Sat, 6 Oct 2007, 02:46 PM Nitro Harley Qualifying Notes, Session #2

By Dan Bennett

DINWIDDIE, Va. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals listing lane, rider name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run:

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Left Lane: Jay Turner Runs 6.729/204.82, Now #2; Best prior run: 6.804/192.44, Was #2
Right Lane: William Furr Runs 8.997/100.70, Now #4; Best prior run: 10.088/84.71, Was #6

I had a chance to take a look at these bikes before the session and from the technical end, there's a lot to be interested in. First, the most refreshing thing about the class is that no two bikes are even close to being alike.

It's still a class where individuals have a vision and make the parts they want. There are single intakes, siamese intakes, straight pipes, curved headers, headers with collectors, wings, and no wings. The strength of the parts is impressive, too. The cylinders are held on with a whole bunch of heavy studs, and the clutch arms look strong enough to be used for suspension brackets. This is as far as you can get from a "cookie cutter" class.

In our first pair, Furr never gets up to speed while Turner streaks down the track. Unfortunately, we're down for a cleanup in the right lane on the starting line. They're spreading rice hull ash in a wide swath in the center of the track for the first 50 feet.

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Right Lane: Doug Vancil Runs 6.491/216.27, Now #1; Best prior run: 9.988/90.47, Was #6

We've scrubbed, swept, sprayed, and dragged the starting line so it's time to fire the next pair. The left lane will get to age a bit as Vancil has a single on his Vance & Hines ride.

And that's the way this is supposed to look. While these bikes don't really blast off the line, the big twin gained power strongly and ran a very nice top end charge.

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Left Lane: Phil Schmidt Runs 8.685/193.40, Now #5; Best prior run: 11.870/83.67, Was #7
Right Lane: Joseph Sternotti Jr Runs 6.471/219.58, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.868/166.60, Was #4

Neither of these racers managed a full pull yesterday.

Schmidt drops the clutch, hits the wheelie bar very hard, and then smokes the tire when the weight transfers back forward.

Sternotti one-ups Vancil with a smooth, straight run that takes him to the top of the order.

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Left Lane: Bob Malloy Runs 6.424/208.42, Now #1; Best prior run: 6.549/206.89, Was #3
Right Lane: Takeshi Shigematsu Runs 8.684/109.13, Now #5; Best prior run: 19.405/48.41, Was #8

Malloy is leaning to the right the entire length of the track but it doesn't seem to hurt his ET much as he runs the quickest pass yet.

Shigematsu was off the throttle early.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink