Super Eliminator Racers Step it up at Montgomery
By Bill Baxter
Photos: Dragbikephotos.com

Super Eliminator was just an exhibition class this year but no one said it wasn't for bragging rights. At round one in St. Louis there were 14 bikes but only one ran in the eight-second range. Many may have taken a wait and see attitude to make sure Prostar would invite them back for round two before ordering new go-fast parts or building new components.

But Prostar did indeed invite them back and judging from the performance at Montgomery it must have spurred a bunch of new engine development and orders for parts from Schnitz Racing, the class sponsor.

Not only was there more than one rider in the 8's, there were a total of five bikes in the 8's, four of them were new personal bests and two were new national records. No one can remember the last time that any Two Stroke field had five bikes in the 8’s, regardless of engine set up.

Three riders were in the 8’s for the first time, Jack Seberger with an 8.98, Kathy Van Strein with an 8.97 and Perry Kourlas with an 8.99. Mike Bianco ran an 8.91 but Mike is no stranger to sub-nine second passes and neither is Joe Bird from greater metropolitan Wahoo, Nebraska.

Joe Bird’s best pass of 8.62 came in the second qualifying round and was fast enough to set the new DD/D record, which is only a few hundredths off the all-time record for H2's.

Kathy Van Strien showed up at Montgomery with a totally new engine package and was successful in dialing it in very quickly. Every pass was quicker than the previous round and it ended up costing her a race as she broke out in the semi’s with an 8.97 on a 9.03 index.

Joe Bird	Winner Dan Boyer

Perry Koulas from Buchannan, Michigan ran his first eight second pass in the first round of qualifying on Saturday. His sponsor, Ron at Purple Haze Racing was videotaping the round and you could hear screams in the background as Perry went through the traps. Ron and Laurie had driven all the way from Lakewood Colorado to watch the class and show their support for teams that they sponsor, which was almost everyone in the class.
Perry has long been one of the most consistent racers in IDBA’s Super Eliminator class and he has not missed a step since the class was picked up by Prostar. He has been on the threshold of breaking into the 8s for years, running a 9.01 at Memphis in 2001. Perry does all of his own wrenching and is expecting to debut a new bike at the first Super Eliminator race in 2004. This is one racer to look out for.

Jack Seberger also saw his first 8 second pass, his “Two Stroke Action” team may be the most impressive in overall performance. Not only does Jack’s team have one of the most beautifully prepared bikes and a legendary crew chief, he also has one of the biggest butts in the class, he is no fly weight, tipping the scales at 200 lbs.
His class is set up with a “Heavy Hitters” index, which allows an extra three tenths for the big guys. Jack took advantage of this extra cushion to set the new DD/G record at this event. But in review it is noted that he did not need the cushion, his 8.98 pass was quick enough to set the record outright.

Jack’s weight is only mentioned as a benchmark for performance, he is not really fat, or as ugly as his legendary crew chief, but anyone who has ever tried to get a normally aspirated 750cc bike to run in the 8s will tell you that every pound counts, especially when you are running against racers like Joe Bird, Perry Kourlas or Kathy Van Strien who weigh under 150lbs. Setting records in this class is not easy for a big guy. Most of the other big guys in the class, myself included, were in the 9.30 to 9.70 range.

The eventual winner and class new-comer, Mr. Danny Boyer from Southern Pennsylvania is no small boy either but man does he love to race. He ran the test-n-tune on Friday afternoon, the big money bracket race on Friday night, qualifying passes on Saturday, the gamblers race on Saturday night and then went through four rounds of eliminations on Sunday.

Semi-Finalist Kathy Van Strien	Runner-up Tim Bixler

Danny beat St. Louis winner, Joe Mejia from Mesa Arizona, in the first round, the class bigmouth (myself) in the second, Kathy Van Strien in the semi’s and Tim Bixler in the final round. No one kept count but Danny must have put 40 passes on his bike during the weekend and it never missed a beat. He was tough on the tree all day and never ran more than a few hundredths off his index.

On the other side of the ladder was another class new-comer, Tim Bixler from Southern Wisconsin, on a bike he borrowed from fellow Super Eliminator racer, John Gilchrist. Tim is not new to motorcycle drag racing but he is new to two strokes, although you could not tell it from the way he rides. Tim earned every round on Sunday, beating Joe Bird in round one as Joe fell off to an 8.70 on an 8.55 index, he had a bye in round two, due to running almost dead on his index in round one, and then met class favorite Jack Seberger in round three who broke out by a mile.

Along the way Tim set a new national record for DD/M, with a little help from the Heavy Hitters club. Man, how many fat boys can this class handle?

Both Danny Boyer and Tim Bixler had never raced in Super Eliminator but it won’t be their last time. These two racers are great additions to our class and I speak for all the competitors when I say that we are very happy to have new blood to pick on, they just shouldn’t be allowed to win at their first race!

A big thanks goes out to the class sponsor, Schnitz Racing, who put up a long list of prizes for the winner and $100 to each of the top eight in eliminations. And to Prostar who treated us like VIPs. We are all looking forward to larger fields and quicker times in 2004.