track." The combination produced spectacular results. After identical reaction times, Gadson drove the bike to a personal best 7.889 at 182 to shut down Stotz's 7.95/183 to make the final. "That was an awesome race," said Gadson. "When I plugged third and it was still on the ground, I knew we were on a good run. I had no idea it was a 7.88. When I saw the ticket, I was screaming." Gadson faced Alphonso Thompson on Buck Kennard's '91 GSX-R in the final. Gadson owned the reaction times with a big holeshot and pulled away for a stylish win, setting low elapsed time of the event at 7.827 to Thompson's 7.979. Gadson also recorded the eighth-mile speed record at 150.03 mph and missed the eighthmile e.t. record by four thousandths of a second. He is also now only one round win away from points leader Stotz. "We accomplished everything this weekend," Gadson said. "When we started this, there were so many people who said a Kawasaki could never be competitive against the Suzukis in the Shootout class. That is what makes this such a big deal. ~ In other action, Larry "Spiderman" McBride scored his third win of the season and tied the late Elmer Trett for Top Fuel wins, with 17. McBride qualified on the pole with a 6.213/223 and got by Chris Hand in the final with a low e.t. of the meet 6.17/232 to Hand's off-pace 6,89/157, Kawasaki factory rider Chip Ellis scored a pair of wins on Steve Rice's turbo ZX-11 Funnybike to make it four in a row in the Orient Express Funnybike series. Both finals were won over Robert Giard, with Ellis run.ning the best lap of the event in the Indy final with a 6.728 at 208 mph against Giard's game 6.82/200. With

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