Bo O'Brochta Champion
BO O'BROCHTA CHAMPION
RACE WATCH
0 Brochta Turns 7.08 Top Fuel E. 7'.; Burleson Wins Championship Number Seven Howerton Is Trans-USA Victor
Bo O'Brochta is back in the news again, this time for turning an incredible 7.08 sec. ET at the Winston World Finals at Ontario Motor Speedway.
It had been a good month for Bo and his Terminal Van Lines-sponsored top fueler. Just two weeks prior to the NHRA car/ bike event at Ontario, O’Brochta put the lid on the number one plate in NMRA bike racing with his win at Atco, New Jersey. The following weekend, he clinched the Top Fuel number one in IDBA at Gulfport, Mississippi—scattering his "good" motor all over the track in the process. But Bo likes to race and drove to California for the last race of the year, the World Finals at Ontario, anyway.
Bo’s super-quick 7.08 ET was registered during Saturday’s morning qualifying session. The California air was warm, dry and with almost zero wind—unusual at Ontario. Traction at the Big O is always good and this year was no exception. It’s the NHRA’s season-closer and demands the track to be in immaculate shape. Careful track surface prep begins weeks before the event. The starting line this year was moved back 100 feet to a better surface and the entire length of both lanes had been smeared with a liberal coating of VHT traction compound. The tremendous horsepower of the car dragsters makes the track sticky enough to pull the heels off your boots, and usually does. Perfect conditions for a 13-inch Goodyear slick, 350 horsepower of supercharged Kawasaki and Bo O’Brochta.
“I left the line like I always do,” said O’Brochta after the 7.08 pass. “The bike felt good. I’ve finally learned how to ride it, I guess. I’m still worried about the motor letting go. We’re like pioneers at these speeds and nobody knows what will happen. The parts won’t take the stress. It could blow at any time.”
To establish a national dragracing record, the rules demand a back-up pass within 1-percent to be made sometime during qualifying or eliminations. Since he was running his only spare motor and didn’t have another, O’Brochta chose to sit out the rest of Saturday’s time trials and await Sunday’s finals.
Only seven bikes showed for the eight qualifying spots on Sunday. With the 7.08, Bo was on top of the list. Because of the empty slot, he drew a bye run—a solo pass—in the first round. On a bye run, all a rider has to do is get his machine down the track. He doesn’t have to go all-out, just make a pass. He advances to the next round automatically—regardless of ET or mph.
O’Brochta could make an easy pass or let it all hang out and go for a record— knowing that if his motor puked its guts, that was it. After a good luck handshake from the NMRA’s Jim Harris and the thumbs up sign from Russ Collins and Jim Bernard, O’Brochta went to the burnout area.
The 60,000 spectators were on their feet as Bo turned ’er loose in a straight shot to the traps. His time was only (only?) 7.42. It wasn’t good enough for a record backup. “The high speed jetting is off,” explained Bo after the run. “The air’s a little different than it was yesterday. We’ll make some corrections before the next round.”
In the second round, against Jim Bernard’s Yamaha, O’Brochta still couldn’t muster that magic feeling. He made the jetting changes, though. A win, 7.32 at 184 mph was announced from the timing tower. Still no record.
It was time for the finals. This time, Bo would meet Russ Collins—the number two qualifier. But Collins had a problem during his burnout prior to the start. Too lean jetting and no low-end power. Collins shut down. O’Brochta only had to make the pass to win the event. It was also his last shot of the year at the record. A 7.37 was all he could coax. No record, but he won the event.
Bo O’Brochta has excelled beyond his greatest expectations. The number one plate in NMRA and IDBA; NMRA Pro Rider of the Year; NHRA’s Best Engineered Vehicle award; and the Top Fuel motorcycle national ET record of 7.30 seconds.
Joel Breault
