Velocity Racing owner Barry Henson will make the unprecedented move into the AMA Dragbike Funnybike class aboard a customers Suzuki Hayabusa powered machine.
“I had a customer in South Africa who wanted to build a Funnybike, in an effort to save the customer time and money we took our existing NHRA Pro Stock bike chassis and reworked it.”
The only logical power plant was the Hayabusa, it has proven to be one of the most potent power plants in the history of motorcycles. Henson’s customer will tentatively keep him aboard the machine the entire 2008 season. Henson has taken a step back with his NHRA effort.
“I have decided to sit out the first half of the season to build a brand new bike from the ground up. I will not go back to the GS style motors as I believe old technology has reached its potential limits” stated Henson. American Suzuki/Velocity Racing will field a Suzuki Hayabusa based entry. The team will use the second half of the 2008 NHRA season to R&D the new combination and will be competitive in the 2009 NHRA season.
American Suzuki/Velocity backed Mike Slowe will fight for his third consecutive championship aboard a brand new 2008 Hayabusa Pro Street bike. Mike Slowe has had a virtual strangle hold on Pro Street since his stunning introduction to the class. The 2008 season will be one of the most competitive as their are rumors that several other companies and riders will be entering the fastest no bar street tire class to try to loosen Slowes grip on the class.
“Our class needs the competition and with growth comes more sponsors. We have several teams that we support but as part of the big picture, we feel that the growth is great for the class” stated Henson. Slowe will be joined by Barry Henson in the Pro Street class aboard a second 2008 Hayabusa R&D bike set to debut at the MTC Elmer Trett nationals. We want to test some new things in competition that we are developing to stay cutting edge in our development of turbo systems. The ultimate goal is to notch a third consecutive championship for Slowe and all our sponsors in the AMA Dragbike Pro Street series.
American Suzuki/Velocity Racing backed Darren Burnett had a stealer year aboard his Hayabusa based Super Street class machine pulling in the number three plate. Burnett has been involved in this class since its inception. Burnett has one goal for the 2008 AMA Dragbike series, the number one plate in Super Street class.
“Darren did a wonderful job last season, it was his first year aboard a turbo powered machine and he adapted very quickly” stated Henson. Burnett will depart with his Hayabusa to field a 2008 GSX-R1000. “With the liberal rules provided to the 1000cc based machine, we feel that the rules are in favor of this combination” stated Henson. Burnett will not be alone in the class as the machine that Burnett rode to the number three plate will be fielded by Sean Henson, son of the multi-time champion Barry Henson. “Sean has come of age and can now compete and learn the necessary actions to become a successful racer in the AMA Dragbike Series” stated Henson.
Henson has not been more focused on winning. Henson will attend every AMA Dragbike Series event for the 2008 season. Every Velocity racing customer will enjoy full trackside support. See you at the races