AMA Prostar drag racing has a Hot Rod Cruiser class based on the high performance V-twin cruisers. This is a street legal class where all of the big V-twins from Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, etc. face off. After the initial year, five years ago, Yamaha has since run away with the class using Patrick Racing’s help to build up their Warrior. Looking for more competition, the AMA has allowed the AHDRA, All Harley Drag Racing Association’s S&S 124 class to compete directly with the Hot Rod class. According to the press release the rules are very similar and should heat up competition considerably.
This class is very cool since it is much more accessible for the average guy to buy and build a competitive V-twin and go racing. That leads to high interest among race fans and better sales in dealer showrooms, good thing all around. It’s also far easier for the average guy to find a drag strip to compete than to find a race track for road racing. I’m not suggesting the sportbike crowd will all turn to drags but I think a large segment of riders with the competitive urge in their blood might want to check it out.
How quick are these bikes? In 2000 they turned 11 second quarter miles, in 2005 its down to 9.16. Nice.
UPDATE: All of the websites and organizations mentioned in this post are now gone. Time goes on …
hoyt says
this is very cool. Road Racing needs something similar ….get
Buells, BMW’s, Guzzis, & Triumphs back into racing against one another at a national level. Almost like a streetbike racing class.
Expand on the Boxer Cup series with other brands. The results would be anyone’s guess and the resulting sales success could also be anyone’s guess.
Moto GP is awesome and entertaining. Superbike has its entertaining moments but lately it is a Suzuki-fest on bikes that aren’t really streetbikes anymore …nothing against those bikes at all and they should continue to be developed further.