|
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., September 3, 2004-For three racers traveling from the Northeast region of the U.S. to compete at the Team Latus Motors Northwest Nationals, it was a drama that would unfold before thousands August 28th and 29th at Woodburn Dragstrip.
Tracy Kile of Hatfield, PA, Dale Raudenbush of Old Zionsville, PA and Blackwood, NJ's Joe Sternotti chose to fly the friendly skies to Oregon while their bikes would make the long haul together in the Old Glory Racing trailer driven and headed up by Ted Carson.
Raudenbush arrived to compete in the S & S Pro Stock field and Kile would be riding against the best in the west in the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley field.
Both Raudenbush and Kile arrived Friday and were seen wandering the pits anxiously awaiting the arrival of the trailer with the bikes safely in tow. It seems the driver was delayed and contact was lost in a stretch of weak mobile phone service, but by late afternoon the trailer arrived and everything was ready. Almost.
Sternotti who was to compete in the Rivera-Primo Street Pro field was missing from the trio, courtesy of a cancelled flight. Following shuffled flight schedules, Sternotti would arrive Saturday just shy of making his first round qualifying session and would have to settle for the remaining two rounds.
Raudenbush was not up and running for the first round either, but Kile was plenty ready and brought his Nitro Harley off the trailer with a 6.695 at 203.85mph for the 2nd position behind Doug Vancil's 6.676 at 210.77mph blast.
Kile missed 2nd round while apparently making necessary tuning adjustments, while Sternotti took his first shot at qualifying in Street Pro action. With pressure apparently working in his favor, Sternotti landed an 8.989 at 150.52mph making him the 2nd racer in AHDRA competition to lay down 8-second numbers in the class and putting him in the record books with a new quarter-mile MPH national record.
Raudenbush came out with a 7.732 at 167.75mph for his first S & S Pro Stock pass of the day that put him 2nd behind Rick Maney of Phoenix AZ, who blistered the track with a 7.460 at 176.47mph.
In final and last chance qualifying, the plot thickened when Kile landed a 6.659 at 206.32, improving his personal best times and grabbing the #1 spot from champion, Doug Vancil. Pro Stocker Raudenbush followed with his first ever run in the 50's(7.526 at 171.75mph) keeping him in the #2 spot behind Maney.
Sternotti did not improve his 8-second numbers but easily held on to the #1 spot in Street Pro qualifying leaving the three qualified with their personal best times in each of their respective classes.
Sunday proved again that Woodburn Dragstrip was the place to be for the three.
In Rivera-Primo Street Pro, Sternotti advanced over California's Earl Burley in the opener while local Steve Stute advanced over Oregon's Verl Smith. In the final, Sternotti took an easy win with a 9.026 at 150.42 backing up his MPH national record while Stute had problems and shut it off early.
In S & S Pro Stock, Raudenbush faced Oregon's Scott Pollacheck in the opening round and took the win light despite a bumpy ride and a close call with the centerline. Rick Maney advanced over Californian Chris Rivas with a national record setting 7.445 at 176.85mph.
Raudenbush faced Maney who held the obvious performance advantage in the final. The pair got off the line with near identical reaction times and were side by side when Raudenbush edged ahead for the win light with a .012, 7.635 at 170.48mph over Maney's .011, 7.646 at 173.64mph.
Kile opened up the Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley eliminations with a win over WA's Arlie Becker. He was late off the tree against Joe Timmons in the 2nd round, but determination and horsepower prevailed as he charged ahead to the semis against local Steve Dorn. Dorn gave the round away when he left before the tree activated on what appeared to be a good solid pass, while Kile slowed to a 7.715 at 132.52mph for his ride to the finals against Vancil who had made his way past Steve Heidner of Arlington, WA and Canadian Wayne Eastcott.
In the final, Kile was first off the line and never gave up as he cleared the traps first with a 6.836 at 201.70mph over Vancil's 6.848 at 208.81mph giving Kile his first ever Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley win.
The Northeast trio ended their eventful Oregon outing 3 for 3 in the winner's circle with personal best performances.
Dan Norlin of Aurora, CO came out on top in the Drag Masters Hot Street field with a win over Cooper Stubbs of Truckee, CA. Norlin grabbed two national records along the way with a 132.45 in the quarter mile and a 108.35 in the eighth mile.
Dan DeGood came to Oregon to add marks to his current points lead in Syn3 ET and SEP (11.50) competition. He did just that with a win in the ET field over reigning champ, J.P. Hendrzak of Creswell, OR and a 2nd place finish to Julian Seaman of Emporia, KS in the SEP final.
The competition was fast and furious as AHDRA hosted its largest crowd yet at Woodburn Dragstrip. It was all made possible with outstanding support from returning sponsor, Team Latus Motors Harley-Davidson.
Thanks to Latus Motors Harley-Davidson, racers, fans and a hard working track staff at Woodburn Dragstrip for making the Team Latus Motors Northwest Nationals a first class event.
Catch the story on all 14 classes of competition in the upcoming issue of Speed Magazine and for more information on the 2004 Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Championship Series please call 336-924-2095 or visit www.ahdra.com.
Next up for AHDRA is the Joker Machine Indy Nationals presented by Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson, September 10th and 11th, Indianapolis Raceway Park.
| 
