Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128123
• AMA U.S. Drag Racing Championships Round 7: Atoo Raoeway; Ashley Owens took his first·ever Pro Modified win with a dominating performance and a bit of luck. STORY AND PHOTOS By MATT POLITO AlCO, NJ, SEPT. 8-9 he Orient Express U.S. Motorcycle Nationals is the longest-running motorcycle drag race in the country. For over 30 years, the event has been run under various sanctioning bodies at Atco Raceway in Atco, New Jersey. Atco was always known as the big race of the season. With mineshaft air and a sticky track, Atco was host to some of the most historic races in the sport. It was also the place to see and be seen every year. In recent times, Atco has lost its glory to the World Finals in Gainesville, Florida, and the Pingel Thunder Nationals at Indy. With its old-style Armco retaining barriers and now-tricky racing surface, some of the more powerful bikes shied away from Atco. For the first time in history, this year's running of Atco did not feature Top Fuel and Funny' bike, and it was shortened to a twoday race. Still, the drama and excitement that have always made Atco special was intact. The championship in the Fast By Gast Pro Modified Series is far from over, and it took an unexpected turn T at Atco. The big news came from rising star Ashley Owens, who was dominating - and even a bit lucky - in his first-ever win. Owens was the surprise number-one qualifier, running a stunning 6.81 elapsed time at 195 mph. The run led the rest of the field by more than a tenth of a second, with Louie Grist qualifying the BVR Hayabusa in the second position with a 6.94. Points leaders Tommy Miceli and Grist lost in round one, opening the door for points contenders John Sachs and Steve Drake. However, Owens had other plans, running low e.t. of every round, including a semifinal 6.84/200 against Sachs. On the other side of the ladder, Drake was looking for his fifth final of the season and his first win since New York in 1995. Drake got by Raymond Golson in his Pro Mod debut in the semifinals. Owens caught his only break of the race when he needed it, in the final. He double-shifted the nitrous Suzuki GS and slowed to the 7.05, but the win light came on as Drake red-lighted away a quicker 7.03. Todd Doege took his third straight win in the Lectron Pro Stock class, all of which came against final-round opponent Paul Gast. Doege qualified number one at 7.21/191 and kept chipping away at the elapsed times as eliminations progressed. In the all-Hayabusa final, Doege got the holeshot and pulled away to a strong 7.13 at 192 mph. Doege took over the points lead from Gast and holds a half-round advantage going into the World Finals. Mark Moisan cemented the Kawasaki Superbike championship for Suzuki for the second year in a row. In a David-and-Goliath story, Moisan took on the big green truck and slayed the mighty Muzzys team with his American Turbo Systems GSX-R750. Moisan qualified number one at 8.06/171 at Atco and, as he has done at every event this season, made the final. Moisan was given a single in the final when Rickey Gadson could not stage his turbo ZX-7R under power in a semifinal bye. Moisan used the opportunity to set a new speed record for the class at 179 mph. It was Moisan's fifth win of the season. The Schnitz Streetbike Shootout is hot this season, with four riders within 20 points of each other led by the Hahn Racecraft turbo Honda CBRI100XX. Kent Stotz, who took the win in Canada this season, led qualifying for the second race in a row with a 7.92 at 185 mph. Stotz was looking for his third final this season when he was upset by number-six qualifier and past champion Tommy Miceli on "Diminishing" Phil Gonesh's nitrous '84 GSl150E, 8.00 to 8.13 in the quarterfinals. Ryan Schnitz took out Miceli in the (Left) Eddie Krawiec took the win In 600cc SuperSport with a huge holeshot over final-round opponent Chip Hunter. (Right) Mark Moisan 10li'ked up the Superbike championship with his fifth win in seven final-round appearances. 32 SEPTEMBER 26, 2001 • a U a I e n e "" s semis with a 7.81/183 on the Adams Performance GSX-R to make his first final since he opened the season with back-to-back wins. Gadson was looking for his second straight win on the Muzzys turbo ZRXII00. After an earlier mad thrash to fix a valve-train problem, Gadson looked strong for the final with a 7.88 semifinal single. Gadson got the holeshot over Schnitz in the final, but a waste-gate failure caused Gadson to go into a massive midtrack wheel stand as Schnitz sprinted to the win with the low e.t. of the event at 7.79 seconds. New Jersey runner Eddie Krawiec took an emotional, first-ever win in the Zero Gravity 600cc SuperSport class. Team Green rider Ryan Schnitz took the pole with a stout 9.83/137 but was disqualified in the quarterfinals due to a staging infraction. The penalty threw away a 9.87 for Schnitz and reinstated Chip Hunter, who red-lighted on the 'run. Hunter got by K&N Motorsports' Keith_ Thompson in the semifinals to make his third final of the season. On the other side of the ladder, Krawiec took out his Del's Performance teammate Jeff Lenc in the quarters and got a semifinal bye to get to the money round for the second time this year. Krawiec rose to the task in the final, cutting a telepathic All light on his ZX-6R and keeping out front of Hunter with a 10.11 as Hunter lost with a quicker 9.99. Terry Adams took his first-ever win in the Mickey Thompson Top Eliminator class. Class champion and points leader Matt Smith qualified in the number-two position but lost to archrival Adams in the semifinals. Adams, riding his nitrous '86 Suzuki GS, had a single in the final when opponent Steve Wood could not make the call. Wood, running a Outlaw Pro Street bike, beat number-one qualifier Dave Norris in the final. In the Yamaha Hot Rod Cruiser class, Rick McWaters finally turned