NHDRO at St. Louis

Frederick Leads Gateway Winners

Words and photos by Tim Hailey

Gabe Frederick

Extra tall Pro Street racer Gabe Frederick always has one of the prettiest motorcycles at the track and sometimes one of the quickest. Still pretty, Frederick left no doubt who was quickest of the June 9-11 weekend at NHDRO’s Schwartz & Schwartz Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis. Frederick took number-one qualifier and the Pro Street win.

Sponsored by St. Louis defense attorney and sportsman racing superstar Kenny Schwartz, the event was NHDRO’s annual trip west, the weekend when America’s fastest growing motorcycle drag racing series sets up its circus in the sunset shadow of the arch. The weather was perfect, the racer count strong, and the list of winners long.

It was a relatively short trip from Prairie Home, MO, to Gateway for Frederick and his turbo Suzuki Hayabusa, and he started treating the track like it was his own from the get-go with a 6.82 at 212.93 mph in the first qualifying round that held up for number one.

Chicago’s Mike “Kavos” Kovacevich bolted to number two with a 6.96 -- the first 6 on Nemecio Beltran’s “Lucky” bike -- followed by Indy’s Justin Doucet with a 6.98.

Frederick had the first-round bye, while Doucet beat Drew Tolliver and Kavos knocked off William Santana. Running consistent low .90s on raceday, Frederick next trailered Al Mart. Doucet dispatched Memphis Man Cup number-one qualifier Ryan Hable, but Kavos went -.004 red against Texas racer Brandon Mitchan.

Mitchan’s day ended against Doucet in the semifinals. Frederick was able to overcome an .099 light in the other semi and race around former Californian Gaige Herrera in the other semi.

Doucet took a .033 to .042 advantage at the tree in the final, then both bikes overpowered the track. A pedal-fest ensued, and although Doucet was coming on strong at the end, it was Frederick that took the win light.

“Got lucky and hit a good tune-up in Q1 and was able to stay just ahead of everyone all weekend on a hot, very challenging race surface,” said Frederick.

It was a bittersweet weekend for St. Charles-based Quicktime Motorsports and team boss Rudy Sanzottera. A failed electrical connector ended Rudy’s Pro Street bid early. He also retired his late father Marty “Pops” Sanzottera’s beautiful Pro Open bike, making one last, slow pass in Marty’s honor on Sunday morning.

Chris Cutsinger

The loss of the Sanzottera machine contributed to a depleted Pro Open field. Champion Chris Cutsinger took his big tire ‘Busa Funnybike to number one with a 6.47, but without enough bikes to make a field, no eliminations were run.

Like Frederick in Pro Street, class sponsor Jeff Lindeman qualified number one right off the trailer with a 4.61 in Pro Ultra 4.60.

Champion Chase Morris arguably had the rough side of the 4.60 ladder, racing past May winner Smokin’ Joe Rodney and Muncie winner Dan McCarten to earn a bye to the final. Once there, he got away from the tree .010 quicker than Lindeman and held on for his first win of the year in the world’s quickest two-wheeled index class.