Nitro News...

  November 16 - 18, 2006

Las Vegas Race Update

This was one of the biggest races of the year for our team. We are so close in the points standings to catching the National Points Leader. That was our focus as we pulled into Las Vegas. We attended the Nitro Kick Off Party at the Las Vegas Harley Davidson. It was a fun evening where we met a lot of fans and talked with some of our sponsors.

On Friday we ran some test and tune runs to make sure the bike was dialed in for the weekend. It gave us some really promising and exciting insight into the weekend.

Saturday was great. It is always so hot in Las Vegas and it is one of the best races of the year because so many competitors come to this race. This is definitely the weekend to see a lot of really competitive racing. At the end of the day we ended up qualifying 2nd behind Chris Streeter.

Sunday was very exciting and the bike was running great. We went into the morning very optimistic that we could earn the points we needed to grab that title! In the second round of eliminations, John clocked a new ET record at 6.553! (This record had also been broken during Testing on Friday, but they are only officially recorded during qualifying and eliminations) The crew was so excited because they had all worked so hard to tune the bike to perform at it's best. During the Final run, the track personnel had shut Armon Furr down (the current national points leader) which would have given John the win and launched him into the National Championship Seat, but Armon ran anyway narrowly beating John. It was tense to say the least. We were unable to run the 6.553 again to establish the record, so that will have to wait until next season.

At the end of the day, the WFO Team finished 2nd in Las Vegas which gave us the 2nd place National Finish and 1st on the West Coast in the ProFuel Division which is awesome for our first year in this class, especially considering the painful start we had. Next year will be our year!

John and the team would like to thank Barnett for their great clutch plates and all their help. It also takes great lubricants to keep a nitro motor alive and Bardahl is the best! The spark plugs we use from NGK are very superior and we appreciate the support we received from them as well. We also welcome Metzeler Tires to our team this season as well. The high quality tires provided really make a difference in the way the bike handles.

We hope you have enjoyed being a part of our team this season and look forward to teaming up with you again next year for a great year.

October 14 & 15 2006

Rockingham, NC

The season is winding down quickly but the team is still hot. We had a great weekend in Rockingham, North Carolina. Qualifying on Saturday was very good with our best run at 6.735 and 210.4 MPH. Unfortunately Jay Turner was having a better day and bumped us out of the number one spot down to two by the end of the day. Still, it was a good position going into the eliminations on Sunday.

Sunday we started out up against Chicago Joe.  We had an awesome run and Chicago Joe crossed the line and was disqualified, taking out a foam block.  Our run was 6.687 at 208.9 MPH.  Our second match up was against Armon Furr, the ProFuel Number One points holder this season.  We beat Furr in the semi-finals with a run of 6.606 and 200.8 MPH to move into the finals against... you guessed it!  Jay Turner. But today was not Jay's day.  John got the win over him with a 6.658 run at 209.1 MPH run.  WFO takes first place in the finals.  It was a really good weekend over all.

Our next race is in Las Vegas on November 11& 12.  This is also the final race of the season.  John went into Rockingham in 3rd place spot nationally running very close to the 2nd place Chris Streeter.  Armon Furr, The number one national points leader, is not that far ahead of John and Chris.  Las Vegas will prove to be a very exciting weekend.  You won't want to miss this season finale race!

September 23 & 24, 2006

Richmond, VA

we qualified 5th on Saturday . During eliminations on Sunday in the first round John whacked the throttle and went right at the wall and had to let off so he lost. We were out much too early. We were able to run in the Barnett Nitro Outlaw Class and made 2 nice passes and won the division. It was nice seeing Larry from Barnett.
Also we did the Kick off party @ Colonial Harley and had a blast. We want to thank Ron for all the hospitality.
 

September 16 & 17, 2006

Mission, BC Canada

In Mission we raced top fuel and Qualified 4th out of 15 top fuelers. In the first round, John beat Mike Scott. After they passed the finish line, Mike came into John's lane and ran over his wheely bar and almost knocked John off the bike! John was able to separate from Mike's bike and unfortunately Mike hit the wall and slid on the track beside John. John stopped and helped him until the ambulance arrived. Mike shattered his left femur and broke both ankles. Our best wishes go to Mike Scott. Second round we ran a 6.77 @ 214.67mph ; Third round we ran a 6.74 @ 214.89mph which qualified us 4th. We then won our first two rounds during eliminations and had a buy into the Finals where we got rained out. Not a bad weekend overall. Had some new personal bests.
 

August 26 & 27, 2006

Woodburn, Oregon

This weekend we had great weather. Very hot and dry both days. Great weather for racing. The bike was running great and the team discussed it and decided a test & tune run was not needed on Friday. We were ready for qualifying on Saturday once all the fine tuning was done.
Saturday morning we got started right on time. John's first run was 6.90 and after all competitors made their first run, John was holding the first place spot. Since we were fine tuning the bike, we still made an additional two runs and finished up the day still in the number one spot for Sunday's eliminations.
Sunday we had a buy first round, then went against Streeter in the semi's. John took him at the tree and was ahead to 1000' when the bike went fat and shut off. Streeter went by John at that point and that was the end of our day.
The team is heading to Mission to give some new things a try before heading to Richmond, VA on September 23rd.  

August 12 & 13, 2006

Bristol, TN

We were able to get all the parts needed to get the blown engine back together and were ready to race in Bristol, Tennessee. We were bummed to miss the action in Sturgis, however they experienced a lot of thunder storms, rain and long delays, so it all worked out.
We have been running dome top pistons all year and decided with the help of some expert advice to go to flat top pistons and see how that worked for us. It didn't go as expected and our tune went away! We managed to qualify 4th with a 4.06 on Saturday. Not where we wanted to be at all. On Sunday, we got put out right away by Steve Simmons in the first round. It was a close race, but Steve got John in the end. We were able to run in the Barnett Outlaw rounds and finished runner up under Tommy Grimes. The good news is we went quicker with each round, but we couldn't quite get back to the times we had been seeing in previous weeks. We are planning to make some changes for sure!
Next race is in Woodburn, Oregon on August 26th & 27th. We are looking forward to moving to the top again and we'll be ready.
A quick note to Marc Schiller of Bardahl�..we at WFO Racing wish you a speedy and full recovery and are keeping you in our thoughts. Thanks for sharing your story with us. It was amazing.
See you all in Woodburn!  

July 22 & 23, 2006

Earlville, Iowa

The Earlville weather wasn’t too cooperative causing some delays during qualifying but by the end of the day it all worked out. John came away with the only 6 second run in first round Pro Fuel qualifying. His 6.808 at 198.47 mph put him in the #1 spot in front of defending National Champion Chris Streeter and this year’s point’s leader Armon Furr. Overall the crew was upbeat at the days end with the results.

Sunday John took Chris Streeter out in a close race in the 1st round. WFO then had a bye run and ran a 6.95. In the finals we were up against Jack Romine so we bumped up the tune a bit and smoked the tire about 40 feet out, loaded the motor up and it blew the front head off, disintegrating the intake manifold. John was hit by part of the manifold, but was checked out and deemed ok by the EMT’s at the track, he does however have a few bruises to show off. A big thanks to our sponsor NGK for the high quality spark plugs WFO received for the 2006 season their dependability makes a difference.

We should have the bike back together by the Bristol, TN race, but WFO is going to have to sit out Sturgis (waiting on parts) which is a bummer! John is featured on the Sturgis poster again this year and WFO is disappointed were going to miss our fans and sponsors that are planning on attending Sturgis. We were especially looking forward to seeing our sponsor Wally Hall from Ed’s Hydraulics who was coming out from Montana to cheer us on.

All in all, we have been in the finals the last six races in a row which is awesome! Were not looking to bad in the points category either being second overall.

*Be sure to check out the website for the AHDRA to keep tabs on points standings for our ProFuel Class as the season progresses.
 

July 1 & 2, 2006

Mission, British Columbia

This holiday weekend in Mission, BC was beautiful as usual. We ran a 6.70 (a new personal best!) at 198mph in the first round of qualifying which was awesome. This enabled us to skip running the second round and just see what everyone else was running. We went out the third round and overpowered the track a little, having the tire get a little squirrelly. During the first round on Sunday Chris Gartman damaged his motor so we ended up with a bye run and ran a 6.97. In the finals we smoked the tire on the hit, loaded up the motor and bent a push rod! Tony won with a 7.79 at 149mph. Fate was not on our side, but still a good finish overall. We’ve been consistently running great the last four weekends.

*John & the WFO Team have been invited to race in Mission, BC again the weekend of July 15th with the NHRA. Come on out to support this invitational Top Fuel Race. It will be a blast!
 

June 24 & 25, 2006

Seattle, Washington

This was finally our weekend and it was great that it was at Home! It was really hot this weekend in Seattle and so was our Team. The first round of qualifying we did a great launch then hazed the tire a little bit and went toward the wall. John kept it pegged, pushed on the left peg and got his rear-end out of the seat and brought the bike back in the groove and ended up with a new personal best at 6.76 and 204mph! Because we were a good 2/10ths ahead of everyone we didn’t run the second round and experimented with the third round. The experiment was not as successful as we hoped, but we learned a lot of good info.

Our first round on Sunday we had another great pass to move us on. Straight and fast at 6.78 and 201mph. During the finals we did our burnout and Pat Fenderson’s bike died so we had a solo run. We dropped off a little because we were worried about the hot track so we pulled some fuel from it but still did a 6 second run for a First Place Finish!

Thanks to Pat and Joe from Barnett for stopping by our pit and re-supplying our clutch parts. Also a big thanks to all the friends, family and fans that hung out in the pits and cheered us on to our big win this weekend!
 

June 17 & 18, 2006

Edmonton, Alberta

This weekend we traveled up to Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. It was our first trip to Canada this year. We raced in the Top Fuel Class because they did not have enough ProFuel Competitors to run that class.

On Saturday, we fired up the bike before the first round and discovered a fuel leak and a short in a wire. The team worked hard and got them fixed and when we fired it up again, we had no oil pressure! We opened up the bottom end and
found damaged rod bearings. This caused us to miss the first round of qualifying, but we were able to get everything fixed and ready to run in the second round.

We were able to make two good passes and qualified fifth overall. Not bad after the way the day started.

On Sunday, we won our first two rounds and set a new Personal Best at 202MPH!  We ran in the semi finals against Champion Ron Houniet. Ron beat us to the finish line but crossed into John's lane and was DQ'd moving John into the
Finals against Kevin Boyer. We were able to beat Kevin Boyer to the finish line getting our first Top Fuel Win!!! It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to racing in Seattle next weekend.

Be sure to come by and see us in Seattle to get a poster and see the new and improved Coach. We hope to have all our fans there to support us. See you at Pacific Raceway!!!
 

June 10 & 11, 2006

Norwalk, Ohio

This weekend we really came into our own.

The first round of qualifying we were running a new tire. It didn't get scrubbed in good enough and we smoked the tire. The second round the bike was acting up and wouldn't hardly run, so we brought it back to the pits. After last weekend, it was disappointing to say the least.  The team went through the bike and checked everything out and found a rock in the injection nozzle! That did the trick. The third round we ran a 7.04 which
was good enough to qualify us in third.

The next day in the first round of eliminations we started off great. We ran a 6.87 at 188mph. That round moved us up the the semi finals for the first time with this new ProFuel Bike. In the Semi finals we ran a 6.80 at 200.88mph! We finally broke the 200mph barrier for the first time this season. It was a great run. John was a head up to 50 feet from the finish when the bike started inching toward the center line and Chris squeaked by him to take first place.

All in all it was a great weekend and the team is excited to get back to the track. This weekend was our best success so far this season. Stay tuned!

For those in Washington State, remember the Seattle Race is coming up on June 24th & 25th at Pacific Raceway in Kent. Come on out and hang with the team in the pits and enjoy the day.
 

May 27 & 28, 2006

Commerce, Georgia

This weekend we had a lot more success. We are learning something new every trip down the track with this new bike.

We were making a good run the first round of qualifying until the bike started nosing over. All racers this weekend were having problems with bad air and a slippery track. With a lot of work and perseverance, we were able to qualify for eliminations on Sunday.

Dean and Steve have worked hard to make the needed changes and challenging repairs so we can compete. Their efforts are very much appreciated.

During the first round of qualifying we got knocked out, but we had gotten through it all without having any parts damaged. A first this season! We dropped down into the Nitro Outlaw class and ran a 6.98! Finally a member of
the 6 second club! It was a huge milestone for our team. The next round we spun the tire and put a hole out on the launch and putted down the track with a 8 second run. Not our best showing, but good enough to get runner up and receive the coveted Barnett jacket with John's name embroidered on it. Larry with Barnett, one of our great sponsors, was there to share this achievement with us.

We are on our way to Norwalk now. Our posters are finished and turned out great. You all should have yours by now. Be sure to keep an eye on the website for new photos and race results at www.wfodragracing.com.

For those in Washington State, remember the Seattle Race is coming up on June 24th & 25th at Pacific Raceway in Kent. Come on out and hang with the team in the pits and enjoy the day.
 

May 6 & 7, 2006

Another very tough weekend for Team WFO. The first round we had a pinched vent line on the fuel tank and starved the engine of fuel. We got that fixed and went out for the second round and torched a head in the first 60’.

We have been chasing “gremlins” but we are confident we have found them all. For the race in Commerce, Georgia we will finally have the new motor with the correct compression ratio and everything ready to rock and roll. WFO is a tough team and we are not giving up. We appreciate the support and encouragement of our sponsors during this trying few races.

Thanks to Larry from Barnett and his friend Bub for stopping by our pit and hanging out with us again!

April 22 & 23, 2006

Dallas, Texas

When we got to Dallas, we continued to struggle with chassis adjustments to get the bike to go down the track straight. All day during qualifying, the bike was heading left and we would get a great run going but had to let off at about 60’ to stay in our lane. Since Pat Fenderson crossed over into our lane during one of the qualifying runs, we were granted a make up run at the end of the day. We were very optimistic since we had made the chassis adjustments and were finally tuned the way we need to be. During that make up run the bike went nice and straight and we were having a great pass. At about the 1/8 mile we had a large bang and serious fireball which torched the front head. Since we were using our spare motor and our main motor and spare heads were being repaired from the carnage in Phoenix, we were done for the weekend!

We are really getting a handle on this new bike and have figured out tuning and the chassis is straight so we will have much better results in St. Louis.

Thanks to Larry from Barnett for hanging out in our pit this weekend. Also, some of you may have heard that Steve Dorn hit the wall during a run and was air lifted to the Hospital on Saturday. We went to visit him on Sunday and he was in good spirits. He had surgery on his left arm for a compound fracture and his left pinky finger was pinned. He also lost his little toe in the accident. Could have been much worse. Steve is suppose to be able to go home soon and we wish him a speedy and full recovery.

April 8 & 9, 2006

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix was beautiful, sunny and hot as usual. The track temperature got as high at 127 degrees! It was a great weekend for racing. As you know, we had some engine trouble at the season opener in Gainesville, Florida. This weekend was frustrating for the WFO Team as well. We had put in a new engine since Florida and ran three test runs on Friday to get everything fine tuned, but really struggled to find what was keeping us from having a clean run. We worked on the bike all Friday and Saturday. During Qualifying we still could not get in a good run and ended up replacing nearly every part in the Engine to find the problem, but could not get a qualifying run in, so we were done for the weekend….racing at least. We continued to work on the bike until we were all totally exhausted, but we have this problem solved and are looking forward to Dallas.

March 11, 2006

Gainesville, Florida

The first race of the season is so exciting. There is so much that goes into the preparation and anticipation of this first event. We worked all off season building motors and getting both bikes ready to go. Just 2 days before we were pulling out of Sultan to head for Gainesville, both bikes were in the trailer and ready when John got a call from Bear in Snohomish about the ProDragster. Bear made him and offer he could not refuse so he unloaded and sold the ProDrag Bike right before we left. Now we are down to just the new ProFuel bike to concentrate on this season.

This weekend we had great weather! It was warm and sunny with good air for racing. During qualifying in the first round we did a 7.50 in the right lane. The second round John went toward the wall and had to let off, so the time was not a true qualifying round. Third time is a charm! In the third round we did a 7.16 Qualified 4th overall for the first race of the season.

The next morning was warm and sunny again, and we were paired up with the National Champion, Chris Streeter, for our first run of the eliminations. Things looked grim to say the least. But we had a great first run and we took him out with a 7.16 . When John got back to the pit we discovered he had 40% leak down on front cylinder. He had torched a head. The crew had to put 2 new cylinders and heads on and we barely made it to semi’s. With all the excitment, John was a little amped up getting to the line and was little late and rushed when he got there and he red lit. Our day was over. Not a bad showing for the first race on the new bike. T It was nice to have Larry from Barnett Racing hang out with us some this weekend. We always enjoy having our sponsors visit us in the pits!he crew will be putting in a brand new motor in for Phoenix.

We want to welcome back our sponsors that have chosen to join our team again this year and thank them for their valuable support. Returning for the 2006 Season is Bardahl, Barnett Clutches, NGK Spark Plugs, Seacomm Erectors, JIMS, Pacific West RV, Evergreen Erectors, Ironworkers Local #86, Barmon Lumber and Retirement Solutions. New to our team this year is Ed’s Hydraulic Jack Repair (Montana), J.C. Wright Sales, Co (Washington) and Powers Concrete (Washington). This will be a very exciting season and we truly appreciate the support of our sponsors. Check out our Sponsor Page on our website at www.wfodragracing.com and visit the websites of our Sponsors to show your support for them. Most can be linked from our site.

The next time we hit the track will be in Phoenix, AZ on April 8th and 9th. Be sure to check out our Website for new photos and news as the season progresses. Also, for the USA Races, you can go to www.ahdra.com. Click on the Live Update and get information while the race is still underway! It a great way to stay in touch if you can’t attend the race. But if you can…….Attend The Race! There is nothing like it!!!!!

February 9, 2006

The 2006 Race Season is sneaking up on us very quickly.

It seems like the 2005 Season just ended and we had plenty of time to get ready for the new season, but time has passed very quickly and is getting very short. Our first race on March 4th & 5th is less than 5 weeks away!

We thank all of our Loyal Sponsors for teaming up with us again for this exciting 2006 Season and welcome some new sponsors as well. Our 2006 Sponsors so far are Bardahl, Barnett Clutches, NGK, JIMS, Seacomm Erectors, Ironworkers Union, Barmon Lumber, PacificWest RV, Industrial Fab, Evergreen Erectors, Powers Concrete & Ed's Hydraulic Jack Repair.

This season will bring many changes for WFO Racing. We have added a few new team members to our roster, made some changes to the ProFuel Bike, made some dramatic changes to the coach and trailer and the team will be sporting a new look.

Keep your eye out for updates again this season. We are looking forward to an action packed season for sure.

WFO Racing Team

Racing Update November 2005

Las Vegas, NV

It was awesome weather for racing in Vegas. Vegas is the city for big winners and the WFO team was ready to WIN and WIN they did!

Qualifying started out with a full throttle run. John ran a 7.432 with the Pro Drag bike, starting out on top. When the long day was done and over the WFO team qualified in second place with a promise of some great racing on Sunday.

Pro Fuel – Had some early challenges with the bike but got it taken care of and qualified 6th overall out of a field of 16 with an ET of 7.144 at 192.71 mph our best so far on this new bike.

Sunday was a clear and warm for racing. The WFO team couldn’t wait to get on the track. It was a very competitive day with some surprises and upsets along the way. John had a fantastic finish winning the ProDrag class and setting a new personal best at 181.23 mph. A great way to finish the day and the season.

WFO thanks the large group of fans that participated in Vegas this year as well as the sponsors that were there, including Barnett Clutches, JIMS and Kresto. A special thanks to Barnett for the canopies to use at the pits. They were a life saver since our old ones had been laid to rest. All in all, it was a great season. We finished as the West Coast Champions and a Great Second in the Nation. We are already gearing up for our 2006 Season and look forward to having all of our fans and sponsors participate again next year.

Sponsor Packages will be going out very soon and we hope you will want to be a part of our exciting plans for 2006. It just keeps getting better!

Rockingham, NC

We were off to Rockingham with both the ProDrag and ProFuel bikes. On Saturday we qualified #1 with a 7.42 with the ProDrag Bike but didn’t quite make the field with the ProFueler. We are getting all the bugs sorted out though so we’ll be more competitive in Las Vegas on that bike.

During eliminations on Sunday we made a good run first round at 7.46. Then in the Semi’s against Chuck Jones we smoked the tire about about 70’ and then hooked back up and did a 7.73. We hurt the rear piston but didn’t have time to fix it before the finals. We smoked the tire again against Phil, but still pulled out a decent run, finishing 2nd overall for the weekend.

It was great to see Larry from Barnett when he stopped by on Friday to say hi! Barnett has been a great sponsor this season and we thank them for all their support.

Also, Carl Peletier came down to Rockingham with us this weekend and gave us a hand on the Pro Fueler. Thanks to Carl!!!!

News Update September 7, 2005

St Louis, MO

It was Hot and 98 degrees at Gateway International Raceway.

We qualified number 2 on Saturday. We had a good tune in the Bike the first round and had good air, but the Belt broke at the line. The air got worse as the day went on. (Damn! Must be the Ribs!)

In the eliminations first round we ran our best number all day and also got a new Mile Per Hour Personal Best at 180.55 mph. In the Semi Final round we got a hole shot win with a .078 reaction time. John had a 10th of a second on Phil at the tree but Phil beat us to the finish line.

The rumor has been confirmed! The photo used for the Sturgis poster is plastered on a BIG billboard on Hwy 205 in Oregon. Not only that, but we found another one in St. Louis, Missouri!! We wonder if there are more? Where is WFO? If you find another Billboard besides these two, email us and let us know by sending us a photo. This is amazing advertising for our loyal sponsors!

News Update August 29th, 2005

Woodburn, Oregon

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Family and Friends of our fellow Prodragster that lost his life doing what he loved. We know that everyone that knew him will be forever changed and he will be missed greatly. May the Peace of the Lord be with him and his family.

WFO Racing Team

News Update August 18th, 2005

Bristol, Tennessee

It was record setting weather for the Bristol Drag Way for the race weekend. (HOT,HOT, HOT!)

We qualified number 3 on Saturday, the team had just switched to a Mickey Thompson rear tire and it took a few runs to get a handle on it. Over all we really like the change in the tire seems to be just what we want going down the track. John won the reaction time contest with a .079 reaction time. We felt like we had a good day and with the new tire and the bike running good we were looking forward to eliminations.

The weather was great again on Sunday and WFO was ready ….we took out Willie Hersberger in the first round, then went against Chuck Jones in the semi’s. Chuck red lit and John did a perfect .000 light (WOW! A New Personal Best!). We damaged the motor on that run but with no time to fix it we went into the finals with 100% leak down on the front cylinder. John had a great reaction time at .030 to Phil Schmidt’s .131 but couldn’t hold the lead with the damaged motor.

Overall it was a great weekend, WFO is headed to Ashcroft Canada the weekend of the 20th, and then to Woodburn OR. Woodburn is a short 3 hour trip from Seattle so come on down and support the WFO team…..we’d love to see you there!!

Rumor has it that the photo used for the Sturgis poster is plastered on a BIG billboard on Hwy 205 in Oregon. We will have to check into this rumor and get back to you, if so will get some pictures and post them on the WFO web site. Can’t ask for better advertising then that!

News Update August 10th, 2005

Sturgis, South Dakota

Even though this race is a No Points…Just for Fun Event….it is the Event of the Year! Teams that participate in this event are truly Harley dedicated. We were honored to be featured on this years Poster advertising for this event. It was hectic, crazy and WILD! If you are a Harley Fan and have not been before, plan to attend the Sturgis Rally next season during race weekend. It is something to see for sure.

As always, our Coach and Trailer were a huge hit at the Rally. We draw a lot of attention to our team and our sponsors. There were a lot of Fans that are true Harley Enthusiasts at this event.

Qualifying runs were held on Sunday evening. At the end of the day, John was sitting in the Number 1 qualifying position. We are going into the eliminations on Monday night in good shape.

Monday's eliminations got started about 4pm. In the final John ran against Greg Burns and got off the line well ahead of Greg. He had a great run. It was one of the fasted 1/4 Mile Runs he's had this season. Right at the finish line, Greg jumped out and finished just before John. John finished overall 2nd by 9/100th's of a second! Oh so close!

The team is off to Tennessee now for the races in Bristol on August 12th. It should be a hot one!

News Update July 28th, 2005

Fort St. John, British Columbia

The weather did not cooperate with us at all in Fort St. John on Saturday. Sunday the sun did come out so that helped out a lot. We qualified number One with a 7.64. The bike was running well. It was a change from Maryland because there it was so humid and hot and this race was much cooler, even cold at night.

In the Eliminations, Dave Stickle broke in the first round where we advanced to the second round and had a buy. In the finals we went up against Rod Anderson and beat him on a hole shot; Rods time was 7.72 and ours was 7.77 giving us a First Place Finish in Fort St. John.

Now we are off to Sturgis, SD! WFO is the featured team on the poster for this race. Go to ahdra.com schedules and take a look at the posters listed to the right.

News Update July 19th, 2005

Budd Creek, Maryland

The air just wasn't there. It was very hot and humid. We put on a new tire, which corrected the handling problem we had been experiencing the last few races. We made some changes to the gearing. We made an OK run on the second round and Dean put a good tune in the bike for the third round. We were confident as we pulled up to the line and as we took off…we broke a belt. That was our qualifying day. We ended up qualifying third, but felt we had a tune that would work well in this humidity for the eliminations.

On Sunday, we won the First Round against Curly Jim. In the Semi's against Willy Hershberger, John took him at the tree but Willy got John in the middle of the track. John was running him down at the big end but ran out of track. John went out the back door at 174 mph. Phil had a fuel leak in a bye run in the Semi's and they shut him down before he broke the beam so he was DQ'd. So we both just got semi-points.

Well, it's off to Fort St John, Canada.

News Update July 7th, 2005

Mission, BC - Canada

We had a little rain on Saturday until about 1:00pm but it was beautiful the rest of the weekend. Great racing weather.

John Qualified Number One with a 7.43 and set three records this weekend!
1/8 Mile MPH 154 (Bragging Rights- Not a Recorded Number)
1/4 Mile ET 7.405
1/4 MPH 176.4

We had a little trouble going toward the wall on our first few runs but corrected the problem. Crew Chief Dean Johnson put a great tune in the Bike so we would run the record breaking numbers. It was very exciting. We got a first place finish in the finals.

Dean also helped the John Black team get the Huff Bike that they recently bought from WFO into the seven's and they beat Rod Anderson in the Semi-Finals.

NEW!!!!
New this weekend to the WFO Racing Team was John's wife, Katie Breckenridge. Katie has been in the pits and on the track helping John over the last season and a half and this weekend tried her hand at racing herself.

Katie is racing a 1992 XL883 and qualified second and was runner up in the finals. She consistently went faster and her reaction time improved with each race. We are excited to see where she goes at her next race in Fort St John, BC on July 23 & 24. Good Luck Katie!

News Update May 16, 2005

S&S Cycle California Nationals - Bakersfield, CA

Bakersfield weather was perfect as usual. It was hot and dry. A nice change from the weather we had in Dallas.

John drove the Coach and Trailer to California. We had an awesome guest on our Pit Crew for this race though….Top Fueler Steve Heidner, healing well from his crash in Phoenix, joined us on the road for this trip. What a blast! Everyone at the track was so gracious and pleased to see that Steve was doing so well. We are honored to announce that Steve may be a regular in our pits for a while. I guess he just can't stay away!

Saturday during the qualifying John finished the day in the 2nd spot behind Phil Schmidt by a hair. The Bike was running good and very consistent. Crew Chief Dean Johnson worked out the kinks so they would be ready for the finals.

Sunday was a great day. John's first elimination win was against Mo Rockefeller moving him into the semifinals. There he met Terry Stewart for another win. The next round was in the finals against John's Arch Nemesis, Phil Schmidt. Phil had a little trouble at the lights, but John narrowly came out the victor. Later Phil commented the trouble he had must have been nerves. All in all, it was a great race weekend. We are looking forward to Ashcroft, Canada on May 20th. See you there!!!!

News Update April 25, 2005

Lone Star Nationals - Dallas, Texas

The weather was not as nice as we had hoped for Saturday's Qualifying runs. Normally Dallas is hot and dry. It was cool and windy much of the day. John had a few good runs and qualified 2nd behind Phil Schmidt in the ProDrag category. On one run, John was headed for a new personal best in the 1/4 Mile, but had to let off the throttle because the wind had caught him and was moving him toward the wall a little too fast. At one point, the AHDRA Officials made the decision to only allow the ProDrag and Top Fuel Bikes run a 1/8 Mile because the wind was so bad. The bike ran great today and we are in a good position to start off the eliminations on Sunday.

Sunday turned out to be disappointing for the WFO Racing Team. John won his first round to move on to the semi-final. In the semi-final his opponent took off early and followed him out. Since the tree had not been activated, both riders were disqualified. There was some discussion after reviewing a recording of the race that the tree had malfunctioned and given John the red light rather than his opponent, who had obviously left way too early. At this point, we'll never know. The day was over for John, and they started looking toward Bakersfield, California on May 14 & 15. We should get some great weather there.

News Update April 4, 2005

Phoenix, Arizona was on our schedule this weekend and it wasn't just the weather that was hot!! The bike was really running great again this weekend. Dean has it fine tuned. It was running very consistently with ET's in the 7.5 & 7.6 range with speeds in the low to mid 170's. John qualified first on Saturday and finished in first place in the finals on Sunday. It was a great weekend.

*John has a new personal best for 2005:  Response Time (RT) - .045 (Phoenix)

Sponsors in the news:
Jeff Manoske with Pacific West RV out of Sultan, Washington (one of our loyal 2005 sponsors) went with us to Arizona this weekend and helped on the Pit Crew and we really appreciated all his help. Jeff knows our coach inside and out and was very handy to have with us.

Larry from Barnett Clutches attended the race and it was great to see them again. Larry was able to participate in the Winner Circle Photos! Thanks again Larry! We appreciate all the support from Barnett Clutches.

WFO Gear
Our new T-Shirts with two new designs were a big hit this weekend. One features all our great sponsors for the 2005 Season. Next race we will be adding a Cotton Skull Cap to our line as well. Be sure to stop buy early….we sold out quick this weekend.

Schedules for 2005
Our next race is in Dallas, Texas on April 23rd & 24th.

Special Note…..
The WFO Crew wants to wish Steve Heidner a fast and full recovery. Steve….if you need any duct tape let us know!!! We have some left over from our Rockingham Adventure last year.

News Update March 7, 2005

We have our first race of the 2005 under our belts now. It was a great weekend in Gainesville, Florida!

Friday we got the bike all tuned up and ready to rock. After a hard day at the track, we attended the awesome Nitro Party at Gainesville Harley Davidson. If you've not attended a Nitro Party before, be sure to do it. The date and place can be found at www.ahdra.com. It is a blast.

Saturday the bike ran great. Our Crew Chief, Dean, did an incredible job getting it ready to race. We made two qualifying passes to qualify 1st. We had a fantastic day with some personal bests. John, Dean and Rob were ready for Sunday.

Sunday the bike ran very well again. John made it to the semi-finals where Chuck Jones got to the finish line first to put us in a third place finish to start the season. Not what we had hoped for, but we worked out some kinks that will help us prepare for Phoenix on April 1st. A representative from one of our awesome sponsors, Barnett Clutches, came out to the race this weekend. It was nice to have Barnett support us with a personal visit. Be sure to visit their website at www.barnettclutches.com to support them.

We set some new WFO Records this weekend! 1/4 ET 7.33 -- 177.3 MPH

February 2005

We are busy gearing up for the 2005 Season getting the bike ready with a brand new look! The team will be heading to Gainesville, Florida to start off this exciting new season. Stop by the Pits to see what Killer Paint in Snohomish has done to give the bike a Hot New Look.

To start the season, lets recap our Personal Best for 2004:

• 1/4 ET - 7.440 (Woodburn, Oregon)
• 1/4 MPH - 175.33 (Woodburn, Oregon)
• RT - .070 (Las Vegas)

What will we be able to do in 2005?

As the 2005 Season progresses, we will be updating race results, adding photos and sponsors so our fans will stay up to date.

Sponsors:

Be sure to go to our sponsors page and use the links provided to visit the web pages of our awesome sponsors. WFO encourages our fans to use our sponsors products and services any time they can and be sure to mention WFO Racing when you do. This is a great way to thank our sponsors for partnering up with us to make our season a success.
We welcome these 2005 season sponsors:

NGK Spark Plugs
Bardahl Oil
Barnett Clutches
Nology
Evergreen Erectors
Barmon Lumber
Pacific West RV

New sponsors are welcome all year. If you are interested, please contact us at 360-793-6564 and find out how you can become a part of this exciting 2005 Season

WFO Gear:

We will be adding new items to our line of apparel, as well as posters, hero cards etc. Be sure to come by and see what's new and get yours while supplies last. Last year we sold out very quickly.

Schedules for 2005:

Be sure to check out our racing schedule for the AHDRA and CMDRA and find the races nearest you. We will be making a full tour this season and plan to attend all races. Come out to support us!

2004 News Archive:

• On October 9, 2004 John hit the wall in Rockingham and broke his leg. Many thought his season was over. Luckily bones heal and the bike was not damaged in the hit to the wall! John went home, rested his leg, got the OK to race from his doctor and headed for Las Vegas determined to win that race. With a little help from a lot of duct tape and perseverance John finished as runner up in Las Vegas.
• ProDrag Category & What That Means -- See more info about John at www.Dragbike.com