All-Bike Drags At Lions the Big Guns Share A $1500 Purse.
ALL-BIKE DRAGS AT LIONS The Big Guns Share a $1500 Purse.
DAN ZEMAN
IT WAS NOT a record meet, but nonetheless the all-bike AHRA drags at California's Lions strip drew more than 150 competitors from all parts of the country to share the $1500 purse.
As AHRA rules split the bikes into 30 classes, everyone had a good chance at the pot. The fuel• division gets the biggest share, with less going to the modified classes, and even less to the street bikes. Sonny Raslavski took the low e.t. award for the standing quarter-mile with a time of 9.49 sec. [[Lad this been a record meet, he would have smashed the existing AURA record, which stands at 9.62. Sonny, of course, is aiming at the 8-sec. bracket, which has yet to be touched by any bike.
Doug Schwerma appeared with three machines, one of them a twin-engine Yamaha dragster displacing 700 cc. Un fortunately it blew up. So he turned his attention to a fuel-burning 500-cc Ka wasaki, which also destroyed itself be fore he could drop the clutch. Persever ing, he took his single-engine 350-cc Yamaha gas dragster in hand and won his class with a best run of 10.91 and 121.21.
The top fuel money in eliminations went to Joe Smith's 102-cubic-inch Har ley-Davidson. He also won some extra cash by turning the best speed of the day-155.97 mph. Junior fuel honors went to Gary Richard's Triumph, 10.36 at 131.64. Tony Nicosia is still at it with his production 500-cc Kawasaki. He won against 13 other entries in the D Street class with a run of 12.40 sec. at 108,82 mph. He doesn't weigh much more than 100 lb., which helps him quite a bit. Quite interestingly, his time was better than any of the street bikes runnmg in other, and usually faster, classes. Closest to him was the C Street 750-cc Norton of George Jonovich, 12.74 at 104.16. The winning Harleys in class A and B Street turned middle to high 1 3s. Fastest of the modified gassers was the H-D of Ed McDonald, running in B class, with 11.78 at 117.18. Very close at 12.16 and 109.80, though, and a winner of the C Modified class was a Triumph Trident, ridden by Joy Hous ton. A "draggin' "lady, no less.
