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/128134
AMA U.S. Drag Racing Championships Round 7': Gainesville Raceway Lany "Spldennan" McBride took his fourth win of the ...son to lock up INK:k-to-lNK:k Top ..... c:ts.npIonshlps. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATT POLITO GAINESVILLE, FL, NOV. 9-11 f7)y all accounts, the AMA U.S. L:J Drag Racing Championships had an up-and-down season in 2001. There were certainly strong points, such as successful new classes, new stars emerging and notable performance gains, but difficult scheduling choices which placed events outside the established market proved detrimental. The series needed a good fin· ish, and it got one - as it almost always does - at the Z-Max World Finals in Gainesville, Florida. The event featured the best attendance of the year, a barrage on the record books and some of the most exciting points battles the event has seen in years. Ln Top Fuel, Larry "Spiderman" McBride had the championship virtually locked up going into Gainesville, and he left no crumbs on the table. McBride went from the pole to the winner's circle for his second straight championship. McBride's 6.17/215 qualifier easily out-paced the field, with Chris Hand settling in the second spot at 6.39 seconds. Ron Webb had the hot lap of eliminations, with a 6.19/218 in the first round, but shut off against McBride in the semifinals. McBride went on to beat Hand in the final, 6.30/228 to 6.57/220. The Orient Express Funnybike championship pitted independent Robert Giard against the Kawasaki factory alcohol turbo ZX-11 ridden by Chip Ellis. In a weird twist of fate, Giard was able to outlast Ellis and take the plate. Following a number· 30 DECEMBER 12, 2001 • cue • one qualifying effort of 6.70 at 209 mph, Giard found himself against Marc Oliver in round two. As the two bikes staged, Oliver's mount started spewing smoke so dense that it total· Iy obscured the bike. The bikes left, Giard missed a shift, and Oliver turned on the win light, but with an impossible 5A-second elapsed time. Prostar officials deduced that the smoke interfered with the timing system's ability to detect when the· bike left the line, and ruled the run invalid. A re-run was staged and Giard took the win, as Oliver's bike was injured. A round later, Ellis, who had established the speed record for the class at 210 mph, lost to Gary Clark. With the loss of round points went the championship. Giard ended up sin· gling for the final when Clark shut off after the burnout. Giard, who only missed one final round this season, left no doubt to his championship, smashing the low e.t. of the meet with a stunning 6.59, shutting off at only 181 mph. By far the most dramatic points chase came in the Fast by Gast Pro Modified series. Tommy Miceli had the points lead coming into Gainesville, but there were four riders with a legitimate shot at the title. Last season at Gainesville, Miceli was locked in a nasty points chase with Billy Vose, but Miceli had failed to qualify when a nitrous switch failed. This year looked like it might be the same. Going into the last qualifying session, in a field that ended up being the quickest ever, Miceli was not qualified. He got in with a last-ditch n e _ lIS • 7.01, which placed him 13th in the field. Miceli then methodically advanced through eliminations, getting by number-one qualifier Ashley Owens in the semifinals to face fellow points contender Louie Grist in the final. Whoever won the race would get the number-one plate. Miceli would not be denied this year. He cut a telepathic 0414 reaction time to gain nearly a 10th of a second holeshot, and took the win and the championship in a barnburner, 6.826 to Grist's quicker 6.825. Both bikes ran 195 mph. The Lectron Pro Stock series saw a surprise entry that nailed the top qualifying spot. Terry Kizer, a last· minute entry riding Harry Lartigue's four-valve Suzuki, dropped jaws when Tomm, Miceli came back from a heartbreaking, championshiplosing World Finals last season to claim the plate with a final-round win over points contender Louie Grist. he hammered a 7.11/188 to take the pole. Kizer redlighted away a 7.13 in the second round against Dean Frantz, which looked to set up an inevitable battle between the two championship contenders, Paul Gast and Todd Doege. Doege set low e.t. of the meet in the semis, with a 7.10/189 against Craig Greaves. Gast then blew up a motor on a single when Frantz couldn't make the call. The damage was too severe for Gast to return, and new champion Doege singled for his fourth win in a row with a 7.12 at 187 mph. Mark Moisan had a near effortless win in the Kawasaki Superbike class, tlis sixth of the year and fifth straight. Riding a turbo GSX-R750 which has been outlawed for next season, Moisan made only one lap in qualifying and secured the pole by nearly a second at 7.84/173 - a time that eclipsed his own elapsed-time record. The final featured Moisan against the quickest of the 2002-class spec bikes, the Hayabusa of speed shop owner Del Flores, the ringleader of the Del's Performance 600 SuperSport team. Flores got the holeshot in the final but was no match for the turbo bike, as Moisan took the win, 7.87 to 8.74. The Schnitz Streetbike Shootout Championship was to be settled at Gainesville with the players being Kent Stotz on the ultra high-tech turbo EFI Hahn Racecraft CBR 1100XX and Ryan Schnitz on the more traditional nitrous-injected GSX-R of Coby Adams. Stotz, who has been getting stronger as the year goes on, qualified on the pole with a 7.76 at 187 mph and set both ends of the record with a 7.750/189.31 in the first round of eliminations. The championship came down to a semifinal battle between Stotz and Schnitz. Stotz unleashed a death blow, running an unearthly 7.632 (too quick to be backed up for a record) at 188 mph to turn back Schnitz's 7.84/181. The story should have