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NITRO HARLEY CHAMP SET TO MAKE A COMEBACK WHILE GUIDERA BROTHERS DOUBLE UP IN V-ROD COMPETITION A new clutch tune kept Doug Vancil out of victory lane in AHDRA's front half of the season, but a comeback that was initiated with a 6.29 lap in Norwalk, OH, continued with a big win for the Vance and Hines/Drag Specialties team at the Kresto Pacific Nationals in Seattle on June 26th and 27th. It was Vancil's first win of the year and leaves the Albuquerque-based rider trailing national points leader Steve Stordeur of Goshen, OH, by a narrow 10-point margin. Vancil's top marks at Pacific Raceways were 6.435 at 214.86 mph. In the final, he beat Portland, OR's Steve Dorn, who despite a back injury came away with six-second zone numbers of his own.

Top Fuel winner Vancil

Vancil

Dorn

"That was the coolest thing ever," crowed Screamin' Eagle V-Rod winner Matt Guidera after taking on his brother, Lin, in the "All Guidera" final. "He got out on me, but I caught up. I slowed down a little, which I wouldn't do for anybody, but we were having fun," the more race-experienced Matt commented. "When we got to the shutdown area, we sat there and laughed. It was just way fun." Matt, who resides in Folsom, CA, and Lin, who hails from Rocklin, CA, are the sons of California Harley-Davidson dealer Vic Guidera. When asked who he was pulling for, Vic graciously replied "both of them" while wearing a proud parental grin. Lin Guidera clocked a .148/10.327/127.90 to Matt's .250/10.207/126.92 winning pass.

V-Rod winner Guidera

Guidera

JIMS Pro Fuel finished with a solo final run for Langley, B.C.'s Chris Gartman on his rear-engine, crowd-pleasing ride. Kristine Becker upset #1 qualifier Chicago Joe in Sunday's opening round when the hoss from Richmond, CA, threw a belt at mid-track. Becker, of Snohomish, WA, gained a bye round to the final, but mechanical demons put the North Coast Thunder team out for the day and gave Gartman the bye in the final.

Scott Truett of Wichita, KS, had the performance advantage in Sunday's eliminations in the Kresto Pro Drag category, but reported battery failure forced the #1 qualifier to walk away in the opening round, handing Toni Froehling of Summer, WA, a first-round bye. Froehling advanced over Terry Stewart in the second round to face Phil Schmidt of Orangevale, CA, who came away with the win in the final. Schmidt had the top numbers of the meet with a 7.513 at 172.98 mph.

In S & S Pro Stock, #1 qualifier Rick Maney of Phoenix held the event low ET of 7.474 and top speed at 174.28 mph but was on the trailer courtesy of mechanical turmoil before the final-round call. Medford, OR's Scott Pollacheck took the solo ride for the final-round win.

Pro Fuel winner Gartman

Pro Drag winner Schmidt

Pro Stock winner Pollacheck

#1 qualifier Lee Uhrich of Abbotsford, B.C., took the win over Ed Biaggi in the S & S Pro Gas final. Biaggi, of Post Falls, ID, left early in the final, thus giving Uhrich the easy win with his 8.308 event best. Robert Markham of Loveland, CO, grabbed the top speed at 157.83 mph before his round two loss to Uhrich.

Canadian Doug Ainsworth was laying down the top numbers in Joker Machine Pro Modified with an 8.337 low ET, but he joined the other #1 qualifiers fighting mechanical battles, ending his day in the second round and advancing #6 qualifier Bruce Barker. Barker lost in the semis to Arizona's Darren Mauldin.

On the other side of the ladder, #2 qualifier Cliff Dwy made his way through the field to face Mauldin in a familiar West Coast matchup that led to a long-awaited victory for Dwy, the '03 champion. Mauldin was out first with a .010 to Dwy's .025, but the Madras, OR, rider had the horsepower to make it up with an 8.412/155.38 finish over Mauldin's 8.429/155.26 pass.

Rivera-Primo Street Pro riders brought the crowd to its feet with breathtaking wheel stands from #1 qualifier Steve Stute and his opponent, Joe Sternotti. The pair met in the no-wheelie-bar final with Stute (of Gladstone, OR) taking the win out of the box after Sternotti (from Blackwood, NJ) left before the activated tree. Stute's 9.127 qualifying pass was good enough for the low ET of the meet, while Sternotti's 146.97 mph pass gave him top speed honors. Along with his runner-up finish, that increased his points lead over four-time national champion Travis Lummus.

Lummus (of Asheville, NC) experienced electrical and shifter trouble at his last outing in Commerce, GA; although he was absent in Seattle, he reported in with a record 9.008 at 149.80 mph from a race in Bowling Green, KY. With the quirks apparently ironed out for the Gene Lummus Harley-Davidson rider, all eyes will be on Lummus and Sternotti for side-by-side racing at the upcoming event in Budds Creek, MD.

Pro Gas winner Uhrich

Pro Modified winner Dwy

Street Pro winner Stute

Dan Norlin of Aurora, CO, tripled the odds at winning at Pacific Raceways by successfully advancing to final rounds in Dragmasters Hot Street, SEP, and Syn3 ET classes of competition. Although he finished with the runner-up trophy in all three finals, there was nothing "second best" about his impressive performance during the weekend.

It was John "The Juggler" Burdynski of Houston, TX, grabbing the Dragmasters Hot Street win from Norlin with a 10.289 /127.44 mph record pass. Burdynski easily continues his climb up the national points ladder.

Dan DeGood added another win to his long resume of success in SEP 11.50 index action when he beat trio finalist Norlin. DeGood, of Mountain Top, PA, leads the national points boards in both SEP and SYN3 ET competition.

Escondido, CA's Jack Wagner advanced over Norlin to the winners' circle in Syn3 ET racing. Wagner's wife, Karen barely missed a shot at a matrimonial victory lane when the first-time female AHDRA champ advanced to the S & S Super Sport semis before being ousted by Jeff Konnoff. Konnoff (of Santa Rosa, CA) went on to win over Greg Krenik of Placitas, NM.

Hot Street winner Burdynski

SEP winner DeGood

ET winner Wagner

Adding local flavor was Dan Dahl, of Bucoda, WA, with his audible fan club in tow. Dahl beat Wayne Pugh in the Performance Corner Super Eliminator final, much to the pleasure of his supportive fans.

In the long-way-from-home category, Willie Herschberger of Bradenton, FL, traveled the distance for a win in Red Line Oil Super Gas over David St. Clair, of Boise, ID. Herschberger is the reigning champ in the Super Gas 9.70 index category.

Super Sport winner Konnoff

SE winner Dahl

Super Gas winner Herschberger

With 14 winners happily crowned on the competition side, there were special winners in everyone's hearts to celebrate at Pacific Raceways. Children's Ride 9 roared through the gate Sunday morning with over 1,500 participants filling in the pits for the show, and raising money for a tremendous cause along the way. Special celebrity rider Paul Yaffe helped lead the ride that racers and fans welcomed to Pacific Raceways.

The funds raised from Children's Ride 9 will benefit uncompensated care and diabetes research at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle. Children's Hospital provides state-of-the-art care to the most seriously ill children in Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, regardless of their families' ability to pay.

This year's ride raised $225,000 for Children's Hospital. Next year, Children's Ride 10 will gear up for a 10-year anniversary celebration. Visit www.childrens-ride.com to find out how to participate.

Next up for the AHDRA Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Championship Series is the S & S Cycle Mid-Atlantic Nationals presented by All American Harley-Davidson and Harley-Davidson of Frederick at Maryland International Raceway, July 17th and 18th.

For more information please contact 336-924-2095 or visit www.ahdra.com.

FINAL RESULTS