Race Report, Chip Hunter – AMA Dragbike Real Street class
Post Race; Spring Nationals; June 21-22, Bristol, TN

Rounds 2 and 4 the stage was set for AMA’s first visit to the famed Bristol Dragway. I had never been there and was looking forward to finally visiting this legendary drag strip in “Thunder Valley”. With having to finish the event from round 2 in addition to round 4 we had the added challenge of getting both RST bikes in race form; the trusty blue 02 and the new 08.

Arriving early Friday morning reality set in and all the hype of just how big and beautiful this facility was proven. This is truly one of the nicest drag race facilities in the US. As we unloaded and began to prep the bikes for a quick Friday test session the sun came out and it began to heat up. Off the trailer both bikes ran very well clicking off season best speeds and et’s; old blue ran an impressive 170mph in the ¼ and the new 08 ran a competitive 8.62 at 172mph!

As with the rest of my season everything went downhill from there on for the weekend. Running to just the 1/8th mile in the quarter final round to complete the Round 2 race on Friday I knew it was going to be important to cut a decent light and I did. Unfortunately the aggressive approach to leaving first resulted in an over heated clutch induced wheelie resulting in a round lose.

Switching over to the 08 model busa for the first round of qualifying Friday night proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Qualifiers 1-3 all left me in the middle of the pack at 12th with nothing I changed on the bike resulting in anything more than uncontrollable wheelies 100-200’ out. Frustrated with the results from qualifying I went ahead & ran the 08 bike some more during Saturday night’s grudge session but no changes made were helping tame the bike down.

Knowing I needed to get past at least first round of eliminations on Sunday I turned down the NOS to only 50% and stretched the build time waaaaaay out. Once again I left first and waited until the bike was about 300’ out before turning on the NOS. Unfortunately I turned the bike so far down it barely sprayed anything during the whole run resulting in a round lose by just .037. Close race, but no win light again. 

With a long break until the next event, Pingle Thunder Nationals, at nearby O’Reilly Raceway Park the first weekend in August.
 

Race Report, Chip Hunter – AMA Dragbike Real Street class
Post Race; Spring Nationals; May 3-4, Memphis, TN

Going into the Spring Nationals the plan was to debut my 2008 hayabusa but as “Murphy” would dictate it didn’t happen due to some engine issues during a dyno test the Saturday prior. On the way home from the dyno I had to once again make the call to my friend to bring out the tried and true 2002 busa I had ridden in year to date.

True to form for the second event in a row Friday’s test session was rained out by a large storm that dumped several inches of rain in the area and even spawned more severe weather in neighboring states and cites.

With no testing the day (and weeks) prior to the event we went into the qualifying sessions kinda blind. Since this is my first year running Real Street wheelbase and dry NOS I had no notes to fall back on for a base tune up. Given this I just left the tune up that was in the bike from the last event. Qualifying went decent but much more is expected at this point in the season as I only landed in 7th of 18 bikes.

Frustrated but ready to win some rounds we changed some things in the setup of the clutch and NOS for first round of eliminations. Unfortunately due to a lengthy staging process by my first round competitor my clutch over heated and when on the revs pulled thru the beams resulting in a first round red light lose by a mere .087.

Next up is a double race to finish the Atlanta event and the Summer Nationals in Bristol, June 20-22.

Race Report, Chip Hunter – AMA Dragbike Real Street class
Post Race; Elmer Trett Nationals; April 5-6, Commerce, GA

Last minute decisions once again were in order after the last event in Valdosta. This time I made the decision to begin converting my 2008 busa from Super Sport trim to Real Street trim. Due to wonderful support from all my sponsors I was able to get the bike ready in time but opted to not run the bike in Commerce due to not getting any testing time due to the test session being rained out. With this conversion of the 2008 bike over to RST trim I am abandoning the Super Sport class for now until the sanction body evens up the rules between the big bore bikes and 1000’s in Super Sport.

Due to the continual rains the program was shortened to just one qualifying pass on Sunday and we only ran 1/8th mile. With the pressure of just one qualifying pass off we went to the line on the trusty borrowed 2002 busa. Due to issues during the first with the NOS I decided to test the system prior to the qualifying pass and it’s a good thing I did as the NOS solenoid was not working properly. With no time to correct it prior to the qualifying pass I had no choice but to run the bike on motor only. Now I was thankful we were only running 1/8th mile. The motor only pass landed me in 9th place in the qualifying order out of 21 bikes with a 5.89 et.

A few hours later with the NOS issue sorted out and tested we were ready for round 1 of eliminations. Going soft on the tree round 1 went as planned with a soft NOS tune up in the bike winning over 12th qualifier with a 5.79et to 5.94. Next round I had a date with the number 2 qualifier. With my NOS issues sorted I was confident we had plenty to make this a very good race. With a better reaction time and a tenth in the first 60’, best 60’ of 1.47 on this bike, I cruised to the win with a 5.74 et over a 6.04 et from the #2 qualifier. Due to the dew setting in at 10pm we were only able to run these 2 rounds of eliminations and will finish this event June 20th at the Bristol, TN event. My next opponent will be the #16 qualifier who ran a 5.73 during 2 round of eliminations so it should be a very good race in June.

Next up is the Spring Nationals in Memphis, May 2-3.

Race Report, Chip Hunter – AMA Dragbike Super Sport & Real Street classes
Post Race; B&B Bikeweek Nationals; March 1-2 Valdosta, GA

For 2008 with the turbo invasion in full force for the Super Street class in AMA Dragbike I decided to change everything from classes to bikes. With this last minute decision, about Feb 10, I ended up spending countless hours in the shop prepping a new 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa for the Super Sport class and borrowing a 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa for the Real Street class. 

First up in qualifying was the revamped Super Sport class where previously only 1000cc motorcycles were permitted to complete. In 2008 the class has been opened up to include big bore bikes like the ZX14 and Hayabusa. Qualifying on the 2008 hayabusa didn’t go as well as planned but I did wind up having the fastest big bore bike in the class at a 9.205 at 155mph. Unfortunately this put me outside the top 5 in qualifying that was dominated by the much lighter package of the 1000. Not only do the 1000’s have a distinct weight advantage of about 130lbs but they also get to sit at 2” of ground clearance vs. big bore bikes sitting at 3”. With well over 200hp of power and sitting 1” higher than the 1000’s the big bore busa has proven to be quite a handful to ride. First round of eliminations went well taking the win but unfortunately due to a huge hp induced wheelie I wound up losing in the 2nd round.

In the Real Street class what would have been a 3rd place qualifying position run of 8.68 wound up being a dq due to a center stand bracket that was left on the borrowed bike not clearing the 3” ground clearance rule. Then in 2nd round of qualifying a bog during the run due to a poorly purged NOS line resulted in qualifying in the bottom half of the field at 15th of 22 entries. Coming into Sunday’s eliminations rounds I knew the bike could be competitive and run with the top 5 qualifiers but unfortunately due to some injector issues I incurred a lose in round 1 to the number 8 qualifier with a slowing 8.85 to 8.60 run.

All was not lost as it was a great race, great crowd and over 520 entries. With the economy the way it is and still get that many bikes, it is a great testament to the excitement the new AMA Dragbike owners have created.

Next up is the Elmer Trett Nationals in Commerce, GA April 4-5.

Chip hunter is currently competing in the AMA Dragracing Super Streetbike class with his 2006 Kawasaki ZX-14.

Chip Hunter currently uses the following products:

Schnitz Electronics EFIR-ZX14 Progressive Retard Unit
Schnitz Electronics PNC-3000 Progressive Nitrous Controller
Schnitz Racing Front Lowering Strap
Schnitz Racing Front Lowering Strap Bracket
Adams Performance Billet Oil Pan
Adams Performance Straight Link
APE Adjustable Cam Sprockets
APE Cam Chain Tensioner
Cometic Engine Cover Gaskets
Dynojet Power Commander
Kawasaki Clutch Pack
MTC 2 Stage Lock-Up Clutch
NOS Wet Nitrous System
Redline Engine Oil
Ryan Schnitz Dyno Service Mapping
Sidi Drag Racing Boots
Tiger Racing Fender Eliminator
Tiger Racing Aluminum Chain Guard
Tsukigi Sidewinder
Vortex Rear Sprocket
Vortex Front Sprocket
World Wide Bearings Ceramic Wheel Bearings