BEER’S BEST AT EAST-WEST PRO SHOOTOUT

By: Bud Northrup - Nashville, Indiana - 9/18/05

             Who has the best Pro Hillclimbers – the Eastern AMA program, or the Western NAHA program?  Good question, and Jeff Thomas, the Indianapolis pro and owner of Thomas Racing Services rides in both programs.  He sponsored an East-West Pro shootout on the Nashville, Indiana hill to set the riders in a head to head competition.  Thomas groomed the hill like an uphill motocross, with both a right and left turn, and big jumps.

            Based on engine sizes only, it would appear the NAHA (North American Hillclimb Association) would have the edge over the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association).   The AMA classes are restricted to 540cc and 800cc, while the NAHA classes are 700cc and Open.  As far as I can tell, in the Open Class they just count your wheels, and if you have 2, you’re in.  The biggest I’ve seen in a NAHA climb was a whopping 2500cc, and most would be in the 1400cc plus range.    When you add alcohol, nitro, chains, paddles, etc, you have fire breathing monsters that really put on a show.

            Mel Kimball, from Bountiful, Utah, started the show with a high flying jump off the starting line, negotiated the turns well, straightened out and sailed over the top jump in 13.901 seconds on his Honda to take the early lead.  But that time was beat several times in the first round as such superstars as Travis Whitlock, Jason Smith, Jeff Thomas, Dave Watson, Harold Waddell and Joe Stanley all broke in to the 13 second  bracket.  Harold Waddell, from Omaha, Nebraska, but riding for the East, rode his big 4 cylinder Suzuki like a RM250, flying around the corners and over the jumps to set the first round fast time at 13.0910 seconds.

            That time didn’t hold up far in to the second round however, as it was first beaten by Pennsylvania’s Phil Libhart and his incredible 800cc Triumph.  Libhart was one of the highest flyers of the day off the line, but successfully reined in his Beautiful British bike and shot through the turns and high over the top jump with a clock stopping time of 12.870 seconds.

             That time held up for a short while, then the West Coast heavyweights started their assault, four of them slipping under Libhart.  The NAHA reigning champion, Travis Whitlock, emerged from the second round with the lead, an incredible 12.611 second time on his 1428cc Kawasaki.  Jason Smith, riding a Thomas Racing Servis 800cc Yamaha twin was close behind in 12.675 seconds with West riders Robie Peterson (12.681), and Dusty Beer (12.790) close behind Smith.  Jeff Thomas was the only other Eastern rider to break  into the 12’s with a 12.891 second run on his Honda.  First round leader Harold Waddell had an ignition failure on his Suzuki, stopping cold at only 40 feet, disappointing not only him, but a lot of expectant onlookers.

            In the third and final round of action, Dusty Beer unleashed a powerful ride on his big Kawaski, flying high over the top in 12.562 seconds to take the lead from Whitlock, who bobbled just a bit on his way up for a 13 second run.  No one else was able to overtake either Beer or Whitlock, so they claimed the top 2 places.  Peterson improved on his second ride with a 12.612 second run to finish third – just 1/100’s of a second behind Whitlock.  Smith couldn’t improve on his second and settled for fourth place, while Phil Libhart crashed at 300 feet on his Triumph in a full throttle assault on the hill, and finished in fifth place, the highest East rider finish.  Jeff Thomas, also riding for the East, came in next with 12.891 second round time.

            The Westerners claimed the top 4 spots and 6 of the top ten (counting Waddell as an Eastern rider). But you must consider the Easterners handicapped by their small AMA engine sizes, so they gave a good accounting for themselves.  It was truly a great show.  We hope that it will be only the first in an annual series.  Congratulations to Jeff Thomas for promoting such an excellent event and being such a fine host – he even fed all the riders and their families at the end of the racing.  And having hill climb veteran Tim Weaver, complete with pith helmet, as the starting line chief, was a nice surprise for us oldtimers.  Tim, and his lovely wife Chris, worked tirelessly and efficiently to see the event go off successfully, and should be recognized for their efforts. It was a  GREAT SHOW – can’t wait till next year.