XXX Racing Fuel AMA Dragbike National Finals, SGMP at Valdosta
After a European season blighted by the weather, a quick trip over the pond to catch the final event of the AMA Dragbike series at South Georgia Motorsports Park was deemed necessary, with the prospect of cloudless skies and the quickest and fastest show on two wheels an unmissable draw. What a meeting to pick, with records set in all four headline categories and bumper sportsman fields, and a little controversy thrown into the mix, the event certainly lived up to the mantra ‘half the wheels, twice the excitement’.
Top Fuel Bike
Having already tied down his 9th championship prior to the event, Larry ‘Spiderman’ McBride should have been in celebration mode during the Finals, but did we detect a bit of pressure during qualifying? A lowly 4th spot after two tiresmoking efforts and a 6.421/198 on the other qualifier wasn’t exactly what would be expected. However, eliminations had a different feel as Steve McBride handed his brother a 5.928/232.15 tune up to get past Geoff Pollard’s game 6.192/231.24 and a 6.103/224.17 to deal with Chris Hand in the semis. The money run was all over at the hit as Korry Hogan redlit, but McBride was simply flying to stop the clocks with a superb Low ET of the World in 5.746 seconds, crossing the finishline at 239.82 mph, the latter telling the tale of what could have been an even more stunning pass had the motor not nosed over at 1000 foot as the eighth mile was reached in 3.753 at an otherworldly 225.07 mph. 5.6’s next? Don’t bet against it.
Owner Mike Dryden and crewchief John Alwine had provided their rider Korry Hogan with most of the pre-event headlines having clocked the first 250 mph pass in history at the previous event in Norwalk. A wild (and we really mean WILD) 5.942/195 in testing on Friday bent the wheeliebars and resulted in the team skipping the first qualifier. The Saturday morning session 5.987/234.57 picked up the low qualifying spot and a potential match up with Armon Furr in the first round. That didn’t happen as Furr’s 60deg V-Twin sustained damage in the pits, and Hogan bust a crank at half track, still clocking a 6.5 and the short numbers suggesting 5.8 second pace, and carded a 6.059/244.47 in a semifinal bye. A fuel leak may have contributed to a comparatively slow launch on a 6.270/239.95 in the final, but the Hogan, Dryden and Alwine collective will be chasing McBride hard in 2009.
Having just a handful of runs on the Pollard Motorsports fueler (with a Puppet chassis and McBride setup), Canadian Geoff Pollard was more than happy with best numbers of 6.084 and 223.99 mph in qualifying that moved him into the top ten quickest riders of all time, indeed after the first session the yellow missile was at the top of the pile. Unfortunately, a drop to 3rd and McBride’s lowly position meant that Pollard would have to face up to Spiderman in the first round, but a 6.192/231.24 demonstrated that he will be a force to content with in 2009.
Veteran Chris Hand got within a whisker of his PB on the revised and rejuvenated Redneck Express with a 6.068/229.82 for second spot on the qualifying ladder, and got through to the semifinals with a first round 6.145/221.92 victory over Robert Stewart’s nitro Harley, but at the cost of some damage to the top end of the motor. After a thrash to get the bike turned around for the semis, Hand was in touch with McBride until he drifted towards the centreline and shutoff, but Chris is another chasing a spot in the MTC 5 second bike club.