he 4th annual Toyota/Parts Unlimited Dealers Challenge presented by Pirelli at Three Palms Extreme Sports Park near Houston provided the best race action that the Houston area has seen in years. The main focus of this event is team racing. While all of the normal classes are offered for riders to race in, each rider gets a chance to represent a motorcycle dealer or a non-franchise team in the team competition. Over 30 teams were entered in hopes of winning the coveted U.S. Dealers Challenge Championship. Coming out on top of the Franchise Dealers category this year was the powerful green team of Highlands Kawasaki. They have been in the top 3 for the last couple of years and now are the 2006 U.S. Dealers Team Champion. One of Houston’s oldest franchise dealers Stubbs Cycles, had some very impressive finishes and finished second overall, with the orange crew of Munn KTM rounding out the podium in the Franchise category.
     Outscoring the other non-franchise teams was the powerful JM Racing. JM is no stranger to winning the Dealers Challenge as they did it back 2004. Another previous winner EBR (2003, 2005) was back this year and claimed second in the non-franchise division, and the always-present trackside vendor Struhall’s Racing took the last podium spot.
     This year Dealers Challenge also served as the third round of the Three Palms Triple Crown Series. The Memorial Day Classic was round one, the American Vet Championship was round two. One of the biggest promotions to ever hit the Houston area was launched at this series. The winner of all three rounds in the 250 Expert class would drive away in a brand new 2006 Toyota truck.
     Congrats to all the pros for putting on a great show for the fans in this series. Congrats to Three Palms for putting a great series together and getting the pros a challenging track to race.
     In the end there was some intense race action in the amateur classes too. American Suzuki provided contingencies for Suzuki riders and the following companies donated product to the top 10 in every class; Pirelli, THOR, Moose, Pivot Works, Hot Cams, Engine Ice, Motorex, Renthal, Acerbis, 661, DP Brakes, Hot Rods, FMF, Pro Clean 1000, Hinson, Alpinestars, NGK, Sunline, UNI and Scott.
     Look for the Dealers Challenge to be a part of the Three Palms Triple Crown Series again in 2007, with more prizes and even more Toyotas up for grabs!