Craig Treble Wins O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals in Memphis

Craig Treble wins at the NHRA POWERade 21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil in Memphis, TN on Sunday. Treble took his Pro Stock Motorcycle race win with a solid weekend on his Albrecht's Fast Track Suzuki. Treble qualified eighth for the Mid-South Nationals, but found that the bike had more speed when he needed it. Treble came into this race ninth in Countdown to One championship points, and leaves Memphis eighth in points.

Treble's first round match-up was against Michael Phillips on his Phillips Racing Suzuki. Phillips had great reaction time of 0.012 and a 7.097 second E.T. at 190.46 MPH, but it wasn't enough to make up for Treble's 7.034 E.T. at 187.00 MPH. Treble's next challenger was GT Tonglet and his GT Motorsports Buell. Tonglet won his first round against top qualifier Chip Ellis, when Ellis left early and took a red light. Tonglet also had a great reaction time of 0.015, but it couldn't make up for his 7.105 E.T. at 185.43 MPH against Treble's 7 .061 E.T. at 184.60 MPH.
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Chip Ellis Fast Qualifier at O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals – Memphis

Chip Ellis was the fastest qualifier in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class at the NHRA POWERade 21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil in Memphis, TN. Ellis ran his Schumacher Electric / XXX Racing Fuels Suzuki to a 6.910 second elapsed time (E.T.) at 191.10 MPH to secure the top spot during the third round of qualifying Saturday morning. Chip Ellis was the top qualifier at last year ‘s Memphis race, setting both track time and speed records of a 6.892 E.T. and 193.21 MPH speed. On Sunday, Ellis will face GT Tonglet and his GT Motorsports Buell in the first elimination round. Ellis is currently sitting sixth in the POWERade Championship Points, 105 points behind points leader Matt Smith.

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Chris Rivas Wins at the NHRA Fall Nationals in Texas

Chris Rivas rode his Drag Specialties / S&S / G2 Buell to victory at the 23rd Annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas on Sunday. Rivas’ win moves him up from 8th in the Countdown to One points to third. Rivas beat Matt Smith’s NitroFish Torco Buell in the final round with a 7.024 second elapsed time (E.T.) at 183.97 MPH to Smith’s 7.098 second E.T. at 187.00 MPH. Smith came into the Texas race number one in the points and still remains on top.

Angie McBride made a great showing this weekend on her Indicom Electric Buell by defeating Andrew Hines in the first round of eliminations. Hines left early and took a redlight handing the win to McBride, who ran a 7.121 E.T. at 182.53 MPH. McBride won the second round against Angelle Sampey, when Sampey also redlighted. McBride’s run was a 7.103 E.T. at 184.42 MPH to Sampey’s 7.176 E.T. at 178.92 MPH. McBride’s reaction time of 0.037 was consistent with her 0.020 to 0.043 reaction times this weekend. Chris Rivas beat McBride in the semi-final round when he ran a 7.075 E.T. at 184.14 MPH against her 8.523 E.T. at 108.95 MPH.

Peggy Llewellyn made another race appearance this weekend. Llewellyn was eliminated in the first round by points leader Matt Smith. Llewellyn’s 7.154 E.T. at 183.07 MPH was enough to beat Smith’s 7.020 E.T. at 188.38 MPH, despite her 0.022 reaction time. Smith’s reaction time was 0.072, 0.050 seconds slower than Llewellyn’s. Smith went on to beat Chip Ellis and Eddie Krawiec to get to the final round.
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Steve Johnson Does It Again! Wins Carolina Nationals

Steve Johnson rode his Snap-On Tools Suzuki to victory at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina on Sunday. This makes two in a row for Johnson, after his win at the U.S. Nationals in Indy two weeks ago. Johnson qualified his Suzuki in the fifth spot for the Carolinas Nationals. He defeated the third fastest qualifier, Eddie Krawiec, in the final round when Krawiec jumped the start by -0.002 of a second.

Steve Johnson began the weekend eighth in Countdown to One championship points. His performance this weekend have bumped him up to second in the points standings. Matt Smith currently sits first in points, 34 points ahead of Johnson.

Notably, Andrew Hines gave a first round win to Wesley Wells by taking a red light. Joe De Santis also took a first round win after Craig Treble’s Suzuki refused to start. In the second round, Joe Read more

Matt Smith Fastest Qualifier at Carolinas Nationals

Matt Smith qualified his NitroFish / Torco Buell fastest at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. Smith ran a 6.952 second E.T. at 192.08 MPH in the first round of qualifying on Friday. The track, recently constructed at Lowes Motor Speedway, was still green as riders learned how their bikes would respond to the expansive track. zMax Dragway has been referred to as the Bellagio of drag strips.

Veteran AHDRA and rookie NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Valerie Thompson made her second attempt to qualify for an NHRA race. Unfortunately, Ms. Thompson had the dubious honor of being the first rider to check out the sand trap at the end of the strip. She made the fastest run of her career this weekend, but was edged out of the field by 0.073 seconds.
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Angie McBride secures new sponsor for Carolinas Nationals

NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Angie McBride has a new sponsor, just in time for the Carolinas Nationals. The Charlotte based Carolina Speed indoor football team will be the primary sponsor for McBride’s Smith Racing Buell. The sponsorship comes just in time for the inaugural race at the new zMax Dragway at Lowes Motor Speedway, September 11th through 14th. The race will introduce the Charlotte area to the NHRA POWERade Racing series.

The new sponsorship comes on the heels of McBride’s greatly improved performance at the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis nine days ago. With only nine race entries so far this season, McBride found some extra speed in her Buell and qualified eleventh out of a field of 27 entries. After surviving the five qualifying rounds, McBride defeated Angelle Sampey in the first round of eliminations on race day. McBride was eliminated by Andrew Hines, who is currently second in Championship points, during the second round of eliminations. McBride currently sits 15th in NHRA POWERade Championship Points.

The Carolina Speed will host a meet and greet at Carolina Autosports in Concord on Wednesday September 10th, where fans can meet Angie McBride and teammate Matt Smith, who is the defending NHRA Pro Stock motorcycle champion. Fans are encouraged to come out to the Carolina Autosports location at 829 Church St. in Concord from 11-6pm to meet with the two drivers where they will be on hand signing autographs with their bikes on display.

Visit the Carolina Speed website.

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Steve Johnson Wins the 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson rode his Snap-On Tools Suzuki to victory at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 54th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana. Johnson beat Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle winner Andrew Hines in the final round with a 7.034 second E.T. at 189.79 MPH, to Hines’ 7.063 second E.T. at 187.63 MPH. Hines’ 0.009-second reaction time was better than Johnson’s 0.030-second reaction, but it wasn’t enough to make up for the speed difference at the end.

Several of the Suzuki riders have finally found the horsepower they need to be competitive with the V-twin Harley-Davidsons and Buells, as evidenced by three of four semi-finalists were on Suzukis. Steve Johnson’s Snap-On Suzuki dispatched Craig Treble’s Albrecht's Fast Track Suzuki in the semi-final, with his 7.106 E.T. at 185.18 MPH. to Treble’s 7.171 E.T. at 182.53 MPH. This was Treble’s first race after joining the Don Schumacher Racing team two weeks ago. Mike Berry’s M B Precision Machining Suzuki also made it to he semi-final round. Berry’s 0.017-second reaction time couldn’t make up for his 7.202 E.T. at 181.81 MPH against the 7.112 E.T. at 185.56 MPH run by Hines and his V-ROD.

ESPN2 will broadcast the eliminations round from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET on September 1st and will replay the eliminations at 2:00 AM to 4:00:00 AM ET on 09/05/2008.

The qualifying order for Monday’s race was:
E.T. MPH
Matt Smith NitroFish / Torco Buell 6.932 191.16
Hector Arana Lucas Oil Buell 6.954 190.67
Andrew Hines Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines 6.969 191.92
Chris Rivas Drag Specialties / S&S / G2 Buell 6.970 190.81
Steve Johnson Snap-On Tools Suzuki 6.984 192.03
Angelle Sampey Rush Racing Products Buell 6.987 188.65
Eddie Krawiec Screamin' Eagle / Vance & Hines 6.990 191.02
Chip Ellis Schumacher Electric Suzuki 7.022 190.27
Craig Treble Albrecht's Fast Track Suzuki 7.033 190.43
Mike Berry MB Precision Machining Suzuki 7.034 189.28
Angie McBride Indicom Electric Buell 7.048 186.92
Joe DeSantis Alamo City Suzuki 7.052 191.43
Matt Guidera Rocklin Motorsports Buell 7.058 187.44
Peggy Llewellyn R2B2 Motors / Rocklin Buell 7.062 187.31
Karen Stoffer Geico Suzuki 7.071 188.83
Michael Phillips Phillips Racing Suzuki 7.072 190.11

Riders that did not qualify (DNQ) for the U.S. Nationals:
E.T. MPH
Shawn Gann Race Girl/Pure Power Suzuki 7.072 190.14
Wes Wells Ray Skillman Perf. Parts Suzuk 7.078 189.71
Junior Pippin Stone Mountain & Granite 7.098 187.11
Mountain HD Buell
David Hope R&J Racing Buell 7.105 186.15
Mac McAdams Classic Collision Motorsport Suzuki 7.145 186.64
Jim Underdahl Fast Lane Sports/TVT24/7 Suzuki 7.184 185.82
Redell Harris Master P/Laron Laundry Buell 7.192 185.92
Valerie Thompson Eye-On Buell 7.195 182.45
Darin McCurdy G&M Racing Suzuki 7.311 180.65
Buddy Robinson Fast Lane Sports/Questec Suzuki 7.416 179.78
Ryan Schnitz Team Muzzy Kawasaki 10.061 176.01