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/1546039
AUGUST 9, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 10 D rag Specialties Buell rider Chip Ellis remained perfect in final rounds on the NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle tour after riding to a win at the Fram Nationals at Infineon Raceway on July 30. Ellis won for the fifth time in as many finals when he stopped U.S. Army Suzuki's Antron Brown in the final round. In a race that was highlighted by numer- ous six-second performances, Ellis needed just an 8.86 elapsed time to win the final after Brown left a red light glowing on the starting line. Ellis won, but left a trail of oil and parts in his wake when his S&S V-twin expired at half-track. "They say motors always run really good right before they blow up and I guess that's what happened today," Ellis said. "We ran so well early in the day and we just kept push- ing it because we felt like if we didn't, we couldn't win. From the looks of things, I think we broke the crankshaft. That was my favorite engine and I hate to see it die, but at least it went out a winner." The final-round breakage was the only downside in what was otherwise was a pic- ture-perfect race for Ellis and his G-Squared team. Racing at one of the fastest tracks on the NHRA tour, Ellis qualified fourth in the 16-bike field with a 6.99 and also had the best mph of the event with a 193.21 top speed. With cool conditions and a perfectly groomed racetrack, nearly every rider in Sonoma was able to record a career-best elapsed time, but even Ellis was shocked by the 6.911 he ran in the opening round of eliminations. Ellis' run was a full five-hun- dredths quicker than Andrew Hines NHRA national record and more than enough to defeat GEICO Motorcycle's Karen Stoffer, who ran just a 7.20. Ellis set the pace again in the second round with a 6.98 win over his G-Squared teammate Matt Smith, but slowed to a 7.15 in his semifinal win over Craig Treble, who ran quicker with a 7.13, but got a late start off the starting line. "To run the sixes is still a big honor," Ellis said. "The [Mickey Thompson Six Second Club] used to just be me and Andrew [Hines]. Now there are two more mem- bers and that just tells you how competitive everyone else has become out here. Man, it's tough to win a round, let alone a race." In qualifying, Brown became the third member of the Mickey Thompson Six Second Club and the first rider to accom- plish the feat on a Suzuki after running a 6.98 on his U.S. Army Suzuki. Tom Bradford also ran the first six of his career with a 6.98 on his S&S Buell, which was good for the second spot. Brown never ran slower than 7.11 in his three round wins over Matt Guidera, Steve Johnson and Bradford, and he ran a solid 7.06 in the final, but it was negated by the foul start. With six rounds remaining in the points battle, Ellis remains in third place in the points standings, but is just 51 points behind leader Andrew Hines and he trails second- place Angelle Sampey by only 18 points. The next Pro Stock Motorcycle event on the NHRA POWERade tour will be the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota, August 10-13. Kevin McKenna Ellis A Perfect 5-0 A s hard as it is to believe, Randy Mamola added former World Superbike and current AMA Superbike factory rider Ben Bostrom to the list of those who he's scared to death with his rides on the Ducati MotoGP two-seater. "Randy's crazy... when we went out he said, 'Ben, we're going to go pretty fast. How's the front tire?' I looked and I said, 'The left side is gone.' It was shredded. He goes, 'Don't worry.'" That's when Bostrom started to worry. And it only got worse, with Mamola treating Bostrom to two laps of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, July 23 - just prior to the Red Bull U.S. GP. "We went over the hill and into two and the thing is jumping around," Bostrom said, his voice going at least as fast as the Ducati. "It was unbelievable. By the second lap, we were both really familiar with each other and putting out knees down. We go up the hill so fast... it was frightening. We came out of six and the thing is, like, whaaaappp. I was like, 'Oh, shit.' We got in the Corkscrew so hot, we were almost standing the thing straight up. We went over the paint and he just punches it and sends it into [turn] nine so big. The bike is moving and Randy just picks up the throttle again and we spun the thing out of nine. He just races into 10 because now he's excited. I'm, like, 'Oh, shit.' I was so nervous. It was unbelievable." For more on riding the Ducati two-seater, see the Teardown column on page 86. Bostrom's Wild Ride! PHOTO BY NATIONAL DRAGSTER PHOTO BY GOLD & GOOSE Chip Ellis is a perfect 5-0 in NHRA finals after his win at Infineon Raceway.