Chip Ellis wins PSM at Englishtown

Chip Ellis rode his Schumacher Electric Suzuki to victory in the final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, NJ.

The enthusiasm of winning was dampened for all racing classes by the untimely death of Scott Kalitta during final round qualifying yesterday. ESPN2 gave ample coverage to eulogizing Scott during their coverage and to drivers’ condolences for the Kalitta family and racing team.

The racing action was interrupted by rain twice, but resumed after the weather cleared and the track was dried.

Chip Ellis (7.040 second E.T. 187.21 MPH) defeated top qualifier Chris Rivas (7.104 second E.T., 183.52 MPH) for the win. Rivas suffered a red light on his Drag Specialties / S&S / G2 Buell during a weekend where he consistently ran fast, setting a career best elapsed time of 6.923 seconds at 192.19 MPH. Even without considering the red light, Ellis was a tenth quicker than Rivas.

In the semi-final rounds, Rivas defeated Andrew Hines with a 7.007 second E.T. at 190.40 MPH to Hines’ 7.116 second E.T. at 184.80 MPH. Chip Ellis made the final round by defeating Matt Smith with a 7.005 second E.T. at 190.14 MPH to Smith’s 7.079 second E.T. at 186.87.

Notably, Ryan Schnitz qualified his Team Muzzy Kawasaki 16th in the field with a 7.442 second E.T. at 177.56 MPH, the first time a Kawasaki has qualified for a race this year. Schnitz was eliminated in the first round when his 7.364 E.T. at 176.37 MPH was no match for Chip Ellis’ 6.979 E.T. at 190.19 MPH run. Junior Pippin and his Stone Mountain & Granite Mountain HD Buell was the only Pro stock motorcycle entry that did not qualify for the event.

PiranaZ to sponsor Junior Pippin’s Pro Stock Motorcycle

Good news for four-time AHDRA champion Junior Pippin: PiranaZ has signed on as a sponsor of his Granite Mountain Harley-Davidson and Stone Mountain Harley-Davidson Pro Stock Motorcycle race team for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

From NHRA:
"We were looking to do a bike and had negotiated with other teams,"said Mark Whisnant, owner of PiranaZ. "We decided that [Junior Pippin Racing] was a good fit."

Read NHRA's announcement