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Romine
Racing News
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The first three races of the 2004 season saw final round appearances of Steve Stordeur and Mike Romine - with the same result, a win for Stordeur and a runner-up for Romine. This would be an omen for the entire season - as the points battle came down to the final race in Vegas and Stordeur came out with the #1 plate and Romine came out with the #2 plate. The final round of the final race would also see this perennial match-up once again as Stordeur defeated Romine.
Romine summed it up,'It was very strange the way this season ended - almost like it was destiny that we finish #1 and #2 in points. Coming into Vegas Steve had the championship pretty much wrapped up, but I was in third and involved in a real battle for second with Mancuso and Vancil. When both Mancuso and Vancil failed to qualify at Vegas, the door was wide open. Saturday night after qualifying, we sat down and figured out that I had to go to the final round to get the #2 plate and that was exactly what we did. Though we wanted to win the race, our main focus and purpose at Vegas was to do what we had to do to get the #2 plate.' Destiny? Well, when was the last time two front-runners like Mancuso and Vancil failed to qualify at the same event?
Romine continued, 'The bike really never came around at Vegas the way I wanted it to. We struggled all the way up to the semi-final round. When I ran the 6.55 in the semis, I thought I finally had a handle on it.' The team went up for the final round thinking they were in good shape for a possible repeat of the Rockingham performance, but destiny had other plans. 'Steve and I were side-by-side. I was just starting to make a move past him when the input shaft broke. I don't know that I would have won, but it was definitely going to be my best run of the weekend.'
There was not a lot of disappointment in the Romine Racing pits. Though a victory would have put a nice exclamation point on the season, a #2 plate and the title 'World's Quickest Harley' were just rewards. Crew chief, Patty Romine, voiced her feelings, 'It has been an incredible season. We always knew this bike was capable of great things, but finding the right combination was a real challenge. When we lost our main financial support half-way through the season, we really had to dig deep to keep going. I guess that is the most rewarding thing of all. When the chips were down, we rose to the challenge. I am very proud of this team.'
Mike's teammate, meanwhile, was struggling with his own demons. In his first round of competition, Mark Conner would suffer a red-light start followed by a lane crossing violation by his opponent, Tracy Kile. Assuming that Mark would be awarded the win because of drag racing's 'first or worst' rule, the team readied Mark's bike for second round. Mark and his second-round opponent were on the line, ready to fire, when AHDRA officials ran out of the tower to inform Mark that he had NOT been reinstated as winner after the red-light. In a very controversial move, AHDRA had disqualified both Mark and his first-round opponent so that neither rider advanced to the second round. A confused and emotional Mark Conner would go on to compete in the 'Outlaw' race for non-qualifed and first-round losing bikes.
With the 2004 season in the books, Romine Racing now looks forward to a short period of rest and relaxation before starting to prepare for the 2005 season.
Mike Romine is sponsored by Romine Cams, Chromatic, Performance Machine, Lucas Oil, Fram, Autolite, Ross Pistons, Mickey Thompson Tires and Competition Distributing.
Mark Conner is sponsored by Alamo City Harley-Davidson, Lucas Oil, Fram, Autolite and Competition Distributing.
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