Top Fuel Motorcycle 10-time champion, Larry “Spiderman” McBride, continues to push forward on the development of his cutting-edge race bike. Randy Randazzo, a protege of McBride’s late, legendary chassis builder, James “Puppet” DiTullio, completed the tinwork, which will serve as a template for the carbon-fiber bodywork.
“Randy did an outstanding job. Anyone who is familiar with Puppet’s work will recognize the same qualities in Randy’s,” McBride said.
McBride’s new fairing is wider than the one he currently utilizes, and the team is still in the process of engineering an extension that will block the grips to keep the wind off of McBride’s hands as he soars down the racetrack.
The next step is to take the tinwork down to Joe Hofmann of Fiberworks in Moresville, N.C., to get the carbon-fiber bodywork made. Hofmann is also the fabrication manager at Penske Racing and is heavily involved with NASCAR.
“There is a chance the carbon-fiber could take a while, so if we have to, we will test the bike with the tinwork,” said McBride, who holds the world record for elapsed-time at 5.79.
McBride’s new chassis is over a foot longer at 18.8 feet. The chassis was built by Denjie Phaup, Steve Phillips, Norman Karlsen and Steve McBride.
McBride emphasized that he is not in a rush to race the new bike.
“We are about a year behind schedule due to the poor economy, but I am very excited about finishing this bike soon,” McBride said. “I’m trying to hold my excitement back and make sure everything is 100-percent right on this bike. We already have a fast motorcycle, so we will not race the new bike until it’s perfect. We still have a lot of little stuff to do when we get it back to our shop.”
McBride will begin his season at the Manufacturers Cup in Valdosta, Ga., April 13-15.
McBride thanked sponsors; Pingel Enterprise, Trim-Tex Drywall Products, Drag Specialties-Parts Unlimited, Red Line Synthetic Oil Corporation, K&N Air Filters and Web-Cam as well as his other sponsors.
Vance & Hines Motorsports, PR Factory Store, Muzzys Performance, Ferrea Valves, Kibblewhite, Precision Machine, World Wide Bearings, Vanson Leathers, Performance Machine, Belt Drives Ltd, Street & Competition, Simpson Race Products, Nitrous Express, APE, EK Chain, Arias Pistons, R/D Spring Corp, Autolite, MSD, Protect ALL, Whipple Industries, Cometic Gaskets, B&J Transmission, Carolina Cycle, L.A. Sleeve, PJ1, Mickey Thompson Tires, Valco, Goodridge, Carlisle Belts and Gates Belts.
