Lack of preparation and seat time did not deter me from entering the Street ET class at the Manufacturers Cup/NHDRO Summer Celebration. Leading up to the week of the Summer Celebration, my goal was to simply attend the event as a spectator and say hello to several friends that were in attendance. The understanding that my bike was still in showroom trim and just freshly past break-in played a role in my decision to sit this race out. As the week of the race began though, temptation got the best of me and I ordered a safety kill switch from Schnitz Racing in hopes of having my bike ready for Saturday. As promised, the kill switch arrived on time and the bike was on the trailer and heading towards Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday night.

Photo by Aries Xecutioner

With the joint venture of the Manufacturers Cup and NHDRO expectations of a large bike count were obvious, but the amount of bikes in the staging lane for Saturday’s Qualifying passes was truly amazing. After two consistent qualifying passes with good reactions times my confidence for eliminations grew. Unfortunately, my decision to stay aggressive off the line got the better of me in the first round resulting in a red light. While my weekend of racing ended early, I am glad that I participated in a healthy field of bikes. The opportunity to run my ZX-14R down the track in stock form has provided me with a good benchmark to build on. I am still blown away by the bikes performance in stock trim, but the stock slipper clutch makes finding a consistent engagement point difficult off the line. Luckily for me, Brock’s Performance offers a simple solution to my problem with their ZX-14R Clutch Mod Kit. Although my race weekend wrapped up early, the added bonus to the weekend was walking through vendor row and looking at some of the options available to give my Ninja a sharper edge for the street and strip.

Looking ahead, my goal is to get as much seat time as possible in preparation for next season’s NHDRO schedule. If all goes as planned, I should be able to attend the bulk of the series and possibly squeeze in a Mirock event as well. In the present time, I’ll spend my time making as many passes as possible at test & tune nights and an occasional points race at Kil-Kare, Kanawha Valley and National Trails Raceway.

Thank you to my wife Jessica, Brock’s Performance, Schnitz Racing and all my family and friends for their continued support.