Through hard work and determination, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Ryan Oehler has made himself into a championship contender in NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

With that mindset, Oehler was at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., July 8, making test laps on his Buell in preparation for the Dodge//SRT Mile-High Nationals NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil on July 16-18.

“It went pretty decent,” Oehler said of the test session. “I made four runs. I was just trying to get some data. I’ve only made 10 runs in my whole life at Bandimere Speedway. In 2018 and 2019, I went out in the first round both times just because it was so new to me. What I’m seeing is I’m really having to start turning the steam up. The (back) tire is so important. I think it might be one of the most important pieces after you have a finely-tuned program.

“Once you have the bike that’s fast, everything else you can kind of keep control of, but the tire, it looks like a tire, smells like a tire, but they are all different and they all respond differently. We all run that Mickey Thompson tire.”

Oehler further explained how tricky the tire situation can be.

“I started this season with a tire, and it was great,” he said. “I got a .106 and .105s at 60-foot and it finally expired. I had 75 runs on it. Then, I started looking for a new tire. I examined what I had, and I grabbed a tire that looked similar, and it just doesn’t react the same. When we went out there (to test at Bandimere) we had a new tire we bought, and we broke that tire in and that sucker is hooking up like crazy.

“Out there (at Bandimere), we do want a little bit of spin and now you start saying how much do I have to give it and how much more power do I have to give it. We know that we come in and change the gear dramatically. Then you have to get used to riding it because it is slow. It takes a while to get up to speed. It was good for me because it shook me down. I know what I’m walking into and I’m way ahead of where I would be if I just showed up there not testing that is for sure.”

Oehler has high hopes for his new back tire, which he will ride with on his motorcycle for the first time at the Mile-High Nationals.     

“Hopefully it is the tire that carries me into the .105s and takes me through a major portion of the year,” Oehler said. “This all part of it and I’m continuously learning and bettering our program. We are looking at the tire closer and closer and trying to find the tire that’s the squarest tire with the most contact area. Then you look at how am I going to get this bike to move. The sport is about how quick can go from this point to that point. Spinning tire is not accelerating so you want to hook and yet hook as much as you can and move the bike as quick as you can without spinning the tire.

“It’s about clutch, timing, tire, chassis and all these things coming together you have to pick away at them and figure out which one is most crucial for you.” 

Oehler is fourth in the points standings on the strength of one win at the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas (April 18) and a runner-up finish at the season-opening race in Gainesville, Fla. (March 14).

“No matter what you have to focus on winning first round,” Oehler said. “You have to win first round. You have to have some good momentum and good reliability. I started off the season hot, but I had terrible reliability. I blew up four motors in four races. I blew up in Vegas when I won. I blew up in Atlanta when I lost in the second round against Scotty (Pollacheck). I would have won, but I blew up so bad I couldn’t even use my brakes. It drove me off the end of the track.

The engine failures put Oehler’s team in a different mindset.

“We immediately went into panic mode,” Oehler said. “We have to completely change our entire motor program and get rid of the type of crankshaft we are running and run some new crankshaft we have never ran. That happened and we are doing that, but now there’s adjustment because the motor doesn’t react the same way. It doesn’t have the same characteristics that it had. It’s sucks to make a major engine transition in the first half of the season.”

Oehler has run the new crankshaft, in Charlotte and Norwalk, Ohio and four test sessions.

“As far as rider goes, I feel really good, I have never felt this good as a rider,” Oehler said. “A lot for me is I am also the tuner/crew chief so if the bike doesn’t sound right and feel right of course I’m not going to ride it well because I lost all my confidence as soon as they fired up.”