Hillclimb Blog

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….

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.

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.

Show your support and visit the Ridersmeeting and post your comments.

www.amaproracing.com
Official Results
2008 AMA Hillclimb Championship
Wilwert’s Event Promotions Inc., Dickeyville, Wisconsin – August 24, 2008

Xtreme Hillclimb

1st Run 2nd Run Final Score

1 51 Harold Waddell, Omaha, NE Honda 15.103 13.069 13.069 15 Thor/EVS/Works Connection/Red Bull/Smith Optics

2 312 Jeff Thomas, Greenwood, IN Honda 13.867 14.567 13.867 14

3 80 Nathan Redmann, Rochester, MN KTM 15.052 14.74 14.74 13 SRP Racing/Moto Mayhem/Cannon Falls Hon-Yam

4 2 Phil Libhart, Elizabethtown, PA Triumph 14.848 410′ 14.848 12 Worley & Obetz/Amerigreen/Bio Fuels/Kreeger & Sons

5 128 Bradley Frentz, Ofallon, MO HD 14.876 310′ 14.876 11 Indy Southside H-D/Diamond Chain/Troy Lee/Vortex

6 1 Walter “Tiger” Strank, Johnstown, PA Yamaha 16.698 15.73 15.73 10 Yamaha Motor Corp/Fox/Arai/Alpinestar/Dr. Bob Rac

7 11 Kurt Koester, Red Wing, MN Kawasaki 16.09 20.889 16.09 9 Loomis Performance & Machine/Mueller Motorsports/AG

8 4 Paul Kops, Twin Lake, MI HD 19.085 17.217 17.217 8 Herman Kupisch/Team Babbitts/Vortex/SDG Seats

9 5 Anthony DeHart, Niles, MI Honda 17.793 17.333 17.333 7

10 88 Chad Koopsma, Sioux Falls, SD Kawasaki 19.985 17.603 17.603 6 Parts Unlimited/Bad Fast Racer Apparel/Waddell

11 72 Scott Campbell, Sissonville, WV Honda 19.143 22.907 19.143 5 Monograms & More/GP Racing Susp/Casto MC Sales

12 79 Alex Benner, Niles, MI Honda 400′ 400′ 4 Dehart Racing

13 95 Adam Doubblestein, Plainwell, MI Kawasaki 370′ 340′ 370′ 3 Action Cycle/Perry Harley-Davidson & Buell

14 94 Kirk Mueller, LaValle, WI Honda 292′ 131′ 292′ 2 Border Riders Motorcycle Club/Rocky Arbor Truck

15 55 David Price, Parkville, MD Kawasaki 110′ 130′ 130′ 1 Decker Welding & Fabricating/B&W Auto Electric

Razor Ridge Results 2008
From www.pro-hillclimbers.org

Stock

1. Eric Cherry #256 Laurel, MT 9.16
2. Shawn Weber #376 Billings, MT 9.54
3. Dave Johnston #60 Billings, MT 9.56
4. Riley Jacobson #487 Laurel, MT 9.80
5. Ed Taylor #139 Billings, MT 9.98

250X

1. Cord Mitchell #251 Billings, MT 8.93
2. Cody Mclean #653 Gillette, WY 9.11
3. Dave Johnston #60 Billings, MT 9.22
4. Troy Finn # Sturgis, SD 10.37
5. Brandy Meester #49 Moorehead, MN 11.33

Seniors

1. Chad Koosma #88 Sioux Falls, SD 8.67
2. Dean Dahl #257 West Fargo, ND 8.83
3. Dave Johnston #60 Billings, MT 9.01
4. Leroy Ebeling #91 Billings, MT 10.09
5. Randy Mclean #654 Enderlin, ND 10.23

450X

1. Corey Erhardt #654 Billings, MT 10.75
2. Dave Johnston #60 Billings, MT 11.51
3. Cody Mclean #653 Gillette, WY 13.12
4. Eric Cherry #256 Laurel, MT 13.22
5. Riley Jacobson #487 Billings, MT 13.53

0-700X

1. Harold Waddell #3 Bennington, ND 10.56
2. Eric Cherry #256 Laurel, MT 11.09
3. Ed Taylor #25 Billings, MT 11.54
4. Corey Erhardt #654 Billings, MT 11.75
5. Dave Johnston #60 Billings, MT 11.84

Open Unlimited

1. Harold Waddell #1 Bennington, ND 9.26
2. Chad Koopsma #88 Sioux Falls, SD 10.21
3. Shawn Weber #376 Billings, MT 10.35
4. Eric Cherry #256 Laurel, MT 10.38
5. Chris Justice #76 Gillette, WY 10.66

Runoff - The Run Off Consist of 15 guys and only One Pass at the Hill Winner Took All ( Nice Ride Harold ) …

1. Harold Waddell Bennington, ND 8.39 - Blistering Time Nice Ride..
2. Eric Cherry Laurel, MT 9.29
3. Ed Taylor Billings, MT 9.56
4. Chris Justice Gillette, WY 9.78
5. Corey Erhardt Billings, MT 10.14
6. Dave Johnston Billings, MT 10.15
7. Kyle Widdicomb Billings , MT 10.37
8. Cody Mclean Gillette, Wy 10.50
9. Jon Smith Woodscross, UT 11.15
10. Jason Blackford Butte , MT 11.22
11. Cord Mitchell Billings,MT 11.78
12. Riley Jacobson Billings,MT 12.36
13. Shawn Widdicomb Billings,MT 12.83
14. Shawn Weber Billings,MT -DNF-O/B
15. Chad Koopsma Sioux Falls, SD -DNF-???

(PRNewsChannel) / Tracy, Calif. – Skips Promotions, a division of Skips at Carnegie, confirmed today the opening round of the NAHA RacerX Suzuki Hillclimb Nationals will take place at the famed Harrison’s Hill location at Carnegie State Park, April 5th & 6th in Tracy, Calif.“The series kicks off the pro hillclimb season against one of Mother Nature’s most formidable vertical opponents, Harrison’s Hill,” says promoter George Horne, son of Hillclimbing icon Skip Horne.

Source Web Site: skipspromotions.com

NAHA Poag’s Hole- Danville New York August 17th 2008
Harold Waddell Takes Poag’s Hole in Cycle News Article Issue #35- September 3rd release.