St. Louis: Junior Pippin final report

PIPPIN DEFEATED IN FIRST-ROUND AT ST. LOUIS

MADISON, Ill., May 4, 2008 - Junior Pippin, the 55-year-old rookie rider of the PiranaZ Racing/Pippin Racing S&S-proven-performance-powered V-Twin, lost to Chip Ellis in the first round of eliminations at O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals here at Gateway International Raceway.

Pippin's run in the first round was his best this season, with a 7.055-second elapsed time at 184.37 miles per hour. He entered this weekend fourteenth in points in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle championship-point standings, and remained optimistic as he qualified for his fifth race in five tries, and put forth a good effort in the first-round.

"We qualified strong," said the Conyers, Ga. native. "The motorcycle isn't running as it should and we're learning something new every time. In the first-round, it's the best run we've had so far and as long as we keep moving forward, we'll get there."

Pippin was pleased with the progress, and is looking forward to the next race, the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago.

"As long as I'm having fun and I qualify, I'm happy."

-credit: pr