Ellis Maintains in Sonoma
It's now been a full year since Chip Ellis scored his last NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle win on the DRAG Specialties/S&S powered Buell at Infineon Raceway. Chip and the G2 Motorsports team were looking to repeat that feat at the Sonoma, California track, which always features strong motorcycle performances. While they didn't take the win this time, and didn't rotate the earth with a new class record, the team did hold steady in their standings for the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship.
The first round of qualifying showed the whole field performing slower than expected, with Ellis running the third quickest time of the round. "The first run is always kind of a guess," said Ellis. "It was also in the heat of the day, and I think the weather was tricking people a little bit."
qualifying round 1
3rd Chip Ellis right lane 7.023 at 186.90 mph
Performances picked up for Chip and the rest of the field in Q2, and 6 second passes became the standard for the rest of the weekend.
qualifying round 2
4th Chip Ellis left lane 6.986 at 189.20 mph
qualifying round 3
5th Chip Ellis right lane 6.974 at 188.23 mph
qualifying round 4
4th Chip Ellis left lane 6.952 at 190.81 mph
eliminations round 1
(W) Chip Ellis .058 6.954 at 191.00 mph
Mike Berry .027 7.064 at 187.73 mph
Round 2 featured a match-up between Ellis and Peggy Llewellyn. Peggy rides the Karl Klement Racing Buell, tuned by Shane Maloney and G2 co-owner George Bryce. This time, the round win went to Llewellyn's team.
eliminations round 2
(W) Peggy Llewellyn .025 6.970 at 190.59 mph
Chip Ellis .091 7.008 at 189.68 mph
"I hate to keep talking about the screw-ups I make with the tune-up," said George Smith, the G2 Motorsports president and crew chief on Ellis's bike. "In Denver I went too soft with the clutch, but here against Peggy I had the clutch too tight. We bogged the motor more than we should ever let happen. It cost us in reaction time, but it ran a decent 60 foot (1.07 to Llewellyn's 1.053). All I can say is that I'll keep learning."
"We just missed the tune-up," said Ellis. "We all agreed on it and thought it was the best thing to do, but we were all wrong. We win as a team and lose as a team, we're just tired of losing. This is Big George's first year, and I think every event he's learning what to do and what not to do. I think come crunch time, we're gonna have it all figured out."
"We need more power," said Smith. "When we make those good runs, we're right on the edge and we're still a few hundredths behind the leaders. Chip and Ken Johnson are actually driving back to the G2 shop in Americus to spend a couple of days improving things before going to Brainerd. I'm going to Americus to attend a business meeting and check progress on our R&D projects. We hope we can incorporate some of those efforts for Brainerd, or Reading for sure."
Former G2 team member Matt Smith went on to win the Sonoma event on his Torco Race Fuels S&S powered Buell. Smith is having a fabulous, almost dominant, season. "What can I say about Matt other than he's doing a great job tuning and riding," said Smith. "We were at times pleased, but at other times we were not happy with our own performance. The good news is we qualified well and maintained our position with two races left before the countdown. We're gonna keep after it and break through. We've gotta keep after it, because sooner or later we're gonna catch a break and win a few rounds. You have to make your own breaks, but we haven't caught any. We haven't gotten the job done, and after a while it eats at you."
"With Craig Treble going out in the second round, and Chris Rivas in round 1, we pretty well maintained our points position," said Ellis. "It's gonna be a battle from here on out. People gotta step up, including us. We've gotta quit missing the tune-up, and I've gotta quit messing up my lights."
"We're looking forward to Brainerd," finished Smith. "We have Mike Carley from Carley Foundry in Minnesota coming out to the track, so we're looking forward to having him around."
Ellis and the G2 team race next at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, August 9-12, Brainerd Int'l Raceway, Brainerd, Minnesota.
G2 Motorsports Sponsors
Everyone at G2 thanks DRAG Specialties Drag Specialties, S&S Cycle S&S Cycle Home Page - Welcome, Doc's Harley-Davidson of St. Louis Welcome to Doc's Harley-Davidson, MAC Tools Initializing...., Gates Corporation The world's most trusted name in belts, hoses & hydraulics | Gates Corporation, Itelligence, Inc. Homepage itelligence Inc. | itelligence, Mazak Corporation Mazak Committed to Manufacturing Excellence, RK Racing Chain Welcome to FTM Enterprises, SAP SAP - Business Software Solutions Applications and Services, Andrews Products Andrews Products - Main Page, Vanson Leathers Vanson Leathers - Textile and Leather Jackets, Racing suits & riding apparel for men and women: Vanson Leathers America's leading producer of motorcycle clothing., and Carley Foundry Aluminum Castings Carley Foundry, Inc..
G Squared Motorsports can be seen on the web at G2 MOTORSPORTS
NHRA/POWERade Point Standings
5th Chip Ellis 518
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle
4th Chip Ellis 1850
Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew Championship Point Standings
3rd Chip Ellis/George Smith/Ken Johnson 248
G2 Motorsports History
Named for the two George's, George Bryce & George Smith, G2 Motorsports was initially formed in 2003 as a collaborative effort between the pair to field an S&S Cycle powered V-Twin NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle. The company has since evolved into the development of late-model hot rod V-Twins for both the street and strip. G2 Motorsports also stocks a full line of S&S Cycle engines and support parts for drag racing enthusiasts, as well as for other motorcyclists, dealers and distributors. The G2 Motorsports web site (G2 MOTORSPORTS) is continually updated with the latest race press releases, photos, engines in stock and information on complete turnkey motorcycles.
