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2006
Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Schnitz Consistent at Brainerd
"Last year at Brainerd we had some major mechanical problems with the
transmission and just snuck into the field in the last round,"
remembered Ryan Schnitz. "We went out in the first round on Sunday.
This year I wouldn't say I was having good luck, but I'm not having bad
luck."
That's because Schnitz and the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's Buell are solidly mid-pack
after the first day of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying for the NHRA Lucas
Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minnesota.
qualifying round 1
5th right Lane Ryan
Schnitz 7.168 at 185.23 mph
qualifying round 2
9th left lane
Ryan Schnitz 7.174 at 185.92 mph
"We had a couple of consistent passes. The first pass had too much
clutch, the second pass not enough. We did some normal maintenance
tonight, changed a few things and checked a lot of things."
Schnitz, wearing a brand new set of Bates Leathers colored to match the
Trim-Tex paint job on the bike, hopes to improve at least one spot on
Saturday. "We're really wanting to stay in the top 8 so we can stay
in the Ringers Pro Bike Battle."
Good Fortune Carries Schnitz to
Semis
Things seemed to be going in the
wrong direction for Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Ryan Schnitz. In the second
day of qualifying for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minnesota,
Schnitz's Trim-Tex/Muzzy's Buell dropped two spots to 11th. The chain
broke in Q3 and his Q4 pass was just plain slow.
qualifying round 3
11th Ryan Schnitz right
lane 8.939 at 98.95 mph
qualifying round 4
11th Ryan Schnitz left
lane 7.347 at 175.87 mph
qualifying best of 7.168
"On our final qualifying attempt we ran slow," said Schnitz.
"We had an excessive amount of fuel pressure and the thing was
really, really rich. So we went back to a low pressure system. When we
leaked the motor down we found some air going past the piston rings, so we
put our motor 'Friday' in overnight. We basically made a lot of Hail Mary
passes, and it almost bit us."
eliminations round 1
(W) Ryan Schnitz
.053
12.313 at 67.22 mph
Angelle
Sampey .008
disqualified for
weight
"We ran first round and the bike was skipping and burbling down the
track. We chalked it up as a loss and Tech came by with 10 or 15 minutes
left before second round and said 'You're back in!' Angelle didn't make
weight. We had about half our stuff packed up. We changed a couple of
things and when we got up to the staging lanes it started sprinkling a
little bit. We went back to the trailer to try and change some stuff, but
the sun came right back out and we had to run back up there. We were not
even sure if the bike would run or not, but it started and did the burnout
OK. Karen pushed the tree and redlit and our bike ran about like it did
first round."
eliminations round 2
(W) Ryan Schnitz
.015
22.260 at 30.80 mph
Karen
Stoffer -.001(R) 7.168 at
187.76 mph
"So we rushed back after the scales and tech and changed the whole
fuel injection system. Went back to an older S&S system and we
couldn't get the wiring harness to work. Rick Maney from G2 said 'Why
don't we use this new harness and we'll just leave these two plugs
unplugged.' Rick and Chip Ellis and all the S&S guys were over helping
us to get down the racetrack, so I wanna thank them for that.
"We get back up to the line just as the last pair of Pro Stock cars
were going down the track. Steve Johnson was already in the water
box."
eliminations round 3
(W) Steve Johnson .061
7.173 at 186.77 mph
Ryan
Schnitz .033 7.381 at
179.97 mph
"The transmission shifted from second gear to sixth. Those first two
runs must have tweaked it a little. But it ran clean down the track and we
must have found the wiring problem. We really had a horseshoe up our butt
today to win those rounds with a bike that could hardly get out of its own
way."
Schnitz and the team can't count on such good fortune to shine their way
at the next event in Memphis, so Rob Muzzy was on the phone Sunday night
looking for a place to test and make sure their problems are behind them.
Schnitz thanked Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Muzzy's, Schnitz Racing, Bates
Leathers and NGK.
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2006
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