McBride
Clinches Forth Straight Championship
By: Jack Korpela
Photos: DragBikePhotos.com
Top Fuel motorcycle
veteran Larry "Spiderman" McBride clinched his fifth
AMA/Prostar championship after winning the Schnitz Fall Nationals
from Montgomery, AL. McBride has now won four consecutive
championships and is just a number-one plate away from tying
Tony Lang's unprecedented record of five consecutive championships.
Due to a bumpy
Alabama racing surface, McBride's successful weekend didn't
go quite as smoothly as the five-time champ had hoped.
"I'm glad
it's over with," McBride said of the weekend. "The
track was very bumpy with hardly any traction. I crossed the
centerline twice this weekend and I never do that. Something
was wrong, and I don't think it was me."
McBride defeated
Ron Webb in a tire-smoking final with a 6.66 to Webb's 6.95.
"We had to keep taking power out of the bike all weekend
long, which actually makes these things handle worse,"
McBride said. "We were hitting bumps and the tire would
come off the track and speed up. When it came back down we'd
smoke it. It was scary. I dog walked through the lights a
couple of times."
The event victory
is the Spiderman's seventh of the season and keeps his 2003
unbeaten streak intact. "Seven wins and six pole positions;
it's an unbelievable feeling," McBride said. "But
we're not packing it in this season because we have the championship.
We're going to tune the bike up for Gainesville and go after
that nine-race undefeated season. If we lose it certainly
won't be because we aren't trying, I guarantee you that."
Spider now prepares
for the final stop on the AMA/Prostar tour in Gainesville,
FL, November 13th-16th. Due to the postponement of the season
opener, this race will be a double header, contesting both
the MRE Sunshine Nationals and the World Finals. McBride will
have plenty of competition, as at least eight "fuelers"
are expected to show up.
McBride
expressed gratitude to all of his sponsors and looks forward
to seeing them at the World Finals. McBride thanked; Pingel
Enterprise, Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Drag Specialties-Parts
Unlimited, RedLine
Synthetic
Oil Corporation as well as his other sponsors:
Muzzys Performance, Web-Cam, Kibblewhite Precision Machine,
Vanson Leathers, Performance Machine, Kawasaki USA, Belt Drives
Ltd, Triton Corp (Kool-Bak), Street & Competition, Trac
Dynamics, Simpson Race Products, Nitrous Express, APE, EK
Chain, Arias Pistons, R&D Spring, Autolite, MSD, Protect
ALL, Whipple Industries, Cometic Gaskets, B&J Transmission,
Carolina Cycle, L.A. Sleeve, PJ1 Nology Engineering, Mickey
Thompson Tires, Corbin Seats, Stark Masonry, and Vance &
Hines Motorsports.
www.larrymcbride.com
