Spiderman Goes Undefeated
By: Jack Korpela
Photos: Dragbikephotos.com

The crowd rose to their feet and looked on in anticipation as the Top Fuel final thundered down the drag strip at the AMA/Prostar World Finals in Gainesville, FL. Veteran Larry “Spiderman” McBride motored his nitro-breathing, 1000-plus horsepower Kawasaki by Harley pilot Bill Furr to secure the victory and complete the nine-race undefeated season.

“It was an incredible season,” McBride said. “I think I’m still numb. It really hasn’t sunk in that we didn’t lose a single round all year. It was a total team effort by my crew and sponsors.”

McBride’s 2003 storybook season couldn’t have gone much better. All in the same year McBride won his fifth overall and forth straight championship, recorded the quickest and fastest dragbike runs of all time, and including BIR, won 10 races in a single season.

“This should make the winter go a little easier. Heck this should be the quickest winter of my life,” joked McBride. “I never expected this much success in one year. I am so thankful.”

The last run was a fitting way to end the amazing season for the dominant five-time Top Fuel champ. McBride posted Gainesville Raceway’s quickest and fastest motorcycle run ever, just missing the fives, with a strong 6.007 at 243.44 mph.

“That was such an awesome way to go out,” McBride said. “We actually missed the tune-up on the last pass. Had we set up the bike just a little differently we would have definitely put up a five. We had pretty good numbers but we struggled all weekend long trying to find the right tuning combination.”

Back at his shop in Newport News, VA, McBride’s mind is already on the 2004 season where he will attempt to win an unprecedented sixth career Top Fuel championship.

“The championships have gotten a little sweeter each year but the pressure keeps going up as well,” McBride said. “That bull’s-eye on my back all these competitors are aiming for keeps getting larger. We had a tough field in Gainesville and the class is going to get even tougher next year. We want to go quicker next year but not necessarily faster. Our mission this winter is to try to figure out how to run quicker elapsed times without the big 240 mph speeds.”

For his accomplishments this year, the Spiderman’s brother and crew chief Steve McBride was awarded the prestigious Mechanical Excellence Award at the AMA Championship Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, NV.
“I’m really proud of Steve,” Larry McBride said. “I’m proud of our entire team and the sponsors that made this all happen. Without the backing from my crew and sponsors there simply wouldn’t be a Larry McBride race team. Thank you.”

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 Corp, 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.

Jack Korpela can be reached at Lumberjack@dragbike.com