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Romine
Racing News
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'Back' on track, Mike Romine rode his Nuclear Tomato to the number five qualifying position at the final exhibition event for the Screamin' Eagle NitroHarleys. "It was a tough field. It went from number one at 6.38 to number eight at 6.55. We had all three bikes in, so it was a good event."
Mike qualified fifth with a 6.484 at 213.87. Jack Romine had a 6.513 at 214.54 for sixth. Drums Brancaccio fought hard for a 6.545 at 212.56.
Eliminations went quickly for the RMC team. Mike's Tomato broke a belt during round one eliminations, clocking only an 11.252 at 70.55 miles per hour. "It was great to be back on the Tomato, but we're back with the belt problem and a bit frustrated. All in all, it was a good weekend, though we didn't have the results we wanted."
Drums Brancaccio was out next for the team, against number one qualifier and AHDRA points' leader Doug Vancil. In the closest pair of eliminations, Drums put it on the trailer after a .0066 margin of victory for Vancil. Drums' costly .037 reaction time had him catching up the entire pass. Making ground, Drums clocked a 6.55 and simply had to watch him pull away to the win with a slower e.t. at 6.57. "It's tough to go out like that. We finally have the bike doing what it's supposed to do and wham, this happens. Though I'm embarrassed for my team, it won't keep me down. I'll be working at Vegas next weekend harder than ever."
With continually improving conditions, the RMC team, like most of the field, didn't get too greedy with their tune-ups. Though Jack Romine AND his competition slowed in round one, Romine lost the most ground with a 6.645 at 208.91, putting the last RMC bike in the transporter for the weekend.
With three men out first round, Romine wasn't blue. He was looking at the green. "We've had one win and three final round appearances out of ten AHDRA events. We've qualified for all three NHRA Exhibition events. It was great to have Mark Conner win for the RMC Racing team in Chicago." Mike Romine is currently second in the AHDRA 2003 Points Championship chase. Drums falls third only two points behind Mike. Jack sits eighth with a reasonable shot at fourth behind his teammates. "I'm glad to be feeling good and back on the Tomato. We didn't have the finish results we wanted, but it was a good weekend. All three bikes were in the quickest field ever. We're in the top of the AHDRA points and headed to Las Vegas. The team has worked hard all year fielding three bikes, sometimes four, and we're on our way to the reward for our work."
Smiling his drive from Dallas to Las Vegas, Romine plans his weekend. "Patty's taken the month off from teaching. We?ll stop in Albuquerque to see Doug and Julie Vancil on the way to Vegas. We'll race then we'll tour our way home. We have the street bike in here. We're planning to enjoy what got us into racing in the first place riding an American made motorcycle." Remember that the first AHDRA Las Vegas event winner clocked 6.40's, Romine said, "We should be able to run at least that there. That track's usually in great shape. After a season of racing, this one will be great."
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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