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Hill climbing is one of the oldest organized sports for motorcycle enthusiasts. The winner of the sport is the rider who crests the hill in the shortest amount of time or gets the farthest to the top. The North American Hillclimbers Association (NAHA) is considered one of the toughest circuits in motorcycle sports. Pro Hill Climbers Robbie Peterson and Brett Peterson talk about their involvement with hill climbing and what goes into getting prepared for the rigorous competition.
North American Hillclimbers Association (NAHA) Professional Hill Climbers Robbie and Brett Peterson Video
The original XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship began in 2005 and was a combination of drifting and stunt riding. In 2006, the XDL Series was born consisting only of sport bikes. XDL Series owner Randy Grube talks about the origin of the XDL series and how it is similar to skateboarding. XDL Stunt riders Brandy Valdez and Alicia Speck share some history on how they got started as motorcycle stunt riders.
XDL Series Owner Randy Grube and XDL Stunt Bike Riders Brandy Valdez and Alicia Speck Video
Allen Johnson wins K&N Horsepower Challenge in Sanoma
Momentum can be everything when chasing points in any kind of motorsports and Tennessee based NHRA Driver Allen Johnson knows all too well that there is never a good time to slip when competing at the hardcore professional level of NHRA Pro Stock and seeking to earn points in the 2011 edition of the K&N Horsepower Challenge.
Allen Johnson at 2010 K&N Horsepower Challenge
"If you mess up a couple of races it costs you a bunch of points," explained Johnson. "You know that's what happened to me during the last Challenge and cost me the number two position when we DNQ'ed at both Richmond and Reading and that cost me at least 180 points and I would have ended up number two for this past challenge other than that."
During the second event of the "Western Swing" held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California, and the third qualifying event for the next K&N Horsepower Challenge, Johnson had just come off of a healthy number three qualifying spot the prior weekend in Seattle, but like many drivers, looking for the pole position and the max points qualifying available for the Challenge.
The results from the first Pro Stock qualifying session on Friday afternoon found powerhouse Mike Edwards and his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Batteries GXP grabbing the top spot with his 6.600 elapsed time and Allen Johnson close on his heals at number two.
With an adjusted altitude of 400 feet and a comfortable track temperature of 80, conditions peaked for qualifying during session number two on Friday evening and that gave Johnson's Mopar all it needed to sail by Edwards for number one when he posted a 6.545 at 210.77 MPH. Not only was the pass more than good enough for the top spot but also reset both ends of the Infineon Raceway tracks records in the process.
Wanting to at minimum repeat his performance during the first session on Saturday, knowing conditions would be very similar for Sunday's eliminations, Johnson was very disappointed with his 6.60 effort.
"The conditions were quite a bit worse on Saturday," reflected Johnson. "Mike [Edwards] tried to get it back but he came up just a few thou short."
When qualifying came to an end, Johnson had held on to number one, making it his third pole of the 2010 season.
Although still very early in the season for the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge, points earned now are just as important as points earned in later events and Johnson is pleased to be sitting on top, a position he hopes to hold on to.
"Getting it started out right is very important in the whole deal," said Johnson. "We look at the K&N points very closely and to make sure we are in the K&N shootout for next year."
Johnson is very much looking forward to his chances at the next and final event on the "Western Swing" as the NHRA professional teams move on to Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado, just outside Denver, for the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.
"Denver has been very good to us, and we have won the Mopar event the last two out of three years and I'm going into it as the defending champion," smiled Johnson. "A number one qualifier and a win at our sponsor's race is what we hope to accomplish."
Patrick Long might not have much experience in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West. He used what he learned in last year's West Series race at Portland International Raceway to win Sunday's Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops 125.
Patrick Long and the No. 45 Dodge for Speed Wong.
Long, making only the fifth West Series start of his career, won the pole and led 51 of 65 laps of the race in Portland. It was his second career West Series win.
"We were very prepared," said Long, driver of the No. 45 Dodge for Speed Wong. "We sat down (Saturday) night at the hotel and we just went over and over all our scenarios. We were determined not to make the mistake that a few had made last year, where they stopped very early and had great track position, but ran out of fuel at the end. I knew how good this car was and I knew that we didn't have to be heroes on the strategy. We were going to be there at the end if we could keep our noses clean."
Patrick Long wins Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops 125 in Portland
Long didn't have much trouble staying out of trouble. He led the first 30 laps of the race before making a pit stop for fuel under green-flag conditions. He returned to the race in 14th place, but quickly regained positions and took back the lead on lap 45.
"It was really about having a good set-up and saving the tires," said Long, a Porsche factory driver in the American Le Mans Series. "We made that call for tires late. It was basically down to how the chips fell with the yellow flag. We made our fuel under green. We didn't pay attention to any of the other cars' strategies. We were racing our own race."
Greg Pursley took over the lead on lap 31 and led 14 laps. He was the only other driver to lead the race.
The race was extended two laps when Brian Wong crashed on lap 63. Long won the race under caution. His only other West Series win came at Miller Motor Sports Park in Utah last year.
"It's a great series," said Long, a two-time GT winner in the 24 Hour of LeMans. "These kids and veterans keep me so honest. They've taught me a lot. They've brought a lot of game to my day job in sports car racing. It's one of my few weekends off. Hopefully I'm going to have the weekend free for Miller and we'll come back and try to keep this streak alive."
David Mayhew won the pole and started on the front row with Long. Long led the first lap. Mayhew ended up in fourth place.
Eric Holmes, the leader in the West Series standings, finished second. It was his fifth top-five finish in seven races. He is 74 points ahead of Mayhew.
"We didn't have best car," Holmes said. "The NAPA team did a great job making adjustments and great pit strategy. It got us up there. I just drove a points day race, is what I call it. I knew we couldn't compete with the 17 (Mayhew) and 45 (Long). We just hung in there and ended up finishing second. So, it ended up being a great day for us."
Paulie Harraka, Holmes' teammate at Bill McAnally Racing, finished third. It was his fourth top-five finish of the season. He was spun out early in the race and had to work his way through the field to finish third.
"We were set to go win this race with the NAPA Gold Filters Toyota," Harraka said. "We proved how tough this car is, how tough this team is and battled back."
The next West Series race is at Montana Raceway Park on Aug. 7.
When Chad Sellars isn't on the track racing, this is how his car dresses.
Mt. Vernon Raceway is a quarter-mile dirt oval located on the west side of Mount Vernon, Illinois, it just reopened this season, having been shut down for the past two years. For Chad Sellars, owner and driver for RCS Motorsports Inc., the reopening was a very good thing. And the decision to race that evening came at the last minute, as the team's home track had an open date because of the July 4th weekend.
Any bad luck that the RCS Motorsports team has experienced in the past was exorcised at the tracks recent reopening when Chad Sellars handily took the feature win.
"Our recent win at Mt. Vernon was very satisfying, because we have had a lot of bad luck happen to us at that race track in the past," explained Sellars the Breese, Illinois racer.
"Winning the modified feature, which was the last race of the evening, was special on this particular night. It resulted in all of the track lights going out while we were sitting in victory lane, and we got to enjoy a large fireworks display over the raceway."
Right before the start of racing that evening Sellars' crew chief Rick Seaton declared, "This place owes us - let's get us a feature win." Sellars listened, going on to lead every lap of their heat race and then every lap of the feature. The RCS Motorsports Inc. team currently sits second in points at Highland Speedway in Highland, Illinois.
The RCS Motorsports team consists of Rick Seaton Crew Chief, Chad Tebbe, Dave Schaaf, Richard Sellers, Dan Blumenstein, and John Voss. They have been a contending modified race team for over ten years. The team competes under the Dirt Motorsports Sanctioning Body and UMP Rules.
"Our Sponsors include K&N Engineering, Aviston Lumber Company, Equity Fifty-Five Real Estate, QA1 Shocks and Landrum Performance Springs," say Sellars. "We only use K&N Filters on our modified. Specifically we use K&N air filters, outerwears, and oil filters.
"Our team feels very confident about the remainder of the 2010 season," says Sellars. "Two weeks ago we discovered that our electronic scales were not weighing accurately, they have been giving us false readings about the set-up on the racecar. We purchased a new set of scales before the feature win at Mt. Vernon, and feel very good about our chances for the balance of the season now."
