With one race to go in the AMA Dragbike 2008 championship motorcycle drag racing series, Brock’s Performance-supported riders have made their mark.
Keith Dennis - SuperSport
Unquestionably the big news in sportbike drag racing in 2008 has been the return on Keith Dennis to the SuperSport wars. Dennis, who won the first ever SuperSport championship in 1995 and his last in 1998, has locked up the championship for 2008.
At both Atco and Norwalk, Dennis came from qualifying in the middle of the pack to take the event win on his Quantum Motorsports/Brock’s Performance 2008 GSX-R1000.
“The problem with Keith’s qualifying is that there is no pressure,” smiles Brock Davidson. “He thrives on the kind of situations where other racers choke. He’s a big-money, grudge racer down deep, and his instincts to win simply take over in eliminations.”
In addition to his wins at Atco and Norwalk, Dennis also set the national speed record for the class at 165.40 mph.
“Norwalk had a combination of great atmospheric conditions and a very well prepared racing surface,” said Brock. “This, in addition to a new rear shock design we have been perfecting, combined to produce some truly amazing top speeds out of a basically stock bike.”
“We put a new Öhlins rear shock on at Indy and started running big mph,” continued Brock. “We started to look at what the road racers see on big speed tracks like Daytona. The rear wheel speeds are higher than the trap speeds, so we know there is a sizeable amount of slip going on. Since we use DOT tires in SuperSport drag racing, we see the same problems. Most of the new guys on the drag suspension scene don’t have a separate adjustment for high and low speed compression dampening. Rebound is adjusted mainly for the launch, and compression for down-track traction.” Our new shock has an innovative high and low speed compression and rebound dampening system not found on any other shock, and quite frankly we didn’t know how to adjust it at first. Since Keith only sees the bike during national events, it has taken a bit longer than usual to figure it out.
“I believe Keith’s bike is the fastest in the class thanks to Bryan Snyder’s engine building skills in combination with our product selection and constant development,” said Brock. “If Keith leaves on someone, they can’t catch him. Really, the only way you can beat Keith is to have a faster motorcycle. If he has a faster motorcycle, he is going to beat you.”
Since he has entered the AMA Dragbike competition in Memphis, Dennis has an unblemished 5-0 record. To give an example of the parity of his competition, Dennis has faced five different final round opponents in those wins.
“Before Keith won Memphis, I boldly made the prediction that he probably would not let anyone win another round all year,” said Brock. “He is on his way. We probably would have sat this year out again had it not been for some of the other and riders and crew questioning Bryan’s integrity after Jason Angela loaned Kenny Poppell his new bike at the first race in Valdosta. Looks like we do have some pretty fast bikes lying around. In fact, Quantum has had a bike in every final this year in SuperSport.”
Pro Street – Curtis McDougald
After winning two straight events at Memphis and Bristol, Curtis has been shut out of the finals in the last three events on the Brock-backed Hayabusa of Trae Heath. McDougald, who also held the points lead has slid to third in the championship hunt, but being only 23 points behind leader Mike Slowe, it will all come down to the National Finals in Valdosta.
In Atco, McDougald qualified fifth but lost a holeshot decision in round one to the currently very hot Walter Sprout.
At Norwalk, McDougald qualified 6th and ran all 200 mph passes in eliminations, going to the semifinals where he lost to former champ Barry Henson.
The Heath/McDougald duo will now serve as an additional support team for Brock as Brock’s Performance recently signed to be the US importer for BST carbon fiber wheels for Japanese motorcycles.
Super Street and SuperSport - Joe Franco, Jr.
Second-generation rider, Joe Franco, Jr., runs in both Super Street and SuperSport classes where he is supported by Brock’s Performance. His most notable performance came at Norwalk where he set a new national ET record in SuperSport.
While Franco fields the most competitive nitrous motorcycle in Super Street, the class has become dominated by turbos. Despite running in the seven second zone, consistency has taking him out early in the last two events in Super Street.
In SuperSport Franco qualified 4th in Atco, but met Keith Dennis in round two. Franco set the new SuperSport national elapsed time record to 9.004 with a number one qualifying effort in Norwalk. He lost again in round two, this time to eventual finalist Joey Gladstone.
When dropped races are taken into account Franco goes into the last race of the season in the seventh position.
SuperSport – Patrick Cooper
SuperSport racer, Patrick Cooper, came off his final round appearance at Indy with a number one qualifying spot at Atco with a 9.03 at 157 mph. Cooper went rounds at Atco until he came up against the undefeated Keith Dennis in the semifinals.
At Norwalk Cooper slipped to 5th on the qualifying sheet only to lose a close, holeshot decision to Eddie Murphy, Jr.
Cooper is challenging for a top-five finish in 2008.
Real Street – John Fernandez
In Real Street, John Fernandez took the pole at Atco running an 8.21, but had trouble getting off the line in the semifinals against Gilbert Coronado.
In Norwalk, Fernandez qualified third behind points leader, Jeremy Teasley, and national speed record holder, Todd Schnitz. A clutch malfunction in round one at Norwalk, resulted in a quicker ET erased by Tom Whytas.
Fernandez will finish in the top five in points and has a real shot at the number 3 spot.
Street Fighter - Wayne Robertson
Wayne Robertson followed up his number one qualifying effort in Atco with a number two spot in the qualifying sheet at Norwalk. He is currently in the top five in Street Fighter and top 10 in Street ET.
TG-SF-SET – Boo Brown
Boo Brown competes in Street Fighter and Street ET on an ’08 Hayabusa and is currently 4th in the points in Street Fighter and 8th in Street ET. In Top Gas, Brown runs a wild, extended, GS-based, Hayabusa-bodied bike with a slick and no wheelie bar. He is currently 9th in Top Gas.
Other riders Supported by Brock’s Performance are:
Jennifer Robertson
Farlie Hall
Michael Woska
Vince Woska
Report Prepared by Matt Polito, www.dragbikephotos.com
Davidson owns and operates Brock’s
Performance Products, which specializes in a vast array of performance products
for sport bikes, for racing, and for street applications. For more information
log onto www.brocksperformance.com
BROCK'S PERFORMANCE PRODUCTS
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PH: (937) 912-0054
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