Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 5,2006 11 Ellis Gets Overdue NHRA Win For the last four races, Chip Ellis' Drag Specialties/S&S Buell has been arguably the best Pro Stock Motorcycle on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing tour, yet he had little to show for it - until now. Ellis claimed his first win of the sea- son when he defeated Michael Phillips' Mini-Rods Suzuki in the final of the O'Reilly Midwest Nationals at Gateway Raceway in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 25. "Honestly, I feel like we should have won two or three races by now," Ellis said. "Our bike has certainly been capa- ble of it, but we've had a lot of little problems. Even at this race, we struggled all through qualifying. We changed engines before the first round today, because we felt we were miss- ing something in our setup. At first, I wasn't crazy about it, because that is the same engine that we ran a 6.99 with last week in Englishtown, but obviously it was the right call." Ellis, who qualified third, ran into more problems in round one when a loose wire shorted and shut off the ignition at half-track, slowing him to a 7.65. However, he caught a break, because Geico Suzuki's Karen Stoffer red-lighted, ending the race on the starting line. With his electrical problems fixed, Ellis cruised into the final with runs of 7.13 and 7.14 against Steve Johnson's Snap-On Suzuki and points leader Angelle Sampey's U.S. Army Suzuki. "Last week, I had the best bike in the field, and I red-light- ed," Ellis said. "I feel like I let my team down, and I really wanted to make it up to them. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long to do it. We've got three weeks before our next race, and I really didn't want to have to wait that long for something good to happen to us." For Ellis, the win comes just one week after his G- Squared teammate Matt Smith won his first NHRA title in Englishtown, New Jersey. With seven of 15 races in the books, Ellis also moved to third in the points standings, behind Sampey and reigning champ Andrew Hines. Phillips, a privateer who does more with less than perhaps any other rider on the NHRA tour, made solid runs in the opening two rounds to beat Matt Guidera and recent Columbus winner Ryan Schnitz. Phillips made his best run in the semifinal round with a 7.15 against Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson's GT Tonglet, who red-lighted by five-thou- sandths of a second. Phillips gained a starting-line holeshot in the final but couldn't make it stick, as Ellis charged by for the win, 7.15 to a 7.29. "I could have and should have won the final," Phillips said. "I knew I had him, but we had a problem with our clutch cable and I ended up making a really bad run. I'm happy that we got to a final round for the first time this year, but it's pretty upsetting when you realize that you could have won the whole thing." The next event on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing tour will be the Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Colorado, July 14-16. Kevin McKenna O nce again, Am Pro Yamaha's Barry Hawk romped home as King of the Mountain at the most prestigious Suzuki Grand National Cross Country event - the Parts Unlimited Wisp GNCC in Deep Creek, Maryland. He earned it the hard way, upending defending GNCC Champion Juha Salminen by coming from behind on a rugged, rocky track in a driv- ing rain. "It's awesome - everybody out there was cheering," said Hawk. "After my first lap, I thought I was never going to catch those guys. I was way back, and I thought it was going to be a long day. I think I was being too conservative. So I really started flooring it, and it seemed like I was a gear higher than everyone." Hawk, from nearby Smithfield, Pennsylvania, had to battle past Salminen, the Finnish 10-time World Champion who has dominated the 2006 season. The duo put on a great race, but Salminen came up short on the steep ski slopes of the Wisp. "It was four places better than last year, and that was my goal," said Salminen. "It still was not my best, but it's what we could do. Barry was just fast." A surprise performance put 19-year- old Justin Williamson, who finished third, on the podium. "At the beginning of this year, I had to learn the determination and the dedication to run with these guys," said Williamson. "It was raining out there, and all I saw was sunshine. The rain and the rocks, it looks like that was a good combination for me." AMA Motocross legend John Dowd took a solid fourth in his first-ever GNCC race. Dowd ran as high as third before dropping his pace just a touch late in the race. "It was good - I put in a couple of good laps and a couple of bad ones," said Dowd, always smiling. "I had fun, though. I'm pretty sure I am going to come back and race the one at Unadilla. It's still kind of mind-boggling to ride for three hours. I did good for four laps, but the last two, it was tough after that." It was tough for everyone, since the Wisp - already arguably the toughest track on the tour, due to its huge rock section - was hit with rain for the first time ever at a GNCC. Mud and rocks and hills made this one of the all-time toughest. "This track, I think my riding style works good in the rocks," said Hawk. "I really look forward to it. Everyone I talked to couldn't believe it was raining today, but maybe that was the difference. I still want- ed it really bad today." Fifth overall went to 16-year-old Am Pro Yamaha rider Thad DuVall, who won the 250 A class and took top amateur hon- ors. Sixth went to Andrews' Suzuki priva- teer Jimmy Jarrett, and seventh went to FMF Suzuki's Glenn Kearney. Nate Kanney, Robbie Jenks and Paul Whibley rounded out the top 10. Hawk Is King Of The Mountain PHOTO BY NHRA "It's still kind of mind-boggling to ride for three hours. I did good for four laps, but the last two, it was tough after that." - John Dowd A muddy Barry Hawk en route to winning the Wisp GNCC. Chip Ellis got his first NHRA win at Gateway Raceway in St. Louis.

• Cover