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2006
O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals
April 1st, 2006
Ryan Schnitz pushed Rob
Muzzy's Trim-Tex Buell back into the 7.0's today with a 7.063 in round 3
that moved him up to sixth in the qualifying order. The team broke in a
new tire in the final round and, like many, failed to improve.
Qualifying round 3: 7.063 at 190.14 mph
Qualifying round 4: 7.134 at 187.73 mph
"We kind of got a handle on the track and weather conditions,"
said Schnitz, who wasn't so confident with where they were yesterday.
"We're now comparable with everybody else and I'm comfortable for
tomorrow. We should do fairly well."
Breaking in the new tire in the final round was a race day strategy move
that also gave the team a ready excuse for not improving. But a number of
teams had a lot of trouble getting down the track that round. "I
think a lot of teams broke some transmissions," said Schnitz.
"Gary Scelzi, the Funny Car champion, didn't even qualify, so that
gives you an idea about how difficult it was to tune to this track this
weekend. It's gonna be a tuner's race, and whoever doesn't make a mistake
is gonna win."
Schnitz will face Joey DeSantis in the first round of eliminations.
"He has a Vance & Hines motor, so he'll be tough. We were looking
at the ladder and there's no easy side of the ladder at all. This field is
so tough."
Schnitz Breaks
in Round 2
April 2nd
2005
Race day at Houston started out promising for Ryan Schnitz and the Trim
Tex/Rob Muzzy Racing Buell with a round 1 win over Joe DeSantis.
eliminations round 1
(W) Ryan Schnitz .070
7.135 at 186.61 mph
Joe DeSantis
.577 7.241 at 186.33 mph
The first 60 feet of round 2 looked pretty good too, with Schnitz nailing
an .008 bulb on former teammate Chip Ellis. But as soon as Schnitz punched
second gear, his race was done.
eliminations round 2
(W) Chip Ellis
.028
7.205 at 186.38 mph
Ryan Schnitz
.008
22.519 at 31.07 mph
"We had a cam failure," reported Schnitz. "It happened just
about the top of first gear. I shifted into second and the bike started
running on one cylinder.
"I think we broke three cams last year, so it’s something we really
need to address. It can be catastrophic, but luckily it didn't do much
damage this time.
"Because of the complexity of it, it's something that S&S will
have to do. We'll work with them to try and make it stronger. The cam is
driven from the crankshaft, and this one particular camshaft drives all
the others. The gear is welded on to the camshaft, and that's where it's
breaking. So we'll either have to make that weld stronger or use more
material or something.
"We weren't fully prepared for this event as we were in
Gainesville," added Schnitz, who qualified no. 1 at the Florida race.
The Buell he rides for Rob Muzzy was on it's way back to Muzzy's shop in
Bend, Oregon following the Gators. With no sponsorship, the bike was being
parked. But then Trim-Tex Drywall Products stepped in with sponsorship,
and Muzzy's truck turned around and headed to Houston. "We came to
this race on short notice for points, but that won't be the same for
Atlanta. At Atlanta, we'll do better."
Ryan Schnitz and the Trim Tex/Rob Muzzy Racing Buell race next at Atlanta
Dragway May 4-7.
Schnitz thanked Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Muzzy's, Schnitz Racing and
NGK.
Photo by Matt Polito, http://www.dragbikephotos.com
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