It's all about wins in racing, obviously, and the amount of time it takes to get one and the amount
of time it takes to get more. To Cecil Towner III of HTP Performance, it seems like a long time for
his first AMA Dragbike win as a builder/tuner. "Glad to finally get an AMA win," said Cecil. "Got
that monkey off my back."
But Towner hasn't been at it nearly as long as his BST Real Street rider Keith Thompson. "It's been
a long time comin' on the AMA scene, you know," said Thompson.
Thompson and Towner teamed up for the MiRock True Street championship last year. "But I wanted to
come out here and run Real Street in AMA and see what we could do," said Thompson. "We're trying to
double up in both series this year." Anybody ever done that before? Probably not, and definitely
not on one bike, anyway. But Thompson got a good start on it with an Atlanta win.
The Real Street bikes put on a great show in Atlanta, doing some crazy wheelie-ing and posting good
numbers. Thompson qualified number 2 with an 8.16 on his Suzuki GSXR1000, followed by HTP teammate
Richard Gadson on a Hayabusa.
Towner and Thompson tweaked up the 1000 all day on raceday, giving the mix a little too much
nitrous on their round 3 bye run and sending the front wheel soaring skyward at mid-track. "We
tried to turn it up, but we turned it up a little too much," said Keith. "Then we ran an 8.10 in
the semi trying to get into the .0s. It leaned out a little bit on the topside, so we kind of
turned it back down and it slowed up to a .17 in the final, but that was enough for the win."
Indeed it was, as final round opponent Jeremy Teasley rode out a massive wheelie of his own.
"I was just hoping we didn't hurt it on the semifinal pass," said Towner. "But I actually turned it
down just to get it down the track. I loved racing my best friend Coby Adams in the final, and
Jeremy Teasley is the most deadly hundred pound rider on the planet. People will really have to
step their game up with those two teaming up. I actually owe a lot of thanks to Coby for parts
supplied on all three of my race bikes."
Rule changes this year to merge AMA Dragbike's Real Street and MiRock's True Street have swelled
the class and allowed for the kind of top rank match-up that occurred between Thompson and Teasley,
and a first AMA win for Towner. "I hope there's more to come in the future," said Cecil. "I was
very happy that the class adopted some rules from the MiRock series, and vice versa. It allowed us
to use some of the best aftermarket wheels in the world, BSTs from Brock's Performance. Hopefully,
with the addition of the wheels and Brock's new TiWinder, we will lay down the first 7 second pass
in the class. Other than those things, the rule change didn't really affect our bike at all.
"And Keith is as deadly as ever. He's consistent and on his game and makes me look good every time
he sits on a motorcycle." And helped get that monkey off his back, too.
In other news, the HTP nitrous Hayabusa Pro Street bike that debuted in Atlanta with Richard Gadson
in the seat took a dramatic leap in performance a couple of weeks later in Maryland. Gadson knocked
nearly 2/10ths off the previous nitrous streetbike record with a 7.48 and, along with his teammate
Thompson, looks to go quicker still this weekend in Memphis.
Cecil, Keith, and everyone at HTP Performance would like to thank Brock's Performance
http://www.brocksperformance.com , Bazzaz Performance http://www.bazzazperformance.com , Carolina
Cycles, Carpenter Cylinder Heads http://www.carpenterracing.com, CP Pistons
http://www.cppistons.com , Carrillo Rods http://www.carrilloind.com , Marine Crankshaft
http://www.marinecrankshaftinc.com , R&D Motorsports, Richie's Tires and Michelin Pilots
http://www.richiestires.com, OPP Racing http://www.oppracing.com , Vortex
http://www.vortexracing.com , Coby Adams of Adams Performance http://www.adamsperformance.net ,
Motec East http://www.motec.com.au , Litz Race Suspension, CT Services Richmond, DME
http://www.dmeracing.com/dme , VP Racing Fuels http://www.vpracingfuels.com , NOS Wizard
http://www.noswizard.com , Bates Leathers http://www.batesleathers.com , Fulmer Helmets
http://www.fulmerhelmets.com , Memphis Car Audio http://www.memphiscaraudio.com , Shawn Freeman
Custom Paint, and Derek Henderson.
Read expanded motorcycle drag racing race coverage in Straightliner magazine. Subscribe by calling
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Video: see highlights of Keith Thompson and HTP Performance's BST Real Street win here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWWYRNUh4Dc
