Patrick
Racing Closes the Gap
By: Jack
Korpela
Photos: Dragbikephotos.com
The Patrick Racing
Team did just what they intended to do at the AMA/Prostar
U.S Nationals from Atco, NJ, by dominating the Hot Rod Cruiser
field and closing the gap from first to second on points leader
Rick McWaters.
Defending champion
of the class Mark Underwood put this season's hardship behind
him and scored a critical event victory over teammate Michael
Ray in an all-Patrick Racing final. What made the victory
a little sweeter was that McWaters and his Harley Davidson
were put out in the semis after his motorcycle failed to start.
"I feel really
bad for Rick but I can't say the same thing didn't happen
to us," said team owner and tuner Nigel Patrick. "I'm
ecstatic that we got both of our bikes in the final. That's
a first for our team."
"It was like
deja-vu when I saw Rick's bike not start up," said Underwood,
who succumbed to the same fate a month ago at Indy. "The
rules say these massive bikes have all got to be push button
starts. That's asking an awful lot of the starters."
Underwood, who has
already reestablished the quarter-mile elapsed-time record
this year at 9.42, motored his 750 plus pound motorcycle to
a new eight-mile record of 5.93 at 114 mph.
"It was just
the kind of weekend we needed," Underwood said. "It's
the third time we have a broke an et record this year."
The road to the
championship looked pretty bleak for the Patrick Racing team
on Friday, but with the weekend's exceptional performance
the team only trails McWaters by 42 points.
"We are back
in the hunt," Patrick said. "This weekend was a
total morale booster. We needed a miracle after Indy and this
was that miracle. Now we have a very legitimate shot."
Underwood echoed
Patrick's optimism by stating, "Without a doubt, it's
doable now (winning the championship). We were pretty down
after Indy when we went back 100 points this late in the season.
Now it's just going to be a comeback all-the-way."
Teammate Ray's runner-up
performance has him holding down the number-three spot, trailing
McWaters by 96 points.
Patrick Racing will
continue their quest for their second straight championship
at the next stop on the AMA/Prostar tour in Montgomery, AL,
for the Schnitz Fall Nationals on October 3rd-4th.
Patrick
Racing thanked all of its sponsors for their dedication, and
is striving to win them yet another number-one plate:
