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Joliet: Fred Collis preview

Testing gives Bryce and Collis added confidence as Star Racing moves to Chicagoland JOLIET, Ill. (May 19, 2004) - There's an old motorsport adage that says, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." For George and Jackie Bryce, owners of Star Racing, and ...

Testing gives Bryce and Collis added confidence as Star Racing moves to Chicagoland

JOLIET, Ill. (May 19, 2004) - There's an old motorsport adage that says, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday." For George and Jackie Bryce, owners of Star Racing, and George Smith, part owner of S&S Cycle, Incorporated and George Bryce's partner in G Squared Motorsports, that saying hits the proverbial "nail on the head."

"Star Racing's reputation was built on winning," noted Bryce. "Winning races and championship, especially on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, along with a lot of hard work, have built Star Racing.

"Now, along with my partner George Smith, we have formed G Squared Motorsports, and will use the same philosophy -- winning races and hard work-- to expand that business. G Squared was formed to develop motorcycle engines and bikes, focusing on late-model hot rod V-Twins."

To that end, as the ongoing development continues on the competition V-Twin, the Star Racing team stayed at Atlanta Dragway and tested the Suzuki this past Monday, even after driver Fred Collis advanced to the semifinal round the day before.

"We made seven runs on Monday, which is pretty much unheard of," said George Bryce as he discussed Monday's testing. "The result was that we learned a lot and that will help our program in Chicago. We went in the right direction and we picked up a tenth over our semifinal time of Sunday. Conditions and track temperature were the same as they were during the semifinals on Sunday, so we were comparing apples to apples.

"It gave some extra seat time to Fred (Collis) since he just rejoined us in Houston. He was fortunate in that he was able to put 14 runs together between the race and the testing. That really tuned him up. It was evident in his driving focus. It got better and better. Based on the weekend and testing we look like we should start a march to the front of the pack. I can't control how fast everyone goes but we're going to run better."

This past weekend definitely helped my game," said Collis, who handles the driving duties for the Star Racing/G Squared Motorsports Suzuki. "A lot of racing is mental preparation, but you can only do so much. That's where this weekend played an important role. I was able to get added seat time, work on the lights and concentrate on going straight and hitting shift points. The extra seat time, along with what was found in the tune-up area, should help us in Chicago."

The NHRA Route 66 Nationals opens with two professional qualifying sessions for the Pro Stock bike and car classes on Friday (May 20) at 4 and 7 p.m. and two final qualifying sessions on Saturday (May 21) at 12:15 and 3 p.m.. Final eliminations for all classes get underway on Sunday at 11 a.m. All times is Central Daylight Time (CDT).

Same-day television coverage can be seen on ESPN2 with qualifying highlights on Saturday (May 22) from 7-9 p.m. and eliminations on Sunday (May 23) from 7-10 p.m. All times is Eastern Time (ET).

-sr-

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