 55 Year Old NHRA Rokie
Found this story and thought it was pretty cool.
PIPPIN OUT TO MAKE NHRA FIELD IN ST. LOUIS
55-YEAR-OLD ROOKIE LOOKS TO CONTINUE QUALIFYING STREAK
MADISON, Ill., April 30, 2008 - Junior Pippin, the 55-year-old rookie rider from
Conyers, Ga., will try to continue his string of qualifying for every NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle (PSM) national event he has entered, and move up in the championship standings during this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals here at Gateway International Raceway.
The rider of the PiranaZ Racing/Pippin Racing S&S-proven-performance-powered V-Twin moved up to 14th place in the points race after last week's race in Commerce, Ga., where he set a personal best top speed of 188.20 miles per hour during a first-round loss to event-runner-up Chip Ellis.
"We are definitely going in the right direction," said Pippin, who joined the NHRA POWERade PSM circuit for the final event of 2007 and has competed in three of the series 2008 events. "I think I can run with these guys because I have done it at every level I've raced at in the past."
Pippin began drag racing 40 years ago, first in cars and then on motorcycles. Initially, he strove to set speed records, but turned to trying to win series championships in the 1990s.
Beginning in 2000, Pippin, a life-long Harley-Davidson rider, won six championships and recorded two second-place finishes in eight consecutive years of competing in All Harley Drag Racing Association events.
"And then I decided it was time to take on pro stock motorcycle," said Pippin, who still drives a dump truck for his Pippin Trucking Company, an Atlanta-area company with 28 trucks
and 35 employees.
"And it had to be a V-Twin bike; I wanted to run an American motorcycle, but Harley wouldn't sell me one, so I went to G2 Motorsports and bought their S&S-powered one. I wouldn't be in this series without G2 or S&S.
"And I just keep having a lot of fun." | 
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