Manager Reports

State of the Elves
02/06/2002

08/29/2001

State of the Elves - 2001

Rider Selection - 2000

TEAM ELVES ANNOUNCES RIDER SELECTION

From the Pegasus Press…this just in…..In a major media event, staged for assembled members of the international moto-media, at a Chateau outside Paris this last Thursday Team Elves Manager Court Canfield introduced Team Elves Primary Rider as none other than RICHARD NALLIN.

The selection, even after sorting out all the "big boys" advancing the "more weight will prevent wheel spin" hypothesis and Erik Buell disqualifying himself and Canfield as "unable to suitably be hidden behind the RR-100 fairing", was difficult. There were a host of folks who had the credentials of active Buell involvement and a darned impressive riding résumé’s to boot!

Nallin, a 27 year old, from Shreveport, LA has 14 American Drag Bike Association wins to his credit along with 11 American Drag Bike Association records.

In 1998 He and Brother Brian, a partner in Nallin Racing Head Service, purchased a 1998 Buell S1WL White Lighting and set out to beat the big boys with his new found "V-Twin Weaponry".

In their first year of competition the Nallin’s won the first event they ever entered. The balance of the year brought 5 more wins and an impressive collection of E.T. and M.P.H. records. Nallin had put his name, and the Buell, on the podium on a regular basis and went on to win the 1998 Super Stock XL National Championship.

In 1999, Ricky, Brian and Richard set out to prove that 1998 was no fluke and entered the new Super Stock Buell and went on to win eight events as well as qualifying number 1 at all events with a current best E.T./M.P.H. of 10.49sec/127MPH.

To most folks that’d be enough to satisfy the "need for speed" but not the Nallin’s. Ricky and Brian then decided it was time to turn up the heat and entered the AMA/Prostar Pro Superbike class at the world finals in Gainesville, FL. Becoming the first pushrod V-Twin to ever enter. They went on to raise eyebrows by qualifying #11 out of 16 bikes. The weekend saw a best pass of 9.81/13, impressive by any standards.

Nallin gives thanks to God for his talent and being blessed with the tuning and bike building talents of Ricky and Brian. The team’s flexibility is one of their strengths and they've recently also started competing in the 883 Sportster Performance Dirt Track Series on a Semi-Pro level and just won their first event. It seems there’s much more to Richard’s skill than simply straight-line drag racing!

When asked how in the world he first got interested went on to hone his skills Richard offered…

I rode my first motorcycle at the tender age of 5 years. My brother Brian Nallin would put me on his 125cc Honda that I could not even touch the ground on. For my sixth birthday I was given a Suzuki JR50 and it has been "on" since then. I started racing motorcycles when I was 14 years old. My father was a used car dealer and he had acquired a Yamaha Fazer. I would "borrow" the Fazer and go out and hunt up a street race. Being young I watched and learned from the veterans in the street-racing scene. They revealed to me the fine art of clutch management and throttle control. Pretty soon people were asking me to ride their bikes or drive their cars for them because I could make them go faster. Seeing that there was no real future in street racing, my brother and I started going to the local dragstrip and competing our 1971 Vega powered by a nitrous small-block. We soon became the fastest street legal car in Shreveport at the drag-strip. I would literally climb out of the car and on to my 1200 Sportster. Alternating every pass. We soon became the team to beat because of our consistency.

Richard ended his interview with "the best is yet to come" and you can bet it is as Richard Nallin will once again get to broaden his personal spectrum when he mounts his 5’-9-1/2" 170# frame aboard Buell RR-1000 #50 this September as TEAM ELVES makes it first Buell appearance on the Salt Flats of Bonneville!