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Romine
Racing News
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Qualified sixth, seventh and eleventh, the entire RMC Racing Team was safely in the AHDRA Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley program. Lucky seven qualifier, Drums Brancaccio made his way to the final at the end of a gorgeous day.
Unfortunately, only two team members had the chance to advance. Number seven qualifier ran number eleven, pitting brother against brother in round one. Mike's qualifying day was a comedy of errors. "First round I ran 6.66 at 207. Second round I sat out because I have a little bit of a back injury and first round had aggravated it. Third round I went up there and everything went wrong. After the burnout the windshield was falling off. I was lined up in a slick spot and didn?t realize it. I had to push myself back and line up straight. A combination of stupid things happened. When I launched, I went left so I just shut it off. At least we were in."
Eliminations would put one brother in the trailer with a 6.789 at 219.76 miles per hour. "I spun the tire on the start, got out of it, and then back in it. Though the bike ran excellent, the spin at the starting line got me. It ran 219 miles per hour so the bike's running well. I've been having a problem with my bike not 60-footing so we changed it here in Indy. Saturday night we took the clutch all apart and had it machined locally trying to get it straightened out. Obviously we fixed the problem. But we've also created a new problem now that it's working correctly."
Going into that competition pass, Jack analyzed his qualifying performance. He'd smoked the tire on the first two qualifying runs and spun the tire. "We probably had a little bit better air than we've had at the last three races." In the final round Saturday, Jack ran his best at 6.831 at 209 miles per hour. "I finally had a good run. For the first round I figured Mike would run probably another 6.60. We went for that but he didn?t run quite as good, so we got lucky. He spun the tire a bit and we ran good enough to get around him." Jack won with a 6.739 at 202.91 miles per hour.
Two RMC bikes remained in round two. Drums took on the AHDRA point's leader and 2002 IHRA champ Doug Vancil. "Running against the number one racer in the world was a thrill. If you're not up on your game, he makes you look like a fool. I was very fortunate. I had a .030 light. Mikey (Romine) put a tune up in this PRP NitroHarley that was incredible. It actually spun the tire twice. It?s the fastest I've ever run. I'm excited." Vancil ran a 6.60 with tire spin against Drums" 6.501 at 215.72 miles per hour.
Jack took on Team Mancuso owner Johnny Mancuso, with a great run in the making. "We came back from the first round and Mike looked at all of the runs from the weekend. He made a decision to change the clutch and fuel system. It was on my best run ever when it broke a belt pretty early in the run. I was ahead of him when the belt broke." Jack finished with a 6.64 at 184 miles per hour against a 6.49.
Drums remained the solo RMC bike in the semi-finals. "I ran team owner Mancuso. In hindsight, I should have pushed the tree a little more and I didn't. I felt a little more relaxed against him for some reason. I know Stevie (Stordeur - Team Mancuso rider and Indy #1 qualifier) is real sharp. Against John, I duplicated the quarter final in the semifinal. I'll be ready for the final." Drums won with a 6.51 at 215.55 miles per hour against Mancuso's 6.566 at 205 miles per hour.
With the sunlight fading and rain on the way, AHDRA ran a right show and the final came around quickly. "In the final against Steve I got seven hundredths on him on the tree. In the final, we put a little bit more power in the bike. We spun the tire and put a hole out. He ran a 6.37 on me so it wasn't like it was going to be an easy run. Stevie is so consistent, such a good rider that if we didn?t go out there and try to put a good light on him and put more horsepower in the bike there was no beating him anyway. We gave it our best shot."
As always, Drums was ebullient with compliments. "I want to commend the Mancuso race team for running great. Of course I want to thank this incredible RMC Racing Team: Mike, Jack, Patty, Mitch, Dennis, Darren, Tommy and Ben. Also Karl Olsen. Every body did a great job. We were very consistent. Mike's tuning was absolutely superb. I want to thank him for my first 6.50's and my first over 215 miles per hour. It's something I've been wanting a long time. With this team, there's plenty more where that came from."
Drums ran his second 2003 final round and his personal bests at Indianapolis. "I was really excited coming into this event because I've never even been to Indy before - even to watch. Just to be here was exciting. Going to the finals with good numbers makes me just ecstatic. What a feeling. The weather was beautiful. The track was prepared great. I just feel bad that we couldn't stick it really good and give Steve something to fight with."
RMC Racing will take all four team bikes back to Sturgis, Michigan, freshen them for the NHRA Invitational at the Route 66 Nationals this weekend. All three RMC Racing Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harleys are qualified to the event. "This will be my first NHRA event with RMC. I'm hoping to run my first 20. Hey, let's get greedy if we're gonna want anything. I believe that the team will get its first 6.20 - at least the first 6.30," Drums gushed.
Mike Romine, Jack Romine and Drums Brancaccio are sponsored by RMC Racing, Romine Racing, Oceans 11 sports bar in Hollywood, FL, Chromatic Inc, Performance Machine, Ross Racing Pistons, Fram, and Autolite.
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