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Romine
Racing News
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Mike Romine visited a local Chiropractor today and he's better. And he's icing it. In round two qualifying, he clocked a 6.552 at 218 miles per hour pass, his best yet on the new Chromatic Nuclear Tomato. Making no changes to the bike, waiting for the air to get better, he clocked a 6.56. Most importantly, he's on the brink of the most important component of winning Nitro Harley - consistency.
Romine's personal best is a 6.51 from Rockingham Spring 2001. His Nuclear Tomato best is a 6.54 from his national event last weekend at Norwalk Raceway Park for the AHDRA Nationals. About the second round qualifying, he said, 'I was happy with it. But the bike didn't leave well. The early numbers, the 60 foot and 330 foot times were a little slower than they should be. But the bike is running really good at the second half of the racetrack. The second half was a 2.25 for the second eighth mile. We ran Johnny Mancuso and he was a good bike length ahead of me. I don't know if he had problem or what. This thing just drove right past him at the top end of the track. He only ran 190 so he may have had some sort of problem.'
A fan walked up and asked, 'You made it look so easy. Was it?' Romine, 'Yeah, after that big bump at the finish line. It ran 212 last weekend at Norwalk, Ohio.' Fan, 'It was hotter than this. That's a pretty big jump 212 to 218. These things are awesome. At night it's even better. I drove from Chicago to see you guys. You guys and the Pro mod cars.'
Romine did basically nothing between Norwalk and Cordova. Just normal maintenance. 'I haven't been able to get as aggressive on the starting line because it seems to want to spin the tire. So I have to be a little softer than I'd like to be. This thing just trucks on the top end. Now I have to get it to leave the line without worrying about it spinning. We will. But we haven't yet.'
Going into the final round, Romine had a decision to make. He'd topped the IHRA miles per hour record. 'What we have to decide is whether we want to back-up the record or be #1 and tune to that. I think we'll go for number one qualifier, because you'll run the number eight qualifier. If we have the top end right, we can work on that miles per hour tomorrow.'
In the final round of qualifying, Romine's 6.55 was beaten, making him #2 for the show. 'The run was excellent. The bike nosed over just before the finish line. Just before. It was a good clean run. We didn't change anything. So we went a 6.55 then a 6.56. That consistency that I've been talking about, maybe we can get there. My whole plan for this round was to try to get some consistency, whether I stayed first or went to third. Second. We'll take it.'
'We run Jay in the first round. I'm just going to try to stay consistent. If somebody can run better than those mid-fifties, then they can beat me. In Richmond, when I was number one qualifier, I tried to set the world on fire and it cost me. I'm going to try to run another mid-fifty tomorrow. I need to go rounds for points. After sitting in the bleachers watching after first round, I've learned my lesson. If you can run mid- fifties and be good on the tree, you can win.'
Mike Romine is sponsored by Chromatic, Competition, Inc, Andrews Products, Saddlemen, Pro Racing Products and Romine Racing.
Watch for IHRA on TNN this summer. Keep up with Mike Romine at www.mikeromine.com and featured at the site Nitro Harleys.
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