Yamaha Secures Support for Hot Rod Cruiser
Yamaha signs three-year commitment to support Hot Rod Cruiser class.

Three years after Yamaha announced it would sponsor a new class aimed at the high performance cruiser market, Yamaha Motor Corp. has once again inked a three-year commitment to one of the most crowd pleasing classes, second to nitro burning, five second, Top Fuel class. "Outside of Top Fuel, Hot Rod Cruiser is the most crowd pleasing. It's thunderous sound is what the fans love about drag racing", said AMA/Prostar's Keith Kizer.

Motorcycle drag racing was a world dominated by sport cycles. With the best crate stock machines able to run the quarter mile in 9 seconds, the thrill of speed comes fairly cheap. After seeing hundreds of these machines roll down the track in succession at any of the nine U.S. Drag Racing Championship events, the crowd let us know that they were ready for something new and exciting. You could sense a lackluster feeling in the stands. There was something missing. The series needed charisma, character, noise, roadworthy looks, or the combination of them all. The crowd rose to their feet as a different sound cackled at the starting line. It was the rasp of v-twin engines, packed into the new generation of stock factory cruisers. Within four years, the machines progressed from 12-second crowd pleasers, into 9 second, street legal, track dominators in factory stock drag racing. This world is the Hot Rod Cruiser class of the AMA/Prostar U.S. Drag Racing Championship Series.

The Hot Rod Cruiser class has brought great factory battles for the championship each year between Yamaha and Harley-Davidson. In the classes' inaugural season, Jon Cornell won the championship on a Harley. Patrick Racings, Mark Underwood won the season aboard a Yamaha Warrior. The 2003 championship is in a close battle once again between Rick McWaters on a Harley and Mark Underwood on the Yamaha. The class has now gained interest from the Kawasaki factory, with national Funnybike champion Chip Ellis as the rider. Factory rider and national Streetbike Shootout champion Kent Stotz is building a factory Honda VTX to compete in 2004. "With a new three-year commitment from Yamaha to support the class, we feel this will open up the participation by both manufacturers and independent racers," said Kizer. "Yamaha has given us the support needed to show the sport we are committed to the longevity and growth of the class."

Now that Suzuki has announced they will produce their own high performance cruiser, a Marauder, which mirrors the Kawasaki Mean Streak, each respective manufacturer will now have a high performance cruiser model. This will set the stage for an all five major manufacturers battle in Hot Rod Cruiser. Factory participation is the key ingredient to the classes' success. With the initial record of the class following the first event of 11.00, set by AMA roadracing's Tripp Knobles, the record now stands at an amazing 9.427 seconds and 140.27 miles per hour set by Patrick Racing's Mark Underwood this season. This shows you the improvements of the stock power of the new models rolling off the assembly line since the debut of the class.

The induction of the Hot Rod cruiser class, into the AMA/Prostar U.S. Drag Racing Championship series, has brought more than just noise, and speed. It had started a phenomenon. Sport bike rider's gaze at the hot rodded machines and many start making space for an additional bike in the garage.

Some additional facts about Hot Rod Cruiser class and where it is now: