Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chip Ellis is targeting the winner’s circle at the 44th annual NHRA Finals at Pomona Raceway this weekend. Riding the Schumacher Electric/XXX Racing Fuels Suzuki, he is seeking his fourth straight top-five season points finish with a strong effort at the traditional season-ending event in Pomona, Calif.
Currently No. 7 in the points, Ellis is 162 markers out of No. 1 and enters the event in a markedly different situation than he was in one year ago. Last season, he charged all the way to the final round at the NHRA Finals with a chance to win the race and the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship, then came up short against Matt Smith, ending the year a career-high No. 3.
This season he is out of range of earning the series title but he does have the potential for a top-five finish, along with DSR Pro Stock Motorcycle teammate Craig Treble, who sits 32 points behind Ellis in No. 8. Ellis is just 44 points out of fourth place (Angelle Sampey).
“I was pretty successful at Pomona last year,” said Ellis, who has qualified for all 66 NHRA national events that he has entered in Pro Stock Motorcycle. “Unfortunately we came up a little bit short in the final round.”
Crew chief Steve Tartaglia has guided Ellis to a solid season in 2008, with a win at Englishtown and a runner-up at Atlanta, five semifinals, four quarterfinals and five first rounds. He was low qualifier in Memphis and has qualified in the top half of the 16-bike field at all 16 events so far this season.
“The Schumacher Electric/XXX Racing Fuels Suzuki has been running really strong this year and I’d like to go out to Pomona and finish the year off with a win,” said Ellis. “It would make for a short winter with a victory at the last race of the year.
“Pomona is a neat facility, the California fans are great, and the stands are always packed. There’s a lot of history there and it’s kind of like the U.S. Nationals in Indy. We just want to go out there and do a good job and try and bring home another Wally (winner’s trophy) for XXX Racing Fuels, Schumacher Electric and all of our sponsors.”
CHIP ELLIS QUICK FACTS:
* Enters the fifth event of the five-race Countdown to 1 playoffs in No. 7, 162 points out of first place, and 44 markers short of fourth place
* Finished third in the ‘regular season’ point standings after 12 of 17 events (one victory in two final rounds, five semifinal, two quarterfinal, and three first-round finishes)
* Qualified No. 3 at last year’s NHRA Finals in Pomona, finished runner-up to Matt Smith
* No. 1 qualifier at NHRA Finals in 2004
* No. 1 qualifier for the 2008 Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle in Indianapolis, advanced to quarterfinals
* Clinched spot in the Countdown to 1 in Brainerd, Minn.
* Qualified No. 1 in his NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle debut at the 2004 U.S. Nationals
* Has won six races in nine career final-round appearances
* Career round win/loss record is 88-60
* 2008 is first season with Don Schumacher Racing
* Finished career-best third in the points last season, just eight points shy of wining the championship
* Went down to the final round at the final race to decide the 2007 championship
* Qualified for all 64 NHRA races he has competed in Pro Stock Motorcycle since 2004
* A graduate of the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School at Gainesville Raceway
* Had two runner-up finishes and five No. 1 qualifiers in 2007
* Qualified No. 1 12 times
* Won first national event at Las Vegas 2 during his rookie season in 2004
* Ran an abbreviated 2004 rookie season with a No. 1 qualifier at U.S. Nationals, No. 4 at Reading, No. 2 and event win at Las Vegas, and No. 1 qualifier and semi-final appearance at Pomona
* Born in Daytona Beach, Fla., on 2/20/70
* Lives in Brownsburg, Ind., with wife Kathy and daughter McKenzie (10/23/01)
* AMA/ProStar Formula Super Bike champion in 2003
* AMA/ProStar Funny Bike champion in 2002
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