Bradford has it Together for Raceday
Despite qualifying 14th and facing red hot Karen Stoffer in round 1, Tom Bradford is quietly confident about his raceday chances at the U.S. Nationals. "Karen's got a fast motorcycle, but we're up for the challenge," said Bradford. "It's gonna be a really good drag race."
The main information that the Balbayis Asset Consulting/Hal's Speedshop team gleaned on Sunday was that a faulty sensor had them chasing windmills for two days. "We were having what appeared to be pan vac issues. That created a lot of undue stress. We thought we had an engine problem and the reality is that we didn't."
Through all the changes, though, the bike's performance remained maddeningly consistent.
qualifying round 4
14th Tom Bradford right lane 7.145 at 186.02 mph
"We're trying to get this thing to leave the staring line," Tom said between rounds. "Jim (clutchman Schneider) is having an off weekend. He picks the U.S. Nationals to stop showing up!" Luckily, the race is on a weekday.
qualifying round 5
14th Tom Bradford left lane 7.115 at 186.98 mph
best of 7.098
"Jim's frustrated with himself. He doesn't feel like the bike's running the front half as it should. We were fighting tire shake, and we pow-wowed between rounds and came up with a clutch tune-up. We did pretty well with a 1.08 60 foot time.
"I think we came in here and we've been chasing the tune a little bit. I'm not sure why that is, especially since we tested here. We've obviously been consistent through the five laps, but not where we feel the performance should be. For the last five races we've been able to run at or near the front of the pack. The last session we were fifth quickest, so hopefully that means we've turned the corner."
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, EBC Brakes, 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
Contact Tom Bradford at (262) 814-7282,
tom.bradford@halshd.com
