Racing The Fun Way 6/1/2005
Spring has sprung, the weather is getting nice and the sound of well tuned engines can be heard at race tracks everywhere. There are a lot of different types of racing, more than I can think of. Let’s face it, if there is a wheel involved somewhere there will be two people squaring off to see which wheel and rider works best under pressure.
I favor drag racing at this stage in my life, ‘mid life crises’, or so my wife Barbara says. I didn’t have anything dedicated to drag race so I loaded up my ’73 FLH Shovelhead H-D, my ten year old son, Seth, and off we went to Reynolds, GA. The American Motorcycle Racing Association or AMRA held their season opener at Silver Dollar Raceway Park in Reynolds, GA on April 16 and 17. This was the beginning of AMRA Nationals point’s races.
The results of these races can be checked on line at www.amraonline.com. I will give you the quick list.
Eliminator; E class is where you run with what you brought. You will be required to run and establish a dial-in time that you can run consistently. For example, fourteen second quarter mile Elapse Time (ET) from start to finish. You will be pitted against other bikes of faster or slower times with a handicap start favoring the slower bike trying to keep all things equal. This is a riders race, you, the rider, must stay as consistent as humanly possible to win. Even with a slower bike it is possible to win. In the E class Chuck Bothe of Valrico, FL won with a reaction time of .092 of a second turning an ET of 10.6 seconds at a speed of 124.6 miles per hour.
The Hot Street class is for the Chopper, Titan, Ultra cycle, Big Dog; Harley based motorcycles that are street ridden. This is a good class to run against your buddy. In this class Mark Hancock of Commerce, GA won with a reaction time of .093, ET 10.0 at 135.2 MPH.
Street Dresser class is for street ridden street legal baggers running heads up racing. Terry Upleger won with a .516 reaction time and an ET of 12.25 at 111.8 MPH.
In this class Joe Louis Torres was the second fastest qualifier. The third fastest qualifier was yours truly on an old ’73 Shovel with his 10 year old pit crew. We had a great father son weekend, got to meet a lot of really good people and turn on some old iron.
In Super Stock class Mark Sidwell of Atlanta, GA turned 10.02 ET at 131.2 MPH.
In Street Eliminator Greg Walls of Columbus, GA turned 11.4 ET at 103.7 MPH.
In Pro Eliminator John Jinkins of Deland, FL turned 10.9 ET at 116 MPH.
In Super Gas Donnie Huffman of Lakeland, FL turned 10.2 ET at 122 MPH.
In Super Modified Junior Pippin of Conyers, GA won with 8.3 ET at 152 MPH.
In Modified Mike Nolen of Kellyton, AL won with 9.4 ET at 134 MPH.
In Pro Modified Jay Wagner of Warsaw, IN won with 8.6 ET at 144 MPH.
In Pro Gas Jim Dhanse of Mt. Juliet, IN won with 8.8 ET at 143 MPH.
In Pro Fuel Chuck Jones of St. Petersburg, FL won with 7.4 ET at 172 MPH.
In Nitro Funny Bike Andy Wisner of Mobile, AL won with 7.4 ET at 179 MPH.
In Top Fuel Jay Turner of Whitsett, NC won with 6.7 ET at 195.9 MPH. Jay was the man to beat in this class. In the first round he turned a 6.8 ET at 202.6 MPH. Then in the second round he turned 6.7 ET at 195.7 MPH. The track was hooking up really hard to get the low ET we saw that weekend.
The next AMRA Nationals will be in Bowling Green, KY at Beech Bend Raceway Park June 23-26. Qualifying begins Saturday with a Bike Show and a Bikini Contest also. Saturday night the live band and party begins. Sunday the races start around noon. If you want to see some world class and grass roots racing Bowling Green is a good place to start. Dallas Jones keeps the park very user friendly with well kept amenities. The bleachers on both sides of the track are covered keeping onlookers from burning in the sun. Last year this race pulled eighteen thousand people and the park was only two-thirds full. If you want to call Beech Bend the number is 270-781-7634. Or visit their website at www.BEECHBEND.com. If you can see only one big event a year this is the one to see.
Good Riding and God Bless
Steve Caldwell - steve@precisionvtwins.com
877.429.0399