Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

• Inside NHRA's Pro Stock Bike class TOO EG T WIth tIM 011 MItRA Pro StDck BIke .up•• ' " One Sc:huItz (above) .mI .101m (beIowt, ~ pr."ctecll thet tIM category W1MIId BUffer a decline. ~ , It .... not on" eurvhrecl, but tIlrlvecL STORY AND PHOTOS BY KEVIN McKENNA T he untimely deaths of NHRA Pro Stock Bike champions John Myers and Dave Schultz once led many to predict an equally early demise for professional motorcycle racing at NHRA events. For more than a decade, Myers, who died in a 1997 street bike accident, and Schultz, who passed away in 2001 after a brief battle with colon cancer, were the heart and soul of the Pro Stock Bike division. When Terry Vance, the man who put motorcycle drag racing on the map, retired in 1988, it was Schultz and Myers who picked up the torch and carried it. Though bitter rivals on the track, they shared a mutual respect for each other as they battled their way to a cumulative total of nine series championships in an II-year span. Perhaps more importantly, the professional example set by Myers and Schultz helped motorcycle racers to gain acceptance among their fourwheel peers, many of whom hadn't always been willing to embrace Pro Stock Bike, even with its 180 mph performances, as a "legitimate" professional drag racing class. Extremely intelligent and dignified, the soft-spoken Schultz led by example. He was equal parts skilled rider and mechanical genius. During his career, Schultz was responsible for a 50 MAY 7,2003' c u e I e n e _ s host of mechanical innovations. When he arrived on the scene in the mid-1980s, Pro Stock bikes were, unlike their high -tech automotive counterparts, relatively crude machines, and with performances hovering in the 160-mph range, their on-track performance was far from awe-inspiring. Deep-thinkers like Schultz, engine builder Byron Hines, and chassis builder Sandy Kosman went to work, and from their efforts evolved the modern Pro Stock bike, a highly sophisticated, mechanically complex machine that compares favorably with any other vehicle in any other motorsports discipline. Improvements in engine development, aerodynamics, clutch technology and tires, have allowed the class to progress to the point where in 2003, a six-second run is a very real possibility, and a 200-mph top speed is also on the horizon. Recognizing that the only way to gain factory support for the class was to improve the realism of the bikes, us allowing for greater brand identi~ation. Schultz, as his parting gift to the class, designed a highly detailed carbon fiber replica Suzuki Hayabusa body. Using the wind-tunnel facility at Purdue University, Schultz painstakingly handcrafted a body that was far more realistic than anything that has been produced before or since. Just three months before his death, Schultz mounted his Sunoco Suzuki for one final ride at the 2000 Houston race. Though severely weakened from the draining effects of weekly chemotherapy treatments, he mustered the strength to win the 45th an.d final race of his brilliant career. When Schultz mounted the stage to accept his trophy, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. As a sharp contrast to Schultz's all-business demeanor, Myers was fun loving and gregarious. Unlike NASCAR, NHRA does not have a "most popular racer" award, but if there were such an honor, it no doubt would have been bestowed upon Myers numerous times. Riding for George Bryce's Star Team, Myers was a supremely talented rider who earned 33 national event wins during his all-too-brief seven-year career. Six years after his passing, Myers is still remembered as the most naturally gifted racer ever to throw a leg over a Pro Stock Bike. The tragic end to the Schultz vs. Myers rivalry could have spelled the beginning of the end of the Pro Stock Bike class in NHRA racing, but it didn't. Today, NHRA events in general and the Pro Stock Bike class in particular are thriving, with record fields, increased media and fan exposure, and growing factory support. It's not hard to see why Pro Stock Bike is now one of tjHRA'" n",St pop-

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