Take me to your leader

This is an article written and documented on www.dragbike.com which is the motorcycling Bible of Dragracing.  Bio on Jon Cornell is not only listed under “Person of the Week” but filed under “Legends”.

Thank you for taking the time to read about the owner of UFO Performance Products and his dragracing career spanning over 30 years. It may give you some insight as to what drives Jon Cornell’s passion for his lifelong dedication to “Shrinking time and distance” on a motorcycle.

Vol. 2, Issue 16

Jon Cornell
By Keith S. Kizer

Born November 4, 1956 in Cleveland, Ohio, Jon Jerry Cornell grew up in the magical 60’s when the birth of muscle cars and invasion of import motorcycles gave rise to those of us who are proud to call ourselves motorheads. Jon’s start in motorcycle racing came from his brother James Cornell. John looked up to his brother Jim with the utmost admiration. Jim, 10 years Jon’s senior, loved fast bikes and fast cars.

In the early sixties, the import motorcycles on the “had to have” list was those of the British invasion, Triumph and BSA. AMA Grand National champion, Gary Nixon made Triumph famous by winning the ultimate prize, the AMA Grand National Championship back when winning the championship required a combination of flat track, short track, TT scramble and road racing. Jon learned everything he knew of the sport from reading his brother’s magazines over and over.

Jim’s hero was Steve McQueen who was bigger than life not only on the big screen but equally as well on the race track, be it cars or motorcycles. So when Jim graduated from Case Tech as an electrical engineer in 1967 and secured a good job, the first thing he bought was a new 1967 Triumph TR6R, the same bike McQueen used to compete in the International Six Day Trials. Jon and his brother soon started attending TT scrambles and flat track events together. Jon says, “Man, I can still feel that dust in my clothes and hair, and that smell.” He remembers the small classes ran two strokes, which ran Blendzall and had a really sweet, cool smell with a tickle of 2% nitro as he recalls.

In the spring of the next year, Jim’s job afforded him to purchase a 1966 AC Cobra 427 SC, serial # CSX3232 for those who want to look up its history in the Shelby registry. Jon has fond memories of going for rides in that car, especially heading down to Mid-Ohio to watch the Cobras and Corvettes do battle. Jon also remembers riding down the highway with Jim when a highway patrolman passed them. He drove in front of them for a few minutes then fell back behind them and turned on “the lights.” The officer walked up to Jim’s side of the car and asked, “Where is your front license plate?” Jim says, “On the front of the car.” The officer smirks and walks to the front of the car. With a shocked look on his face he dips his head down as if for a closer look, then sticks his boot out to push against the license plate. The plate folded backwards. Jon can still remember the look on the cops face. As you may recall the Cobra had an oval opening between the headlamps to cool the radiator. Jim in his never ending quest for innovation had mounted the license plate to the lower inside lip and spring loaded it so as he got up to about 50mph the plate would fold down and allow unobstructed air flow to the radiator. The cop looked right at Jim and said, “You better get that fixed.” Well, Jim’s reply to Jon in typical Cornell fashion was, “It’s not broke.” Jim took the ticket and headed to Mid-Ohio. Jon said the ticket was worth the expression on the cop’s face. Forty-two years later it still gives him his favorite kind of smile. Jon said perhaps it was memories like that, which was his influence of innovation that goes into his hotrod products today. It’s those memories which drives Jon.

Those memories were a sad end to that period of Jon’s life. On Labor Day weekend of that year, Jim was giving a friend a ride in the Cobra at night on an unfamiliar road when they came up on a ninety degree curve at over an estimated hundred miles per hour. They both lost their lives. Jim was only 23 years old.

With his brother’s help, Jon’s exposure to racing had been running through his blood for several years. The year prior to Jim’s death, Jon had been trying to wear down his dad, Jerry, into buying him a mini-bike. Jon had just lost his best friend but more than ever was pressing his dad for the bike. Jon said he never wants to be in that position as a father but somehow his father with his big heart found the strength to buy Jon a “Golden Pinto” mini-bike from JC Penneys. It had a massive Tecumseh 3.5 hp engine. So what’s the first thing he and his dad did? Remove the muffler and put a straight pipe on it of course. And thus was born the neighborhood’s new alarm clock.

As you could guess, Jon’s memories of attending motorcycle races with his brother was urging him to start TT scrambles racing. Can you imagine the position Jon was putting his dad in? A father who had just lost his oldest son who was highly educated and had a great future, and now his youngest son wanted to go racing.

Jon’s hero, his dad, took Jim’s place as Jon’s best friend and with a Super 8 movie camera in hand proceeded to take Jon to his first TT scrambles where Jon won the first race he entered. The hook was set. One year later in 1971, Jerry bought Jon his first true motorcycle, a 100cc Kawasaki Bushmaster. This was a compromise to the factory flattracker that Kawasaki made called a Centurian which came complete with an expansion chamber and spool front hub. They couldn’t afford that so Jon took the information of modifying rotary valve intake and expansion chamber theories from Dirt Bike magazine and used what he learned to be competitive. Jon raced that bike successfully at local tracks though his junior high years and into high school. He was truly living the “On Any Sunday” life. Jon said that movie brings back memories of many nights spent on his knees praying for no rain on Sundays. “Some things never become dated, that’s still one of them.”

To fast forward to Jon’s racing accomplishments, I’ve left that for him to tell in his on words below. I will add that Jon is one of the guys that made my two decades of being directly involved in drag racing a pleasurable memory. Jon is an innovator who pushed the envelope but I can honestly say, we never DQ’d him, but he did cause us to rewrite the rulebook a few times. He is a very outgoing individual who lives for his family who in return lives for his racing.

Other Areas of Interest
Residence: North Royalton, Ohio

Spouse’s Name: Heather

Children’s Names (ages): Justyn – 26 , Vincent – 5, Maria – 2.67 ( either that comes from dragracing too long or that fact that I can’t wait for her to get out of the twos’.

Occupation: Owner – UFO Performance Products , largest manufacturer of Vmax products in the States

Home track: Norwalk, Ohio

Team Name: Cornell Racing

Crew Members: Heather crew chief Vincent and Maria – in charge of race track distractions

Sponsors: Self sponsored /privateer : UFO Performance Products

Accomplishments: 1979 entered my first professional dragrace on a motorcycle. Had a blown ( 3-71 GMC ) alcohol Funnybike. Built by KMS industries . I was fortunate to have such a company right in my back yard. It was the new and improved version of Kenny Blackburn’s then state of the art Funnybike. Jerry Korman and Larry Sikora , and Dicky Malone. The same guys that brought you that now legendary first real Funnybike looking “Funnybike” as the name was just developing. Bill Hahn came to KMS to have that bike built and as they say the rest is history, and a lot of history on that bike. Craig Burns, and Bo O’ two name just two. Larry Sikora is also the guy I watched form the tail section using a bowling ball for the famous Terminal Van Lines Top Fuel bike.

My first race, which was held by IDBA at Dragway 42 in West Salem , Ohio got into the final against Kenny and as I pulled into the lights the points wire vibrated and broke in half on that big ‘ol Vertex mag and left me dead on the line. Bowed out gracefully, I think Kenny would have laid one down on me anyway. Ended up with a National # 5 plate for my first season. Next season went on to get the # 4 plate.

Held I.D.B.A blown alcohol records from 1981-1983.

Built another Blown alky bike in 1986 with the now “new” Magneson blowers. Up to that time the Terminal Van Lines bike of Mike Gray and everyone else including Elmer ran the 80″ blowers. I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the first new 110″ blowers. Only a handful were made along with the new Hilborn rectangular double butterfly injector. Good and bad . Bigger blower, more air. Longer shafts…bad thing. Early ones flexed and that ends up being your next paper weight. I got mine upgraded to the heavier shafts before I became a member of that club but I never campaigned that bike but just a few times as my company and family life was not allowing me time to maintain the bike at a competitive level. I still have that bike. It sits front and center in my bike collection.

1995 got interested in the much, much lower maintenance brand new 600 SuperSport Prostar class. National Number 10 first year, National Number 4 in 1996.
Invented the often imitated but never duplicated “asphalt magnets” . Installed on my 600 SuperSport bike in 1996. These will actually weight that was added the the front axel area in containment housings complete with electronics, leds, wires and switches.

Had the pleasure of entering the “I beat Rickey Gadson” club in Lebanon Valley 1996 finals.

2001 Prostar came up with the Yamaha sponsored Hot Rod Cruiser class. I was kind enough to win the Championship on a Harley.

2001 – First street legal Harley Twin Cam powered bike to make a 10 second pass. 10.99 @ Indy.
2002 – First Prostar legal (Reed and McWaters disqualified that year for illegal valve angle) Harley Twin Cam to make a 9 second pass @ Indy.
2009 set my goal to be the first generation two Vmax to make an 8 second pass. Mission accomplished November 15th, 2009 with an 8.87 @ 156.82
2009 – Owner of the World’s quickest and fastest Star Vmax on this and most neighboring planets.

First motorcycle drag racer to install a nitrous purge system on a dragbike, 1991 or 1992.

Goals: New goal? New build is under testing as I write. Project : T-Max

Interest outside of racing: As Steve McQueen is quoted. “Life is something we do while waiting for the next race.” That life is my family.

Favorite foods: Salmon

Favorite movie: It’s a Wonderful Life

Daily driver: GMC dually

First motorcycle: 1971 Kawasaki 100

Hero: Dad (God rest his soul, he would have been 100 years old this year)