2006 Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals

Schnitz Mid-Pack in Denver

After one round of qualifying at the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals, Ryan Schnitz sits mid-pack on the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's Buell. Schnitz is looking to master the thin atmosphere at Bandimere Raceway near Denver, Colorado, and gain ground on his rivals.
 
qualifying round 1
12th     Ryan Schnitz     right lane          7.545 at 178.76 mph
 
"Our first pass off the trailer was a 'Try to get some data' pass," said Ryan. "And we were able to make a small change and pick up a little bit."
 
qualifying round 2
8th     Ryan Schnitz     right lane     7.502 at 179.28 mph
 
"We're taking baby steps right now to try and get on this tune-up that we need to get. We're about a tenth off from (number 2 qualifier Tom) Bradford and Chip (Ellis, the number 1 qualifier), so we have some room to improve and we need to do that. The bike seems to back-half with some of the top runners, so I don't necessarily think it's a power issue. I just think we need to work on our front half-our clutch, basically, and gearing.
 
"We have two motors with us this weekend, and they're both fresh from the little break that we had. We're trying a few new small little things with the bike in hopes that we'll get some better performance, but right now we're not showing any of that, so we've gotta work a little harder.

Schnitz Improves to 5th

Ryan Schnitz jumped up to 5th in the qualifying order in the second day of timed runs for the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Colorado. Ryan's first pass of the day was a pretty good one on the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's Buell, and put the team in contention with the rest of the frontrunners.
 
qualifying round 3
5th     Ryan Schnitz     right lane     7.435 at 179.80 mph
 
In the final round, a bolt came out of the ram that connects to the air-shifter lever and Ryan was out of the throttle early. "We checked out the transmission and it all looks good," reported Schnitz.
 
qualifying round 4
5th     Ryan Schnitz     left lane     7.937 at 134.11 mph
 
"We did our normal, routine, Saturday night maintenance and we're ready for first round," continued Ryan, who faces G.T. Tonglet when racing starts on Sunday. Ryan beat Tonglet once last year, but lost to him twice on redlights.
 
"There's really no reason why we can't run a .30 here. We still have room for improvement in the front half of the track. I think we could use a better clutch setup to gives us less initial spin and more wheel speed through first gear."

Schnitz Takes it to Second Round

Last year, Ryan Schnitz won the NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, Colorado. As he walked through the Bandimere pits this weekend, Ryan was startled to see so many fans that recognized him. "People would say 'Great job last year. Good luck this weekend,'" reported Ryan. That made it doubly disappointing when he went out in round 2 of Pro Stock Motorcycle eliminations.
 
eliminations round 1
(W)     Ryan Schnitz   .086      7.468 at 178.73 mph
           G.T. Tonglet     .057      7.652 at 157.87 mph
 
"GT told me that they broke a shifter linkage, similar to the problem we had in the third round of qualifying," Ryan said about round 1.
 
eliminations round 2
(W)     Geno Scali      .033      7.473 at 180.02 mph
           Ryan Schnitz  .039      7.487 at 177.93 mph
 
"The bike kind of got out of the groove a little bit in round 2. I had to lean off the side to guide it back in, and that does scrub off some ET.
 
"The big thing is that we qualified in the top half of the field under difficult conditions. But we lost another round to the points leader, and that's what's important. We have to make that up.
 
"But the crew did a great job. The bike's performance was where it needed to be, but it could have been closer to the number 1 qualifier.
 
"Sonoma's gonna be completely different than here, and that will be another challenge. The advantage for us coming out west is that it's close to Muzzy's in Oregon. They're gonna tear the bike apart, go through all the electronics and the motor that we ran. But we need to test some things, including the new rear wheel and tire that everybody's talking about."
 
Schnitz was able to run one motor all weekend in Denver, the one they call "Joey". "He was a happy camper at this altitude and performed fairly well." Maybe Joey will like the wine country, too.
 
Schnitz thanked Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Muzzy's, Schnitz Racing, Bates Leathers and NGK.

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