Cycle News Staff | March 9, 2006
The following is from Kent Stotz’ publicist…With one round of the 2006 AMA/Prostar series in the record books, Honda Rider’s Club of America (HRCA)-sponsored drag racer Kent Stotz has earned a new nickname around the paddock: Mr. 200 MPH.The four-time national champion scorched the competition on his turbocharged Honda CBR1100XX with five consecutive 200-plus mph passes on his way to the Pro Street class victory at the BikeWeek Nationals at South Georgia Motorsports Park, Valdosta, Ga., March 4-5. It was an unbelievable show for fans, who witnessed Stotz setting and resetting ET and top speed records a total of 10 times in all. In qualifying on Saturday, Stotz set new records for ET and top speed with a 7.303-second run at 201.10 mph. But that was just the beginning. After ripping off a 7.307-second pass at 200.62 mph in the first round of eliminations on Sunday, he lowered the ET record again in round two with a 7.284-second run, again topping 200 mph at 200.32 mph. Then in the semi-finals he eclipsed both the ET and top-speed records with an incredible run of 7.275 at 201.82. His performance in the final was another marvel of consistency; the 7.284 run at 201.46 marked the fifth time in two days that Stotz topped 200 mph, an Olympian feat in street tire drag racing. Stotz’s early-season success follows a strong finish in 2005 when he set the quickest ET and fastest top speed for the Pro Street competition–7.358 seconds at 196.87 mph–at the AMA/Prostar World Finals in November in Gainesville, Fla. “We are happy beyond words,” exclaimed Stotz. “Late last year, we discovered how to put down consistently fast runs on the Honda CBR1100XX. This weekend was validation that we are going in the right direction. The Honda motor has always been amazingly powerful and bulletproof. Now we’re getting all that power to the ground and the results speak for themselves.”Racing fans heading to Daytona for Bike Week are in for a treat. The record-setting 550-plus horsepower CBR1100XX will be on display in the HRCA tent at the Honda pavilion located just outside of Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday through Saturday, March 8-11. Stotz Racing will also have its latest racing thoroughbred–the liter-class CBR1000RR–on display in the HRCA paddock. Stotz is currently developing Honda’s most popular sport bike for drag racing and expects to contest the turbocharged machine at upcoming races this season.Next stop for Stotz Racing will be the 15th Annual AMA/Prostar Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, Ga., April 1-2. For the latest information, be sure to visit www.stotzracing.com.
