Team Report:  Team Brocks Performance

With two races left in the 2007 AMA/Prostar Drag Racing Championship season, Team Brock’s Performance riders have scored their share of wins.  Some championships are still in contention, some are virtually secure and some are beyond reach.  Whatever the outcome, Brock’s Performance riders have made their presence known on the track this season.

Phil Stoll – Pro Street

Phil Stoll and Ronnie Mitchell have the bike – and the experience – to make a serious contention for the Pro Street Championship.  While he has scored wins and set records against superstar riders like Mike Slowe and Kent Stotz, early round losses put him out of contention this season.

“The schedule has been our worst enemy,” said bike owner Ronnie Mitchell.  “Work commitments don’t allow us to make the Friday test sessions so our first shot at the track is the first qualifying session on Saturday.  With only two qualifying sessions there is no room for error. If the track is not good it takes us time to get the bike set up.  If we have a good lap off the bat we do really well.”

Take for example Atlanta where they set the elapsed time record of 7.33 seconds and won the event. At Indy a number two qualifying spot was followed by a 1/8 mile speed record of 160.19 and their second win of the year.

Stoll takes full responsibility for the scattered poor performances.  “It is all my fault,” he says.  “I get keyed up and gun the throttle when I have to be smooth.  It spins the tire and the clutch locks up instantly.  I am always trying to set a record and set the track on fire.”

The team has been working on shortening up the wheelbase at less-grippy tracks to gain consistency.  The will come off the allowable 68 inches down to 64.  “It keeps us from spinning the tire on bad tracks,” said Stoll.  “My weight is over the rear tire so it keeps it more manageable.  It is an advantage when you don’t have the traction.”

In addition to AMA/Prostar Stoll and Mitchell also compete at the Mickey Thompson Extreme Bike Shootout at Milan Michigan.  With car rubber on the racing surface the team has an enviable record of six number one qualifying spots and six wins in seven events thus far.  They have also had best performances of 4.82/164 in the eighth and 7.27 at a jaw-dropping 206 in the quarter mile.

“Milan is one of the best hooking tracks in the Midwest,” said Stoll.  “I go there so often I consider it my home track lately.

Mitchell made the switch from an old-school nitrous Shootout configuration to the state-of-the-art Velocity turbo three years ago.  They made the switch to a Brock’s Performance suspension package at the same time.

“I have always been impressed with the science Brock puts into his products,” said Mitchell.  “He can dyno the bike and set the shock and suspension specifically for the bike and rider.  He also has excellent customer support. He is my only choice.”

With Mike Slowe having a virtual lock on the championship Mitchell and Stoll plan to go at it as hard as ever.

“We can’t catch Mikey,” said Mitchell.  “So we just want to go out and set records.

Victor Gotay - Super Street

Victor Gotay has been the unquestioned class of the field in Super Street since the debut of the class last season.

Gotay, riding the turbocharged Playthings Hayabusa prepared by “Johnny Turbo” Dobrin, set the pace at the opening event of the 2007 season in Valdosta, Georgia, with a win and a record-setting, sub-eight-second e.t. of 7.98 seconds.

Since that time the only thing stopping the team is team itself.  If Gotay and the bike are running up to their potential, then wins – and records – have been coming their way.

In the six races run so far Gotay has three number one qualifiers and five in the top 3.  He has four wins and has re-set the elapsed time record twice this year, currently holding it at a stunning 7.93 at 189 mph.

Gotay says that a good measure of his consistency comes from suspension components provided by Brock’s Performance Products.

“In the beginning of the season we had a lot of problem spinning the tire,” said Gotay.  “We could go fast but we were not consistent.  We had Brock configure a shock for our bike and it really came around.  It stays hooked, it goes straight, all of the above.  Even with the tire spinning it stays straight. It is just more consistent. Since we put the shock on we are running 8.0s and 7.90s all the time.”

With two races left in the season Gotay has a near 90 point advantage over his main rival Rickey Gadson. “I would always look up to Rickey and want to be like him,” said Gotay.  “Never thought I would be racing against him.”

Let alone beating him.  Even with a comfortable point lead Gotay has no plans on letting up. “Nothing is going to change,” he said. “I am not going to approach the end of the season any differently.  I will try to do my best, win races and set records.  If I can do that the championship will come.”

Lee Sheirts – SuperSport

Lee Sheirts is the racing veteran of the SuperSport class. And while the class has been dominated by young, flyweight riders, Sheirts has made a serious challenge for the championship, relying on his renowned tuning abilities and well-honed riding skill. 

Sheirts decided on a full season of SuperSport racing after not racing in the class at all in 2006 and making just a few events in 2005.  He rode a barrowed GSXR in Valdosta while waiting for delivery of his new ’07 model.  He has been listed as a top performer all season, with two finals, a win and two semifinal appearances.  He has qualified in the top three in every event and nabbed the pole position twice.

Sheirts big complaint on the season has been the controversy of SuperSport points leader Jeremy Teasley being disqualified for a technical infraction and that it did not come sooner.

“They should have policed it a lot more,” said Sheirts.  “In the beginning of the season everyone was within a tenth.  Then we had a racer who was a tenth behind get two tenths ahead. You had to figure something was going on.”

With the disqualification of Teasley rider Kenny Poppell took over the points lead with Sheirts in second.

“Now it is me and Kenny,” said Sheirts. “He has so many points on me I have to win and he has to go out early. I thought about trying to  qualify last to face him in the first round.”

He laments that the cheating cost him, having faced the disqualified rider in the final at Ohio and semifinals at Indy.  “With wins in those rounds it could be a different story. Now all I can do is practice.”

In addition to his own SuperSport bike Sheirts also prepared the Super Street GSXR of Richard Gadson.  Sheirt’s shop, Lee’s Performance, is a motorcycle performance institution.  He uses Brock’s Performance exhaust systems for both his customer’s and his own race bikes. 

“Brock makes good parts,” he says. “The things that he makes work.  All the Busa’s that go out of my shop have a Brock pipe.  The are the fastest at the track.”

www.brocksperformance.com