Kent Stotz to appear on Speed
Television’s 2-Wheel Tuesday Tonight, 8/9
Four-time AMA Prostar champion Kent Stotz will appear as a guest
on Speed Television’s 2-Wheel Tuesday (2WT) tonight, Tuesday,
August 9 at 7:30 pm EDT/PDT.
 Stotz,
the acknowledged dean of professional street bike drag racing,
will appear on camera with 2WT host Greg White and discuss the
growth of motorcycle drag racing in America and the latest technology
that fuels this increasingly popular form of motorcycle sport.
To provide a first-hand look, Stotz’s new-for-2005 turbocharged
Honda CBR1100XX, sponsored by the Honda Rider’s Club of
America (HRCA), will be in the 2WT studio.
“One of the attractions of
this sport is that it is a home-grown form of racing unique to
America,” said Stotz. “Now it is expanding to other
countries as enthusiasts around the world are drawn in by the
incredible power these bikes make and the skill needed to launch
them.”
Stotz’s latest CBR benefits
from an extensive off-season development program that significantly
altered the induction and electronic control systems, netting
65 more horsepower (550-plus overall) from the virtually-stock
1100cc mill while running the same 30 pounds of boost as last
year. Stotz also pared away 30 pounds in overall weight (now at
475 pounds), allowing the double-X to accelerate more rapidly.
“It’s incredibly difficult to get this much power
to hook up through a stock motorcycle tire, and that’s where
rider skill comes into play. It’s that challenge that the
fans come out to see.”
Stotz is well-known for his market
savvy when it comes to finding new audiences for motorcycle drag
racing. For 2005, the forward-thinking Stotz collaborated with
the NOPI (Number One Parts, Inc.) Drag Racing Association (NDRA)
to launch the organization’s first foray into 500-horsepower
street tire motorcycle drag racing. The HRCA, his primary sponsor,
followed him to underwrite the NOPI Pro Street Tire Bike class.
The self-taught racer from Schaumburg, Illinois has remained true
to his roots and continues to compete in AMA Prostar Pro Street
Class competition as well.
The results are impressive. “So
far this season, we’ve run the quickest ET in our AMA Prostar
class, a 7.36 at 197 miles-per-hour at Norwalk Ohio’s Raceway
Park,” said Stotz. “In NOPI competition, we ran the
quickest E.T. and the highest top speed of any Pro Street Tire
Bike competitor, 7.44 seconds at 195 mph, at Bristol Dragway in
Tennessee.” This past weekend, August 6-7, Stotz made an
exhibition appearance at the 28th annual National Bikers Roundup
at Rockingham Dragway in North Carolina (attended by an estimated
92,000 fans) and set the lowest ET and fastest top-speed: 7.47
seconds at 188 mph. To put this performance in perspective, Stotz
achieved these results despite a significant AMA Prostar rules
change at the end of 2004 that increased ground clearance one-inch
(now three inches total) and increased ride height two-inches
(now 22 inches). Under the old Prostar Street Bike Shootout Class
rules, Stotz became the first Street Bike to officially top 200
mph.
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