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/134503
ROUND 4/JUNE 2, 2013 OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP RACEWAY PARK/ENGLISHTOWN, NEW JERSEY DRAG RACING P98 NHRA MELLO YELLOW PRO STOCK SERIES Briefly... Smith of copying. Smith denied the accusation and a lot of heated words were exchanged. Arana crewmember Dan Gonzales reportedly punched Smith several times and was suspended by NHRA for the remainder of the event. He also faces the possibility of additional discipline following a complete review of the event. Celebration time for Ray as he became just the second winner in four rounds. three-race win streak. The elder Arana rode to a 7.00 for the win after the engine in Arana Jr.'s bike soured and slowed to a 7.80. The loss ended Hector Jr.'s win streak at 11-straight rounds. Arana then went on to take a 6.99 to 7.06 win over reigning World Champion Screamin' Eagle HarleyDavidson's Eddie Krawiec and then stopped arch rival Matt Smith in the semi finals, 6.99 to 7.00. "I really thought this was our race to win," Arana Sr. said. "We were so close. I can feel it. As a team we've already won three races this year and I got to the final here so I know my day is coming soon, but we really don't have anything to complain about." CN Final 1. Michael Ray (Buell) 6.954/193.49 mph 2. Hector Arana (Buell) 6.952/191.02 mph Sovereign/Star Buell's Scotty Pollacheck entered the Englishtown event as the number-two ranked rider in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, but failed to qualify for the first time in his career. Pollacheck's best of 7.08 missed the relatively soft 7.05-second bump spot. "We had something different go wrong on all four of our qualifying runs and it was always a different $20 part," Pollacheck said. "We lost a cam sensor on one run and then had an ignition problem. It was just one thing after another. The only good thing is that it's still early in the year and this shouldn't hurt us too much in the points." The Suzuki revival that many had predicted this season is apparently not a myth as Bad Boy Buggies Suzuki's Jim Underdahl continued his recent string of impressive performances when he drove his 6.955 to qualify No. 6 in the field. Underdahl also turned in the best speed of qualifying with three runs over 194-mph. "We have a great bike," Underdahl said. "Now, it's just a matter of putting some good runs together on race day." Living in Louisiana, LE Tonglet and his Nitro Fish team including his father, Gary, and brother, GT, are used to the sort of hot and humid conditions that teams faced in Englishtown, but they admit that they're a bit lost when it comes to finding the right combination for their Vance & Hines-powered Suzuki. The former world champion qualified ninth and lost to rookie Adam Arana in round one. "We're giving up about two-hundredths in the first 60 and about four hundredths to the 330," said crew chief GT. "That's six hundreds and that would put us right up front with [provisional low qualifier] Steve Johnson. For us it's not a power problem. It's a tune-up problem. We haven't made one good run so far this weekend."