New Pro Stock
Records
For Bradford and Thunder Eagle Team
Tom Bradford was so thrilled about his Thunder Eagle team's
7.343 Pro Stock record run at the AHDRA Northwest Nationals
at Woodburn Dragstrip in Woodburn, Oregon, he jumped right
on the phone and started calling around about it. "We
were really excited to run so well on a marginal track,"
said Bradford. "We were spinning at mid track. I never
thought I'd see a gas bike smoke the tire at mid track like
that. That would have been a 7.20something on another track."
The record fell
in round 1 of qualifying and Tom, of course, came out #1.
He also reset the 1/8th mile record at 4.63, backed up with
4.66.
|
Pro
Stock Qualifying
|
| Round 1 |
1st Tom Bradford |
7.343 et |
172.64 mph |
| Round 2 |
1st Tom Bradford |
sat out |
| Round 3 |
1st Tom Bradford |
7.413 et |
175.02 mph |
| |
back up the
round 1 record. |
|
Pro
Stock Eliminations
|
| Round 1 |
| Tom Bradford (W) |
.085 rt |
7.476 et |
174.75 mph |
| Single |
| Final |
| Tom Bradford (W) |
.611 rt |
7.365 et |
177.06 mph |
| Dirk Higgins |
.475 rt |
11.802 et |
129.44 mph |
Bradford advanced on the
round 1 bye and beat current points leader Matt Guidera in
the final. So in addition to beating buddy Dave Feazell's
records, Tom and crew chief Rob Schopf were able to gain on
the points lead in the class that they dominated for the last
two years.
Pro Gas
Tom was once again aboard the Lee Coffey owned bike in Pro
Gas. The Coffey bike is Bradford's Pro Stock mount from three
generations ago. The team's #1 qualifier in Pro Gas proved
that the veteran bike hasn't lost a step.
|
Pro
Gas Qualifying
|
| Round 1 |
1st Tom Bradford |
8.311 et |
142.83 mph |
| Round 2 |
1st Tom Bradford |
8.224 et |
148.44 mph |
| Round 3 |
1st Tom Bradford |
no improvement |
|
Pro
Gas Eliminations
|
| Round 1 |
| Tom Bradford (W) |
.817 rt |
8.220 et |
144.34 mph |
| Stan Sheppard |
.601 rt |
9.499 et |
138.39 mph |
| Round 2 |
| Tom Bradford (W) |
.453 rt |
8.283 et |
143.54 mph |
| Dave Boss |
.601 rt |
10.89 et |
69.99 mph |
| Round
3 |
| Frank Dove |
.828 rt |
7.882 et |
164.17 mph (w) |
| Tom Bradford |
.436 rt |
8.364 et |
140.51 mph |
Bradford runner-upped
in Pro Gas to defending two time class champion Frank Dove.
Pro Gas rules allow for many different performance combinations,
and Dove sprays nitrous for top end power. The Coffey bike
is Pro Stock legal, naturally aspirated. "It was right
down to the wire on that one against Frank," reported
Bradford. "We actually loaned some parts to Frank to
keep him in the game. I had it probably right until 1300 feet
before he beat me. But we were happy we gained points."
Indeed, Bradford
increased his points lead over #2 Dave Boss, putting him out
in the second round.
Tom Bradford and
the Hal's H-D/Thunder Eagle Buell will be racing September
13 and 14 in Mission, British Columbia and September 20 and
21 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Bradford
thanked sponsors
