14 SHANE STUBBS BROKE THE MAXTON TRACK

Our season has opened with a bang ! Shane Stubbs broke the Maxton track (and world) record of 260.288 MPH, with a new record of 264.375 MPH. The old record of Lee Shierts / Rich Yancy Racing had stood since 2005, and was one of the true high-water marks in LSR. Shane said that one of his basic reasons for joining our team was the promised chance to compete against – and to break – this record. He’s done it.

Shane’s record came aboard the Historic HAMMER, in Shane’s first weekend aboard this bike at Maxton. World’s fastest stock-body Hayabusa.

The world record holder on the way through the traps, end marked by orange cones. 264.375 MPH on a street bike ! World record for the mile !

Team Rider Dean Sabatinelli makes final adjustments on his green 1000cc Turbo Kawasaki while the Hammer waits.

Shane was experimenting all weekend with “the Corner” at Maxton. Notice the ever-growing abuse to the exhaust outlet from the lean into the blind, hard, downhill right-hander. Now think about doing that in excess of 250 MPH…..

Last safety check at the starting line. Starter Manhattan Mark radios for clearance to begin the start sequence. Todd Dross and Josh Owen make final bike and electronic checks. Tires warm and air good, chain just right. Data logger on.

Shane’s last moment of repose. Crew has cleared the starting area, the starter has backed away, the track is his. You have to just taste the fear….and swallow.

Shane hammers through with a new track record, and the world record in the mile. Great riding position: Toes on pegs, and well in, heals in, knees in, butt back and low, elbows in and low, chin down on intake plenum, “back protector” right up against the helmet. Riding position is everything………All at 264 MPH.

Notice also how well the rear tire is planted on the pavement – good traction. Front tire is also well planted, giving good steering response. Shane set four national records total, with speeds of 256.200 MPH, 257.455 MPH, 259.931 MPH, and 264.375 MPH. Those four records are ALL in the ten fastest record speeds ever set at Maxton. Interestingly, that makes, in the history of street bikes on pavement LSR and Bonneville combined, only 7 official runs over 260 MPH. The score is Shane – 3, Tom Gates – 1, Bill Warner – 1, Joe Amo -1, a European - 1. That makes it our team, 4, the rest of the world, 3. We are still ahead !

Scott Guthrie Racing delivers ! As is SCOTT GUTHRIE RACING practice, which Bill also followed, we took nobody’s name out of the record book, and we “preserved” other rider’s fastest times. For historical reasons, we both left the former track record in the book, and it remains as a class record.

Gas Attack on left was ridden to its lifetime mile best by Dean, with a 232 MPH pass. It was Dean’s first time on the bike. Due to the very slow speed of this bike, the team considers it a “Beginner Bike.”

We had to add a little “tail” to the CATALYST tail section to enter our class. Just can’t call it a race bike without duct tape……… As predicted in these pages earlier this month, past Goliad track record holder Bill Warner was the big competition. His experiments with a full fairing were not successful in Texas, but were considerably better at Maxton. Earlier this month – before Maxton, we predicted Bill should be capable of 269 MPH, and he hit 272 MPH on his only very fast run, breaking our 38 Minute old 264 MPH record. Bill used a new “super secret” fairing, mostly handmade by Bill himself. We pulled out all the stops to catch Bill before the meet closed, and we blew the Hammer’s motor in the attempt, so we went home without the record in our corner. Shane and the team had the satisfaction of for 38 minutes at least, of being the fastest mile rider in history.

You can see our aerodynamic disadvantage. Bill has a better – but not perfect – seat, and probably a much better front fairing. Good belly coverage, great coverage around the upper body and arms. Head too high. Bill also runs RCC Super Duper Ultra kit, with CATALYST body work, and Worldwide Ceramic Bearings. These folks are the hot setup !

Dean at Speed, maybe 225-226 MPH on his liter bike. Compare with Bill’s bike, and see less coverage, and the belly pan filling with air and pushing all the way to the ground….Dean ran 245 MPH at Loring last August, and the thought of 250 MPH brings a twinkle to his eye. Soon, Shane and Dean will be the “Valentino and Jorge” of pavement LSR. With Joe Amo, the three of them will be LSR’s “Aliens.”

Todd helps Dean at Manhattan Mark’s start line. Dean is familiar with the routine, and set two records with the liter bike, with a best of 226.875 MPH.

Todd’s sidecar ride waits for record inspection in impound We as a team had not been involved in sidecars, although I owned and rode a 1980 Schmidt World GP sidecar. Todd helped win last year’s Maxton #1 plate on a sidecar rig. That championship made the Maxton championship score SCOTT GUTHRIE RACING 4 wins, and Tom Schaefer 4 wins. Time for us to saddle up and win another championship. We (with Todd) are currently second in the points race, and will probably be even further behind after the next meet, since we are flogging Todd to run this normally-aspired Hayabusa against a turbo competitor. But we have these plans………
Là R Debbie’s daughter Amanda, Lauren Owen, Josh Owen, Todd Dross, Shane Stubbs, Nadia Stubbs , Don Smith, Debbie Dross. Five (5) 200 Club hats!

Next month brings two (2) races: El Mirage 15/16 May 2010 Maxton 22/23 May 2010 Shane and Terry Kizer are planning to finish up the Big Stretch, and Shane to trailer the alcohol-burning beast to the dry lakes at El Mirage. Shane will also probably take another bike or two. Jason McVicar will get Shane’s back on the dirt, while Shane attempts to set a record or two. With any luck, weather cooperating, the track record of 240 MPH will fall, and the title will come back to the East Coast. If the track record does fall, that will be the fifth track record in less than one year. All five major tracks will have a new number! The Hammer is receiving both a motor transplant, and an updated turbo system from Richard Peppler of RCC. Todd and Josh will be installing the updates in Virginia, and the result will probably hit the track at Maxton under Dean the week after el Mirage. We will be calling the bike Hammer II, since there is little of the original bike remaining. New Motor, forks, turbo, frame, bodywork, wheels….. Hopefully, June will bring the debut of The Anvil. Similar to the well-proven Hammer and Hammer II, Anvil will be a RCC turbo Hayabusa, producing 600-650 HP with an RCC Ultra Kit, Dave Conforti’s ceramic bearings, Rick Stetson’s engines, Mark Doucette’s R&D Transmissions gears. Updates will include Ohlins rear suspension, Marvic wheels, and Ohlins forks. Wires by Debbie Dross. Since Shane would be too pressed for time to drive to California and back to Texas, and then fly to Maxton, Dean will handle a lot of the riding duty, Hammer II if ready, and the Gas Attack. Josh Owen may also ride Gas Attack. Donna Timney may have seat time either on Debbie’s fast nitrous bike, or Todd’s 1000cc Suzuki. Hammer News is waiting to get a nice biography of the shy Rick Stetson, to share with all of you. Rick has a very strong background in Drag Racing, but bought a Bonneville 200 MPH Club hat for Gerry Whitehouse in August of 1991. Rick Stetson assisted Dave Owen with his normal aspired (all-motor) bike, and rode it to its best time of 222.123 MPH at Maxton. At the time, this was the fastest all-motor record in the world, Bonneville included. Ed Hunt has joined our team. A fellow Tallahassee FL resident, Ed will be assisting us in the “miniatures” and aerodynamics areas. Ed is about my age, and has been involved in motorsports for almost 50 years, beginning with drag racing, moving to sports cars, and finally maturing to motorcycle racing, specializing in roadracing. Ed, while enjoying good Scotch whisky and fine cigars, is a nationally known builder of miniatures, like cars, boats and motorcycles. It is our hope that Ed will be able to replicate our race bikes “in miniature” for wind tunnel testing. Better bio for Ed is upcoming. The Sultan of Speed Scott