Bradford Falls to the Champ

"We put our best performance out there, but unfortunately so did he," Tom Bradford said about his round 1 match-up with 2-time defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champ Andrew Hines. "But I shot myself in the foot before any of that had a chance to happen."

eliminations round 1
(W) Andrew Hines .057 7.088 at 188.44 mph
Tom Bradford -.157(r) 7.136 at 186.92 mph

Bradford's was one of six redlights in the eight opening rounds, but his ET was second only to those of eventual winner Hines over the entire day of competition. "The biggest thing is we're happy and we feel the bike is back on track," said Tom. "We're pumped up about the Hal's Speedshop/Balbayis Asset Consulting Buell. We feel it's a contender and the class knows that we're back after our final round of qualifying and the run today. Rob (crew chief Rob Schopf) feels like the motor's in real good condition and Jim (clutch tuner Schneider) is getting a handle on the new clutch.

"Last year we had good luck in Vegas and then went out first round in Pomona. Hopefully that reverses this year and we have a good race out there. It was spinning the tire really hard there last year and we kind of chased our tail. I think we got our tail chasing out of the way here."

NHRA/POWERade Point Standings
9th Tom Bradford 630

Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle
14th Tom Bradford 180

Current Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew Championship Point Standings
6th Tom Bradford/Rob Schopf 349

Visit Tom's website at http://www.tombradfordracing.com

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 Vanson Leathers at http://www.vansonleathers.com
Find out more about S&S Cycle at http://www.sscycle.com
Find out more about Buell Motor Co. at http://www.buell.com
Find out more about Mustang Shelly's at http://www.mustangshellys.com
Find out more about Red Line Oil at http://www.redlineoil.com
Find out more about MicroBlue Racing at http://www.microblueracing.com
Find out more about Autolite at http://www.autolite.com
Find out more about Simpson at http://www.simpsonraceproducts.com
Find out more about Wiseco at http://www.wiseco.com
Find out more about Rinehart Racing at http://www.rinehartracing.com
Find out more about EBC Brakes at http://www.ebcbrakes.com
Find out more about the NHRA at http://www.nhra.com
Contact Tom Bradford at (262) 814-7282, tom.bradford@halshd.com