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Cyclists face peril at dragway By DON HUNT Steve Huff admits a person needs a certain mentality to climb onto a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and zip down a drag strip at speeds over 200 mph. Huff and seven motorcycle-racing compatriots will hit the Southern Oregon Dragway this weekend for a National Hot Rod Association Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Northwest Division event. The event, which kicks off today at 8 a.m. and picks up Saturday at the same time, will lure as many as 400 drivers in eight categories, including the popular dragster and funny car divisions. Eliminations are scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. The motorcycles are not yet a regular part of the Federal-Mogul series, but they're rapidly becoming a fan favorite. It's no wonder. Powered by nitro fuel, the two-wheeled machines produce as much as 1,000 horsepower, reach speeds as high as 250 mph and complete a quarter-mile run in about six seconds. The front wheels lift off the ground at the starting line and remain airborne throughout each run. "You need a certain mindset to do this," nods Huff, a 34-year-old Seattle resident. "It obviously takes some courage and a little insanity. "You can talk to the other drag racers - the ones with cars - and none of them wants anything to do with this (motorcyles)." Based on their high rate of attrition, who can blame them? At a race in Spokane on Aug. 11, Canadian John Andres was killed after drifting off the track. In June, Rocky Mann of Phoenix, Ariz., and Dale Nungesser of Kansas - this year's national champion - were critically injured when Mann crossed into Nungesser's path near the finish line of a race in Denver. And motorcyle racing legend Jim McClure, whose bike Huff now owns, was badly injured following a mishap at Daytona Beach, Fla., in March. The peril the racers face is twofold. First, they must lay over the engines of their bikes when moving down the track, and if an engine blows up - a rather common occurrence considering they burn the highly volatile nitro - it can mean big trouble. The racers wear flak jackets to soften the blows of engine parts digging into their midsections. "I've broken some ribs," Huff says. "When one of the pistons comes flying through, it feels like you've been hit by a bull." The other major danger comes when a rider is thrown from his bike at such high rates of speed. With the front wheels airborn, the use of body English is the only way the bikes can be turned. And unlike drag cars, parachutes aren't used to slow down the motorcycles because the chutes lift up the back wheels, Huff says. The cyclists have formed their own group - the All Harley- Davidsion Drag Racing Association - and hope to become a regular part of Federal-Mogul and national NHRA events in the near future. Fans will be asked to fill out reponse cards this weekend. "The response we've gotten at other tracks has been incredible," Huff says. "People love speed, noise and a certain amount of danger, and these bikes have all of that." There is also something about nitro fuel that appeals to fans. "These motorcycles are like bombs," Huff says. "You tweak the engines to make the cycles go as fast as they can, but they'll blow up if you leave the fuse too short, so to speak." Meanwhile, Mark Hentges of Federal Way, Wash., and Rick Santos of Brentwood, Calif., will continue their rivalry in the Federal-Mogul dragster category this weekend. Santos, who moved from District 7 to District 6 (Northwest) this year, has won district and national titles for the past four years but trails Hentgen by six points in the District 6 standings. District 6 Federal-Mogul funny car leaders Pat and Bucky Austin are also expected to fight it out this weekend. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.