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Beer Leads West to Victory in East-West F or many years, there have been two professional hillclimb series in the United States. In an effort to unite those two, 200 I AMA 540cc National Champion and current 500cc NAHA Champion Jeff Thomas, along with seven-time AMA Champion Dave Watson, decided to bring the two series together in Nashville, Indiana, at the Nitro Nationals East-West 5hootout, sponsored by Earl's Performance Plumbing Products, on September 18. The real challenge was to make a hill that would be diffICult for both the East and West guys. The East Coast bikes are split into 800cc and 540cc classes and are built for big jumps, straight-line stability and big horsepower. The East Coast bikes run on nitro methane fuel for the most part, and they run tire chains on the rear wheels. The West Coast bikes have no displacement limits, can run nitrous and most run paddle tires. The variety in machinery is a gearhead's dream. From a tandem twin-engine 1300cc Husaberg to a twin-cylinder Honda CR I000 to an 800cc fuel-injected nitro Harley, everything imaginable was on display. Mel Kimball from Bountiful, Utah, was the first rider on the 6OO-foot hill that had a few turns thrown in with the usual assortment of kickers. Kimball opened things up with a smooth 13.901-second pass. Travis Whitlock carded a 13.5 on his 1400cc Kawasaki-powered KTM, but he would pick it on his next two rides. Harold Waddell, a top Amateur from the East who has been riding out West as a Pro, decided to ride for the East, as four top East Coast riders were unable to make the event. Waddell stormed through the tum and opened it up to nail a run of 13.091 to lead the first round. Dave Watson put in a I3. 106 on his first pass on the Troy Lee Designs-backed Honda CBR for second, but that would be his best run of the day. Jason Smith has ridden selected races on the East Strank Crowned! In front of a huge crowd of supporters, Walter "Tiger" Strank Jr. swept the 540 and 800cc classes in round lOaf the 2005 AMA National Championship Hillclimb Series, sponsored by Pace American. Strank's win in the 800cc class sewed up his second National Championship in the class, and his eighth 540cc win of the season has him on the brink of his second straight 540cc crown as he tries to join Dave Watson as the only rider to win both championships in the same year. "Dr. Bob [Shreiner] and the r~st of the team just have everything working great:' Strank said. "The bikes are so fast and the suspension is really dialed in, and that's helped me be consistent all year. Hopefully, we can go to the Devil's Staircase and keep our number-one plate in the 540 class." Riders faced what was a loose and dusty hill. "We haven't had any rain here for the last two weeks:' Phillibhart said. Coast over the last four years, and he stood in third with a time of 13.279. Robbie Peterson and Dusty Beer had problems over the double but, like Whitlock, they would quickly figure out the hill. With only three of its riders in the top 10, the East Coast contingent had to pick it up for round two, and Pennsylvania's Phil Ubhart stepped it up. "I think the key is from where you sit down after the double for the drop-off to the tum:' Libhart said. "That section will make or break you." Ubhart was clean and smooth going through the tum and wicked it up at the top, never 100kJng back. The crowd roared as he stopped the clocks in 12.870. Up next was 10-time NAHA Champion Whitlock, who flew the FMF-backed KTM over the double, then took his time setting up for the curve ripping through the timers with a 12.6110. After stiffening up the front suspension, Peterson put together an impressive pass on the Thomas Racing twin-engine Honda CR I000. He carne within a few hundreclths of Whitlock with a run of 12.681. Beer ran a 12.790 and was ungodly fast after the tum doing a feet-up wide-open broadslide over the top jump. T-Max Machine's Jason Smith continued to improve as he put together a 12.675-second effort. Waddell's shot at the win died as he fried the bike's electrics as he left the line. Libhart was really on it as he fired off the line. He was perfect over the double and was really flying over the drop-off. He tossed it into the tum and was through it when he fell down. "I was just trying to clean it up a little," Ubhart said. "That run was going great, and there was a big rock in the middle of the tum. They moved it after I hit it." He would end up fifth overall. Peterson was really aggressive going into the tum, and he had his twostroke howling on the exit. A few sec- James Wolfe on the Craig Dehartprepped Kawasaki ZX6 led the way for most of the first round with a run of 6.527, continued to dry out, making it hard for the but the top two riders were still waiting to ride. Strank has dominated the 540cc class all year, winning all but two races, and he fired the Dr. Bob Racing/B& B Sales and Servicebacked Yamaha R-6 off the right side of the hill, keeping the four-cylinder beast low to the ground over the breaker and then turning the nitro-fed horsepower loose. He never backed off until he landed after the big jump at 250 feet, leaping right to the finish line at 300 feet for a blistering run of 5.990 seconds. libhart is the only rider with a chance to beat Strank for the 540 National Championship, but he struggled on his first run on the dry hill. "We ran out of gear halfway up the hill:' libhart said. ''This is the same gearing we always run here, but the hill is so dry we are spinning too much." The hill began to develop big ruts and 10 OaOBER5,2005 • CYCLE NEWS onds later, the timers told the story with a 12.6120-second run just .002 of a second behind Whitlock. "If it holds up for second on a borrowed bike, I couldn't ask for a better run:' Peterson said. "It's an awesome hill." Beer, the NAHA point's leader this season, wheeled in for his final run. "I just had to get through the bottom," Beer said. "I made a mistake on the first run. Hillclimbing is a mental game, so if you can come back from a mistake and dial it in, you feel confident. I need to dial in the bottom a little harder, and I was a little conservative through the corner on my second ride, so I'll go a lilde harder through the comer and try to pick up a tenth or two." Beer had the Kawasaki flying out of the hole, but his front end was up in his face. Beer pitched it into the berm and it held the line with a 12.562, which put him into first. "I didn't think it was fast enough:' Beer said. "I kJnd of blew the first comer high. I just let it all hang out through the berm and the top. Igot the front end up, and it drove hard. After that first tum, I just had nothing to lose." After Pete Loomis ran a solid 12.947 for seventh, Whitlock decided to have another go to try to reclaim the lead. It wasn't to be, though, as a few tiny bobbles killed his time. riders to improve their setups on the ever- changing climb. Libhart was able to hustle the Kreeger and Sons/Amsoil-backed Triumph to a 6.581 to pull into third, the only sub-7-second run of the round. As Strank watched, the riders finally got the hill figured out and the timers began to come down. Rookie Ryan Thibault had a problem filled day but was riding well. "The first run, the bike leaned out and the suspension was kicking around a lot," he said. "We changed the jetting and it ran a little better, then we switched the fuel pump and softened the suspension." The changes worked as Thibault scorched the far right side of the hill with a 6,49 I-second run. James Wolfe and Craig DeHart also made numerous changes, and Wolfe clicked off a great run to snatch third back from Thibault. Libhart was after the win with a solid holeshot, but he had to back off going into the transition to stay in bounds, and that fraction was just enough to give Strank the "I changed my mind going into the tum, and I just didn't put it all together," Beer said. "It wasn't a perfect ride, but sometimes it works out for you. Travis [Whitlock] is the best at this, and whenever you come back and pick him off, you know he will be a serious threat to come back and pick you off." The West swept the top four spots and six of the top IO. The final order was Beer, Whitlock, Peterson, Smith, Ubhart, Thomas, Loomis, Waddell, Watson and Corey Sweat. Whitlock summed up the day: "It's been a fun event, that's why we carne out here to have fun. It would have been better if all the top guys from the east could have been here, but maybe they can come out west next year and we'll do this again." DavId L Patton Jr. win, 5.990 to Libhart's 6.106. ':At least I made Tiger wait to the last round to sew up the 540:' Libhart said. "Phil [Libhart] always wants to keep me honest," Strank added. '" have a decent margin over Phil, but I think a lot of Phil he's one hell of a rider." The 800cc class had an even more difficult time with the dry hill. libhart had a problem-filled first run. "We ran out of gear again, it's a carbon copy of our first 540 run:' he said after his 6.370-second pass. libhart held the lead until Strank pulled in on the Donnie lingle Travel Cantrall Fox/Kleen Chain Lube Products-backed Yamaha RI. He lined up on the right side of the hill and had another great holeshot. He caught some air over the breaker, but the R-I probably has the most horsepower in the class and he pinned the throttle and never looked back. He tied the lead 993 seconds later. And the victory. And the championship. David L Patton Jr.