SCREAMIN’ EAGLE DRAGS SERIES DECIDED
MARK WACKER WINS THE 2008 SERIES AS
PETER STRICKLAND TAKES OUT THE FINAL ROUND
Gold Coast racer Peter Strickland won his first race meeting in the final round of the 2008 Screamin’ Eagle Drag Series. Strickland finished the race season very strongly, powering his CVO V-Rod to runner-up and winner placings in the last two rounds.
The May 17th final round also sorted out the crowded list of racers with a chance of winning the series overall. Mark Wacker’s runner-up place in May gave the Morgan & Wacker Super Glide racer the series win, ahead of joint runners-up Glen Richards and Strickland.
Wacker now has two Screamin’ Eagle Series victories, in 2005 and 2008, and joins Phil Heath (2006 and 2007) as the only racers to win two series.
At the same meeting, Wacker also raced his M&W V-Rod to another runner-up finish in Modified Bike. The race-faces were really on…in his very first race of the meeting, Wacker dialled-in the Super Glide at 10.90, and ran exactly that, while Strickland ran all his races very close on the dial-in.
Also through to the second round were Glenn Waterman, Richards, Jesse Wacker, Rob Oberg and Strickland. Through the third round into the semi-finals were Strickland with Jesse and Mark Wacker, and father defeated son in their semi.
Strickland deserved his victory on the day, and a two-thousandths redlight by Wacker sealed Strickland’s first meeting win.
The 2008 series was the 7th year for the Screamin’ Eagles. Twenty two racers faced the start-line, and with five different racers winning the five completed rounds, the racer’s traditional extremely close racing was again a highlight of the year.
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Screamin’ Eagle Series report – March 18th 2008
ANOTHER CLIFF-HANGER SCREAMIN’ EAGLE SERIES
With just one round of this year’s Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson and Buell Series to run, the top of the points table is crowded with potential Series winners.
The just completed March 15th round at Willowbank delivered the unexpected. All three points leaders were knocked out early, and Woggie Williamson powered through to his first meeting victory. Peter Strickland, reaching his first Screamin’ Eagles final, collected the runner-up points, and both of these racers have shaken up the leader board.
This seventh Series has produced, yet again, the now traditional cliff-hanger finish. At the final round, at Willowbank on May 17th, any of five racers could take out the Series, with two more having a slight chance if all the luck runs their way.
The five are joint leaders Glen Richards and Mark Wacker on 35 points, with Phil Heath tailgating them on 30, while Williamson on 25 points and Strickland on 20 are also right in the chase. And it’s possible for Kat Salotti and Jesse Wacker, tied on 15 points, to figure in the results too.
Willowbank’s March Madness Screamin’ Eagle round was red-hot racing, fun and entertainment all the way. The likeable pair of Williamson and Strickland fought out a close final, and getting there wasn’t easy either. Semi finalist Chris Fecioru, in just his second drag meeting, finally went under to Strickland, and in the other Semi, Williamson took out the race of the day over Jesse Wacker by the magic winning margin of one-thousandth of a second.
Jesse and brother Chris kept the crowd entertained with their new “slow-race” style burnouts. They lit the tyres in the water stripe, then kept their big Harleys smokin’ all the way to, or past, the starter’s box…sideways, crossed-up, feet up, and as slowly as possible. It’s an impressive display of riding ability, although the occasionally wide eyed, backing away startline officials may have had a dubious moment or two.
Fecioru reached the Semis with a win in a double-act comedy race with Phil Heath. Fecioru missed 2nd gear, found third, then missed 4th …while in the other lane Heath missed 2nd, and 3rd, then eventually picked up 4th gear. And although it was a hopelessly off-the-pace race, amid all that gearbox crunching, over-revving and disgusted head shaking, it evened out to be a great, inches-tight finish.
Robert Joyce raced his newly completed race/street Harley for the first time. He has crafted a minimalist-styled black, black, chrome and black Super Glide, with a 103 cube engine built to wicked specs by Morgan & Wacker Performance Race Engines. This first meeting was a chance for Joyce to begin the trek up the learning curve…but even while taking things very easy, the big Harley still showed a desire to get vertical. When the bike and rider get to know each other better, the potent engine build is sure to propel Joyce into impressive ET’s.
Paul Taverner qualified his very special old Harley Shovelhead, it has a fabulous bark in the exhaust note, but a small crack in a weld led Paul to make a wise withdrawal from the racing.
Rob Oberg, perhaps the best known drags commentator in the country and vastly experienced in just about any aspect of the sport, is now a regular Screamin’ Eagle competitor. When he fully gets the hang of his beautiful Castrol Edge V-Rod, Rob will be a real threat. Along with all that knowledge, Rob has all the skills…and this entertaining bloke knows all the tricks too.
And the happiest racer at the track? No contest…it was Scott Wacker. The very young Scott, in his first race at his first Screamin’ Eagle meeting, knocked out a real quality racer…his hugely experienced cousin Chris Wacker. You could have seen Scott’s smile from the Space Shuttle.
Catch all the action of the Screamin’ Eagle Series final round at Willowbank on May 17th.