NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Since his NHRA debut in 2020, Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Ron “the Rat” Tornow has become popular with fans and his fellow racers mostly due to the dancing rat mascot that cheers him on at the starting line during most events. 

While Tornow still embraces the same attitude that helps make racing run, he’s become a far bigger on-track threat thanks in large part to his longtime association with six-time world champion Matt Smith. On Friday in Norwalk, Tornow made two of the best runs of the day including a 6.874 that is currently good for the No. 3 spot in the field. 

“We decided that this would be our last year and I really wanted to make it count so we enlisted Matt to help tune our bike,” said Tornow. “I love it out here but my mother, Rita, is 86 years old and it’s harder and harder for her to travel so we decided that we’d wrap it up after this season.”

Tornow has a few unchecked boxes on his “to-do list” and they include a 200-mph run and most certainly a few round wins. He came close earlier this season in Gainesville with a 199.64 mph run. 

“The last couple of years I’ve tuned the bike mostly by myself and I just don’t have the data that Matt has,” Tornow explains. “This season, we upgraded to the latest engine and clutch package so I have the same power that Matt, Angie, John Hall and Jianna [Evaristo] have. This also helps Matt because he can use data from all five bikes. He is amazing that he can keep up with all of us, but somehow he manages to do it.”

On Friday in Norwalk,  Tornow opened with a 6.921 that briefly held the top spot and then later improved to a 6.874 that was good enough to secure a qualifying bonus point.

“Honestly, the first run didn’t feel too good. I had a 1.10 sixty-foot time and it felt a bit lazy. Before the run, Matt said ‘Let’s just get some data’. Then we went after it on the second run and it felt a lot better. I had a 1.07 and I could tell from the start that it was on a run.

“Matt has just been great to work with. He doesn’t miss a thing, even when he’s trying to race his own bike he keeps an eye on what we’re doing. Last night after we ran so well, Matt and every member of his team came over to congratulate us. They were legitimately happy for our success.”

Tornow began racing in the early 1990s with a Mustang before switching to motorcycle a few years later. He constantly upgraded until reaching the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class in 2020. Currenly, he plans to race in Reading and Charlotte because those two events are convenient to his Pittsburgh, Pa. home. He also figures those events will offer the best chance for him to achieve his 200-mph goal.

Tornow admits that leaving the class will be difficult but has also left the door open a least a crack for a possible return, even on a part-time basis.

“I’m really a bad spectator,” he says. “Ideally, I’d like to find someone who could buy our operation and I’d be willing to help them get started. I also think that if I really miss it, I’d have the opportunity to rent a bike from Matt for a race here or there.”