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2006 Sears Craftsman NHRA Nationals
Schnitz On The Bubble
St. Louis
, Friday: Ryan Schnitz was not happy at the end
of Friday's Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest
Nationals at Gateway International Raceway near
St. Louis
. Agitation was in his voice as the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's team changed valve
springs and the rear tire on the Buell. "We ran like a turd the first
round, and then we ran even worse the second," said Schnitz.
"But at least everyone else slowed that round too."
qualifying round 1: 16th, 7.262 at 183.99 mph
qualifying round 2: 16th, 7.316 at 181.67 mph
Qualifying and eliminations for the
St. Louis
event are run in the evening in an attempt to beat the heat. But the main
problem that Schnitz and much of the field was dealing with is not one
normally found on a hot track. "We're shaking the tire, and I think
that's what everybody's struggling with. The track must be sticky, but it
seems kind of greasy. We had tire shake at Englishtown, but this is like
Top Fuel. It's rattling the crap out of me. It's gonna be a real tuner's
race, in my opinion, to keep that from happening.
"We ran a new tire today and it's coming off. The tire that we're
putting on used to 60 foot really well and didn't shake, but that was a
different track in different conditions. We'll also adjust air pressures
and wheelie bar height to try and address the problem. We haven't been
doing this as long as some of the other teams, so we'll have to make our
best guess."
Schnitz Makes the Cut at Gateway
Ryan Schnitz was relieved to have simply made the Pro Stock Motorcycle
field at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International
Raceway near St. Louis. Schnitz and the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's team made
marginal gains with each pass and spent both days perched precariously on
the bump spot. Ryan, who won two races ago in Chicago, actually had to
bump his way back into the field on his final pass.
qualifying round 3
16th Ryan Schnitz right
lane 7.224 at 183.37 mph
qualifying round 4
16th Ryan Schnitz left
lane 7.209 at 185.49 mph
"We got bumped out by the first couple of pairs that went down the
track, so we're happy just to be in," said Ryan. "We do wish
that we could have improved more and gone deeper in the field." As it
is, Schnitz will face number 1 qualifier Tom Bradford in round 1 of
eliminations some .126 down on ET.
"The track was about the same as yesterday, but the tire seems to be
good, at least for the first 60 feet. We seem to struggle between the 60
and the 330, and our backhalf numbers aren't what they should be. So we're
having an issue, either a horsepower issue or a fueling issue. We're
pulling apart our 'Joey' motor to determine whether we're gonna run it or
put 'Milton' back in."
Schnitz Takes Out No. 1 Qualifier
St. Louis
, Sunday: Ryan Schnitz made up for his 16th
qualifier unhappiness by eliminating number 1 Pro Stock Motorcycle
qualifier Tom Bradford in round 1 at the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
near
St. Louis
. Ryan nailed the tree and the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's Buell laid down its best
pass of the weekend to advance.
"We tore the motor apart last night and it looked great, so we put
'Joey' back in," said Schnitz. "We made some small changes to
the bike and gave it our best guess and the bike ran great the first
round. It was kinda puzzling, 'cause we're not really sure what made that
happen."
eliminations round 1
(W) Ryan Schnitz .011
7.159 at 183.97 mph
Tom Bradford
.083 7.215 at 184.65
mph
eliminations round 2
(W) Michael Phillips .010
7.258 at 180.43 mph
Ryan Schnitz
.023 7.309
at 180.16 mph
"For the second round, we said 'We're not changing anything' and made
no changes. From third gear on, it just slowed up. Our best conclusion is
that something is tying up in the motor and it's just going away. We won't
know until it gets back to
Oregon
and gets taken apart."
The S&S motor is still relatively new, and there are still a lot of
unknowns when it comes to maintaining them. "There are still some
things that don't have a maintenance schedule yet. There's one thing that
came about in the last two weeks-the rocker arm tower. It's things like
that. You know how many passes you should have on the crank or the main
bearings or the rings. If we take the motor apart and there's nothing
wrong, then we really won't know what's up."
Schnitz thanked Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Muzzy's, Schnitz Racing, Bates
Leathers, and NGK.
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