Ellis notches third semifinal finish of season in St. Louis
DON SCHUMACHER RACING 2008 NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES Round 4 of 17 for Pro Stock Motorcycle NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS Gateway International Raceway Madison, Ill. May 2-4, 2008 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Bill Walters, 561-964-2195; cell 561-632-5713; plus320@aol.com ELLIS NOTCHES THIRD SEMIFINAL FINISH OF THE SEASON IN ST. LOUIS MADISON, Ill. (May 4, 2008) Schumacher Electric Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis raced to his third semifinal finish of the season today at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, outside of St. Louis. Ellis made six consecutive 6-second passes en route to the semis, including a pair of 6.907-second elapsed times during qualifying on Saturday. After two days of cold, wind and overcast skies, conditions were mild, clear and sunny on race day. Ellis entered eliminations from the No. 2 qualifying spot for the third consecutive race. The Florida native began the day by defeating Junior Pippen in round one with an elapsed time of 6.929 seconds at 188.75 mph to Pippen's 7.055/184.37. In the second round he recorded a 6.972/189.20 to take out Steve Johnson, who was disqualified after a red-light start. Ellis' semifinal match up against Andrew Hines was a repeat of the final round one week ago in Atlanta, which Hines won. The Schumacher Electric Suzuki was first off the starting line with a .015 to .021 reaction time advantage for Ellis, who posted a 6.941/187.34, but it wasn't enough to hold off Hines' 6.905/192.72. "We had some good runs today, but I have to give it up for those Harleys," said Ellis of Hines' bike. "They've done a great job over there and we just didn't have enough for them. But I'm happy about the way I've been riding and cutting good lights, and I think our team is happy about it. We've been to three semis and a final round and it's not going to be long before we win one.² The change in weather conditions didn't affect Ellis. "I think we probably should have run a little better than we did today," Ellis said. "I left some out there on a couple of runs, but we're trying as hard as we can. Our Suzuki is fast and we just need to catch a break and we're going to be OK. If we can make it to the semis at every single race we're going to be there at the end. So far, so good." PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE POINT STANDINGS, after four of 17 events: 1. Andrew Hines, 405 (winner today) 2. Matt Smith, 349 (runner-up today) 3. Chip Ellis, 325 4. Matt Guidera, 296 5. Angelle Sampey, 231 6. Ed Krawiec, 220 7. Chris Rivas, 191 8. Karen Stoffer, 154 9. Hector Arana, 150 10. Shawn Gann, 149 ***