Tri-Ryche Racing 2007 Results Page
12/17/07: Tri-Ryche Racing has concluded its 2007 racing season. Our primary focus was the AHDRA western division races, with some local racing at Barona Drag Strip. We also went to the AHDRA non-points race in Sturgis. In the Pro Gas class, Karen competed in 5 of the 6 Western division races as well as local races and Sturgis. Thanks in large part to the good work of Bob and Eric Bennett of Bennett's Performance, we have no major issues with the motor this year! In fact, there were no issues with it whatsoever. Same goes for the transmission - thanks to Paul Matyka of Riverside Cycle Machine for his great work! Even with our limited race schedule, Karen finished 8th in the National points standings in the Pro Gas class. In the Western division she finished 5th. In addition to that she was the runner-up in the points standing at our local track, Barona Drag Strip, in the motorcycle class. In Sturgis, Karen was the #1 qualifier - her first in Pro Gas. In the Super Sport class, Jack competed in all 6 of the AHDRA Western division races as well as local races and Sturgis. With this limited race schedule Jack finished out of the top 10 in National points standings and 6th in the Western division. The Sportster is still running great, now we need to get more green lights !!! Thanks to all of our sponsors and supporters: Bigg's Harley-Davidson, Bennett's Performance, Lyndall Racing Brakes, S&S Cycle, Motorcycle Dynamics Racing (MDR), Henderson Performance (HP), Pops' Machining, SoCal Netscum, The Heart Ride. 11/19/07: Karen and I traveled to Las Vegas NV to compete in the AHDRA Rush Las Vegas Nationals, the AHDRA season finale. Karen competed in the Pro Gas class and I competed in the Super Sport class. I also competed in the Screamin' Eagle High Stakes Shootout. The High Stakes Shootout is a bracket race with a payout of $12,000 to the winner and $3,000 to the runner-up. I chose to use my Springer Softail for this event since I have been successful in bracket racing with it in the past. I was a little rusty with my reaction times, but I was able to win rounds 1 and 2. In round 3 my late reaction times caught up to me and I lost. I dialed-in 12.55 and ran 12.50. In Pro Gas Karen qualified #5 in a field that had 11 competitors. She ran a best of 8.272 seconds which is really good considering the elevation and corrected air density. In round 1 of eliminations Karen was paired up with the #8 qualifier and she ran an 8.371 for the win. In round 2, she was paired up with the #2 qualifier. He had some trouble and shut down about half trak. It looked like Karen was headed for an easy win, but she had red lit by .005 seconds! It was a heartbreaker. CLICK HERE to watch a video of one of Karen's passes. In Super Sport, I qualified 14th in a field of 30. The bike ran very well and I had to slow down just a little bit to reach the 10.30 index. In round 1 I had a good reaction time. For the first time in a while it was not a red light. But I lost anyway, by a mere .0012 seconds! 11/12/07: Karen and I competed in the AHDRA California Bike Week Nationals held in Pomona, CA in November. Karen competed in the Pro Gas class and I competed in the Super Sport class. This race was a bit unusual for several reasons. The event was held on a Friday/Saturday whereas the events are normally Saturday/Sunday. Also this event had time restrictions due to noise curfews and the lack of track lighting. Given the time restrictions, we were limited to 2 qualifying runs instead of the usual 3. Karen ran a best of 8.237 which left her qualified in the #5 spot. In eliminations Karen was paired up with the #6 qualifier and ran her best pass of the event, a 8.13, for the win. In round 2 Karen was paired up with NHRA Pro Stock rider Hector Arana. He runs one of the G2/Buell and is capable of running well into the 6's. The only way we figured to win this round was if he broke or red lit. That didn't happen so Karen was eliminated but she ran a good 8.19 second pass. In Super Sport, Jack qualified dead last in a field of 25. That's not always a bad indication in an index class. In this case, Jack ran under the 10.30 index on both of his qualifying runs. In the first round, he red lit and was eliminated. The red lights have been an on-going issue that Jack needs to address by modifying the bike's reaction time as well as his own. 08/28/07: We are pleased to announce that Lyndall Racing Brakes is now a sponsor of the Tri-Ryche Racig team! We are extremely happy to have LRB as a sponsor. If you have any questions about any LRB product, please let us know or visit the LRB web site:  We are now using the LRB Apex performance rotors and gold brake pads. The Apex rotors are extremely light weight and the gold brake pads are the best in the industry. Check them out! 08/28/07: Tri-Ryche Racing has returned from the AHDRA Salem Harley-Davidson Northwest Nationals in Woodburn, OR. Karen was not able to make the trip due to other priorities, but Jack competed in the Super Sport and ET classes. There is much good news to celebrate. In Super Sport Jack was the number 1 qualifier! Jack ran a 10.306 second pass on the 10.30 Super Sport index, just 0.006 seconds from a perfect pass. Although the bike was dialed in for the 10.30 index, Jack's reaction times were not positive. In elimination round 1, Jack red lit and gave the win away. His reaction time was -0.020 and that put him out of competition in the Super Sport class. Jack knew that his red light reaction times were a problem and has been making adjustments. Just before eliminations began, Jack decided to run the ET class. Sometimes racers use the ET class to test the performance of the bike under race day conditions. It is also a way for Jack to work off some of the race day jitters and get more relaxed. Jack has a history of doing well in the ET class with several career wins and he was ranked #2 nationally a few years ago. This strategy worked great and Jack won 5 rounds to get the finals. In the finals, Jack fouled at the starting line and lost. Runner-up is a great performance considering Jack did not plan to run this class until race day. Also in the semi-final round of ET, something in the motor broke. We will have to tear down the motor to determine what failed and apply the appropriate fixes before our next race. As always, thanks for your support! 08/16/07: Karen and I just returned from the AHDRA Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Race at the Rally in Stugis, SD. Karen qualified #1 in the Pro Gas class! This is Karen's first #1 qualifier in the tough Pro Gas class. In eliminations, Karen worked her way through the field to the finals. A weak battery would put a damper on an otherwise excellent outing and Karen would have to settle for runner-up.  In the Super Sport class, Jack qualified #2. Unfortunately, he lost in the first round of eliminations. We are very excited about our Sturgis performance and are gearing up to our next event at the Salem Harley-Davidson® Northwest Nationals in Woodburn, OR. 06/25/07: Karen and I have returned from the AHDRA Kresto Pacific Northwest Nationals. Karen did great in qualifying the Pro Gas bike and eded up 3rd with a best time of 8.18 seconds! Jack did ok and qualified 12th in the Super sport class with a 10.441 second pass. Unfortunately it is Seattle and rain forced the cancellation of the race. Its very unfortunate since we were very optimistic about our chances to win in our respective class. Even though the race was called, Jack did earn enough qualifying points to take over the lead in the points race for the Western Division Championship. Karen is a solid 3rd in the Western Division Championship in the Pro Gas class. 05/09/07: Karen and I have just returned from the Rucker Performance Lonestar Nationals in Dallas, TX. Karen competed in the Pro Gas class and I competed in the Super Sport class. Due to the wind, the pro classes were limited to 1/8th mile action. In addition to the wind, it was hot and humid with a little rain from time to time. We are experimenting with a new clutch material on the Pro Gas bike and round 1 qualifying resulted in a 5.35 pass for Karen in Pro Gas. I had installed a new clutch pack with Raybestos friction material and that was the first pass with them. It was a bit of an unusual launch and without a data logging computer, I'm not sure exactly what happened. I decided to go back to the carbon-ceramic clutch pack for the remainder of the event. Qualifying round 2 was weird. Karen got lined up and ready to go, but she never took off. From my perspective it was as if the bike was in neutral when she let go of the clutch. She almost fell over on the starting line. I ran up there as she hit the kill switch. It turned out that her face shield had completely fogged up and she couldn't see - so she aborted the run. Qualifying round 3 was great. Karen ran perfectly straight and had a 5.188 pass at 130 mph - just what I expected in the first place. I was a real happy camper. With that pass, Karen qualified 4th in a 6-bike field and she was about .1 seconds slower than the racer she had in first round eliminations. We were hopeful that she could make up the time on the starting line, but she red lit by .012 seconds and was eliminated. I did pretty good in Super Sport. I had a good pass on my first qualifying run and ended up qualifying 6th in a field of 22. I won my first eleimination round with a .001 reaction time and was way out in front. In the second elimination round I was paired up with my friend Dan Hope. He red lit and I advanced to the next round. I was up against a new guy on a Destroyer. Talked myself into a -.003 red light and was eliminated. We are going to test the new clutch and make some minor modifications in preparation for the next event. As always, we appreciate your support. 04/27/07: Bob and Eric Bennett at Bennett's Performance did a great job rebuilding our Pro Gas motor. We highly recommend them for all of your high-performance Harley-Davidson needs. Street, strip, land speed. All of it! Check out Bennett's Performance's new web site!  04/19/07: Karen and I had the pleasure of attending Bigg's Tax Relief Event on April 15th. Jim Lillibridge invited us to come down to display our bikes and do a couple of burnouts on their V-Rod Destroyer. It was great fun and we were very impressed with the Destroyer. 04/18/07: Karen and I competed in the AHDRA western division opener in Phoenix, March 31 and April 1. Karen competed in the Pro Gas class and I competed in the Super Sport class. In Pro Gas Karen qualified 4th with a best ET of 8.41 seconds at 156 mph. That's not quite as good as we had hoped, but we are still adjusting the tune-up on the new motor. Bob and Eric Bennett from Bennett's Performance were on hand to help dial-in the tune-up. Karen qualified well in the top half of the 11-bike field and we felt good about our chances in the early elimination rounds. Karen won her first round running an 8.36 at 155 mph. In round 2, Karen had a competition bye run when her opponent had problems in the burnout box and was not able to make the run. Karen ran an 8.34 at 156 in round that round. We're getting better with the tune-up even though track conditions are not quite as good. In round 3 Karen was paired up with the reigning class champ. She ran an 8.55 at 155 and was eliminated. That was the semi-finals and culminated a good season opener. We have some good data for the new motor and feel that we can capitalize on the data and be well prepared for the next race. In Super Sport, I qualified second with a 10.318 run on the 10.30 index. I have 3 very good qualifying runs and was very happy with the Sportster's performance. I won elimination round 1 and 2 and went into round 3 feeling very confident. In round 3 after I launched the Sportster it almost immediately lost fire. I knew right away what had happened - I forgot to turn on the gas! That's a dumb mistake that cost a win and it will not happen again. I was eliminated in the quarter finals. Looking back, I feel that we had a successful season opener. We got some good data on the Pro Gas bike and I will have a new routine on the Sporter to ensure that everything is right before staging. As always, we appreciate your support. 01/03/2007: Tri-Ryche Racing is happy to be sponsored by Henderson Performance. Henderson Performance, owned and operated by Ken Henderson, is a performance-oriented company specializing in cylinder head porting services for street to strip applications. Learn more about Henderson Performance by clicking here. |