Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ D RAGRACE NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series: Round 7 ~ John Myers (far lane) topped "Pizza John" Mafaro (near lane) in the Pro Stock final to clinch his second NHRA Championship in three years. Myers clinches.championship By Todd Veney BRAINERD, MN, AUG. 21-23 tick a fork in the 1992 Pro Stock season. It's done. There'I1 be no down-to-the-wire charge for the NHRA Championship like last year, when David Schultz ousted 1990 king John Myers on the final day of the season. With a commanding 7114-to-4984 point lead over Schulu after his latest triumph, at the Champion Auto Stores Nationals in the Minnesota resort-lake community of Brainerd, Myers can sleep through the three remaining 1992 races and stilI coIlect his second crown in three years. Myers' first words after winning the inaugural event (formerly known as the NorthStar Nationals) for his fourth straight win and fifth of seven overall in 1992: "One-lane race track." Translation: He never had to run the dreaded left side of the straightaway portion of multipurpose Brainerd International Raceway's road course. AIl nine seven-second passes in eliminations came in the right lane, and everybody knew it. "You've got to keep lane-choice at a place like this or you don't have a chance," said Myers, who maintained that advantage in all four rounds of eliminations by running faster than S 20 his opponent had In the previous round. On what he billed the left-l~ne pass of the meet, 1989 NHRA Champion "Pizza John" Mafaro ran a what's-theuse 8.12 at just 162 mph in the final. Seeing that he was far short of Myers' long-gone 7.87/168 on the smoother right side of the course, Mafaro cut the power a little early, or the elapsed time would have been quicker. "Because I had the right lane all day, I never had to worry about cutting a light except in the semis," said Myers, who still left four-thousandths of a second ahead of Mafaro, who's now been in more than half of the finals· this season, but came up a runner-up in all fOUT. Myers had a near-perfect .017 reaction and made his best run at the event, a 7.85/169, in the semi finals ... right when he knew he might need it to get himself some spare time for -the other against Hines, who had been just as fast all weekend. Hines, the engine-builderltuner behind Terry Vance's 1985 and 1986 NHRA Championships, was last seen at Brainerd in the 1988 NorthStar Nationals winner's circle, celebrating the 26th of Vance's 27 career wins. Hines admitted that he knew he was doomed for the 1992 semi finals against Myers the minute he lost lane choice in the second round. Hines' pink and yellow V&H flagship Yamaha, which had qualified number. two at 7.86, was all over the race track early in the Myers race, so Hines shut down long before the finish line to a 9.40 at just 96 mph. Qualified ahead of Hines by fourthousandths of a second was Schultz, one of just two riders other than Myers to have scored this season, with a trackrecord 7.82/172. (The Pro Stockers were running 8.1s at 160 mph four years ago, the last time the NHRA tour hit town.) Myers, struggling slightly on George Bryce's Star Racing Katana with a 7.87/171, was third behind Schultz and Hines. Gatornationals' 1992 Champion Jim Bernard was fourth (7.91/168), Mafaro was fifth (7.93/168), and the only homestate rider to make the qualifying cut, Anoka's John Smith, was next at 7.93/ 169. The only three non-qualifiers C.]. Smith, Paul Zahalan and Greg Underdahl, whose bike was borrowed by and ridden to both ends of the BIR track record by Schulu - are based in Minnesota, and all came with 12hundredths of Tim Loomis' bubblequalifying 8.13/163. "Greg Underdahl lent me this bike because he didn't feel he could do it justice," Schultz said just before puIling into the water for a qualifying burnout. "He hasn't reaIly raced since 1.986, and he's doing it here just for fun." Schulu joined Underdahl on the' sidelines after the first round when he slowed by the almost unprecedented margin of a third of a second, to an 8.16. But Schulu still could have won if he hadn't been late off the starting lights with a .111 reaction time, because Loomis ran a mere 8.24 (a time not quick enough to qualify). Loomis' clutch .016-second reaction time was the difference. . In other first-round matches, .Myers and the other favories except Bernard managed to avoid upset losses. Myers spanked Harry Lartigue, 7.93/167 to 8.21/153; Hines beat Norman DeVine, 7.89/169 to 8.14/163; and Mafaro handled Steve johnson's Slick 50sponsored machine, the ex-Myers/Star Racing '91 Suzuki GSXR. Bernard had number 13 qualifier Tom Wolbers covered by a fuIl quartersecond, 7.91/167 to 8.16/162, but he let the clutch out too soon by the smaIlest detectable amount - onethousanths of a second - for a maddening red-light start. It was the second time this year that Bernard, perhaps the quickest-reacting rider in drag racing, has missed the green light and a sure win by less than three-thousandths of a second. a Results POINT STANDINGS: 1. John Myuen (7114)0; 2. Dave Schulu (4984); ~. John Malam (4642); 4. Jim Bernard (~984); 5. Byron Hines (~902); 6. Kerry Larkin (~216); 7. John Smith (~192); 8. Norman DeVine (2992); 9. Lance Boyer (2780); )(\. Steve Johnson (2766). o Clinched championship.

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