   icking up where it left off at the late stages of the 2007 season, the NHRA’s Pro Stock Motorcycle class saw a brisk realignment of team riders between seasons and the continually-improving performances of the V-Twin machines, as the old-school Suzuki entries fall farther behind.The between-season rider “reassignment” began toward the end of last season. With just a few races to go in 2007 the Army announced that they would no longer be backing the two-bike superstar team of Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown. Team owner Don Schumacher, under contract with Suzuki to develop the next-generation, purpose built four-valve PSM engine, had no choice but to field a team…sponsor or not. Brown quickly got a “ride,” trading in his leathers for a fire suit to get behind the wheel of the Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster. And while Angelle was sending out her substantial resume, she hardly needed to: her former 3-time championship team owner George Bryce was pulling every string he could for the chance to once again partner up with his favorite rider. This set off a round of musical chairs. Angelle would replace Peggy Llewellyn on the Rush Racing Buell to be teamed once again with Bryce; Chip Ellis, released from his Drag Specialties riding contract, would take over for Angelle on the now un-sponsored DSR racing Suzuki. Finally Chris Rivas would be the new rider for G-Squared flagship Drag Specialties Buell. When the music stopped the only one left standing was the popular Llewellyn. Now with two races complete in the new season one thing is clear: The V-twins are going to be very hard to beat. In the off-season the NHRA analyzed the performance disparity and gave the inline 4-cylinder Suzuki GS bikes a ten-pound weight advantage. It didn’t seem to make a difference. At the opening event in Gainesville, Florida, Matt Guidera took the Mohegan Sun/Rocklin Harley-Davidson Buell to an impressive win from the pole, taking out three-time champ Andrew Hines in the final. The result further proved that S&S is spreading its best technology around. An independent team like Guidera’s can buy a turnkey race bike and race it to win. Although it should be noted that the Guideras have top-flight mechanics at the three Harley-Davidson dealerships the family owns in Northern California. Also, Mohegan Sun’s Brian Bozsum deftly retained the services of former AHDRA Pro Stock champ Rick Maney to turn the wrenches–and apparently the “fast” knob–on the bike. Just following Guidera’s dominant showing at Gainesville, the NHRA mandated another round of weight adjustments. The minimum weight of the Suzukis was reduced another five pounds as five pounds was added to the Buells. The Screamin’ Eagle V-Rods powered by the V-Twin motor produced by Vance & Hines Motorsports were left unchanged. The Buell teams immediately shot back that they should not be penalized for working hard and racing fast. Further, George Smith of S&S and G-Squared motorsports argued that the S&S-powered Buells and the Vance & Hines V-Rods should be treated the same, as there engines were designed using the same specifications. Again, the weight changes didn’t seem to make a difference. In Houston, reigning champ Matt Smith, riding his newly sponsored “Nitro Fish” S&S-powered Buell, followed Guidera winning the event from the pole. His final round opponent was Guidera. Smith isn’t planning on relinquishing his #1 plate anytime soon–or easily. He is currently developing a new, more aerodynamic body based on the new Buell 1200R and hopes to have NHRA certification approval by as early as Chicago. That will make things even tougher for the 2-valve Suzukis. Sadly it looks like the days are numbered for the traditional NHRA combination. They were already given larger displacement limits and EFI in 2007 along with the aforementioned 15-pound weight advantage this season. Even with that, their numbers are thinning while the Buell ranks are rising. New Buells this year include multi-time AHDRA champ Junior Pippen who made his NHRA debut on his Piranha-Z Buell at the 2007 Pomona finals and long-time Suzuki racer Redell Harris who has backing from the NFL’s LaRon Landry. Suzuki racers are pressing for even more concessions. While future weight changes will have limited effectiveness they have suggested being allowed to run hotter fuel or even reducing the cubic inches on the V-Twins. The latter would be unwise as the new 4-valve Suzuki motor under development promises to be at least as powerful as the current V-Twin motors. The new engine is state-of-the-art, all-billet 1655cc overhead cam design being produced by motorsports empire McLaren with a Suzuki tag. The prototype is reportedly running although it is not thought that it will be competitive until at least mid 2009. It promises to change the game all over again. While the thundering beat of the V-Twins is currently the loudest noise on the NHRA scene, you can hear a 14,000-rpm monster on the horizon. Stay tuned for more… 
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