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/143886
During a Funny Bike qualifying pass on Sunday, Willie Morris crashed. He suffered some bad asphalt rash, but did not sustain any broken bones or internal injuries. First round losses in Funny Bike went to Key, Musick, Smith, Custer and Taylor. In the Funny Bike quarterfinals, O'Brochta and Sands got the same ET on the clock. Sands' speed was faster. You'd think Sands was the winner. Wrong. Bo cut the light of his life, and got the win light. Israel topped Caruso and Burns retired Cornell. In the finals Burns was a run-away winner at 7.97/169.81 to O'Brochta's 8.15/155.96. Pro Comp Elmer Trett, aided by crewmember Mike Gray, prepared to lay down a 7.86/172.61 for the Top Fuel win. The Funny Bike win went to Craig Burns (shown). He pulled off a runaway win in the final over Bo O'Brochta. •DBA Drag"Racing ChamRionshiR Series: Final round Trett takes· Top Fuel at Gulfport By Tony lee GULFPORT, MS, OCT. 9-10 Sam Wills came to the IDBAWorld Finals at Gulfport International Dragway with a lock on Number One in Top Fuel if 12 he qualified well. If he won the meet, Kawasaki bonus money would mean an extra $2,650 over and above his purse money. Wills headed back to Oklahoma City at the end of the weekend with the title, but not the money. Terry Kizer snatched it from under his nose. Sam was top qualifier with a 7.85 second run down the quarter-mile strip. Elmer Trett came in second, followed by Terry Kizer on the Kizer- Parsons/MTC/CAM2 Kawasaki . Larry Hayes was fourth on the Hayes/ MarchmanlThornton Honda and Chris Hand was fifth on the HickmanHand/Redneck Express Kawasaki. In the first round, Wills ran solo on an earned bye with the Motorcycles UnlimitedlMTC/KaratalCAM2 Kawasaki. Kizer got a freebie when Hand was unable to respond to. the call. Trett, on the Trett's Speed and Cus. tom Kawasaki, retired Hayes. The second rourid was where Kizer did Wills in. Or did Wills do it to himself? The reaction timer showed that Wills took .546 second to l(lave the line while Kizer took only .251 second. At the finish, Kizer was the winner to Wills' quicker, but losing time. Trett took it easy on his earned bye. On the final run, after rebuilding a motor between rounds, the KizerParsons racing team got beat to the finish by the 01' smooth Harley rider on a Kawasaki when Trett laid down a 7.86/172.61 to light the win beacon before Kizer's 8.04/150.47. Pro Stock "Superbike Mike" Keyte went to the event with an uncomfortably narrow lead in the points competition for Number One Pro Stock plate. It was important for him to qualify well and set a record if possible. He also needed to win. Dave Schultz and Randy Mason were breathing down his neck. At the end of qualifying, things didn't look too good for Keyte. Mason topped the field with an 8.82 second ride. Dave Schultz, Russ Nyberg and Barry Kogut were the top four in the 16 bike field with Keyte fifth. George Babor, Chip Solley and Don Plesser rounded out the top eight. By the end of qualifying, less thiln half a second separated first from 16th. Qualifiers nine through 16 were: Ron Turner, Earl Timmons, Billy Ellis, Brad Mattei, Dan Boyce, Charlie Gressman, Sid Pogue and Doug Wellhausen. First round losers were Turner, Boyce, Ellis, Pogue, Timmons, Gressman, Mattei and Wellhausen. In the second round the cheese got binding. Here's where Mason could knock Keyte out and go on to win Number One himself or make it possible for Schultz to win. Neither rider cut as good a light as they had on the previous round, but Mike beat Randy. Mason's quicker 8.98/ 144.20 was second to Keyte's 9.00/ 147.05. Nyberg trailered Solley as Schultz defeated Babor. Kogut retired Plesser. At this point., Keyte had the title unless he lost in the next round and Schultz went on to win and set a new record. In the first semi pass Keyte lost. Sixteen-year-old Russ Nyberg did in Keyte. Schultz had a chance! He and Kogut staged. Schultz lit the win light. However, the starter pointed to Schultz's lane-a red light was on! Schultz lost! The final run was to be between Nyberg and Kogut. Nyberg'sreaction time won it for him (.1l4 to .253). Nyberg got the Pro Stock win with an 8.97/146.57 to Kogut's quicker 8.93/ 145.86. The tightest racing season in IDBA Pro Stock history ended as Superbike ' Mike Keyte got Number One followed by Schultz, Nyberg, Mason and Kogut. Funny Bike Funny Bike qualifiers in order were: Bo O'Brochta, on a JBC Industries Kawasaki, at 7.85;' Craig Burns, on a Burns/Berry/Hahn Kawasaki sponsored by Mr. Turbo/Bill Hahn Products/MTC Engineering; ,Charles Israel; John Sands, on a Motorcycle Sales and Service Honda; and Jon Cornell, em a Rush Limo Kawasaki; Bruce Litton; and Willie Morris, Carl Caruso,' Chuck Custer, Larry Musick, Howard Key, Jay Taylor and Lang Smith. Bruce Litton crashed in his second qualifying pass. Witnesses said the bike went into a hign-speed wobble. The force of the crash knocked his gloves off and he ground down his thumb to the knuckle before breaking it at the hand. He also suffered a compound fracture of his wrist on the other arm. Litton was treated at a local hospital before being transferred to a New Orleans hospital in hopes that microsurgery there could save his thumb. It was not successful. Next to Pro Stock, the Pro Comp pros were in the greatest number at the World Finals and the qualifying was almost as tight as it was in the Pro Stock field. Number one qualifier was Hamp Osburn with an 8.61. The next 13 qualifiers in order were: Marty Blades, Jeff Reel, Mike Pizzitola, Vicki Farr, Jim Dodich, Mike Puglia, Dan Zimmerman, Joe Waldrip, Harold Windham, Will Johnsee, Steve Bishop, Larry Musick and Archie Carter. First round losers were Puglia, Bishop, Windham, Carter, Waldrip, Truett, Johnsee and Zimmerman. In the quarterfinals, Osburn piloted his C&W Cycleworks/Wiseco Kawasaki to a win over Farr. Reel got the win light on his Power Enterprises Suzuki over Smith, while Blades and his SBM/MTC Kawasaki beat out Dodich. Mike Pizzatola got a free ride on his Union Cycle/MTC/SBM/Orient/CAM2/Watson Kawasaki, when Stan Stoltz couldn't leave the line. In the semis Reel tried to cut too quick a light on Osburn and drew a' red light. Blades just outran Pizzatola. Blades won the final on the tree. The reaction timer showed Osburn dozed there. At the finish, it was Blades first with an 8.70/148.50 to Osburn's 8.86/15i.51. Top Fuel-Pushrod The field was the smallest of the year after Dave Cauldwell crashed at another race the weekend before the World Finals and Pete Hill crashed while tuning outside his shop. James McDonald broke a crank on his first qualifying pass and the field consisted of' Steve Stordeur, on a Trett's Speed & Custom/Truett & Osborne/Sifton Harley, against Mark Johnson on a H-D of Huntington Sportster. Stordeur was the winner with an 8.87/170.45 to Johnson's 10.00/126.93. Super Eliminator • George Bryce worked his way through the 32 bike field to come up with the win. Bryce ran an 8.32/162.45 off an 8.24 record on his Star Cycle/ Mr. Turbo/Wiseco sponsored Kawasaki. Runner-up honors went to John' Noard, on the Noard Machine Tool! Allan Metal!Naoro Kawasaki dragster. He cut a red-light on the start. Combo Eliminator The win in Combo Eliminator went to Mike Cornell, on an R.B. Racing Kawasaki with a 12.42 pass on a 12.28 record. Bryan Schultz, on a Kawasaki sponsored by Dave's Carburetor Service/Fast by Gast/MRE, ran a 12.59 off a 12.54 record in losing. Competition Eliminator Mississippi rider Charlie Jordan took home the gold in the Competition Eliminator bracket. Jordan, on a Kawasaki sponsored by Midsouth Cycleworks/Brookhaven Honda-Kawasaki, ran a strong 12.02 off an 11.91 record for his win. GaryTackett ran a bit too strong with an 11.19 on an 11.20 record. Tackett was aboard a J acksonville Kawasaki/Sure-Fire Distributing spo'nsored Kawasaki. •