by
Matt Polito
The AMA/Prostar U.S. Drag Racing Championships made it's returned engagement to beautiful Norwalk Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio for the Norris Motorsports Cyclefest. Typically for Prostar this season rain showers delayed Sunday's eliminations but the event ran to its conclusion, only the third time this has happened in 2003.
Larry "Spiderman" McBride kept his unbeaten streak alive as he once again marched through the short field. McBride qualified with a early shutoff 6.36/182 as he tested the short shutdown area but let it hang out in the final, running a 6.01 elapsed time at a booming 242 mph to take the win over the nitro Harley Davidson of Mike Romine who ran 6.66 at 198 mph.
In the Orient Express Funnybike Showdown Travis Davis scored his second win of the season in four-straight final round appearances. Tom Perry took the top qualifying spot with a career-best 6.76 at 202 mph and made his first final since Davis beat him in Atlanta. While Perry had the low e.t. of eliminations, (6.77 in round one) Davis was more consistent, and his final round 6.81/204 got the best of Perry's off-pace 7.03/198.
The Fast by Gast Pro Mod Series saw a pair of veteran racers vying for their first win in seven years and trying to shake off the bridesmaid blues. While eventual winner Mimmo Marciano has only been in one final since his last win in Atlanta in 1996, Steve Drake is 0-11 in final round appearances in the last 21 events he has competed in. Drake's last win came in New York, also in 1996.
Qualifying for the Norwalk field was led by Bernard Johnson on the Billy Vose-tuned Suzuki with a 6.84 at 193 mph followed by points leader Charlie Farrar on the C&W Cycleworks Kawasaki at 6.85 and Marciano with an identical 6.85. Johnson had troubles in eliminations and couldn't make the call for the semifinals giving Drake, who came out of the number 12 qualifying spot, a freebie into his third straight final. On the other side of the ladder Marciano got a holeshot decision over Farrar in a barnburner, 6.86 to Farrar's quicker 6.84.
Drake got the McKinney Motorsports Suzuki out of the gate first in the final and while he ran 6.80's all day, fell off to a 6.94 as Marciano took the win with a 6.88/185.
The most talked about class had to be Accel Pro Stock where street bike ace Keith "Shine" Dennis took out all-world veteran Paul Gast it what had to be the most exciting final on the year. At the previous event Dennis scored his first win and while that came at the expense of unheralded Kerry Yates, the real test would be against Gast.
Gast held the pole with a 7.18/186 on his Fast by Gast Hayabusa while Dennis placed second at 7.23 on the MSP Suzuki. Gast had an easy path to the final while Dennis had to win a tough semifinal tussle with Dean Franz to make his third final of the season.
Dennis simply got better as the event went on and he needed every bit of it. Gast hit a stout .420 light and clocked a 7.190, one thousands of a second off the low e.t. of the event. Shine overcame it with a telepathic .403 light coupled with a 7.197 elapsed time to take the win in a squeaker and extend his points lead.
The unbeaten streak finally ended for the Team Kawasaki ZX-12R in the Suzuki Formula Superbike class. Last season Jim Carroll took the bike to Prostar's first-ever perfect season - qualifying number one and winning every event. Manned by Chip Ellis this year the bike has continued on it's path with three straight event wins.
Ellis looked to keep the streak alive at Norwalk, qualifying number one at 8.12/164 and ran low e.t. of the meet in the first round with a 8.01/167. Ellis faced off with Tommy Miceli on the Del's Performance Yoyodyne/World Wide Bearings/Rimac Tools Hayabusa in the final in what would be the end of the streak. Miceli got wildly out of shape in the final but kept on the throttle and off the centerline and was able to reel Ellis in when an errant air-shifter kept the bike from shifting. Miceli took the win for the Del camp with a tire-spinning 8.36/160.
Rickey Gadson continued his jaw-dropping dominance in Streetbike Shootout with his fourth straight win. In a class where consistency in hard to come by Gadson has not only been consistent but consistently the quickest in the park on the Rob Muzzy-built, Coby Adams-tuned turbo Kawasaki ZX-12R. Gadson has never looked better.
Gadson's main competition has been from the Stotz Street Xtreme/VelocityRacing.com Honda team of Barry Henson and reigning two-time champ Kent Stotz. Try as they might the Honda team, with a pair of all-new and very complicated turbocharged machines have not been able to pull ahead of the green bike.
It was much the same at Norwalk. Gadson qualified on the pole with a 7.72/191 followed by "Duck" Lauer on the Flo-Tec nitrous Gixxer (7.87) and Keith Dennis on a nitrous Hayabusa (7.92). Henson and Stotz were relegated to the sixth and eighth spots, respectively. While Stotz continued to struggle on race day and was beaten by Gadson in round two, Henson came alive and made rounds to face Gadson in the final for the third time this season.
Henson brought his "A" game to the final and clicked off his best time of the event, a 7.75 at 185, but Gadson got him on the tree and turned on the win light with a 7.77 at 189 mph.
The Zero Gravity 600 SuperSport class has been a lot more interesting this season now that the all-conquering, two-time champ Ryan Schnitz has been pulled aside by Rob Muzzy to go NHRA Pro Stock racing. While Schnitz had won all but one race last season, the three events contested before Norwalk were won by three different riders.
Ed Murphy, Jr. took the emotional top qualifying spot on the ex-Mark Thatcher "Team Under Age Racing" ZX-6R clicking off a 9.89 at 136 mph to ledge out Team Green's Chip Hunter (9.892) and the Yamaha R6 of Eddie Krawiec (9.899). Schnitz was back in competition at Norwalk, serving as a blocker for former teammate Hunter on an '03 ZX-6R and qualified fifth behind St. Louis winner Pat Leonard.
The quarter finals were all buddy battles as Richard Gadson (nephew of Rickey) took out "Under Age Racing" teammate Murphy, Krawiec put Leonard on their shared trailer and Schnitz let Hunter get around him on the big end. The final was a repeat of the first event of the season where Hunter took out Krawiec, this time with a 9.93 to Krawiec's off-pace 10.18.
Mark Underwood looked poised to take his second straight win the Yamaha Hot Rod Cruiser class in his effort to defend his number one plate. Qualifying the Patrick Racing Warrior on the pole with a 9.45/140, Underwood ran a booming 9.42 in round one and even on a bad run he held a tenth on the rest of the field. Underwood easily marched to the final where he met Rick McWaters. McWaters, who was suspended last season with an illegally-modified cylinder head, served his suspension and served notice that he is a legitimate contender, taking his second win in three final round appearances this season on his Harley-Davidson. In true David vs. Goliath form, McWaters took out both Patrick Racing Warriors with holeshots, beating Michael Ray in the semifinals and Underwood in the final, running a 9.79 to Underwood's quicker 9.66.
The story in the Sportsman ranks was multi-time champ Bruce Sauer, who made his first race of the year after surviving a life-threatening illness to win Norwalk's $10K bracket event on Friday night. Sauer went on to runner-up in Top Gas competition.
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