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Team
Half Fast Drag Bike Racing Rolls at THE ROCK!
October 18, 2007
The All Harley Drag Racing Association (AHDRA) Screamin’
Eagle Performance (SEP, 11.50 index class) racer Chip Sutinen
of Team Half Fast Drag Bike Racing of Ypsilanti, Michigan rocks the dragway during the AHDRA’s Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts Nationals at
Rockingham, North Carolina on October 13 & 14, 2007.
Sutinen qualified #12 on Saturday for the SEP
field after a rocky start when a slippery launch put him into the
opponent’s lane at the starting line during the first round of ET
qualifying. On race day Sunday, Sutinen raced some of the very best in the Eastern
Division as he worked his way to the finals round after round. The 1st round win came with
an 11.512 second pass on the 11.50 index.
The 2nd Round was won on a holeshot
with a reaction time of .055, on an 11.673 second run at 109.48 mph to Joey Talbott’s .074 reaction
time, 11.655 seconds at 99.14 mph.
The Round 3 win came with an 11.654 to Nate
Carnahan’s 11.702. The Semifinals
brought another tough and formidable competitor, Charlie Walker, and Sutinen came out with the win in that round with a
.046 reaction time, running 11.539 seconds at 114.02 mph to Walker’s .121
reaction time, 11.457 seconds at 99.20 mph.
In the Finals, Chip Sutinen faced
another mentor and friend, #4 National
plate holder JP Hendrzak. Chip ran an 11.533 on the 11.50 index
at 108.95 mph and forced another break out for his opponent who ran
11.456 at 96.42 mph.
This is Sutinen’s second appearance in
the finals this season and his first appearance in the Winner’s Circle in
only his 2nd year competing in the SEP class.
“I want to thank the good Lord first and foremost, and my awesome
and loving wife, Maus, who together have made my dreams a reality. The Rock has always been a special
track for the Maus and me,“ says Sutinen.
“October 18th is the anniversary of when we tied the
knot at The Strip in Las Vegas on the
starting line during the AHDRA World Finals event in 2003, so the AHDRA
event in North Carolina
in October has become the place we celebrate that. The Rock is also where I captured the
#1 qualifier spot in Syn3ET in 2006.
To win here for us is probably like winning Indy for the NHRA
folks.”
This victory at the Eastern Finals catapulted Sutinen
to finish the season in the top 10 of the Eastern Division – moving him
from #13 all the way up to #7.
Team Half Fast would like to thank: Supernate of Super V Cycles in Riverview, Florida for
his valued friendship, tutelage, and remarkable motors; Airgas of Ann Arbor, Michigan (http://www.airgas.com); Product One Autobody
of Taylor, Michigan, for the awesome paint on the drag bike; and Sensational Signs and Graphics of
Fayetteville, North Carolina, for truly sensational graphics.
We’re looking forward to our version of the “western swing” in
November when we go to Pomona, California to race on hallowed grounds,
and to then go on to the Finals in Las Vegas and visiting family,
friends, and race hard to the finish of the season.
Prepared by
Sharon Sutinen, Team Half Fast Drag Bike Racing
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