[coverattach=1]Krenik & the Desert Dawgs are Back on Track Taking the Pro Mod WIN & the #1 Qualifying Spot
August 24, 2009, Woodburn, Oregon - What a treat it was to get out of the office and head to the AHDRA Northwest Nationals. Greg Krenik, Karen Raffa and Steve Allstaedt teamed up once again to shake up the Pro Mod Class by almost resetting the record! After attending only 2 events of the eight National events, Greg has moved into the 4th place in points and plans to go for the (if things go right) 2nd place position. But, that will take some doing and it will all have to happen at the last race of 2009 in Rockingham in less than 7 weeks.
This weekend and even the 22 hour drive to the Western event were fantastic! They arrived in Hood River on Friday and had breakfast with Greg’s family, Pam, Izzy & Zack and then Ira and Zack joined them for the rest of the weekend at the track. Zack is 8 years old and the most curious and intelligent boy they have ever met. He had tons of questions for Steve about the bike and fed back more questions after receiving an adequate or sometimes inadequate answer, so everyone enjoyed his viewpoint. Zack also quickly became the ‘hat salesman’ for the 80 hats that the Dawgs decided to liquidate to help fill the gas tank! And what a salesman he was…selling 27 hats!
Friday’s Test n’ Tune was very important since Greg and Steve hadn’t yet worked together this year. They had plans to fix & try different things…to get Greg to launch straight, to keep the wheel from spinning on the tire and to see if they could break a record and WIN. They got three TNT passes in while trying to get the bike to launch correctly and get the fuel jetting close. Things didn’t quite go as planned. “We got the jetting close, Greg was launching straight and the rear tire was biting hard but then we were presented with a new problem…the rear tire would lose all it’s air by the end of the run.” said Steve. “When Greg would chop the throttle at the finish, the wheelie bars would slam down on the track giving him a little extra excitement when trying to slow down. It looks like we’ll be busy tonight.” he added.
Saturday, qualifying day finally arrived. Greg is competing against his finest competitor, Randy Borho and Randy’s tuner from last season, Steve Stute. The only difference this year is that Steve built a Pro Mod for his son, Nick, and will be tuning for him instead of Randy. The first round started out with Nick running an 8.66, then Randy an 8.63 and Greg an 8.69. In the second round Greg had the low ET of the round with an 8.67 but was still in the third position, not the place they wanted to be. They decided to change the cams for the third round, putting the old cams from last season back in the bike. With Ira’s help, they had three pairs of hands disassembling and reassembling the bike and were tightening the last bolt when they got the call to the lanes; they had just enough time to start it in the pit to see if it ran. It worked; they took the #1 spot with an 8.61. “We were planning on changing the cams during TNT but didn’t have the time.” said Greg. We knew there was a difference between the cams but didn’t know what it was. I guess this was the time to do it. We made it just in time for the call. We also got the tire to stop dumping the air but the wheel still spins on the tire, the lesser of two evils I guess.” he added. With Qualifying over, they were able to take their minds off the bike for the evening and enjoy the New Mexican Fiesta planned for 25 friends and competitors. Randy Borho made his KILLER salsa and carne asada and the desserts came from the Karen Wagner Casita. What a great evening!
Sunday, Greg joined all of the #1 Qualifiers on the starting line where the Woodburn fans cheered and always make the riders feel great. The day was perfect. In the first round Greg ran an 8.48 just 0.05 seconds off his National record! “Steve pulled a good one on me up at the top end.” said Greg. “He came down all serious looking, Randy had run after me and he says “Randy just ran an 8.58 keeping the serious face. He then comes around to the other side of the bike and says “But you ran a 48!” with a huge smile on his face handing me the time slip.” he added. In the semi’s, Greg was facing Nick Stute. Greg got him on the tree but wasn’t ready for the hit of the throttle and it sat him up. He got everything under control and got the win with an 8.52 to an 8.72. “Greg’s going to have to ride this like he did his Pro Stock.” said Steve. “With the changes we are trying to make with the wheel and tire it’s going to give a hit similar to what his PS did. We’re getting closer on the launch but nowhere near what it’s capable of…this is something new for him and it’s an experiment in progress.” he added.
The finals once again had Greg facing Randy Borho. Greg got a huge hole shot and never looked back to take the win with an 8.49 to an 8.66. Then at the top end he found out Randy injured his left foot coming out of the water box…his left foot stuck to the track and got run over by his foot peg. Greg stated that he couldn’t put pressure on it. “I couldn’t believe it when he told me about his foot; his pegs are low so I know that really had to hurt. I hope nothing’s broken.” said Greg.
“What a day, I guess we proved our 8.43 we ran in Rockingham last year was no fluke… 8.40’s on both coasts with different fuel. We did this without any ‘fine-tuning’ like we did at Rockingham, last year. If conditions are right and we figure out the rear tire, it could be a really fast weekend in Rockingham this year!” exclaimed Greg. “I offered to haul Randy’s and the Stute’s bikes to Rockingham to make it an interesting Pro Mod session.” he added.
“We had such a great time, as always, in the Northwest and it is so great to see family and my old NHRA family, Judy & Gene Bergstrom who run Woodburn. It was good to spend some time with them (meet their new puppy) and race on a well-prepared race-track. Actually Greg broke their track record just to prove to Gene how good his track was!” said Karen.
Last race of the year or last race ever for this Desert Dawg?
October 9-11, AHDRA Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts Nationals, Rockingham, NC
THANK YOU to OUR Supporting sponsors and friends……Thunderbird Harley-Davidson: John & Wayne
Unique Services Inc.: Brian
Custom Coating: Erin McGonagle
Mickey Thompson Tires: Carl
SA Racing Inc.: Steve Allstaedt
CP Pistons: Snake
Lyndall Racing Brakes: Paul
Regina Chain USA: Mike
Worldwide Bearing: Dave
Simpson Race Helmets:
August 24, 2009, Woodburn, Oregon - What a treat it was to get out of the office and head to the AHDRA Northwest Nationals. Greg Krenik, Karen Raffa and Steve Allstaedt teamed up once again to shake up the Pro Mod Class by almost resetting the record! After attending only 2 events of the eight National events, Greg has moved into the 4th place in points and plans to go for the (if things go right) 2nd place position. But, that will take some doing and it will all have to happen at the last race of 2009 in Rockingham in less than 7 weeks.
This weekend and even the 22 hour drive to the Western event were fantastic! They arrived in Hood River on Friday and had breakfast with Greg’s family, Pam, Izzy & Zack and then Ira and Zack joined them for the rest of the weekend at the track. Zack is 8 years old and the most curious and intelligent boy they have ever met. He had tons of questions for Steve about the bike and fed back more questions after receiving an adequate or sometimes inadequate answer, so everyone enjoyed his viewpoint. Zack also quickly became the ‘hat salesman’ for the 80 hats that the Dawgs decided to liquidate to help fill the gas tank! And what a salesman he was…selling 27 hats!
Friday’s Test n’ Tune was very important since Greg and Steve hadn’t yet worked together this year. They had plans to fix & try different things…to get Greg to launch straight, to keep the wheel from spinning on the tire and to see if they could break a record and WIN. They got three TNT passes in while trying to get the bike to launch correctly and get the fuel jetting close. Things didn’t quite go as planned. “We got the jetting close, Greg was launching straight and the rear tire was biting hard but then we were presented with a new problem…the rear tire would lose all it’s air by the end of the run.” said Steve. “When Greg would chop the throttle at the finish, the wheelie bars would slam down on the track giving him a little extra excitement when trying to slow down. It looks like we’ll be busy tonight.” he added.
Saturday, qualifying day finally arrived. Greg is competing against his finest competitor, Randy Borho and Randy’s tuner from last season, Steve Stute. The only difference this year is that Steve built a Pro Mod for his son, Nick, and will be tuning for him instead of Randy. The first round started out with Nick running an 8.66, then Randy an 8.63 and Greg an 8.69. In the second round Greg had the low ET of the round with an 8.67 but was still in the third position, not the place they wanted to be. They decided to change the cams for the third round, putting the old cams from last season back in the bike. With Ira’s help, they had three pairs of hands disassembling and reassembling the bike and were tightening the last bolt when they got the call to the lanes; they had just enough time to start it in the pit to see if it ran. It worked; they took the #1 spot with an 8.61. “We were planning on changing the cams during TNT but didn’t have the time.” said Greg. We knew there was a difference between the cams but didn’t know what it was. I guess this was the time to do it. We made it just in time for the call. We also got the tire to stop dumping the air but the wheel still spins on the tire, the lesser of two evils I guess.” he added. With Qualifying over, they were able to take their minds off the bike for the evening and enjoy the New Mexican Fiesta planned for 25 friends and competitors. Randy Borho made his KILLER salsa and carne asada and the desserts came from the Karen Wagner Casita. What a great evening!
Sunday, Greg joined all of the #1 Qualifiers on the starting line where the Woodburn fans cheered and always make the riders feel great. The day was perfect. In the first round Greg ran an 8.48 just 0.05 seconds off his National record! “Steve pulled a good one on me up at the top end.” said Greg. “He came down all serious looking, Randy had run after me and he says “Randy just ran an 8.58 keeping the serious face. He then comes around to the other side of the bike and says “But you ran a 48!” with a huge smile on his face handing me the time slip.” he added. In the semi’s, Greg was facing Nick Stute. Greg got him on the tree but wasn’t ready for the hit of the throttle and it sat him up. He got everything under control and got the win with an 8.52 to an 8.72. “Greg’s going to have to ride this like he did his Pro Stock.” said Steve. “With the changes we are trying to make with the wheel and tire it’s going to give a hit similar to what his PS did. We’re getting closer on the launch but nowhere near what it’s capable of…this is something new for him and it’s an experiment in progress.” he added.
The finals once again had Greg facing Randy Borho. Greg got a huge hole shot and never looked back to take the win with an 8.49 to an 8.66. Then at the top end he found out Randy injured his left foot coming out of the water box…his left foot stuck to the track and got run over by his foot peg. Greg stated that he couldn’t put pressure on it. “I couldn’t believe it when he told me about his foot; his pegs are low so I know that really had to hurt. I hope nothing’s broken.” said Greg.
“What a day, I guess we proved our 8.43 we ran in Rockingham last year was no fluke… 8.40’s on both coasts with different fuel. We did this without any ‘fine-tuning’ like we did at Rockingham, last year. If conditions are right and we figure out the rear tire, it could be a really fast weekend in Rockingham this year!” exclaimed Greg. “I offered to haul Randy’s and the Stute’s bikes to Rockingham to make it an interesting Pro Mod session.” he added.
“We had such a great time, as always, in the Northwest and it is so great to see family and my old NHRA family, Judy & Gene Bergstrom who run Woodburn. It was good to spend some time with them (meet their new puppy) and race on a well-prepared race-track. Actually Greg broke their track record just to prove to Gene how good his track was!” said Karen.
Last race of the year or last race ever for this Desert Dawg?
October 9-11, AHDRA Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts Nationals, Rockingham, NC
THANK YOU to OUR Supporting sponsors and friends……Thunderbird Harley-Davidson: John & Wayne
Unique Services Inc.: Brian
Custom Coating: Erin McGonagle
Mickey Thompson Tires: Carl
SA Racing Inc.: Steve Allstaedt
CP Pistons: Snake
Lyndall Racing Brakes: Paul
Regina Chain USA: Mike
Worldwide Bearing: Dave
Simpson Race Helmets:
