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About two years ago, Vanetti signed up to get his education
and license as a Pro Stock Bike racer at Frank Hawley’s/Star
Racing Drag Racing School in Gainesville, Florida. He also
has his own 8.20-indexed Top Gas bike, a Koenig-chassied,
Suzuki-powered bike that is but a second or slower than the
ride that Tonglet loaned him at St. Louis.
“Every weekend that I’m off, every time I get
the chance, I’ll make some squirts on my bike,”
he says. Home tracks are IRP (Indianapolis Raceway Park, near
his Avon, Indiana, home and also near the Dixon/Prudhomme,
LaHaie headquarters, and U.S. 41 in Morocco, Indiana. Occasionally
racing brackets but mostly concentrating on class motorcycle
racing, Vanetti, 29, is there at his home tracks every chance
he gets, making laps atop a fast drag bike. “I mainly
go out for test ‘n’ tunes, ‘cause I get
more out of them than anything,” Vanetti said.
At the Pro Star race in St. Louis, Vanetti jumped on Gary
Tonglet’s bike and went to the second round; Tonglet
actually was the crew chief on the bike. Tonglet had called
Vanetti on Sunday after the NHRA race in Topeka and said,
“C’mon, let’s race.” Vanetti made
two time laps on Friday night at Gateway International, ran
in the mid 7.30s at 179 mph, and qualified on Saturday at
No. 8 with a 7.38. Racing on Sunday, Vanetti won first round
with a 7.41 but lost in the second to famed Pro Stock Motorcycle
racer Paul Gast, who was the No. 1 qualifier. “It was
an honor to race somebody who has been around the sport for
that long. It was so cool to go up to the starting line and
do battle with him,” Anthony said. He had a .036 reaction
time to Gast’s .047, but Vanetti ran a 7.44 to Gast’s
7.18.
Because sponsorship of the Tonglet Suzuki fell through, Vanetti
raced on his own nickel. Now he’s looking seriously
for sponsorship. If nothing else happens, Vanetti will go
to the Pro Star World Finals at Gainesville in November ---
“On my own nickel if nothing comes through, but I’m
still trying to find money for that,” he says.
So how does racing Top Fuel and Pro Stock Bike mix? he was
asked. “It doesn’t, really. But I wouldn’t
have the opportunity to race a Pro Stock Bike if I didn’t
have this opportunity to race with Dixon. All these guys,
Dick LaHaie, Don Prudhomme, Larry, they support me. I’ve
kind of lived my life on two wheels, ever since I was a little
kid. I was riding dirt bikes a few years after I could walk,”
Vanetti says. He switched from dirt to asphalt because of
age and a few scrapes, bruises, sprains and some reconstructive
surgery on one knee. “Maybe it was better to get away
from dirt bikes to drag bikes.
“But in bike racing, the race can be won on the starting
line. With a Top Fueler, there is so much horsepower …
with both, you have to be on your ‘A’ game. You
have to be so focused. It takes so much mentally, it’s
crazy.” 
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