Bradford Second at Brainerd

Brainerd, Minn. (8/11/06) -- "Brainerd is a good family thing for us," said Milwaukee-based NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Tom Bradford. "It's about an 8 hour drive. This is what we call 'Up North.' This is what we used to do on the weekends-hang around campfires and eat s'mores."

And what Bradford is doing so far this weekend is sitting second after the first day of qualifying for the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

qualifying round 1
7th right lane Tom Bradford 7.185 at 185.10 mph

qualifying round 2
2nd left lane Tom Bradford 7.119 at 187.08 mph

"Tom 'From out of Nowhere' Bradford" is how NHRA announcer Bob Frey described the 5-time AHDRA national champion Bradford.

"I guess the biggest thing that I've got on my mind is staying consistent through qualifying and eliminations," said Bradford. "Right now I really want to get into the Ringers Pro Bike Battle. That would be the first time for us to be in an event like that. It's high stakes and lots of money. I think we could make that a focal point for these last two races until Indy, so we're doing what have to do to get there."

Will seeking qualifying consistency hamper Saturday tuning creativity? "No, we're not like that. We feel confident enough in the machine that if we get the data right we'll be there in qualifying. It was not right after the first pass. The clutch was off, the air-fuel was off, and we had to do some tuning there.

"It's really cool to work on these things strategically, tuning on these things from round to round and seeing the results. We'd make changes in the AHDRA and maybe we'd see it, maybe we wouldn't. Maybe it's the more consistent tracks, but we've got some good assets as a team and we're really gelling."

Tom thanked sponsors Balbayis Asset Consulting, Hal's Speedshop, Hal's H-D/Buell, Vanson Leathers, Stitch-it-Embroidery, CRD Inc., T-N-S Machining, S&S Cycle, Buell Motor Co., Mustang Shelly's Roadhouse, Red Line Oil, MicroBlue Racing, Autolite, Simpson, Wiseco, Rinehart Racing, and The Carburetor Shop for their support of the Hal's/Thunder Eagle team.

Find out more about Hal's at http://www.halspa.com
Find out more about the NHRA at http://www.nhra.com