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/128232
AMA P r o s tar U .S . Dra g R a cin g C h a mpio n s h ip s R o u n d 5 : In d ia n a p o lis Racew a y P ark the win light w hen Mimm o Marciano couldn't make the ca ll. Valetti looked eve ry b it like a w in ne r in th e n ext round, r unning th e l ow e .t. o f t he m eet w ith a sto ut 6 .74 to get by Toby Troyer and make the fi nal. Val ett i got a free round in th e fina l wh en Camp bell co uld n't m ak e the ca ll. Keith D en ni s look ed to continue hi s hot streak in th e Acce l Pro Stock class, bringing he MSP Suzuk i to the number -one qualifying spot with a 7 .16 at 185. Dennis' bid for a third straight w i n ended in the second round when his bike shut off just off the li ne. The miscue sent Ron Clark in to the semis against th e Muzzy ZX12R of Ry an Schn itz in th e semis. ke pt h im out o f the wi nne rs' circle as h e l o st to Phil Davis in the se m is. Davis co ul dn't get dow n the t rac k in the final as Miceli turned in an 8 .19 at 161 mph for th e win . The Streetbike Shootout cl ass has b een trul y en t ertai nin g th is season as th e battle between factory Kaw a sa k i and Hond a t e am s heated u p. Th ro ug ho ut this season Rickey Gadso n and the tur bo Kawasaki ZX - 12R have p roved unstoppable, remaining undefeated with four straight ev ent wins coming in to Ind y . All th e wh ile t he Stotz Street Xtreme/Velo city Racing tea m of Barry Henson and K ent Stotz ha ve been in ho t pur suit, look ing for an op eni ng to st rike . It looked like i t wa s go ing t o co me at In dy . Henson ripped o ff a 7 .67 at 189 mph t o take th e number -one spot in quali fying and lead Gadso n by more than two te nths as he settled in the second position at 7.90/184 . The Kawasaki team of Co by Adams and Chip Ell is wo rked feveri shly to get th e M uzzy built bik e back up to par. Henson kept his game up in the f irst rou nd of eliminat ions with a 6 .7 5 , but it all went sou r in round two. He lost a cl os e 7 .93 to 7 .96 bat- C l ark adva nce d to th e fi n al wh en Schn itz thr ew awa y a 7 .36 ( to Cl ark 's 7.39) with a redli ght. On the ot h er side of th e ladd er , Gast fa ced Doege in a cl assic match up . After a nea rly identi cal start Doeg e to ok th e win with a 7 .1 5 to Gast's 7 .20 to m ak e his fi rst final of the year. Doege ham m ered his poi nt home in the fin al , run ni ng low e.t . of t h e e v en t 7 .13 a t 18 4 t o t a k e o ut Clark' s 7 040. In the Suzuki F o rm u la Su perb ik e class Tom my Mic eli t ook his second s t r a ig ht w i n on t h e D el 's Perf o r m an c e/ Yoyod yn e/ W orld Wid e Bearin g s Hay ab usa. Chip E ll is too k th e number -on e qu alifying spot with an 8 .03 at 165 on t he T eam K awa saki M e an St re a k , bu t f o r t h e se co n d stra ig ht event m echan ic a l probl ems t ie with D a v e St ew art a s G ads on c rack ed off th e qu ic k est run in history with a ba ckbreaking 7 .560/190 .86 to advance. Gad son kept his win streak alive w ith a 7.69 final ro und winner o ver K e it h D ennis , who ran an offpace 8 . 14 o n the nitro us Hay ab usa of Robe rt Su p renant. The Zero Gravity 60 0 Su pe rSpo rt cl as s is m o r e exciti ng than it has been in years . In th e five rac es co mpleted th us fa r, th ere ha ve been th ree different wi nn er s with six d iffer ent rid ers m ak in g fin al round ap pe ara nces . Ind y 's edit ion ha d in de pendent J ohn H all tak in g h is fi r st-e ve r number on e q ualify in g posit ion. Hall took his ZX-6R to the pole with a 9 .96 t o edge o u t Te am G r ee n' s Ch ip Hu n t e r a t 9 .98 and E d d i e Kraw ie c on the Yamaha R6 with a 10 .00. Hall c am e Valetti c a ug ht a break himself ,.:::--.;,=-= = ::w;;=::; n:;h:;'J;:;:' r o und t wo 7 .08 tu rn ed on h e::: ·s Trav is Dav is has been every Funnyblke final rou this season, with 3 wins. 6.79/198. Lynn struggled in the early rounds but came alive in the semis with a 6.73 to get by Glen Nickelberry t o make h is first final sin ce the 2000 World Final s. Davis , wh o has made every final th is season , kept his string int ac t with a semifinal winner over former champ Robert Giard . Lynn ran a st ro ng 6 .77/195 in t he fina l, but Davis simply brought t oo mu ch to the t able, cutting a .0 17 li ght and turn ing in a 6 .74 /184 to ta k e his third win of th e season . Dra gbike .c om webmast er Sc ott Val etti was multitasking Indy, postin g results of th e eve nt on t he Web whil e go ing rounds himself, culminatin g in h is first -ev er vi ctory in th e Lect ron Pro Mod if ied cl ass. Val ett i, riding the Fran c o's Perform an ce Suzu k i pr ev i o u sly r idd en by cla ss c ha m p J ohn Sach s, qu al ifi ed t h ird at 6 .96/1 8 1 beh ind po ints lead er Cha rlie F arr ar (6 .88) and As h ley O w e n s (6 .90) . Farrar had a good thing go ing on the C&W Kawasaki unt il he hit a redlig ht foul in round two agai nst Mon te Ca m pbell. Campbell caught a break when he hu rt a m ot or in the semis but wa s still abl e to turn on the win light wh en upstart T im Borrall got o ut of sh ape on th e C ar y Clark- pre p ared sm all -tire turbo Kawasa k i. S TORY AND PHOTOS B y M ATT P OLITO INDIANAPOUS, IN, AUG. 9-10 ~ he AMA/Prostar U .S. Drag Racing U champions hip t o u r made its annua l trek to the racing heartland of Indianapolis with the Pingel Thunder Nationals at Indianapolis Rac ew ay Park . The season has seemed to turn around for Prostar as the early season rains have subsided , and, for the third event in a row , racing was run to completion. A d isappointingly thin Top Fuel field was led - as it has been all season - by Larry "Spiderman " McBride . McBride took the top spot with a 6.32 at 212 mph and only managed to run as qui ck as 6 .19 for the entire event. Th e final was a cl ose one as McBride al l but lo ck ed up his fifth c h am pi o nsh ip , running 6.34 /220 t o take out Chri s Hand 's 6.37/187 . Th e Or i ent E xpr e ss Funn ybik e Shootout saw th e return of th e ve teran tea m o f Kei t h Lyn n a nd Roger Gordon with a tremendous co meback af t er a ye ar an d a h al f la yo ff. Ly nn sh ook th e co b web s off earl y as h e to ok th e Turbo N itrous Kawasaki to th e number- on e qualifying positi on w ith a emotional 6.74 at 195 followed by points leader Travis Da v is at Eddie Krawiec took his second 600 SuperSport win of the season on his R6. 58 S EPTEMBE R 1 7 , 2003' IC Y IC I e n e vv s