Moore Mafia headed to Virginia Motorsports Park this past weekend for the Horsepower Hustle Grudge Race Event. Chris Moore loaded up his 800hp turbo Suzuki GSXR 1000, Melania, with all intentions of making it to the winners circle on Saturday in the PRO BOOST Class. The weather was perfect, and we knew this weekend was going to be one where Chris and Melania would put down great numbers.
Friday test session proved that the Moore Mafia camp would once again be the bike to beat that weekend. Saturday rolled around and there was only time for 1 test session before first round eliminations. When the tree turned green, the pair left and Melania threw down a mean wheelie right off the start. Not the way we wanted the only test pass of the day to go.
First round eliminations were up next and we had to hope that one of the most consistently fast grudge bikes in the world would resort to her old ways and throw down a number that couldn’t be beat. Chips were drawn and Chris paired with a previous race winner, Cottonmouth, another turbo GSXR 1000, and the stage was set for first round. First round came and went and Melania was put on the trailer, due to an air line shifter hose busting, making the bike unable to shift into second gear.
Once they were back in the pits, Chris, BJ, the tuner for the Moore Mafia Team and Damian, the owner of Melania, decided to extend the wheelbase of the bike a little bit longer and give it all they had for the rest of the test sessions for the day. After all, what did it matter? There was nothing at stake, being that they lost in the first round of their class.
Finally, around 7:00pm, Chris took Melania up to the line for one final pass while the track was still prepped and the weather was nice. One last pass. This is a 1/8th mile event, where everyone shuts it off after they pass the 1/8th mile timing blocks. But after riding Melania for the past year, Chris knew if there was any bike in the world that could be the first to make it into the 5’s, it was Melania. Without consulting with the team, he decided that he was going to push his gsxr 1000 through the quarter mile.
Yellow – Yellow – Yellow – Green… GO. Chris left off the line with a great reaction time and he knew the bike was flying. GO Melania, GO! 1/8th mile: GO! 1000′: GO! Quarter Mile: BREATHEEEEEE.
Chris knew immediately that not only had he shattered his current world record time, but he just may have broken a new record that the entire motorcycle community didn’t believe was possible. A 5 second quarter mile. No way. No way could any non nitro, non wheelie bar motorcycle go that fast. But Chris and a select few in the Moore Mafia camp knew they were close, and knew they could do it.
Everyone on the starting line, including BJ and Damian, were shocked. Did he just run the quarter mile? Did he just take her through all the gears? They looked at each other and knew that was a great pass, and that it would be close to getting the number that only the best teams in the world knew MIGHT be possible. Because this was a grudge event, no time was shown. Nobody knew how fast he went. But Chris did. He knew it was a pass of a lifetime, and just had to wait to get the timeslip at the end of the track to prove it.
The attendant handed him the slip and BAM: 5.966 at 229 MPH. He did it. Melania did it. BJ did it. The TEAM did it. Moore Mafia just SHATTERED the ceiling on all expectations of a motorcycle. After all, it wasn’t but a couple decades prior that Brock Davidson was the first person in the 7’s on a motorcycle. The SEVEN’s. Chris makes it back to the trailer and the team is stunned. Flabbergasted. Elated. In utter disbelief that they are now the first non nitro methane powered motorcycle EVER to go 5 seconds in the quarter mile. After all, BJ didn’t even have the tune in the bike for the quarter mile; he just thought Chris was making an eighth mile pass. The bike even spun on the 4-5 shift AND hit the rev limiter in 6th before the finish line. So what does that mean? There is only room for improvement.
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But now there’s the hardest decision of the weekend. Because Melania is considered a grudge bike, he technically can’t show the time. But this is the ultimate mic drop. They had to. After verifying the timeslip with race officials and consulting with Damian and BJ, Chris decided that showing the quarter mile time in an event where they only run eighth mile, would be okay. They were going to do it. SHOW THE TIME. STUN THE WORLD.
And they did. Proving to everyone that the 5’s is possible. Proving to everyone that Moore Mafia is the fastest motorcycle team in the world. Melania is the fastest non wheelie bar bike in the world. Chris is the fastest rider. BJ is the fastest tuner. Damian is the fastest owner. Signed, sealed and delivered.
Thanks to all our sponsors and everyone who made this possible: Cycle Specialties Performance, Brock’s Performance, Montgomery Motorsports, Penske Race Shocks, Dunlop Tires, SRW Race Engines, Worldwide Bearings and BST Wheels.
