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 Best Again! | b>Mike Romine’s Clocks Personal Best Qualifying Third
AHDRA motorcycleworld.com Nationals – Norwalk, Ohio June 8, 2001 |
There’s a difference between hope and foolish and Mike Romine knows the distinction. Years of Harley riding and racing have taught him. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have hope. Without hope in your toolbox, you don’t have what you need to win. Yes, you need hope. And time, and laps and budget and so on.
Mike Romine aboard the still new Nuclear Tomato at Norwalk Raceway Park. A rotten first qualifying pass led him to a 6.91 that dropped him in at fourth. The final Q was a Nuc Tom best at 6.671 e.t. and 200.86 mph, it's first 200 mph pass.'
In his third official outing riding the Nuclear Tomato in competition, Mike Romine clocked the third quickest elapsed time and his first 200-mile per hour run. It was a good day. “The best pass until then was a 6.77 – so it picked up a tenth on what it ran last week in Canada. That’s the first time it’s gone 200. It’s been having a problem launching without spinning the tire. I took some weight off of the clutch, backed the fuel percentage down and it left pretty decent. We had a 1.11sixty- foot.”
Chromatic team sponsor Dennis Paul keeps an eye on the track and the 13 bikes he associated with while he chats with AHDRA personnel on the staging apron.
Romine’s season best is a 6.51 that he ran in Rockingham, North Carolina at the first IHRA national of the year on the Flyin’ Banana, his Pro Fuel bike modified for Top Fuel/Nitro Harley until the new Nuclear Tomato was complete. “I haven’t been able to put the tune-up that runs 6.51 from the old bike yet because it keeps wanting to spin the tire. Once I get the clutch figured out, I can put the fuel backing it so it will run in the high forties, low fifties.” Hear the hope?
For the first time this year, the Chromatic team ran two bikes at one event. Patty Romine commented, “We forgot how hard it was to run two bikes.” Mike gave the details. “The bike won’t accept any fuel. If you put the fuel pressure up where it takes to run 6.80’s and 90’s, the fuel shuts off. This is the first time out with the new heads. We just need to work with it I guess. We’re working with a new clutch on it, too. We’re trying to work it out. We just need more seat time to work on it.”
Romine warms the tire for his best pass at Norwalk.
As a kicker, the team brought the flame-painted Chromatic bike that’s for sale to run in Norwalk. Jay Turner was scheduled to ride it, but computer complications at his family track, Piedmont Dragway, kept him home. Friday, trackside, Romine started talking to Mark Conner. One thing led to another and Conner qualified the Chromatic Flame bike. Romine said, “We’ve had a lot of people looking at it to buy it. Mark’s a good rider and we wanted people to see what it could do. We haven’t run that bike since Sturgis last year when we won the shootout on it. I had forgotten a couple of the things I do to bikes when I go there. Here, when I sent Mark out there the first time, he just smoked the tire. When we got back, I realized that I had the same gearing and clutch on it. He still ran a 6.93 and was spinning. I look for him to go a couple of tenths lower tomorrow. The bike has gone 6.68 with me on it and 6.72 with Furr on it. If we can get the bike back to performing, it should run 6.70’s at least. Running three motorcycles at this event, we kind of had to give it to Mark and let his guys work on it. It’s just too much for us. Mark and the Alamo City team are doing the service on it. I’m tuning it, but they’re doing the work.”
With three qualified bikes, the Chromatic Team is likely to have a finalist. For Romine, the Nuclear Tomato is priority one.
Mike Romine is sponsored by Chromatic, Andrews Products, Saddlemen and Romine Racing.
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