The AMA Dragbike 08 race year in reflection
Loganville, GA I was going to write this long drawn out month by month review of what happened this year in racing. Then I thought to myself, why would I do that? If everyone has read all of my previous articles they would already know what happened during the year.
So I decided to do this… I raced, raced again, raced again, melted the engine, fixed the engine, raced again and again and again.
Now I am to November and the World AMA Dragbike Finals in Valdosta, GA. (Who needs time travel?) Friday the 7th we were able to do 3 time trial runs. I had excellent lights .025 .027 and a .040. That was a good sign because the last few races you would think that I was taking Lunesta before each run. ( I like the moth in that commercial…)
The bike ran its usual numbers 9.53, 9.57 and a 9.81 in Street Fighter. Which absolutely chaps my @$%. Street Fighter is a 9.50 index class and I should run a 9.5 for qualifying. As it turns out I always screw up and run a number that is not even remotely close to the index.
On Saturday we had 2 more qualifying runs in each division. Sometime during the night, the “dark motorcycle imp” came in our RV, opened my brain and stole my reaction times. I had a -.063 a .114 followed by a .124 Not only did the imp take my reaction times, it screwed with the Hayabusa on the way out. Now the bike was running 9.6’s.
I had been having issues with the header bolts coming out after the last engine rebuild so I decided to take off the fairings on the turbo side and look at the bolts. They were all in. While I had the fairing off, I decided to clean the turbo filter. Typically I use a toothbrush to clean it after every race. This time I held it up to the light and noticed that some of the holes looked like they were clogged. Vince Woska let me borrow some brake cleaner and I shot it out.
My next run was a 9.414 at 150 mph. This is 2/10’s faster than I previously went and 6 mph faster. My next run I went 9.35. Now I have a problem, I do not know what to dial in at. This is the fastest I have ever ridden the bike.
Saturday night I had my first Pro ET race. I dialed in at 9.40 and ran a 9.31. That was letting off the throttle at the 1,000‘mark.
Sunday morning in Street ET I dialed in at 9.39. The first guy had a -.114 light to my .040 light. (The Motorcycle Imp gave back my reaction times.) I ran the bike out the backend to a 9.35.
In Street Fighter I lost with a 9.41 on a breakout pass. No more for me. I finished 12th overall in this division.
In the next round of Street ET I cut a .002 light to my opponents .269 light. Needless to say I caught up with him by the 1/8 mile mark and proceeded to feather the throttle for the rest of the race. I ran a 9.63 at 118 mph on a 9.39 dial in. The next round I got the bye run due to the previous good reaction time.
The next round I had to run Jimmy Heisler. He is a good friend, along with his wife Eeman. Currently, Jimmy was in 2nd place in the points and needed to get by me to win 1st place for the season. I told him he was going to have to beat me because I was not going to let him have it. He asked if I would take 250.00 to throw the race. I told him he would not be happy if he won the race knowing I threw it. After a brief pause he said, “Yes I would.”
Jimmy dialed in at 10.31 I stayed at 9.39. Jimmy cut a .100 light to my .063. I caught him at the 1,000 ‘ mark, chopped the throttle and got on the brakes. I ran a 9.361 at 135 mph to his 10.38 at 118 mph. Back at the line Stephanie and Eeman were wondering what the hell we were doing, they did not think we were really going to race that hard. If they were in our shoes, they would have said their bike broke for the other person to win the championship.
That win gave Jimmy the Street ET Championship and me a respectable 6th place finish for the season. There were 196 bikes in the division. For me that race was the most fun of all of them.
Before we could go home we had to go to Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL to talk to some students in the automotive class. Around 11pm on Sunday night I pulled into an RV park in Alachua, FL. Typically, there is a late night drop box for hookup fees. At this place there was a sign that said to pay at the front desk in the morning.
I had to be at the school at 8:30am, so at 8 am we pulled up to the office and I went in to pay. I handed her my debit card with teeth marks from a Jack Russell on it. She pointed to a sign under the glass on the counter that said, “ No Credit or Debit Cards. Cash or Checks only”. I don’t know about all of you but I have not used a check in 9 years, I had 5 bucks in my wallet and when I pooled that with all of Stephanie’s money I had 5 bucks.
The lady suggested I go down the road to the gas station to use the ATM. We get to the gas station and I figure I’ll fill the RV up while I go in and get some cash. When I come out the pump had stopped at the irritating 75.00 mark when the pump should know damn well I am filling up an RV and go to 150.00. I figure that is good enough to get to the college, jump in the RV and head back to the RV park.
Once in the RV I start ranting to Stephanie as to how stupid it is in this day and time that they do not take debit cards. This rant went on until I pulled up to the office.
Right then my phone rings, I look and see that it is a Florida prefix. I figure it is the college calling to reschedule.
“Hello.”
“Did you forget something?!” Says an irritated voice that sounds like Stephanie.
“Stephanie? Where are you calling from?”
“I am at the gas station where you left me!”
Apparently, she got out of the RV to get a cup of coffee while I was there.
The ride home was largely conversation free.
See you all next year! Have a great holiday season!
