Stop the Complaining Already
Written by David Lamm · March 23, 2005
Andrew Hines broke the coveted six second barrier this past weekend in the NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle category. The chorus of complaints has yet to fade. The Suzuki riders are no doubt feeling a little left behind because a Harley-Davidson was the one to take home the prize money and Hines put his name in the record books. Much like Kenny Bernstein will forever be know as the first man to break the 300 mph barrier, Hines and his Harley V-twin will be synonymous with breaking the motorcycle six second barrier. Suzuki rider, Antron Brown, is complaining that the Harley’s have an unfair advantage. To that I say, “Get over it”.
Orange County Register: Spinning his Wheels
Brown is an excellent rider with a number of national event wins to his credit. Brown is a true competitor and wants to win all the time. He does have a valid complaint that there are different sets of rules for Suzukis compared to Harleys in the NHRA rule book. Read Damian Dottore’s article if you want a break down of what is different. The fact remains, Brown knew these rules were in place before the start of the season. Had Brown been the first to break the record and not Hines, I am sure the Harley guys would complain they are the ones with the performance disadvantage. Last season the Harleys were making performance strides by leaps and bounds and the NHRA slapped them with a 40 pound weight penalty mid-season. Sure the Harley teams complained but they understood the changes and played ball. And for the record, after those rule changes were made, a Harley did not win a race for the remainder of the 2004 season. The Harley teams understand that the NHRA makes the rules and if they want to run at their races, they need to play by the NHRA rules. Don’t like the NHRA rules? Go race AMA Pro Star.
Diluting Brown’s argument that the Harleys are so ahead of the performance curve is the fact that during preseason testing both Brown and teammate Angelle Sampey were the only riders to dip into the six second range. On top of that, a glance at the POWERade top ten points standings has two Suzukis sitting No. 1 and No. 2 in the standings. If this advantage is so strong, how in the world did Steve Johnson and Craig Treble meet in the finals in Gainesville, Fla. this past weekend, both on top of Suzukis? We all know one race is not an indicator of what to expect the entire season but if this performance advantage is so great why aren’t the four Harley riders all sitting in the top four spots in the points? I like Antron Brown and think he is a good rider. I am just afraid he and other Suzuki riders are crying sour grapes because they didn’t get the record. Had he, his teammate or another Suzuki rider taken the six second honor this would be a non-issue.
Comments
7 Responses to “Stop the Complaining Already”
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It’s nice to know something made in the US of A can still beat an import. Go get ‘em H-D!!
I agree, it’s nice to see an American motorcyle make the imported bikes eat dust.
And this inspite of thw NHRA’s best efforts on favor of the imports.
OF COURSE THERE ARE DIFFERENCES IN THE RULES…THERE TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT ANIMALS.THE RULES ARE NOT THAT MUCH DIFFERENT WHEN YOU CONSIDER WHICH RULE DIFFERENCE GOES WITH EACH SCOOTER BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE IN ENGINE OPERATION. THE FACT CANT BE OVERLOOKED OR DENIDE THAT V-H TEAM AND COUPLE OTHERS DESERVE A HUGE CREDIT CAUSE MAN THEVE GOTTHOSE OLD IRON VTWIN HORSES A FLY”N” AND AS AN AMERICAN I THANK AND APPLAUDE THEM…
It is great, and nhra does seem to have a handle on keeping both sides upset so it must be pretty fair.
Also cool was seeing Steve Johnson win.
hope he gets some $
Rules should be equal or have a 2 cylinder class and 4 cylinder class.160 ci. verses 92 ci in the same class is wrong.Plus Harley can use FI. and Suzuki, carbs.
I was there Sunday in Gainesville, the word Suziki was mentioned 37 times by the anouncer the first round, H-D of Buell was 0. I hear the harley riders are lightening their trailers. The Schumacher crybaby team wants the superior H-D’s to add hitches and pull their trailers if a 10% displacement edge can’t make them win 100% of the time. I think the US Army should have a Pro Stock Bike team. The Japanese Army does OK with their Suzukis. Remember Pearl Harbor anyone. Maybe Jane Fonda could be the mascot.Or maybe only allow Schumacher Suzukis to compete, then they would never lose.
should be 2 classes, v-twin & 4 cyl…if they were equal, why would you give H-d 160 c.i. to compete against 92 c.i engines? hard to keep things “equal” as advances take place..specially with H-D being fairly new to the arena vs the 4 cyl bikes…