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NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Peggy Llewellyn improved her standing in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoff series, riding her Rush Racing Products Buell to the semifinals at the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park. That performance moved Llewellyn to sixth, with one more race to go in Dallas before half the Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown field is eliminated to set the final four.
It wasn't a weekend without trials and tribulations for Llewellyn and the Rush Racing team, but Peggy persevered to third in the qualifying order.
qualifying round 1
4th Peggy Llewellyn left lane 7.096 at 183.47 mph
qualifying round 2
7th Peggy Llewellyn right lane 7.121 at 185.49 mph
qualifying round 3
6th Peggy Llewellyn left lane 6.992 at 190.65 mph
On her Saturday morning Q3 pass, the front brake failed on Llewellyn's Buell and planted the bike in the sandpit at the end of the track. "I went to the beach, but I didn't bring my bikini!" laughed Peggy. "I shut the bike down a little late and start tapping my rear brakes. I started bringing in the front brake and the lever went all the way to the grip—nothing. George Bryce (co-crew chief on Llewellyn's S&S powered Buell) taught us at his drag racing school to let out the clutch to slow the bike down, and that's what I did. I thought about trying to make the turn, but I didn't want to take out the Safety Safari! It just put the front wheel in the sand, and some rocks in the belly pan."
qualifying round 4
3rd Peggy Llewellyn right lane 6.955 at 191.35 mph
With the rocks cleaned out, Llewellyn made a big move in Q4. "Peggy was able to run low ET of the round for the first time of her career in the fourth round of qualifying," said Bryce. "We had the whole Rush Racing crew here for that and it was cool that they were able to celebrate with us."
"I'm happy with qualifying for sure," said Llewellyn's other co-crew chief, Shane Maloney. "You always want to be number one, but it was good. It moved us up in the Ringers Gloves Battle for next year, and on raceday Peggy got to watch some of the more closely matched pairings in front of her instead of being in them."
But Llewellyn's own opening round match-up with Karen Stoffer was crucial to the championship hopes of both riders. "I talked to my niece before the round, and she said 'I hope you don't mind, but I'm pulling for Karen this round!'" said Peggy. "Then a reporter came up and said something about it being an important round. After that, I started getting nervous. But then I thought 'Wait a minute, we're doing process and procedure here, not who's in the other lane or the points implications.' I'm always thinking about my process and not rounds, otherwise I'd be a nervous wreck!"
eliminations round 1
(W) Peggy Llewellyn .042 7.000 at 189.18 mph
Karen Stoffer .012 7.047 at 190.24 mph
After giving up the tree, Llewellyn out 60-footed Stoffer to drive around by the 330 and continued to pull away for the win, perhaps to the chagrin of her niece.
eliminations round 2
(W) Peggy Llewellyn .088 7.006 at 189.84 mph
Matt Guidera .026 7.069 at 196.87 mph
Again, Llewellyn spotted the tree to Maple Grove winner Matt Guidera before driving around, but this time not until well past the 1000 foot mark. Peggy took the stripe by a mere .0013 of a second—or about 4 inches!
eliminations round 3
(W) Andrew Hines .016 7.043 at 190.92 mph
Peggy Llewellyn .038 7.176 at 187.03 mph
But there was no driving around defending class champion Andrew Hines in the semis. "I'm frustrated because I found a new way to loose," said Peggy. "I guess I sort of grazed the shift button for third instead of pushing it, and it needs to be pushed. So I was on the rev limiter for a long time. It started to scream and nose over and the G-meter dived. I chalk it up as experience."
"Peggy did a great job to win the first and second rounds," offered Bryce. "In the third round, she took off and passed Andrew by the 60 foot and was well in front of him at the 330. Then she missed the shift button and it was all over. If she'd hit second to third, she probably could have outrun the 7.04 that Andrew left hanging there like a ripe fruit. That would have given Peggy her first semifinal win in her young, budding career. Then with Steve Johnson breaking in the final, who knows?"
At the end of the run, an electrical malfunction started a fire beneath the seat of the Rush Racing Buell. "I had hot buns, but I didn't know it," Peggy laughed again. "Then the Safari said, 'Are you on fire?' And I said 'Maybe so.'"
"We just didn't pay enough attention when we put the airbox on," admitted Maloney. "It must have rubbed a fuel injection wire through and touched the carbon fiber, and electricity and carbon fiber go hand-in-hand and you have a little barbeque.
"But the motors ran awesome, and that's a testament to the guys at G2. That was the first time we ran the motor we bought from Rob Muzzy in competition. We took all the fast stuff we had and applied it to that motor, and it worked out pretty good."
"We ran great," agreed Bryce. "We got the clutch fixed and Peggy was able to run the number one 60 foot again. We moved up in points and with one race to go before the final four cutoff, we feel our S&S powered Buell is prepared."
"We've got to work hard to keep up with all these fast bikes," said Maloney. "We can't go to Dallas worrying about points, we just have to go there and do our best. Then Sunday at 4 o'clock, we'll know whether we're racing for the championship or not."
"Dallas is coming up, and that's a home race for our team," said Llewellyn. "We moved up a couple of spots in the points in Memphis, and we'll look to do the same this weekend in Dallas."
"We need every point we can get," finished team owner Karl Klement, who noted that Lou and Jeremy Pringle from Rush Racing were hanging with the team in Memphis. "We had kind of an up and down weekend with the sand trap and the electrical fire, but I'm real happy. We did the best we could do, and we'll do it again this weekend in Dallas."
Peggy and the Rush Racing team race next at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals, September 20-23_at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
Peggy and the team would like to thank Rush Racing Products Rush Slip On Mufflers - Flex Pipe - Motorcycle Mufflers - by E.P.I./RUSH, PJ1 ..:: PJ1 ::.., Motion Pro Motion Pro - Quality Motorcycle Cables, Tools and Controls, Royal Purple Royal Purple Consumer, Industrial, & Racing Divisions, Wiseco Pistons Manufacturer of High Performance Forged Pistons & Performance Parts for Motorcycles, ATVs, Snowmobiles, Marine, and Automobiles - Wiseco Piston Inc., Precision Motorcycle Products Precision Motorcycle Products, Baudier Grafix New Page 1, Bates Leathers Bates Custom Leathers, and Tucker Rocky Distributing http://www.tuckerrocky.com for their support.
Peggy Llewellyn can be seen on the web at ::Official Peggy Llewellyn Website::
Countdown to the Championship point standings
6th Peggy Llewellyn 2119
Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew Championship point standings
8th Peggy Llewellyn/Shane Maloney/George Bryce 275
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle
7th Peggy Llewellyn 311
Llewellyn Dances to the Semis in Memphis
NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Peggy Llewellyn improved her standing in the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship playoff series, riding her Rush Racing Products Buell to the semifinals at the O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park. That performance moved Llewellyn to sixth, with one more race to go in Dallas before half the Pro Stock Motorcycle Countdown field is eliminated to set the final four.
It wasn't a weekend without trials and tribulations for Llewellyn and the Rush Racing team, but Peggy persevered to third in the qualifying order.
qualifying round 1
4th Peggy Llewellyn left lane 7.096 at 183.47 mph
qualifying round 2
7th Peggy Llewellyn right lane 7.121 at 185.49 mph
qualifying round 3
6th Peggy Llewellyn left lane 6.992 at 190.65 mph
On her Saturday morning Q3 pass, the front brake failed on Llewellyn's Buell and planted the bike in the sandpit at the end of the track. "I went to the beach, but I didn't bring my bikini!" laughed Peggy. "I shut the bike down a little late and start tapping my rear brakes. I started bringing in the front brake and the lever went all the way to the grip—nothing. George Bryce (co-crew chief on Llewellyn's S&S powered Buell) taught us at his drag racing school to let out the clutch to slow the bike down, and that's what I did. I thought about trying to make the turn, but I didn't want to take out the Safety Safari! It just put the front wheel in the sand, and some rocks in the belly pan."
qualifying round 4
3rd Peggy Llewellyn right lane 6.955 at 191.35 mph
With the rocks cleaned out, Llewellyn made a big move in Q4. "Peggy was able to run low ET of the round for the first time of her career in the fourth round of qualifying," said Bryce. "We had the whole Rush Racing crew here for that and it was cool that they were able to celebrate with us."
"I'm happy with qualifying for sure," said Llewellyn's other co-crew chief, Shane Maloney. "You always want to be number one, but it was good. It moved us up in the Ringers Gloves Battle for next year, and on raceday Peggy got to watch some of the more closely matched pairings in front of her instead of being in them."
But Llewellyn's own opening round match-up with Karen Stoffer was crucial to the championship hopes of both riders. "I talked to my niece before the round, and she said 'I hope you don't mind, but I'm pulling for Karen this round!'" said Peggy. "Then a reporter came up and said something about it being an important round. After that, I started getting nervous. But then I thought 'Wait a minute, we're doing process and procedure here, not who's in the other lane or the points implications.' I'm always thinking about my process and not rounds, otherwise I'd be a nervous wreck!"
eliminations round 1
(W) Peggy Llewellyn .042 7.000 at 189.18 mph
Karen Stoffer .012 7.047 at 190.24 mph
After giving up the tree, Llewellyn out 60-footed Stoffer to drive around by the 330 and continued to pull away for the win, perhaps to the chagrin of her niece.
eliminations round 2
(W) Peggy Llewellyn .088 7.006 at 189.84 mph
Matt Guidera .026 7.069 at 196.87 mph
Again, Llewellyn spotted the tree to Maple Grove winner Matt Guidera before driving around, but this time not until well past the 1000 foot mark. Peggy took the stripe by a mere .0013 of a second—or about 4 inches!
eliminations round 3
(W) Andrew Hines .016 7.043 at 190.92 mph
Peggy Llewellyn .038 7.176 at 187.03 mph
But there was no driving around defending class champion Andrew Hines in the semis. "I'm frustrated because I found a new way to loose," said Peggy. "I guess I sort of grazed the shift button for third instead of pushing it, and it needs to be pushed. So I was on the rev limiter for a long time. It started to scream and nose over and the G-meter dived. I chalk it up as experience."
"Peggy did a great job to win the first and second rounds," offered Bryce. "In the third round, she took off and passed Andrew by the 60 foot and was well in front of him at the 330. Then she missed the shift button and it was all over. If she'd hit second to third, she probably could have outrun the 7.04 that Andrew left hanging there like a ripe fruit. That would have given Peggy her first semifinal win in her young, budding career. Then with Steve Johnson breaking in the final, who knows?"
At the end of the run, an electrical malfunction started a fire beneath the seat of the Rush Racing Buell. "I had hot buns, but I didn't know it," Peggy laughed again. "Then the Safari said, 'Are you on fire?' And I said 'Maybe so.'"
"We just didn't pay enough attention when we put the airbox on," admitted Maloney. "It must have rubbed a fuel injection wire through and touched the carbon fiber, and electricity and carbon fiber go hand-in-hand and you have a little barbeque.
"But the motors ran awesome, and that's a testament to the guys at G2. That was the first time we ran the motor we bought from Rob Muzzy in competition. We took all the fast stuff we had and applied it to that motor, and it worked out pretty good."
"We ran great," agreed Bryce. "We got the clutch fixed and Peggy was able to run the number one 60 foot again. We moved up in points and with one race to go before the final four cutoff, we feel our S&S powered Buell is prepared."
"We've got to work hard to keep up with all these fast bikes," said Maloney. "We can't go to Dallas worrying about points, we just have to go there and do our best. Then Sunday at 4 o'clock, we'll know whether we're racing for the championship or not."
"Dallas is coming up, and that's a home race for our team," said Llewellyn. "We moved up a couple of spots in the points in Memphis, and we'll look to do the same this weekend in Dallas."
"We need every point we can get," finished team owner Karl Klement, who noted that Lou and Jeremy Pringle from Rush Racing were hanging with the team in Memphis. "We had kind of an up and down weekend with the sand trap and the electrical fire, but I'm real happy. We did the best we could do, and we'll do it again this weekend in Dallas."
Peggy and the Rush Racing team race next at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals, September 20-23_at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.
Peggy and the team would like to thank Rush Racing Products Rush Slip On Mufflers - Flex Pipe - Motorcycle Mufflers - by E.P.I./RUSH, PJ1 ..:: PJ1 ::.., Motion Pro Motion Pro - Quality Motorcycle Cables, Tools and Controls, Royal Purple Royal Purple Consumer, Industrial, & Racing Divisions, Wiseco Pistons Manufacturer of High Performance Forged Pistons & Performance Parts for Motorcycles, ATVs, Snowmobiles, Marine, and Automobiles - Wiseco Piston Inc., Precision Motorcycle Products Precision Motorcycle Products, Baudier Grafix New Page 1, Bates Leathers Bates Custom Leathers, and Tucker Rocky Distributing http://www.tuckerrocky.com for their support.
Peggy Llewellyn can be seen on the web at ::Official Peggy Llewellyn Website::
Countdown to the Championship point standings
6th Peggy Llewellyn 2119
Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew Championship point standings
8th Peggy Llewellyn/Shane Maloney/George Bryce 275
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle
7th Peggy Llewellyn 311
