1979 ATCO Drag Bike Racing Ken Blackburn - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1979 ATCO Drag Bike Racing Ken Blackburn - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, Vintage Magazine article
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
IT HAPPENED
AT ATCO
Well, racers and motorcycle enthu-
siasts, if we keep hanging in for the
U.S. Nationals at Atco Raceway, we
could possibly get in a year or two
without any rain at all. Everyone re-
members the year that it rained for
one complete month and the entire
meet had to be cancelled; then last
year, even though the weekend had
rain at times, it was run to a successful
conclusion. This year the weather out-
look appeared to be the best so far. If
the weekend prior could be any indi-
cation, it was typical fall weather with
warm, sunny, clear days and getting
just a little cooler at nights.
There was enough sun on Saturday
to give some of the workers a burn and
Sunday morning appeared to be a
carryover with not one cloud in the sky
at 8 a.m. At noon, however, the
entire picture changed and the dark
grey clouds rolled in to say “Better sit
tight for awhile; I’m staying.” Every-
one waited and by 2:30 p.m. a quick
check with the weather bureau re-
vealed it would not clear until Mon-
day. So the track management put
their heads together and postponed
the meet to Monday evening.
Over 200 racers entered competition
on Saturday, with the two-day total
nearly reaching 325 before the rains.
Qualifying was completed at 5 p.m.
but not without its problems. For-
midable candidate for Top Fuel, Mar-
ion Owens was firing his bike in the
lanes when everything blew sky high.
Pieces went everywhere as the loud
blast was heard throughout the track.
Marion was jarred off his bike, but
luckily not injured, although there is
little doubt that his machine will be
scrapped with hardly any salvage.
That left the field with Ken Black-
burn in the number one spot at 8.573;
Frog Thacker second at 8.807; Danny
Cooper next at 9.035 and Dick Prime
with handling problems at 11.074.
In the Pro Stock Division the two
names which are the most talked
about are probably Bob Carpenter
(C-M Performance), Cornwells Hts.,
Pa. and Terry Vance (R.C. Engineer-
Kenny Blackburn came away from Atco with Top Fuel Eliminator title, which he
garnered aboard the West/Corman blown Kawasaki nitro-burner...
IT HAPPENED
AT ATCO
MARION’S
BIG
BANG
The Frightening
Aftermath of Marion
Owens' Diggerbike
Explosion
by Greg Guarinello
PHOTOS BY FRANK JONES, SR.
When Marion Owens and Elmer
Trett pulled into the Atco pits on the
day of the Cycle Nationals, little did
they know that their precious cargo
would be little more than spare parts
in a couple of hours.
Marion and Elmer (also a H-D Top
Fuel rider, with a then-broken mount)
drove to New Jersey from Oklahoma
City, not only to participate in the 12th
annual Cycle Nationals, but to test
some new theories in time for Ontario
(NHRA).
The better part of this season was
spent testing its Hilborn injection sys-
tem. In fact just prior to the DRAG-
BIKE! race at Dragway 42 Marion
stumbled onto a new “secret.” Being
the competitor that he is, MO shared
his good luck with H-D associates
Elmer Trett and Ray Price. The rec-
ords will show that Ray’s Sportster
Funny Bike ran an 8.39 ET at 177 mph
(approximately a 20-mph increase)
while Elmer broke the 180-mph bar-
rier for the first time. Meanwhile Mar-
ion was running 8.0’s at 183 mph
consistently.
Though this increase was indeed
wonderful, it still had its drawbacks.
The main one being a marked increase
in horsepower (before you think I’m
losing my marbles read on). Marion’s
frame, one of the best in the sport, is a
few years old. The rear section which
houses the tire was built with some
room for an increase in tire size. How-
ever, the cradle is not ready for the tire
sizes available today to handle current
horsepower outputs. Thus, the Owens
team was foced into a backpedaling
situation until a new frame could be
constructed.
Since Dragway 42, Marion was find-...
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