Georgia Drag Racing News

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Thursday, June 17, 2004

Shifter malfunction ends Collis’ day at Columbus

STAR RACING/G SQUARED MOTORSPORTS
PRO STOCK BIKE: G2/S&S/STAR RACING BUELL
FRED COLLIS -- RIDER
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
MEDIA CONTACT: Mickey Schultz

Qualified: # 2 (7.127 seconds at 181.30 mph)
Eliminations:
Round 1: Collis (10.666/76.46) lost to Keith Dennis (7.284/182.55)

HEBRON, Ohio, (June 13, 2004) – A shifter malfunction ended eliminations for Fred Collis and the G2/S&S/Star Racing Buell, powered by an S&S Cycle V-Twin.

During today’s eliminations at the NHRA Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing, in the debut race for the G2/S&S/Star Racing Buell, Collis lost to Keith Dennis. After going through the first two gears, Collis tried to air shift into third but had no success.

“It was a surprise to me,” said Collis. “I pushed the air button to shift but nothing happened. I pushed several times with no success. I kept trying to get it into high gear, but nothing worked.”

Star Racing owner George Bryce, who along with George Smith, part owner of S&S Cycle, Incorporated, is a partner in G Squared Motorsports added, “We know we had a shifter problem but don’t know exactly what happened. We’ll go home to analyze the problem and get ready for Englishtown.”

“This is what they mean when they say the high and low of racing. We were high during qualifying, but definitely low today after the opening round of eliminations. We couldn’t hit third gear and we were done,” said George Smith.

“We’ll take the data we have from this weekend to Englishtown and do better. Preparation before Englishtown and St. Louis will be the key and help us to be more consistent. Time didn’t allow for us to be as prepared as we would have liked for this event.”

In a philosophical moment, Bryce said, “You can’t buy your way to the winner’s circle. You can’t will your way to the winner’s circle. You can only experience your way to the winner’s circle and we’re in the middle of experiencing.”

Smith quickly added, ”We’ve accelerated the learning experience and know the way to success is not without roadblocks. Today was one of those roadblocks.”

Provided by Star Racing/G Squared Motorsports
Distributed here by:
Jerry Battle

STAR RACING/G SQUARED MOTORSPORTS
PRO STOCK BIKE: G2/S&S/STAR RACING BUELL
FRED COLLIS -- RIDER
NHRA POWERade DRAG RACING SERIES
MEDIA CONTACT: Mickey Schultz