Brocks Performance Team Report
Rickey Gadson and Farlie Hall – Dragbike.com SuperSport
Back in the day when SuperSport was new to the motorcycle drag racing scene, Kawasaki ZX-6Rs ruled the day. Once the class opened up to 1000cc bikes the GSXR1000 was the weapon of choice. And even when the class was opened up to larger bikes the 1000s were still the dominant machines.
If Valdosta is any indication, Kawasaki may be moving to the top again. In the first all-ZX-14 Dragbike.com SuperSport final, Rickey Gadson took the win over Farlie Hall. Not surprisingly both bikes feature Brocks Performance equipment.
“The program with Rickey Gadson and his Monster Energy ZX-14 began in the same fashion as Keith Dennis last year,” said Brock. “A bike was available all of a sudden, so it became a fire drill for Bryan at Quantum Motorsports to finish it in time for the race.”
“Rickey had called me a couple weeks earlier to ask whether or not I thought he would be competitive with the new 2 inch ground clearance rule for the big bikes,” continued Brock. “I told him I thought he would do well and have a legitimate shot at the championship for Kawasaki. He really impressed me with his ability to race during the 2005 season when we won our last SS championship and I've always said the ZX-14 has a great engine in stock form, it seemed like a perfect match.”
Gadson has been racing SuperSport from the very beginning, taking championships in 1996. Through his long-time relationship with Kawasaki and numerous media appearances, he is one of the best-known motorcycle drag racers in the world. In contrast Hall is a relative newcomer, coming on to the scene two years ago. He has been on a 14 the whole time.
Gadson and Hall were 2 and 4 on the qualifying sheet with respective times of 9.07 and 9.10 seconds. Both riders were hot on Sunday, running consistent 9.0s to make it to the finals.
While Hall got the lane choice in the final, Gadson left first and by over a tenth of a second. It was over at the line as Gadson clicked off a 9.06 as Hall stumbled and has his worst run of the event at 9.19 seconds.
It is telling that, not only that the two ZX-14s in the field made their way to the final but that both bikes run under the Brock’s Performance banner.
“Rickey and Farlie’s bikes both have our ZX-14 New Owners Kit and a Quantum Motorsports-Prepared SuperSport motor and that’s it,” said Brock. “Other than that is just tuning and riding.”
Brock’s Performance won the SuperSport championship last season with the dramatic return of veteran Keith Dennis running a GSXR1000.
“It's really a shame that Keith is not defending his championship,” said Brock. “When I told him that Suzuki had completely dropped their drag race contingency program for 2009 he said ‘Well it sure don't make no sense for me to come all the way from Memphis to whoop them boys and not get paid’!”
“Brian and I have even been thinking about throwing that number one plate on the side of a Kawasaki. Keith reminded me that he ran a 9.08 on my diary bike in the blistering heat with a completely stock engine; he said he would like nothing more than to go out there and show Rickey who is the fastest on identically prepared bikes. The sheriff may just have to step out of retirement one more time.”
John Hall and Corey Ballard – BST Real Street
Like in SuperSport, both competitors in the BST Real Street series final were running Brocks Performance equipment with John Hall, taking out Corey Ballard in the final of what had to be the most exciting eliminator of the Vadosta1 event.
Ballard, tuned by Chris Hill, took the third qualifying position on his nitrous Hayabusa with a strong 8.20 while Hall brought his SuperSport-winning nitrous GSXR1000 to the sixth qualifying spot at 8.39 seconds.
While Ballard was unable to match his qualifying performance in eliminations, consistency got him round wins. Hall, coming out of the Franco’s Performance camp, stepped up his game running in the 8-teen range including an 8.130 that ironically matched the 8.130 new national record of Del Flores (Flores keeps the record because he ran it first) and simultaneously took Flores out of competition.
Ballard got the holeshot over Hall in the final but could not run a good number as Hall took his second with his Gixxer at Valdosta (he won SuperSport in 2007).
Jason Angela – Brock's Performance Street ET
One of the best-known stories of the 2008 season was Keith Dennis coming into the SuperSport wars in the third race of the season and running away with the championship on a Brock’s Performance/Quantum Motorsports-prepared GSX-R1000. Lesser known was the fact that the bike was owned by Arubas’s Jason and Alex Angela.
The bike was the second built for the Angela’s by Brock and Quantum. The first ran a record-eclipsing 8.99 with former champ Kenny Poppell aboard at the opening event at Valdosta. While that bike was shipped to Aruba, the next one was kept stateside and Jason Angela entered it in Brock's Performance Street ET competition at Valdosta. He kept the bike in its winning ways, taking the Street ET win on Sunday.
Angela initially dialed at 9.15 for the bike but lowered it to a 9.10 for the second round and kept it there.
The closest Angela ran to the dial was a pair of 9.12 runs which he needed to overcome holeshots. the first being in round three against Charlie Tyre and the second coming in the final against former winner Ken Edwards. Edwards got a big holeshot but took too much stripe as Angela pushed him out with the 9.12. Edwards ran a 9.39 on a 9.48 on his Suzuki B-King.
Angela will be back for the Valdosta finals. But don’t count him out from showing up for a race or two to show ‘em how it’s done.
Michael Smith – Schnitz Street Fighter
In his first Schnitz Street Fighter race Michael Smith went all the way, winning a grueling 6 rounds of competition to take the prize at Valdosta.
Smith qualified his ’08 Hayabusa 6th in the 49-bike field, just two-hundredths off the index. The path to the winner’s circle was steep.
But Smith brought the “A” game, getting the holeshot in every round of competition.
He got by the 2008 Valdosta finalist Wes Brown in the second round and them last years’ number 2 plateholder Kenneth Edwards before taking out ET superstar Andy Baumbach in the semifinals.
In the final he raced another ET veteran, Ron “Not the President” Reagan. Again Smith got the holeshot and then ran 9.498 in the double-breakout race.
Curtis McDougald – Orient Express Pro Street
The team of Lil Curtis McDougald and bike owner Trae Heath have proved of formidable partnership in the Orient Express Pro Street class.
With two wins in 2008 and a number 3 national ranking, they are unquestionably one of the top teams in the class.
McDougald found the top quarter of the qualifying sheets at the opening race in Valdosta with a 7.34 at 198 mph. Following qualifying McDougald was the star of Saturday night’s Pro Street Shootout competition, taking out Bud Yoder on Ronnie Mitchell’s Hayabusa with his best run of the night, a 7.26 elapsed time at 199 mph.
McDougald was making laps on Sunday, going to the semifinal where he met 3-time champ and new record holder Mike Slowe. McDougald got the holeshot over Slowe and put down a game 7.31 by Slowe was mowing them down with low e.t. every round including the 7.22 against McDougald.
Team Brock’s Performance is supported by the following companies
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
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