VOL. 50 ISSUE 25 JUNE 25, 2013
and rode his Viper Motorcycle
Company Buell to a narrow win
over White Alligator Suzuki's Jerry Savoie and then defeated his
teammate and crew chief Matt
Smith, when Smith also fouled at
the start.
"When I beat Matt that was
my lucky round and they say you
need at least one lucky round in
order to win one of these things.
I owe a lot to Matt and his wife,
Angie. Last winter I left the Star
team and I wasn't sure what I was
going to do, but Matt offered me
a deal and now I'm part of a program that can win races and contend for championships. I can't
really ask for anything more."
Hall reached his first final after
stopping Nitro Fish Suzuki's LE
Hall beat Adam Arana
in the final round when
Arana red-lighted.
P89
Briefly...
Sovereign/Star's Michael Ray
qualified on the pole for the first time
in his career with a 6.832 elapsed
time, which was also his personal
best performance. "We've been
going in the right direction with both
Sovereign/Star bikes especially
coming off the win in Englishtown,"
Ray said. "To unload off the truck
here and keep moving forward is a
testament to our team and what our
future holds." Ray and team owner/crew chief George Bryce even
decided not to participate in Saturday's final qualifying session as
they attempt to conserve parts for
the busy summer season. "We actually decided on Friday night that
if we ran well in Q3 we were not
going to come back out for the last
one," Ray said. "Before the run,
George came to us and said 'I don't
want anyone to get upset if we get
bumped. It doesn't mean anything
if we get bumped down to second,
third or fourth."
The inaugural New England Nationals was one of the most highly
anticipated events of the 2013 season and it more than exceeded the
hype with three days of sold out
crowds and with many of the fans
coming specifically to see the Pro
Stock Motorcycle class in action.
In turn, the Pro Stock Motorcycle
racers responded with 19 entries
competing for the 16 available qualifying spots, the most of any of the
four NHRA pro classes. The event
was such a success that NHRA has
announced a 10-year plan to return
to the facility with the NHRA Mello
Yello Drag Racing Series.