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Friday,
April 16th 2019
Schnitz
Leads HTP’s Spring Attack
Multi-time
AMA Dragbike champion Ryan Schnitz is leading HTP Performance into the
spring season with a number 1 Real Street qualifier at Rockingham and a
Grudgement Day win at Virginia Motorsports Park, both aboard the
two-time MiRock Real Street championship-winning 2007 Suzuki GSXR1000.
Keith Thompson rode the GSXR to those titles and continues to gain
ground onboard the nitrous-huffing HTP Pro Street Hayabusa.
MiRock
Superbike Series season opener at The Rock
“For
the track conditions, I was somewhat pleased with Rockingham,” said
HTP Performance builder/tuner Cecil Towner III. “Ryan got some seat
time on the Real Street bike and sat on the pole for his first race ever
with HTP.”
“Friday’s testing was my first day on the Real Street bike,” said
Schnitz, an NHRA national event winner. “We made six passes and were
somewhat comfortable on the bike. HTP has put together a great bike that
requires very little maintenance, but it’s definitely powerful and, at
62 inches, is real easy to wheelie anywhere on the track, which it did!
But on Saturday we had a great first qualifying pass (7.90), with good
air and a nitrous tune-up that fit my riding style pretty well. Sunday
was pretty disappointing when we spun in the second round of
eliminations, but all-in-all we had a great first outing on the bike!”
Rockingham was also the first time out for HTP’s Crazy 8’s program,
led by veteran racer Wayne “Ubware” Robertson. “Ryan and Keith
Thompson got a lot of seat time on our 8.88 bikes, but unfortunately our
8.88 bikes are way too fast!” said Wayne. “Ryan and Keith both went
8.63, so now we have to slow them down! Hopefully we can figure that out
by Maryland.”
“The 8.88 bikes where really fast in Rockingham and we had a difficult
timing slowing them down,” agreed Schnitz. “Wayne was on top of
everything the entire weekend and had the bikes prepped and ready for
each round, and also found time to cook for the crew. Big thanks to
Wayne!”
“Both of our Crazy 8s bikes are stock motored, stock clutch ‘08
Busas, but we’ve gone at two different angles with them and made them
equal,” said Robertson. “Both run Michelin tires from Western Power
Sports at 20 pounds in the rear and 40 in the front, Motul Motor Oils,
EK non O-ring chains, and NGK plugs. Gearing is the same on both bikes
with, of course, Vortex spockets.
“But Keith is a 175 pound rider, so we have a 66 inch Adams
Performance arm on his bike, a stock ECU that's been flashed by Cecil on
VP MR12 fuel, and it makes 207 at the rear wheel. Keith’s bike has a
6-over tail section and runs an HTP carbon fiber airbox with no filter.
“Ryan's bike is 64 inches with all ‘Busa plastics. The only thing
not stock ‘Busa is the seat pan. It’s got a license plate,
inspection sticker with insurance, and you and your girl can ride it to
the motel at night. It’s got a Brock’s map that he and Dave O. made
at Maxton a couple years back on VP MR12 fuel with a BMC filter,
Worldwide Bearings, an intake cam on exhaust, and makes 212 at the rear
wheel.
“Rockingham was the first time on streetbikes for either of these guys
in a while and many years, like a decade, for Ryan to be on a Suzuki.
Ryan started out in the 8.70's and soon ran a 8.664 at 157.76. Tripped
us out! The next weekend at VMP we ran MRX01 in this bike and sprayed a
30 shot in second gear and ran two back-to-back 8.498 at 169.32 and
pressure down 8.489 at 165.95.
“KT started in the 8.70's at Rockingham and by Saturday night ran a
8.664 at 156.70. KT’s best 60 foot was a 1.349 and 330 of 3.645. His
last pass on Sunday he ran an 8.63.”
The HTP team is fielding not just one, but two Pro Street bikes this
year. “My Pro Street bikes gave me a fit in Rockingham!” said
Towner. “With this crazy winter we had we weren’t able to do any
testing, and I didn’t want to start out the season tearing a bunch of
stuff up. The track was so bad there that I wasn’t willing to hurt
anything, so I parked them.”
Grudgement
Day
The
next date on the calendar was an easy one for HTP, the first of four
scheduled Grudgement Day races at HTP’s hometrack, Virginia
Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie. “KT made his first full pass on the Pro
Street bike at VMP and went a 7.63 at187 with a very mild tune-up
designed to just get down the track and collect data. Our other rider,
Lavar ‘Lil' Charlie’ Delee, made a pass right after KT with the same
tune-up and went a 7.63 as well. Both bikes came back with good data
showing me that we have our nitrous and Motec combinations dialed in, so
now we just need to get some more test passes in.
“Since Lavar only had grudge bikes to race on Saturday, I entered him
in the Pro Street Shootout and he lost to Barry Henson first round.
Barry went a 7.41 and Lavar went a 7.43 and the bike didn’t shift into
fourth gear. The bike still had a very mild tune-up in it and had a
decent eighth mile time of 4.81 at 160, so he was on a .30 pass.
Hopefully, with some more hard work and testing, we can make some noise
in Maryland at the end of April.”
Schnitz put the Real Street GSXR to the test at VMP and eventually
nailed some exceptional results. “We tested all day Friday and could
only run 8.0's at best,” said Ryan. “But I was getting more
comfortable on the bike and starting to leave more aggressively, more
like my typical riding style.
“After reviewing the runs on the Datalogger and reviewing the nitrous
graph, Cecil and I decided to change the nitrous tune-up to better
complement my style on Saturday. It really seemed to work and we ran a
best of 7.81 at 184. The bike was stable and smooth the entire pass. We
lost some traction as the track warmed through the day, but still ran
7.90's.”
Good enough for the race win. “Ryan finally got some more seat time on
the Real Street bike in Virginia and is starting to get comfortable on
it,” said Towner. “There is still more left in the bike and we will
be trying to go .70’s here soon.”
“The new Penske rear shock is really working well for us and we're
excited to start really playing with it now that we have some consistent
riding,” said Schnitz. “I'm really excited to get back on the bike
and continue the momentum we have.”
“We are lucky to have two of the very best on a hand clutch in the
world on the same team,” said Robertson. “It is worth the price of
admission to come watch these guys ride these five bikes at the Mirock
and Grudgement Day races, and maybe we could just show up at an AMA
event, too.”
“I’m proud of my team!” finished Towner. “Having the first Real
Street bike in the 7’s last year with KT, and now my goal is to have
the first Real Street bike in the 7.70's with Ryan.”
HTP Performance races next at the Spring Bike Classic & Swap Meet at
Maryland International Raceway in Budd’s Creek on April 24-25, 2010
Everyone at HTP Performance would like to thank
HTPPerformance.com
Contact: Cecil Towner at HTP Performance, 3010 W Marshall Street,
Richmond, Virginia; (804)340-0800, htpperformance@verizon.net,
http://www.htpperformance.com
For media inquiries: Tim Hailey (718) 554-3866 timhailey@earthlink.net
This team report was prepared by Tim Hailey, http://www.eatmyink.com
Read expanded motorcycle drag racing race coverage in Straightliner
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