Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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IN THE WIND P30 NHRA LONG TIME COMING I t has been eight long years since Chip Ellis last won an NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle event and his latest win could not have come at a better time. In the opening round of the Countdown to the Champion- ship playoffs at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina, September 18, Ellis scored the biggest win of his career when he rode his Pippin Trucking Buell past Screamin' Eagle Harley- Davidson's Andrew Hines. Ellis won with a 6.879 elapsed time to Hines' 6.908. After the win, Ellis immediately dedicated the win to his team owner, fellow rider Junior Pippin, who is bat- tling cancer. "This is for Mr. Pippin, because he's such an awesome individu- al," Ellis said. "He's built this team from the ground-up and we're finally seeing all that hard work pay off. I've won seven of these races now but this is the most important win of my career. The number of people who come up to me and tell me about the time Junior lent them a bike or a trailer or whatever; he's such a gener- ous guy. It makes you wonder why cancer seems to hit all these really awesome people." Ellis has struggled at times this season, but he was very competitive from start to finish at the zMax round, which fea- tured some of the highest track temperatures of the season. Ellis, the number four qualifier, worked his way past Shawn Gann, Nitro Fish Suzuki's LE Tonglet, and Star/PSE Buell's Angelle Sampey before facing Hines in the final. Ellis was quick in each of those rounds with consistent 6.90 runs, but he also caught a break when Ton- glet and Sampey encountered mechanical problems. "I'm pretty sure LE would have beaten me because I was a little late on the starting line," Ellis said. "Then, Angelle had a problem shifting her bike. Some- times you have a feeling that today is your day and I felt that way this morning. We're fired up for the rest of the playoffs now. My crew guys, Brad Moore and Lon Moyer; we all put in a lot of hours. This weekend, my 14-year old daughter McKenzie serviced the clutch and whenever she does that we win rounds. McK- enzie, you're not going to school anymore. The bottom line is that we have a bike that can win the championship so we need to see this thing through to the end." In addition to riding Pippin's Pro Stock Motorcycle, Ellis also had a chance to race on four wheels when he got the op- portunity to pilot a Cobra Jet Mustang in the Super Stock division. Even though he lost early in that car, Ellis said the chance to try something differ- ent helped improve his focus. After the Charlotte round, Ellis has moved into second place in the standings, just 44 points behind leader Hines. Kevin McKenna PRO STOCK FINAL 1. Chip Ellis (Buell) 2. Andrew Hines (H-D) It's been eight years since Chip Ellis finished on the top step of the podium. He finally got a win at Charlotte, the first round of the Countdown