Stotz Still Confident Despite
Setback
July 02, 2004
Photos: Matt Polito, www.dragbikephotos.com
 Kent
Stotz and the Stotz Street Xtreme/Honda Riders Club of America
Streetbike Shootout team felt confident going into the AMA/Prostar
Norris Motorsports Cycle at Norwalk Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
Coming off his sensational 7.32 elapsed time on his turbocharged
Honda CBR1100XX in St Louis, Stotz had every reason to be confident.
“We took home what we learned on the 7.32 pass in St. Louis
and tested with the new data,” said Stotz. “We knew
we could get back in the 7.30's if the track could hold it.”
After a strong test session prior to the event, Stotz was able
to qualify in the number two position with a 7.59 second elapsed
time, less then two hundredths of a second behind Barry Henson.
After a first round victory on Sunday, Stotz faced mechanical
problems which took him out of competition early.
“The first round was good and we stepped it up for the second
round only to have the boost controller malfunction and went from
7.50's to an 8.54,” explained Stotz. “The boost controller
has never malfunctioned in this way before but rest assured we
will find the problem and be eager to show what we can do in Indy.”
The Pingel Thunder Nationals in Indy is always a big race in Streetbike
Shootout and it was one of the original tracks added to the schedule
when the class ran just a few dates on the AMA/Prostar tour. Stotz
has won there twice before. It is also the event where the Shootout
bikes are required to run a 12 mile road course to prove their
street worthiness.
“The road coarse is a great way of showing the fans that
these bikes really do live on the street,” said Stotz. “Every
competitor has that fear of something little going wrong, like
a fuse blowing or the bike not restarting after the ride, but
you can’t get caught up in that. We know our bike can easily
handle a 12 mile ride. I have fans come up to me all the time
and say they can't believe I can run 7 second passes and still
drive it on the street. That’s how far these bikes have
come.”
Kent will be at the 10th anniversary celebration
of the Honda Homecoming in Marysville, Ohio, on July 29-31 and
will be signing autographs and running the Reaction Time Challenge.
Following that event Kent will be at the 2 Wheel Tuner magazine
kick-off party presented by Joe Rocket in August. The premier
issue of 2 Wheel Tuner features a profile of Kent and the Honda
race team and is on newsstands now.
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