Another Solid Performance for Team
Honda
By: Jack Korpela
Photos: Matt Polito/Dragbikephotos.com
For the third consecutive event the
Stotz/Velocity Honda Drag Race Team advanced to
the finals at the AMA/Prostar PR Factory Store Nationals
from St. Louis, MO.
After watching his teammate go to
the final round the last two races, defending champion
Kent Stotz scored his first final round appearance
of the year. Stotz, who intended to ride his new
bike, opted to stay with last year's CBR1100XX and
qualified on the pole-position.
"
For the first time we had both of
our new bikes ready to go," Stotz said. "We
tested before the event and noticed that the new
bike just wasn't quite up to par to run sevens yet.
So I broke out my "ol bessy", which I
knew would run well. I'm ashamed to say it, but
we have been working so hard on the new bikes, I
haven't even changed the oil in my old bike from
last year. We want the new bikes out there for Honda;
it's just going to take a little more time than
we anticipated."
Teammate, Barry Henson decided to
debut his newly put together machine after a satisfying
break-in.
"Before this weekend that bike
hade never been down the track before," Henson
said. "I finished the bike the week before
the race but rain prevented us from making any laps.
We loaded it up in the rain and on the way to St.
Louis we stopped in Atlanta and broke the bike in
on the street. It felt very fast."
Henson looked sharp in eliminations
but could not get by Craig Hildebrand in round two.
"Overall I was very happy with
the bike's performance this weekend," Henson
said. "The bike went 7.82 on only its second
pass down the track ever. We spun the tire against
Hildebrand and slowed, but we have a lot of hope
for the upcoming races."
After defeating Hildebrand in the
semi-finals, Stotz met up with his arch-rival, Rickey
Gadson in the final.
"I love racing Rickey,"
Stotz said. "I really get up when I am racing
him because he is such a good competitor. It's a
great rivalry with the whole Kawasaki versus Honda,
green versus red thing. We are enemies on the track,
but we are friends after the run."
Stotz stayed with the green bike the
whole way down the dragstrip but could not match
Gadson's 7.72 at 190 mph.
"I was running consistent seven-80s
all weekend so I wanted to step-it-up a little for
the final," Stotz said. "I added a pound
of boost to each gear and ended up wheeling in every
single gear. I would have rather got the win but
it was a really fun pass. The fast ones are usually
really smooth and less exciting."
Stotz/Velocity Honda Drag Race team
thanked all of its dedicated sponsors and hopes
to win them yet another championship in 2003. The
team thanked; Honda Riders Club of America, Stotz
Street Extreme, Velocity Racing, Honda Pro Oils,
Star Racing, Pingel, Falicon, RC Components, Shaumburg
Honda, JE Pistons, and introducing this year, Garrett
Turbos, Joe Rocket, HyperPro Suspension.
Velocity Racing is a manufacturer
of premier turbo chargers. Velocity Racing can be
reached at 1-866-41-SPEED. For more information
log onto www.velocityracing.com
Crew chiefs for the Stotz/Velocity Honda Drag Race
Team are John Dobrin for Henson, and Mark Harrell
for Stotz. Both riders expressed their appreciation
to their hard-working crewman. Stotz went on to
thank his wife, Sharon, and his children Frank and
Jacqui for all their support.
Cheer on the Stotz/Velocity Honda
Drag Race Team at their next AMA/Prostar race in
Norwalk, OH June 27th-29th.
Jack Korpela can be contacted at Lumberjack@dragbike.com
