Junior Pippin admitted he was never really big enough to play football. However, Friday evening at the NHRA Gatornationals, he used one of the most famous plays in football history to claim the provisional Pro Stock Motorcycle pole position.

He went “Hail Mary” on the competition.

“This is a new bike,” Pippin admitted. “We've only made three pulls on the dyno.”

With rain cutting Friday qualifying to just one run, Pippin went back to last year’s Pomona2 combination and let it rip.

Junior Pippin admitted he was never really big enough to play football. However, Friday evening at the NHRA Gatornationals, he used one of the most famous plays in football history to claim the provisional Pro Stock Motorcycle pole position.

He went “Hail Mary” on the competition.

“This is a new bike,” Pippin admitted. “We've only made three pulls on the dyno.”

With rain cutting Friday qualifying to just one run, Pippin went back to last year’s Pomona2 combination and let it rip.

“For the first pass I made on it since Pomona, we're really happy and surprised,” said Pippin. “It felt good. I short shifted a couple of gears. There is more in it. We'll get on tomorrow see if we can't get faster. I'm sure the .95 won't stand up. It's the best start we've had.”

But for today, he’s not surprised the 6.95 stood the test.

“These guys have worked so hard on the Piranaha Z Buell,” Pippin said. “For the last two years we've really worked hard on it. We've had some little glitches here and there. Hopefully it's all coming together now. It's not because of lack of effort, I'll tell you that. These guys have really worked hard on it.”

Maybe, tomorrow the run won't hold. Maybe, Pippin’s got the stuff to stay on top.

“There is more in the motorcycle, trust me,” he said. “It showed really good numbers on the dyno. We'll see if we can't speed it up tomorrow because I am sure we'll have to.”

And if necessary, he’s got another “Hail Mary” in reserve.