OEHLER SHAKES OFF SAND, GLITCHES TO EARN SECOND VICTORY IN FOUR-WIDE BIKE RACE THAT ENDS AS TWO-WIDE

Written by Susan Wade, photos by Burghardt Photos, NHRA    Mon, 2021-04-19 16:55

 

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Ryan Oehler went from the sandbox to the winners circle at this weekend’s NHRA Denso Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals.

His Flyin’ Ryan Racing / B&K Cylinder Racing EBR came to rest in the sand trap at the end of the quarter-mile course at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the opening qualifying session Friday.

But even though Oehler’s weekend began in a slightly messy fashion, it ended spectacularly Sunday with his second overall triumph and his first since the first of four Indianapolis races last season.

With half of the final quartet disabled or disqualified by the start of the run, the showdown became a sprint between Oehler and fellow team-owner Cory Reed.

Oehler’s 6.911-second elapsed time at 194.83 mph was more than enough to dismiss Reed, who trailed by about 17 feet, or .0612 of a second, at the finish line with a 6.948, 193.10 clocking.

Steve Johnson, who just turned 60 years old in January and was seeking his first victory in 102 races (since the 2014 Gatornationals), and Scotty Pollacheck, who wanted a trophy from a four-wide race to go with his 2020 U.S. Nationals Wally, advanced to the final quad. But Johnson’s bike broke at the starting line, and Pollacheck red-lighted by one-hundredth of a second.

Oehler joined Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) as winners in this second race of the season.

The animated Oehler said he enjoys four-wide racing, but he said it did cause him to scratch his head a little.

“I love it. I absolutely love it,” he said. “But I'm the guy that likes a challenge and the intensity that the four-wide presents, the staging intensity. It’s just something I thrive off of. I won't say I wish they were all four-wide, because it is a whole different race platform, but I do enjoy when we get to go to one.”

But he said it took him a whole to figure out the scoreboard. He said it “definitely” was tricky, partly because of distortion of “your peripheral vision.”

Oehler said, “First round was the first time I figured out how the win lights work. Solid is (No.) 2; flashing is (No.) 1. I was like, ‘Ah!! I get it!!’ When I go through the finish line in the finals, I didn’t see anyone. Then I see Cory, and his light came on solid. I don't sense anyone around me but Corey. Then we go through the finish line, Corey kind of seemed like he was ahead of me, but then his light comes on solid and then no other light comes on and then suddenly about a one-count blink, blink, blink, blink, blink  . . . all of a sudden – flash-flash-flash. And I was like, ‘Oooooh! I know what that means!’ . . . like jackpot baby! I knew at that point, because I didn't even know until first round how that really worked. First round I was quick the whole heat and there it was, I had the blinking lights so then I knew. Yeah, that was awesome.”

The Bloomington, Ill., businessman made an executive decision about his motor after the early qualifying mishap. He said the team usually brings three motors to the track, but they had ruined one at Gainesville in the previous event. So they arrived in Las Vegas with just two, and he said he was “worried when we went in the sand Friday. The engine was running on its side. There were no rocks in it, but there was a lot of dust in it. We didn’t want to change at that moment.”

That turned out to be a significant decision, for he had to change the engine after the first round Sunday because of a broken oil-pump belt. “It’s a good thing,” Oehler said, “because we would have been screwed.”   

When his brakes failed on the first pass here, Oehler credited his feet – which he referred to as “my size-12 skis . . . the biggest foot in Pro Stock Motorcycle” – for stopping him in the sand. But once he was satisfied early Saturday that his brakes would start performing as designed, he shook off the experience.

“You totally think, ‘I hope I got my brakes running better.’ It made me feel a little bit better because when we ran Q2, I had to shut it off because I got over by the wall, I noticed they were a little bit spongy. Then in Q3, the brakes worked fine. So the brakes were out of my mind,” he said.

“Then eliminations just went off. We cut good lights, solid lights. We brought it the best we could in the finals. We ran our low E.T. of the weekend, best speed of the weekend,” Oehler said.

But on that first run, Oehler said, “The guy at the end of the track that takes care of us at the Safety Safari says, ‘Hey, Ryan, you went from ‘I can't stop’ to the backdrop.’ And I said, ‘You hit the nail on the head with that one.’ Then we go through the weekend, we got a broken oil pump belt after Round 1, and thank goodness we got High Performance Lubricants on our team that helps us and make sure we got in the slickest, best oil out there for our bike. We were able to survive Round 1 with the quickest pass in Round 1. We go to Round 2 with a motor swap. Now you got a new motor. You got to figure out the tune. We went a .98. I told everybody, ‘I know what it needs. It’s still making too much power.’ We took power out of it, we go to the top. We go low E.T. of the weekend. We go 6.91. We go our best 60-foot of the weekend and an .02 light. And that's why we're here in the winners circle.”

He made it all sound so neat and tidy.

 

 
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