Hillclimb Blog

Here is a photo with Harold starting the climb, this photo shows several stages of the lower portion of the climb.

Here is a link to Harlds Waddell’s 3D Hillclimb photo gallery.
These photos are from the 2008 Logan Iowa Hillclimb Event.

All Harold Waddell Hillclimb Photos in this gallery were
taken by www.PhotographicAction.com

On November 7th 2008 Harld and team were mentioned in the
Omaha World-Herald Click On Photo to read article.

For the 3rd consecutive year Harold Waddell has claimed the NAHA National Hillclimb Championship in the Open Ex class. Early this season Waddell’s goal was to retain his championship title in the Open Ex class and also claim the title in the 700cc class. Harold’s goals are finally a reality with the final round of the NAHA Championship on Oct - 4th - 5th 2008, the East West Shootout in Nashville, IN.  With confidence Waddell headed to Indiana with one thing in mind.

In the 700cc class his points lead gave him some breathing room, needing to finish 12th or better to come home with the #1 plate, giving him the time and focus he would need to top the Open Ex Class for the 3rd year in a row. Waddell sat 1 point behind and had to beat the current Open Ex point’s leader in order to secure that title.

In the past Nashville, IN has done him well winning this round for the last 3 consecutive years, his focus was on winning the event to secure his place in Hillclimb history.As history tells it today, he came out of the weekend and would not be denied the title this year, as his hard work and dedication paid off now claiming NAHA Pro Hillclimb Open Ex National Title. This is the 3rd time in as many years he was able to capture the title and the first year as NAHA Pro Hillclimb National Title in the 700cc  premier class in the same season.

More on how his weekend went Soon….

 www.PitPassRadio.com

 7pm to 9 pm Central - streaming from www.pitpassradio.com, or download the program from our archives to your ipod or mp3 player anytime. The archive is posted 15 minutes after we finish the live show.- First Hour -

Harold Waddell, Professional Hill Climber
At 27 years old Harold has had a great career in pro hill climbing. He races the 0-700cc Unlimited Class and the 701cc to Open Unlimited Class. He is a 2 time Open Unlimited Champion and is working on his third. He sits 2nd in points going into the final round that takes place in Nashville, Indiana on Oct 4th and 5th. He has to win the final event to take the championship but has been on a winning streak lately.
www.haroldwaddell.com  www.pro-hillclimbers.org

Ashley Fiolek, Motocross Racer - Honda
Born profoundly deaf, Ashley began riding and racing motorcycles at age seven and worked her way up the amateur Motocross ranks. In 2004, at the age of 13, she won her first national championship at the Air Nautiques AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s. Between 2005 and 2007 she went on to win 12 more national championships and has won more than 100 races in her career so far. She recently won the 2008 AMA/WMA Championship.
www.ashleyfiolek.com

- Second Hour –

Robert Pandya, PR Consultant – Victory and Advanstar
PR Consultant in the powersports industry – his main clients are Victory and Advanstar Communications, promoter of the International Motorcycle Shows. In addition, Rob is president of small event company (The Sportbike Company) that is the hosting group for the Buell Inside Pass events. He is also involved in an AMA Supermoto Race team - Factory Aprilia Rip It Energy Drink.
www.victorymotorcycles.com  www.motorcycleshows.com

Jen Boller, Supermoto Racer - Honda
Jen is the 2007 Fast Girls Champion and will be defending her championship this weekend. She will be riding with her peers in the ultra competitive Fast Girls Invitational in the SupermotoUSA series, featuring some of the fastest female riders on two-wheels. The ladies will be racing on the same course with the same rules and the same bikes as the men at the Corona Superbike Finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 27-28.

Gill Campbell, CEO/GM – Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway
In 2002, Gill became the CEO/general manager of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a venue that she had come to know and love, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a world renowned facility that hosts five major motorsports events, including The U.S. Sports Car Invitational, The Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races, the AMA Superbike Championship and the Monterey Sports Car Championships. Gill served on the Board of Directors for the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, and chaired the Economic Vitality Committee. She currently serves on the Monterey Visitors and Convention Bureau Board and is also on the Steering Committee for the Le May America’s Car Museum.
www.laguna-seca.com

The Racer X/ Suzuki North American Hillclimb Championship Series (NAHA)

Big Nasty Hillclimb Proves Nasty (For the 6th Year in a Row)

The only professional motorcycle hillclimb in the Northwest, the 6th annual, Edge Performance Big Nasty, fired up again on September 12-14, 2008 and brought together its usual eclectic mix of interesting hillclimbers, machines and fans. The event was round five of the 2008 Racer X/Suzuki North American Hillclimb Association Championship Series (NAHA). The Big Nasty once again it lived up to its name, as less than a quarter of the pros climbed the 600-foot pro hill, and only nine scaled the 260-foot, nearly vertical, qualifying hill. Both of the hills challenged the record 416 entries from across the West all weekend. Known as “Idaho’s largest motorcycle event,” the Big Nasty continues to grow, and attendance once again hit a new record, drawing a confirmed 12,000 spectators for a weekend of sunny, 85 degree weather, and the typical Big Nasty, Woodstock/Burning Man feel continued. Children played in an inflatable toy area, the Metal Mulisha SCS Freestyle team performed motorcycle aerial tricks, local bands played on Friday and Saturday nights, pumpkins were shot at the hill, and a carnival brought in some rides which were located adjacent to the camping area. In addition, a street bike poker run was held on Saturday and each day opened with a live singing of the National Anthem, and flag presentation ceremony, courtesy of the Idaho Air National Guard Color Guard, (who also provided a cool, A-10 flyover on Saturday. Food vendors served up everything from pizza to burgers and assorted clothing, vehicle and other products also dotted the venue. “We once again sold out of sponsor and vendor space” said event director, Ron Dillon. “For the second year in a row, we had to start turning sponsors away, and interest in the event was higher than ever. Not only did our event attendance, rider numbers and sponsorship numbers increase, so did our overnight spectator camping and we sold a record number of 656 camping passes at the hill.”

Some wild new machines made their debut at this year’s Big Nasty, and a stroll through the pits revealed a gorgeous new open class Harley from California bike builder Curt Winter, and a howling, shrieking 580cc Yamaha two-stroke twin built by Oregon’s Shane Donaca from a Banshee motor. Bikes like these, along with the Smith’s nitro Yamahas, and the Peterson’s semi, full of to-die-for KTMs, help to keep hillclimbing positioned as being the two-wheeled sport with more unusual, and eclectic machinery than any other discipline in the world of motorcycle competition. Of course, other interesting machines made their annual pilgrimage to Big Nasty Land, such as Victor Kim’s open Kawasaki with its car wheel on the rear, Marc Smith’s classic 1961 nitro Triumph, and an assortment of chopped and reworked bikes of all sizes and shapes. Sunday’s pro mains were extremely hard fought. Utah’s Jason Smith repeated as champion in the 450 pro class, with Harold Waddell, out of Omaha, Nebraska, winning the 700 pro division. The Open class was topped by Team Peterson’s Bret Peterson, who blew over the top in 19.130 seconds, narrowly edging Dusty Beer who posted a 19.183 run.

Sunday, 451-700cc Main Event: (600-foot hill)

Harold Waddell in Cycle News Article Issue #36- September 10th release.

Monday, August 25, 2008
Dickeyville’s Green Monster
Toughened up hill proves daunting opponent for AMA pros
By CLETE CAMPBELL TH staff writer

Article Link

DICKEYVILLE, Wis. — In this matchup pitting man and machine versus the beast, there were no easy rides.

A toughened Dickeyville Hill played terminator Sunday, giving many riders at the American Motorcyclist Association pro hillclimb a pit bull’s greeting.

Armed with nitro and alcohol fuel and up to 300 horsepower, they attacked. Some fell. Some conquered.

But nobody made a quicker ascent than the fastest man in the hill’s history. Harold Waddell scaled the 500-foot summit in 13.069 seconds while winning the Extreme class championship before a paid crowd of 833.

Waddell also took the Unlimited class in 13.179 seconds. Wisconsin Rapids’ Mike Bronk took the Pro Sport division with a fast run of 20.571 seconds.

Jeff Thomas, a Greenwood, Ind., bike builder, powered his way through the hill’s rough with an unrelenting attack that brought him home in 13.867 seconds. The time was good for second place to Waddell in the Extreme division.

“It’s rough and there are a lot of rocks up there,” said Thomas, who was making

his first trip to Dickeyville since competing as an 8-year-old amateur in 1982.

“You’ve got to hope for a little luck and you’ve got to be aggressive and don’t hit the ground. ”

Event promoter Clay Wilwert carved a snake turn into the 70-degree hill, eliminating the option of making a straight-bee line attack.

“It’s possible to make, it just all depends on where the tough parts are, because it changes all the time,” Wilwert said of the chameleon hill.

Thomas said the key to beating Dickeyville is to have a visual map of the hill and execute it.

“You’ve got to have a mental picture of every spot you want to hit on the hill and then you’ve got to commit to hitting those spots,” he said. “That’s what separates the winners from the losers.”

Fear is not an option in this sport.

“It’s a big, big mental game,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of guys who can ride good, but there are few who can mentally put it together.”

“That’s what makes these guys pros,” Wilwert added.

Thomas took dead aim at the hill’s choppy rough and didn’t hold back. He said the rough road can actually be the quickest route up the ladder.

“It’s a commitment thing,” Thomas said. “Sometimes going through that rough stuff, the faster you’re going the better you go through. It all depends if you have the courage to go through it.”

Dickeyville Hill’s increased degree of difficulty will likely make Waddell’s 2002 hill record of 8.91 seconds untouchable. No one other than Waddell came closer to breaking the 13-second barrier Sunday.

Waddell, a two-time defending national champion, can’t even see himself challenging his Dickeyville hallmark.

“You’ve got to have patience on the hill,” said Waddell, a third-generation rider based in Omaha, Neb. “You ain’t going to go out there and turn it wide open and make it easy.

“I can see a 12 or 11-second (run), possibly a 10. But you’re going to have to be perfect for a 10. I don’t think there’s any threat of the hill record being challenged because of the turn. When I did it, it was a straight shot (to the top) and the hill was a lot smoother.”

Wilwert said there is such a thing as a hill on too much steroids. Poags Hole in New York state hosted an AMA show last weekend in which just riders reached the top on just five of 68 runs. Wilwert doesn’t want Dickeyville to become that hard of a conquering.

Riders reached the hill’s summitt on 41 of 70 (58 percent) attempts Sunday.

“We could make this more difficult, but I want them to be able to go over the top, because people like to see that,” Wilwert said.

* The King of the Hill competition returns to Dickeyville Hill Sunday, Sept. 14 for a semi-pro show. Action begins at noon.

Photos from www.DirtRider.com

Link to Page with Photo

Link to Page with Photo

These are Harold Waddell’s massively modified Suzukis. Most of the top big bikes make over 200 horsepower. (DirtRider.com)

Nebraska resident Harold Waddell is taking the top of more hills this year and doing it in dominating faction!!! Recently Harold Waddell stole the Show in Sturgis winning 3 different Pro classes and followed that win up the following weekend by winning the Extreme class in the AMA Pro Race with the Official Results 2008 AMA Hillclimb Championship Wilwert’s Event Promotions Inc., Dickeyville, Wisconsin – August 24, 2008 Harold Posted a 13.867 -  14.567 -  13.867 to take the win by more than a full second. In the world of Hillclimb races are usually won or lost by fractions of a second, but with Waddell it’s done in dominating faction.This is a record breaking year for Harold and with the Sturgis Hillclimb Round this year the Discovery Chanel is doing a story on Harold; they will be finishing their interview portion of the story in the next few weeks. Look for replies to this poster when the show will be airing.  

Congrats to Harold and keep up the great riding and good luck for the rest of the season.

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