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Romine
Racing News
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Admittedly, Mike Romine spent the 2000 season trying to turn the earth. And it cost him.
In 2001, he made the risky decision to sell his 'new' bike and build another. During that process of transition from one bike (the black one) to the Flyin' Banana (his Pro Fuel bike made Top Fuel) to the new Nuclear Tomato, Romine came to a realization. You can't win if you don't enter.
'Last year, all I tried to do every race was set records, be number #1 qualifier, be the battiest Nitro Harley in the country. What it got me was a lot of DNQ's a lot of tire smoke, and qualifying behind the 8 ball because I'd go out and smoke the tire with all of this fancy stuff. By third round I'd have to get so conservative to just run 6.60's and 6.70's. Right now, all I want to do is win my first IHRA race. I don't think it's going to take 6.30's to win an IHRA race. If I can go out and run, I want to run 40's. If I can run nothing but 6.50's to win a race, that'll be just fine.'
For 2001, Romine set his goals realistically and took the first step. Three months later, he's not only on the path to reaching his goal, he finally had the opportunity to take and fun step - a blind shot in the dark - and still focus on qualifying in what became the quickest field-ever in Nitro Harley.
Safely, in round one, Romine clocked a 6.676 e.t. at 214.66 miles per hour to place him fourth in the field of eleven trying to get in. 'We had a pretty good run for a first run on a rebuilt motor. We put a new tire on it and usually we don't get a good run with a new tire. We're happy with it. For the second round, we'll just service it and go out and run again. I think it will run down into the six-fifties on the next run. It spun the tire just a touch but not bad. Usually a new tire takes a couple of runs. '
His performance was true to his word. The Nuclear Tomato clocked a 6.580 e.t. at 202.06 miles per hour but he stayed fourth. The field improved. 'I told you I was going to run a fifty. But I knew it had the new tire deal to overcome. It would have run that same number first round if the tire had not been brand new. It always spins a little with a new tire then gets better on the second run. In three runs, its back to good again.'
'I haven't been changing anything on the bike because I've been trying to be consistent. Now that I have a 6.58 under my belt that I THINK will keep me in the field, I'll try something different in the first Saturday round, like a small change on the bike and see if it works. I should better my time by a little bit, if not, it'll slow it down quite a bit and you'll know that it didn't work. I'm basically going to throw something at the bike that I wouldn't probably do if I hadn't already done a fifty. I need to run a forty. I know what it's taken to run the fifties, but now it's time to try something that will get it in the 40's.'
The third round, Romine's new tune went the wrong way. But he tried it and he still stayed number four. 'We made the changes to try to step it up. It left the starting line then lit the tire up so I just got out of it. Did you see the smoke? I wasn't sure how much, but I felt it. The engine liked the power we made, though. I didn't change the clutch, just made enough power to spin the tire. We were trying to run a forty-something. We just took a shot in the dark. I'll have to try that tune-up in the engine on a different day when we have time to mess with the clutch. We went back to the set-up that we've been using with a little bit more fuel. On that run, it was either going to run real good or it was going to do what it did, so it wasn't any real surprise. We've put it back the way it was. Now we'll just make a little move instead of a big one.'
In the final qualifying round, Romine played it safe and went back to what he knew was true. 'It went a 6.54, kind of what we expected. The air is a little better tonight. It's kind of what we expected. The run was good and clean. I was pretty sure I wouldn't go much quicker than that because of the small change that we made. I was hoping to get consistent. After smoking the tire the round before, I wanted to get back to something that would get down the track.'
'Tomorrow, I'll probably pretty much leave the bike alone. I might just do one little thing to try to pick-up on three-to-four hundredths. I've had bad reaction times since I built this bike, so that's what I really need to work on now. Race day. I don't think I need to go a whole lot quicker to win this race. I just need to have a good reaction time. The bike's running good. It's not hurting any parts. We're getting consistent. We just need that liiiiiitle bit more to push us into the forties.'
Mike Romine is sponsored by Chromatic, Andrews Products, Saddlemen and Romine Racing.
The Screamin' Eagle Nitro Harley Machine Shop is sponsored by Lincoln Electric, Smithy, and Travers Tools.
Mike Romine Complete Qualifying Numbers
Position RT 60' 330' 1/8et 1/8mph 1000' 1/4et 1/4mph
Round One
4 Mike Romine .520 1.140 2.949 4.367 175.68 5.610 6.676 214.56
Round Two
4 M Romine .494 1.104 2.882 4.240 173.76 5.490 6.580 202.06
Round Three
4 M Romine .446 1.161 3.107 4.602 158.71 6.107 7.704
129.63
Final Round
5 M Romine .525 1.107 2.844 4.232 179.42 5.465 6.540 205.76
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