Well, it wasn't the best weekend for me. After having issues with the Honda Saturday morning, and going out in the 2nd round to a redlight start, I went on to do the qualifying passes in top gas and ultra 4.60. I only intended to run 2 classes this weekend but a good friend asked me to ride his 4.60 index bike. I typically don't throw a leg over anyone's bike but I knew he tries to build his stuff correctly. I skipped my 1st top gas qualifier to concentrate on the 4.60 bike since I've never been on it before. On the first pass out of the trailer I ran a 4.62 @ 143 mph which put me at the number 3 spot out of 22 bikes. Not bad for an initial tune up and my first pass. On the next qualifying pass the bike slowed down to a 4.79 @141mph. I knew something was wrong and the owner told me he neglected to change out the nitrous bottle before that pass. In the 3rd and final qualifying round, he replaced the bottle and stepped up the tune up a bit. I staged the bike and released the two step button on the first flash of the pro tree but the motor revved up and the bike didn't move. The dang thing broke the chain right on the line. When all bikes had completed the last qualifying pass, we had dropped from #3 to#11 qualifier. The field was just that tight with at least 4 bikes running right on the 4.60 index.
I was able to make the call for 2nd qualifying pass in top gas. I staged up the bike and launched successfully but the bike wasn't pulling very hard. I immediately realized I had never armed the nitrous system. THe ET confirmed my thoughts as I only ran a 5.54@122mph on the 5.10 index. Crap!! In the next qualifying pass, I knew I couldn't afford to make any more errors like the previous round so I walked myself through the routine as I was being towed up to the staging lanes. By this time the sky was really looking funny with dark clouds. We already had a rain shower that delayed us earlier so this was not a good sign. Several pairs of top gas bikes successfully made it down the track ahead of me but as I got to the head of the lanes about to move towards the water box, the rain drops started again. We sat there for a few minutes till the lightening became more intense. The track shut down that round so we went back to the trailer. They eventually called off the remainder of the qualifying passes for the day. Crap, I had to stay on the ladder in a bad spot for eliminations on sunday.
Sunday morning I decided I needed to make the best of my qualifying spots in both classes and just concentrate on winning one round at a time. First bike out for me was the 4.60 bike. The owner had put a new chain on it that morning and I double checked that a fresh nitrous bottle was in the bike so it was ready for battle. I pulled into the water box and commenced to do my burnout but something sounded funny. I stopped and looked back but didn't see anything and the crew motioned to complete the burnout and roll up to the line. I made certain all the switches were turned on and I was ready. I staged up and when I saw the first flash I let the two step button go just to see a freaking red light staring at me as I passed the tree. I completed the pass to see that the bike had fallen off once again and only ran a 4.89. Oh well, I redlighted and the bike didn't run the number. I was screwed anyway it went. I went to the pit area and jumped on the top gas bike to get towed to the lanes. This was my final chance to do something to stay in the game. I didn't want to make any mistakes like I did the day before so once I did my burnout and pulled up to the lights, I dropped the bike back down to neutral from 5th gear and turned my nitrous arming switch on. I verified it was on by purging down the nitrous a little. Yeap, the system is ready. I rolled into prestage, then slowly lite the stage bulb so I would be set and ready for the light to flash. Bam, first flash and I released the two step button feeling confident I was going to run close to the 5.10 index based upon my nitrous tune. Much to my surprise, the bike revved up and never moved. WTF?? I forgot to reach down and put the dang thing in 1st gear. You can't make a pass in neutral. My day was over!!!
On a good note, the motor I built for a friend's top gas bike ran good and he won the first round of eliminations. We stepped up the nitrous tune a little for the next round to give him a buffer. He ended up loosing that round due to a slower reaction time but the bike ran dead on the 5.10 index.
