Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chris Bostick made his Countdown debut this weekend at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. The talented up-and-comer left the race with an improved points standing and the best elapsed time he’s made all season. Most importantly, Bostick made a powerful statement about his expectations as he entered his first Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s version of the playoffs.
Bostick, who celebrated his birthday over the weekend, made several good-looking runs during qualifying on his Chris Bostick Motorsports Suzuki, including his best-performing pass of the season, 6.885 seconds at 193.82 mph, which landed him in the No. 13 position on the Pro Stock Motorcycle ladder.
The talented Pro Stock Motorcycle rider not only made his best pass of the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season, but he also moved up a position in the Countdown to the Championship points standings.
With three new engines in his arsenal, Bostick is working to determine the best combination for creating a more powerful competitive edge. This weekend, he went with what he would consider his No. 3 engine, which laid down impressive and consistent 60-foot numbers. Unfortunately, in the last round of qualifying, the cam chain broke, causing damage to the engine. Therefore, they had to put a brand new engine into the motorcycle for the first round of eliminations.
“We had to put in our No. 1 engine because our No. 2 engine isn’t going to be in the rig until Charlotte,” explained Bostick. “We didn’t want to do anything to hurt this engine so we were very conservative in our tuning. We didn’t even have race oil in it. We had break-in oil in it.”
Eliminations began early on Sunday morning in order to accommodate for potential inclement weather later in the day. The Billet engine they put in the motorcycle has a different clutch setup than the previous engine. Bostick left a tick too early against the current Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion, Matt Smith, ending his race day earlier than he wanted. But the forward-thinking driver isn’t dwelling on that small setback as he sets his sights on all of the positive momentum he’s garnered throughout the event.
“We had excellent 60-foot times, so that’s really encouraging,” said Bostick. “I will need to make a mechanical adjustment to the clutch setup of this Billet engine in order to slow down the reaction time of the motorcycle. In the first round, I saw the double amber lights and let the clutch go. So I wasn’t guessing at the tree. That’s just an adjustment we will need to make in Charlotte.”
Bostick has already sent the damaged engine back to George Babor for repair and he’s excited to continue his Countdown journey.
“Overall I feel good about the weekend and the progress we are making,” said Bostick. “It was great to celebrate my birthday with all of the folks in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Hector Arana Sr. and I share a birthday, so we celebrated together and it was a lot of fun. My wife Teri put all of that together with the help of our friends. Her positive attitude kept me going all weekend long.”
The next stop on the tour for the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship will be the betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway, commonly referred to as the “Bellagio of drag strips,” September 22-24 just outside of Charlotte, N.C.
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