G Squared Motorsports: Chip Ellis turned back in round 2 at BIR
G SQUARED MOTORSPORTS OWNERS: GEORGE BRYCE & GEORGE SMITH NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING SERIES PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE: G SQUARED S&S BUELL RIDER: CHIP ELLIS 24TH ANNUAL NHRA LUCAS OIL NATIONALS BRAINERD INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY - BRAINERD, MINN. AUGUST 11-14, 2005 Qualified: # 3 (7.049 seconds at 193.35 mph) Eliminations: Round 1: Ellis (7.151/186.02) def. Shawn Gann (red-light: 7.269/178.10) Round 2: Ellis (7.272/188.04) def. Antron Brown (7.042/185.05) Chip Ellis turned back in round 2 at BIR BRAINERD, Minn. (August 14, 2005) - After qualifying No. 3 at the 24th annual NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at BIR, Brainerd International Raceway, Chip Ellis driver of the G Squared S&S Buell Pro Stock Motorcycle, lost to Antron Brown in the second round. In the opening round, Ellis took advantage of a red-light by Shawn Gann and easily moved to round two against Antron Brown. Brown, who had a reaction time of .001 of a second for the second consecutive round, led from start to finish against Ellis in the second round, bringing to an end a trying two weeks that saw the G Squared Motorsports 18-wheeler stolen from an Omaha hotel. The rig was immediately recovered but all the racing equipment was missing. Days later, the Sarpy County Sheriff's office, the Iowa Highway Patrol, and local law enforcement from the Omaha-area, recovered much of the contents - including the team's current Buell chassis used to compete in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle class on the NHRA POWERade Drag racing Series, three S&S Pro Stock engines, a new complete Kosman Buell rolling chassis and assorted spare parts - and the team was able to compete this weekend. "This whole team, including Chip, has been under a lot of pressure as the result of the theft of the rig and it recovery. As a result, while Chip had rode almost flawlessly through qualifying and the first round of eliminations, the stress may have caught up in this last round," said George Bryce, who along with George Smith are owners of G Squared Motorsports. "At the start Chip popped up and double clutched which upset the transfer of weight on the motorcycle and that slows it down anywhere from one to two tenths. It will jump around and bounce. The television show this evening on ESPN2 should give a good picture of what I'm talking about. "We'll regroup and go to straight to Memphis and pick up there. Thanks again to everybody that had anything to do with helping us during the last several weeks." Unofficially, leaving the Lucas Oil Nationals, Ellis is No. 6 in POWERade points, with 577 points. NEXT RACE: With another race immediately following, Chip Ellis and G Squared Motorsports move straight to Memphis, Tenn., for the NHRA O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, Aug. 19-21. TELEVISION: ESPN2 HD will air three hours of same-day television coverage of eliminations beginning at 7 p.m. this evening (Aug. 14). The elimination show repeats on ESPN2 HD early Monday morning, Aug. 15, from 2:30 until 4:30 a.m. Television times are Eastern Time (ET) and subject to change at anytime. Check local listings. G SQUARED MOTORSPORTS: When Harley Davidson accelerated their effort in NHRA, S&S Cycle decided in 2002 to join the battle. Because of his vast R&D experience, coupled with his racing background, S&S asked George Smith to head their project to field a competitive S&S V-Twin bike on the NHRA circuit. Smith immediately asked George Bryce, who had been working with S&S Cycle on a similar project, to join the new endeavor and G Squared Motorsports was formed in 2003. Both Smith and Bryce knew if they collaborated on the project, joining the resources, knowledge and talents of S&S and Star Racing, they could produce a competitive bike to race in Pro Stock Motorcycle competition on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The G Squared/S&S-powered V-Twin Buell debuted in 2004.