NEWSLETTER

April 7, 2007, Season Opener,  Thunder Valley Raceway

 The PMRA kicked off its thirteenth year in grand fashion. The race was held at Thunder Valley Raceway in Noble Oklahoma, and was hosted by the PMRA and the staff at TVR, who performed up to their usual level, which is always excellent.  

Seven classes were contested on this cold and windy day but the competition was intense, especially with the introduction of a new twist to drag racing, team competition.   The team competition consists of four man/woman teams and points are awarded for wins, runner-ups,  semi-finals and No. 1 qualifiers.  Most of the teams are based on geographical locations, ie:  Ellis County Dragbikes (Anywhere but Ellis County), NDART (Nebraska), KECA (Wichita, KS) etc.  The KECA team won the first race of the year with seven points made up of one win and one runner-up.  Competition for the traveling trophy has already proven to be intense.   Proclamations on who will win the trophy at the May 12^th race have been made and challenges issued.  

Street ET:  Was won by one of the most dominant racers in PMRA Street ET History is Joe Bird, he was the 2004 and 2005 champion.  He showed up at TVR with a seriously cool looking ZX14.  The bike was beautifully prepped and ran like a Swiss watch, taking out Tony Blunt of Caremore, Ok in the final pass with a good light and .003 over his dial-in.

 Pro-ET: Another dominant racer is Mike Major, the 2006 Pro-ET champion.  He picked up right where he left off with a run through the field that made it look easy.  In the final round he faced Jimmy Lane from Joplin Mo. on his beautifully prepared Kawasaki ZRX, Jimmy left the line a little early giving Mike the easy victory.  

 Super Gas was a family affair, the Miller Brothers’, Kevin and Tom,  squared off in the finals, if they had joined in the team competition they would have tied KECA for the team win with just the final round in Super Gas!!  The entire Miller family is a credit to motorcycle drag racing, they make every race, run flawlessly and if you run them you better have your bike ready and your game face on. 

 The Mr. Paint-Super Comp class has long been one of the most popular classes in the PMRA, the competitors in this class are very close, the championship has been decided on the last pass of the year on more than one occasion.  These guys are as serious as a heart attack.  The final round was Kirk Reeves vs Phil Snare and it would have been a great race if Phil had not gone .008 red, handing Reeves the first win of the season. 

 Star Racing-Top Gas was a difficult class today, high horsepower bikes and a cold track are not a good combination.  The final round was contested by Mitch (I’m not only a member, I’m the president) Brown,  who built one of the most photographed bikes in the PMRA, a KZ powered bike that runs Top Gas on motor alone.  His competition in the final round was Otis Kelly, also from Wichita, Kansas. They left together but it was Mitch coming out with the win on a .008 light and an 8.203 pass. 

 Bird Motorsports-9.50 Superbike class is a new class this year.  It is a simple class that is anything but simple to run, street bikes, on street tires, 9.50 index with a pro-tree.  Launching a street bike on a pro tree results in a lot of wheel spin and monster wheelies, one of the most exciting classes you will see.   This race saw a youth movement with Lud Mounivong from Wichita, Kansas, who qualifying No. 1, taking on Dragbike Mike from Cherokee Ok.   Mike had the better light but fell well off the pace to a 10.47, giving Lud the win. 

 Pro-Street has some new rules this year, including the use of slicks on some bikes and several new bikes were built in the off-season to take advantage of the new rules,  but it was George Gooch, the 2006 class champion picking up right where he left off last year, running some super quick numbers on his Turbo Busa.  He holds the PMRA record and dominated the last half of the 2006 season.  The final round pitted George Gooch on his turbo Busa against Alex Hughes from Arlington Texas on his 1993 Suzuki.  George had a slightly better light and ran a stellar 7.96 to take the win.  

 The next PMRA race will be on Saturday, May 12 at Thunder Valley Raceway.  Gates will open at 10:00am and qualifying will start at 12:00 Noon.