ELLIS QUALIFIES SCHUMACHER ELECTRIC SUZUKI NO. 2 IN ATLANTA

He posted his quickest pass of the weekend in the final qualifying session, a blistering 6.973-second elapsed time at 191.67 mph, his first under seven seconds for the event.

Ellis recorded an elapsed time of 7.027 seconds at 188.49 to place him No. 3 in Friday's opening round. The Florida native returned for the second session and slowed to a 7.963/118.94, ending the day in No. 5. On Saturday, Ellis rode to a 7.153/188.36 in his third attempt, slipping two more spots into No. 7. Crew chief Steve Tartaglia saved the best for last, moving Ellis all the way up to No. 2 with that stout 6.973/191.67 going into Sunday's eliminations.

"We struggled a little bit the first three runs," said Ellis. "The first run I didn't go down the race track straight so that cost us a little bit. I was trying to get it to go straight and I was hanging out in the wind a little bit and these bikes are real sensitive to that. We had an unfortunate engine problem during the second round and I had to shut it off. During the third round this morning I made a rookie mistake and missed the shifter. It would have been interesting to see how the bike would have run this morning when the air was better. This afternoon we came out there and we all stuck together as a team and went a 6.97.

"I don't even know what to say about Steve Tartaglia," continued Ellis. "He is the man when it comes to these old GS motors and he makes some serious horsepower. He's got good resources with Don Schumacher Racing and he works his fingers to the bone. I'm having the best time with my crew guys Jason Jones and Tom Patsis, and they're working well together. And it's showing how much fun we're having over here and I really believe if you're having fun you're going to do good and I think we're doing good because we're having fun.

"I want to say thanks to all the folks at Schumacher Electric and to Don Schumacher for giving me this opportunity. We're looking forward to tomorrow. The Suzuki is working really well and Steve's got a good handle on the tune-up. I believe if we can make four runs like that 6.97 tomorrow we can take this Wally (winning trophy) home."

Ellis will face No. 15 qualifier Junior Pippen during the first round of eliminations on Sunday.