A Vance & Hines Harley Class For 2010

Paul Carruthers | March 4, 2010

DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 4 – Drag racing legend and former AMA road race team owner Terry Vance was on hand today at Daytona International Speedway to help announce the new Vance & Hines XR1200 Series – a five-race, Harley-Davidson XR1200 spec class that will run at the AMA road races beginning in June at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wiscoinsin.”It’s a series that’s designed as an entry-level deal where a guy doesn’t have to spend a ton of dough,” Vance said today in the press room at Daytona. “They can use a stock bike, with the kit parts, spend $3500 and be racing in a series where they can actually race for some money and get some recognition. When you think about it, all those guys like the Bostroms and Aaron Yates came through that 883 class and it’s a good platform. Racing is on our roots and racing is in Harley’s DNA and this is a natural thing and we’re excited to bring Harley-Davidson and Vance & Hines back to AMA racing. It’s just the beginning and it’s going to be a bigger series going forward next year. I think we’ll see guys who have dealerships who want to go to the track and get involved and it’s the perfect venue. I think it’s going to work out really well and I’m excited to just do the program.”As the presenting sponsor, Vance & Hines will supply the race kit for the class – a kit consisting of a Vance & Hines XR1200 exhaust system, a Fuelpak fuel management system, race bodywork, including number plate, single seat tail section and belly pan, a 17-inch front wheel with matching front fender, steering damper, oil cooler relocator and race decal package. The cost for the complete kit will be $3500.There is also a nearly identical kit available for street use.”I’m excited,” Vance said. “Everybody who sees the bike really likes it and they want the kit for the street and that’s exciting. If you can get those guys motivated it’s going to make them work hand in hand with the race guys. The series makes it all justifiable. The guys go to the track and they see it and it all works. It will be the same as what they see at the track – only a street-legal kit with the headlight and all that stuff.”With the announcement coming today at Daytona, Vance wanted to give participants a chance to get their bikes race ready – thus the June start of the series.”The race series starts at Elkhart, which is great because it’s right by Harley-Davidson, and it gives the guys plenty of time to get their bikes ready for June,” Vance said. “We’ll go to all the races after that, other than Laguna, for the last five. It’ll be great. The concentration for these guys to start with will probably be midwest, east coast anyway so getting them to California would have been tough for Infineon, etc. We’ll judge where we are entry wise and involvement wise and see what we want to do with the class next year.”As in all AMA Pro Road Racing series, Dunlop will provide the spec tire for the class with Sunoco the spec fuel.The XR1200 series will feature a $5000 purse payout at each of the five rounds, with $2500 going to the race winner, $1000 to the runner-up and $750 for third. The fourth and fifth place finishers will receive $500 and $250, respectively.Vance & Hines will also provide tech support at each race.”We’ll have an 18-wheeler at the all the events for support,” Vance said. “And we’ll have a tech guy there; Jim Leonard [the team’s crew chief when Vance competed in the AMA Superbike Series with Yamahas and later Ducatis] will be at all the races if they need help. But really it’s a no-brainer because it’s a stock motor with a fuel pack and a pipe. You can do your own shocks, rear sets and handlebars.”It’s going to be cool and it will showcase our fuel pack and our pipe, which we make for the 1200. It’s a good platform and Harley is really into it. I would think they could go to the track, race-ready, for $10,000 – buy the time they buy the kit, get them all set up with tires. So if they can get their bike setup and race without spending any more money, it’s pretty cheap.”For more information, call Vance & Hines Motorsports at 317/852-9057, email to plangley@vhmotorsports.com or visit www.amaproracing.com