ELLIS RIDES SUZUKI TO QUARTERFINAL FINISH IN NORWALK


NORWALK, Ohio (June 29, 2008) – Chip Ellis rode the Schumacher Electric Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle to a quarterfinal finish at the Second Annual NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, today. It was the first time this season that Ellis - who has reached three semifinals, two finals and won once in the first seven events - has lost in the second round. But he maintained his hold on second in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series PSM point standings with the effort.

Ellis made the quickest run of the weekend to that point in first round of eliminations with a run of 6.997 seconds at 190.27 mph to defeat Angelle Sampey, whose 7.086/183.89 was disqualified after a red-light start. "That was an awesome run," Ellis said. "(Crew chief) Steve Tartaglia had the bike tuned up really well and I did a good job riding it."

Ellis recorded a 7.045/186.59 against fellow Suzuki rider Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals but lost on a holeshot by a mere four feet (or 13-thousandths of a second) to Johnson's slower 7.047/188.89.

"We're obviously disappointed because we lost," said Ellis. "The Schumacher Electric Suzuki ran pretty good today. I just got beat on a holeshot. It was a good tight race. If there is any good out of this it's that we won't lose any position in the points because Chris Rivas (No. 4), Matt Smith (No. 3) and Andrew Hines (No. 1) all lost in the second round too.

"We're still OK," added Ellis. "We went out there and did the best we could, and today just wasn't our day. We'll go back to the shop in Indianapolis and get right back at it and start working hard again tomorrow."

Next up for the Pro Stock Motorcycle class is the 29th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, Colo., July 11-13.