ubbed as the first true stadium of drag racing with 30,000 seats and 27 luxury suites, Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois held the 10th Annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals in June. This drag strip’s ultra-smooth track surface offered racers and fans alike the opportunity to see and feel the power of record-setting motorcycle horsepower qualifying and eliminations. The track action began late Friday afternoon and continued throughout Saturday night and finished on Sunday.
     As a thank you for their loyalty and patronage, Drag Specialties invited a host of area Drag Specialties dealers to Route 66 to join them for the weekend under the Drag semi’s large awning in the paddock with a fine lunch, plentiful chairs and table space and some muchneeded shade from the high-noon sunshine. This hospitality filled the needs for thirst and hunger with cold soda and water, delicious lunch and great dessert.
     Over on the race track, the four rounds of qualifying gained Drag Specialties’ Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis the 7th spot with a 7.036 second run at 190.89 mph. Midday on Sunday, as the air temperature hovered in the 80s, the track temperature rose to a sizzling 108-degrees and the final order of eliminations began. With his Drag Specialties/G2 Motorsports Pro Stock Buell-powered motorcycle geared to tear up the track, Chip Ellis beat Craig Treble at a spectacular 189.50 mph and with a .013 second reaction time. Ellis then faced Matt Smith in elimination round 2 at 184.37 mph but lost in a solid race.
     Drag Specialties’ support of drag racing is proving to be a successful campaign. It was obvious by the number of hospitality-goers, motorcycle fans who sported Drag Specialties gear and accessories and by the number of NHRA Drag Specialties fans who cheered when Chip Ellis was staged at the lights and stood in line in the pits just to meet him.
     For information about upcoming dealer hospitality at drag race events in your area, talk to your Drag Specialties sales rep.

Drag Specialties National Sales Manager Jim Matchette (left) talks with Drag Specialties/G2Motorsports’ rider Chip Ellis and Crew Chief Ken Johnson.

It’s time to race. Chip Ellis lines up for an elimination race. He didn’t go all the way to the finals on that day, but did score some points in his quest for the 2007 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle title.

fter a rough start, Chip Ellis and the Drag Specialties/G2 Motorsports NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle team leveraged semifinal appearances recentlyto hold fifth position in the POWERade championship points series through the ninth event of the 23-race series.
“I would rather be up a few more spots but at this point in the season I am happy with where we are,” said Ellis. “At this stage in the game we are in a good position.” His comments are especially true this year as the NHRA established a new points system whereas only the top
eight in the points following Reading, PA (the 10th event on the 15-race series) are eligible for the championship. Ellis has been in it to win at every event. The early round losses at the first two events came via starting line miscues. At the opening event in Gainesville, FL, Ellis qualified fourth at 6.93 but lost on a holeshot in round one to Steve Johnson after an off-pace reaction time of .132 seconds. In Houston, Ellis qualified fifth but lost again in round one, this time to a red light against Chris Rivas.
     The issue has to do with the fact that Pro Stock Motorcycles are the quickest reaction vehicle in any class of NHRA POWERade championship drag racing. With a single-amber .400 second “pro” tree, Pro Stock Motorcycles see more red-light fouls than any other class. “We are working on the clutch linkage to slow the reaction of the Buell down,” said Ellis. “When we test the bike I can red light every time. If you try to slow your reaction time down it will go off by a tenth of a second. That will lose a race for you every time. We what to set it up so I can hit the tree as hard as I can and
not red light.”
     Atlanta saw Ellis qualify third and face former teammate Matt Smith in the semis. Ellis and Smith ran identical elapsed times of 7.079 seconds but Smith’s .044 starting line advantage gave him the win. In St Louis, Ellis qualified second and met Army Suzuki’s Angelle Sampey in the semis. After identical (and stunning) .008 reaction times, Sampey edged out Ellis at the big end by one thousandth of a second, 7.017 to 7.018. “I have had some tight races,” said Ellis. “I am waiting for them to come my way.”
     Ellis has a new hurdle to cross as the NHRA has mandated a 10-pound weight increase for the S&S-powered GSquared Buells following Matt Smith’s new elapsed time of 6.901 seconds set in St Louis. The ruling affects all Buells which account for half of the current NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle field. “The NHRA has seen something that I do not see,” said G-Squared co-owner and Drag Specialties team crew chief George Smith.      “They said they saw a performance advantage and they have to equalize the performance advantage. Matt Smith figured out how to launch his bike better than anyone else and now all Buells are being punished for Matt’s hard work and creativity.”
     “The class has the best parity I have seen in 20 years,” continued Smith, “and I like to think G-Squared and S&S contributed to this current situation. The most recent qualifying statistics show the Buells running on par with the Suzukis and V-Rods. Also, a Buell has never finished better than fourth in the championship points. To do this now is premature.”There is a lot of racing left to be run in 2007. Stay tuned.

     Matt Polito is a photographer and journalist specializing in motorcycle drag racing. He is also one of the owners of the motorcycle
drag racing website www.DragBike.com. Check out his online column Straightline on PartsMag.com.