Schnitz 5th and Ready

Ryan Schnitz and the Trim-Tex/Muzzy's team were loose all day Sunday, the final day of Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying for the U.S. Nationals. "We had couple of 'malfunctions,'" team mechanic Kurt Matte says jokingly at the end of the day. "Ask Ryan about them."

A moment later, Schnitz walks up. "Hey Ryan, how was that last pass?" A quick, unnoticed glance over at Matte.

"Uh, it shook the tire kinda hard through first gear," says Ryan. "The shift points might have been a little high."

"Really? They were set too high or they were made too high."

"Made too high," admits Schnitz. "About 150 rpm over where they should be."

"His mind-to-finger reaction time was a little slow," offers Matte. And that's the way it was in the Schnitz/Muzzy pit—lots of laughs and good times. This team, with Schnitz qualified 5th, seemed poised to make a raceday run.

qualifying round 4
5th Ryan Schnitz left lane 7.091 at 187.70 mph

After this run, the team added a brand new, freshly overhauled tranny and new chain.

qualifying round 5
5th Ryan Schnitz right lane 7.136 at 184.02 mph

"The transmission seemed to work alright," said Matte. "Though we lost a little bit on the 60 foot."

"Missing the shift points may or may not have affected the overall performance of the bike," pondered Ryan. "We've tested different shift points and it really doesn't make a lot of difference. But it was a variable that was different from the morning pass. But it may have been the new chain or the transmission that slowed us. It's just another variable.

"We checked the new tranny and it was fine, but we switched back to the other transmission anyway. The chain stretched nicely."

Schnitz starts raceday against Antron Brown, who beat Ryan last time out in Memphis. "Payback's a *****," grinned Schnitz, who thanked Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Muzzy's, Schnitz Racing, Bates Leathers and NGK.