Team Freedom
Prevails with Two East Coast Champions
After The Rockingham Nationals
Dave and Jo Smith,
owners of Freedom Harley-Davidson, INC., and sponsors of Team
Freedom Racing, are elated and proud to announce their two
newest East Coast Champions. Dave Ostrowske captured the Eastern
title in Super Sport and Mike Harrison took the Eastern title
in Super Eliminator. Also, Paul Smith, manager of Team Freedom
Racing, and Jeff Eboch brought home the second place spot
in the Eastern Division Pro Modified and Pro Dragster programs.
Leading the way
at The Rock was Dave Ostrowske in the Super Sport program.
Dave not only clinched the East Coast Championship in his
class but equally, if not more importantly, won his first
ever National event . Mike Harrison, racing in the Super Eliminator
program as a rookie, also made it to the final round. Scoring
a second place victory landed him the points needed to secure
his East Coast Championship in his class. Also landing solidly
in second place in the Eastern Division is Jeff Eboch. Eboch
drives the team’s Pro Dragster entry which is owned
by Jerry Rozeski. With his trip to the semi’s, he too
landed the necessary points to put him in second place.
Team Freedom Racing
continues to improve their efforts and are working hard toward
the season finale in Las Vegas. Currently all of Team Freedom’s
racers are ranked in the top ten nationally and now hold two
East Coast Champions with the likes of Ostrowske and Harrison.
Dave Smith said, “I am extremely pleased and proud of
our racers this year. I’m already looking forward to
next year.”
PRO MODIFIED
Paul Smith, who races the fastest small tire Pro Modified
in his class, again made the trip to the semi finals at The
Rock. With this showing, Smith went home with a second place
title in the East Coast Divisional Championship and improved
his national standing from fifth to fourth. After coming off
of two career bests at Indy, Smith kept his momentum nearly
duplicating his efforts during the Rockingham Nationals.
In the first qualifying
pass Smith’s new found horsepower and untested motor
blew right through the clutch. With that in mind Smith and
Ben Hatcher, of Winning Combination Motorsports, installed
a new clutch set-up and established a new baseline. Smith
now found himself paired against Dale Raundebush during the
first round of eliminations.
"I had no idea what was going to happen," says Smith.
"I was truely hopeful that we could get a handle on this
"BEAST" early!" With the new clutch set-up
Smith cut a .403 light and lead the way to the finish line
to beat Raudenbush. Smith’s ET run of 8.449 was his
second best pass ever on the small tire Pro Mod bike.
Smith now found
himself in the semi finals lined up against veteran racer
Junior Pippin, of Conyers, Georgia. Pippin, who races a big
tire bike, is the current points leader in the Eastern Division
of their class. Their last meeting was at the finals of the
Indy Nationals where Smith finished runner-up. Although Smith
jumped ahead with a .415 light to Pippin’s uncharacteristic
.572, it was Pippin at the end by a small margin.
“I couldn’t take their program lightly. After
Pippin ran an 8.37 earlier in the day, I threw everything
at the track we had. We overpowered the track and lost the
race,” Hatcher said.
SUPER SPORT
(10.30 index)
Team Freedom continues it’s consecutive team success
with Dave Ostrowske capturing his first National win at The
Rock. Dave not only brought home a National win but also clinched
the East Coast Divisional Championship at the same time. Rockingham
was a very good outing for Dave where he collected two major
wins. Almost equally important with this national win is the
fact that he is now one point behind national points leader
Karen Wagner, of San Diego, California. Heading to Las Vegas
Ostrowke, with 650 national points is chasing Wagner with
651.
“Karen is a great competitor and I’m looking forward
to doing my best in Vegas,” said Dave.
During eliminations Ostrowske came up against Wanda Poff,
the number three qualifier. Both racers turned on the red
lights but it was Dave with the lessor of two evils and moved
on to the next round. Against Allen Nussbaum Dave cut a .418
bulb and won with a 10.47 ET pass. Continuing on with good
lights Dave came up against David Doremus. Cutting an amazing
.404, Dave won the race and sent Doremus to the trailer. With
this momentum still moving forward, Dave found himself in
the final round for the third time this year. Lined up against
newcomer Freddy Frazier, Dave again pulled a .410 light and
a 10.36 ET for his first national career victory.
“I am totally elated with this win at The Rock. This
is my first ever win in two years of racing and it couldn’t
have come at a better time,” said Dave withexcitement.
“I’ve been to the finals several times but winning
is much sweeter than second place,” he said.
Ostrowske continues
to move the Super Sport program in a positive direction. As
crew chief for Paul Smith, he also assists Harrison in the
Super Eliminator program. He wears many hats and is vital
to the team’s overall performance.
SUPER ELIMINATOR
(10.90 index)
Enough can’t be said about Team Freedom’s first-year
Super Eliminator race program and rookie Mike Harrison. Harrison
captured the Eastern Division Championship with his second
place finish. Still flying high from two back to back national
wins in Topeka and Indy, he was more than happy to be runner
up at The Rock. Furthermore, he was overjoyed to have won
his division during his first year of racing.
In a field of seemingly
overpowered bikes Harrison has taken a page from fellow team
mate Dave Ostrowske. After sneaking into the third round of
elimination’s he cut a perfect .400 light on friend
and fellow racer Julia Holliday. Running a 10.985 on a 10.90
index Harrison won the round and went on to meet Wellesly
Hargrove. With a .464 light, Harrison went ahead of Hargrove
and laid down a near perfect ET run of 10.903. Heading into
the final round for the third time in as many races, Harrison
was lined up against Bob Drapp, a rematch of the Topeka race.
In Kansas Harrison took his first national victory by defeating
Drapp, but this time Harrison broke out while running a 10.862,
giving Bob the win.
“Bob is a class act, and although winning is awesome
I don’t mind taking second to him,” said Harrison.
“I have so many people to thank for their help and support
in my first year of racing. First of all Team Freedom Racing,
who took me in as a rookie, has given me so much support.
Dave, who helps me immensely in all aspects of racing, and
especially Ben Hatcher, of Winning Combination Motorsports.
Ben takes the time to go over with me, in great detail, how
I can improve as a racer. Ben talks, I listen,” Harrison
said. “When I started this season I had my sights on
a top ten plate. I had no idea I would end up winning the
Eastern Division Championship,” he said.
Currently Harrison
has captured the Eastern Division Championship and is looking
forward to the final national event in Las Vegas. He is currently
ranked fifth nationally and only 26 points behind third place.
PRO DRAG
Jeff Eboch made another outstanding appearance at The Rock
where he clinched a second place standing in the Eastern Division
Championship race. Equally, if not more important, Eboch,
who races the Pro Dragster built by Jerry Rozeski, belted
out his first seven second pass of the season. The Pro Drag
program, led by veteran racer Eboch, has come a long way this
season. Team Freedom Racing is proud to have another team
member
finish in the top ten, but more importantly to find the tune
up to a seven second pass.
Again making his
way to the semi finals at The Rock, Eboch was up against another
veteran Chuck Jones. Eboch dropped the throttle on Jones and
laid down a 7.955 ET pass, his best ever this season. Although
Jones took the win light, Eboch, Rozeski and the rest of Team
Freedom Racing were elated with pass. Eboch has captured second
place in the Eastern Division and is currently ninth nationally.
SUPER GAS
(9.70 index)
Veteran racer and Team Freedom Racing member Jeff Friess,
who heads up the Super Gas program, returned to the track
after a recent national win at MIR.
During qualifying
Friess had three good passes and ended up being the number
ten qualifier in a very competitive16-bike field. The enthusiastic
Friess headed into the first round against Mississippi native
Charlie Walker. After the lights fell it was Walker with the
better bulb. At the end Friess ran a better ET, 9.865 versus
9.897, but this race was won on reaction time. Not discouraged,
Friess played a huge roll for the remainder of the race assisting
his team mates.
Friess finished
up the East Coast schedule at The Rock and is very proud of
his first ever national win at MIR.
WINNING
COMBINATION MOTORSPORTS
A special thanks to Ben Hatcher for providing trackside engine,
clutch, and chassis tuning. Hatcher is a NHRA pro-stock bike
team owner with more than 30 years of racing experience. He
is assigned the duty of team crew chief.
“It’s very rewarding to see the accomplishments
in each of our individual race programs,” Hatcher said.
“To win two East Coast Championships in the same day
is extremely exciting. The continued hard work of Team Freedom
Racing motivates me to be excited about the potential for
next year. We’re all looking forward to the finale in
Las Vegas.”
FAMILY,
FRIENDS AND FANS
No team or racer would be complete without the ongoing support
of family, friends and fans that make racing possible. Without
these people we would have no one to help us celebrate our
victories. Our family and friends have traveled across the
nation to support us with great turnouts in Norwalk, Bristol,
Indy and others. A very special THANKS to our wives Annie
Smith, Lori Ostrowske, Kim Eboch, Brenda Friess and Deena
Rozeski
SPONSORS
AND SUPPORTERS
A VERY special THANKS to the hard working people at Freedom
Harley-Davidson, CTS Offshore, Uniontown Tire, Summit Trailer
Sales, Peak Management, Stark County H.O.G., Dave Scaggs from
D&G Chassis, Bill Hannong of Hannon Racing, Dan Baisley
from Baisley Hi-Performance, Mark from R&D Motorsports,
The whole gang at the Greater Akron Motorcycle Club, Tom and
Nancy Colella of Colella's Refrigeration, Canton Cylce Specialties,
Glory Days Lounge, John Shreve and Mike Schultz and Karen's
Bar. Other contingency sponsers include Mickey Thompson, VP
Racing Fuels, Advanced Design Leathers, Vanson Leathers, Vance
and Hines, Red Line Oil, PMFR, S&S Cycle, Red Shift Cams,
Zippers Performance and many many more.
Photo Credits:
Pro mod photo copyright Imortal Image, Pittsburg,PA
SS and SE photos copyright Eagle Star Photography
