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Romine
Racing News
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Great performance and consistency are tools for winning events. Mike Romine has both. But winning rounds gets you to the winner's circle. THAT is what Romine intends to do in New York. Win rounds.
In 2001, Mike Romine has continually improved his Chromatic Nitro Harley fondly called the Nuclear Tomato. It's a 6.50 motorcycle, no question. His quest for IHRA's Empire Nationals in New York this weekend is to dip into the 6.40's.
Romine ended his last IHRA event in Cordova, IL with the quickest pass in eliminations. But he didn't win the round, which stokes the fire event hotter for round winning. "The last pass it made was 6.59, low e.t. of eliminations and I lost. It ran well at Canada, Norwalk and Cordova in June, so we didn't change anything. We just took it apart and freshened it. I'm going to try to run New York and Stanton without having to tear it apart." But if it takes working on the motors to earn the big trophy, Romine won't mind.
Starting this weekend in New York, the Nitro Harleys will return to running four rounds of qualifying. "I'm going to try to run the first pass just like we ran it in Cordova and try to get us a mid to low 6.50 out of it so we can be assured of being in the field. We'll use the other passes to try to run our first 6.40. I don't want to try to run 6.40's at the beginning. I want it to run like it has the last three to four races. That makes it easier to try some new things. If we go out and smoke the tire first round, we won't be able to try new things until we're qualified. I think the bike will, if the track's in good shape, and it cools off like it's supposed to, run 6.40's over there."
Romine's optimism is contagious. He began the season with a new bike and has not failed to qualify. He's qualified number one and he's won at least one round in IHRA competition. Not bad for a veteran on a new tank. "So far, we've had good luck not breaking parts, so we've been able to tune on the bike's fuel system and clutch. The motor has been holding up which makes us run more consistent."
Though it's easy to think about the race in his back door in two weeks at Mid-Michigan, Romine has his mind ready for New York. We take each race one at a time. We'll work on qualifying safely in the field then playing with the set-up."
Romine stoked the fire for his New York trip by winning last weekend in Bowling Green, Kentucky on his Pro Fuel bike, the Flyin' Banana. "AMRA runs a Quick 8 which consists of both Pro Fuel and Top Fuel motorcycles. We qualified third Saturday with a 7.41 and won with a 7.30 best of the weekend. It's not a great performance for us because we're fine-tuning the newest parts that Competition Inc manufactures. Still, it's a win."
The weekend sounds simple but was event filled. In the third qualifying round, Romine and the rider in the next lane had both fired and begun their burnout. Romine said, "As soon as that guy hit the throttle it stumbled, went kaboom and threw him off of the bike. I finished the burnout and stopped the bike since the ambulance was coming up the track from the finish line in my lane so I never did run my third round of qualifying. I don't know if the clutch got hot waiting. When I re-fired , the clutch was dragging so bad I didn't make the pass. We switched motors Saturday night and Sunday we ran a little better on Sunday."
Romine had three races in June and earned one win in Pro Fuel, running his personal bests in elapsed time and miles per hour on the Nuclear Tomato. For July, he already has his win under his belt. He's focused on the 6.40 pass and seeks another win - optimistically it would be nice to earn it at his home track. But if it happens at New York, Romine won't mind. "We take them one at a time because we have to win some rounds."
Mike Romine's Nuclear Tomato is sponsored by Chromatic, Andrews Products, Saddlemen, Pro Racing Products and Romine Racing. The Flyin' Banana Pro Fuel bike is sponsored by Competition Inc and Cole's Motorcycle Museum.
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