Strong
Finish for the Red Riders
By Jack
Korpela
Photos: Dragbikephotos.com
The Stotz/Velocity
Honda Drag Race Team finished the 2003 season strong by collecting
a pair of wins and recording quickest and fastest street bike
runs ever at the AMA/Prostar World Finals from Gainesville,
FL.
In qualifying Barry Henson, aboard his CBR1100XX, shattered
the previous elapsed time record by over a full tenth of a
second with a spectacular 7.52 at 192 mph. Henson’s
top speed of the event was an incredible 194 mph. In competition,
Henson hit the 7.50 zone five times. 
“I sat down
the last three weeks and touched every single nut and bolt
on this bike,” Henson said. “We showed up at the
track a few days early to test and quickly discovered we had
some unbelievable power. In testing we ran a 7.47 at 196 mph!”
Henson, a former
road racer, has only been drag racing for two seasons and
remarkably, already holds the much sought after records.
“It hasn’t
sunk in yet,” Henson said. “It’s an amazing
feeling. We have great bikes and a great team.”
Henson’s
win last month in Alabama combined with his sweep of both
the Gainesville races place him solidly in second place in
the final points standings.
“The competition
has been very tough out here this season, but based on what
we did at the end of the year I think we proved this was a
championship caliber team.”
Teammate Kent Stotz
also had a good showing at the two-race season finale. Stotz
qualified on the pole position for the first race with a rapid
7.69 at 190 mph.
“We wanted
to go into Gainesville and prove we can be the dominant Shootout
team, and I think we did that,” Stotz said. “”It
was great to finish strong for Honda and all of our sponsors.”
Stotz, who focused
primarily on research and development for the 2003 season,
was still able to finish third in the highly competitive championship
series.
“Coming into
the season my goal was to stay in the top-five while testing.
The bike was strong enough to exceed my expectations. We met
all of the goals we set except one, and that was to win another
championship. Other than that we did everything we set out
to do.” Stotz said.
Along with reestablishing
the records, the Stotz/Velocity Honda Drag Race Team ended
the year with three national event victories and five runner-up
finishes. Additionally, Henson competed in the MIR/Rock series
where won his second straight championship and reset the elapsed-time
and speed records. Both riders thanked their families and
crew members for all the support throughout the season.
The Stotz/Velocity
Honda Drag Race team thanked all of its dedicated sponsors
for supporting the quickest street bike team on the planet.
The team thanked; Honda Riders Club of America, Stotz
Street Extreme, Velocity Racing, Honda Pro Oils, Star Racing,
Pingel, Falicon, RC Components, Schaumburg Honda, JE Pistons,
Garrett Turbos, Joe Rocket, Airtech, and HyperPro Suspension.
