Championship Drag Racing

Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Clermont, IN
(August 31-September 5)

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Chip Ellis Kuryakyn/Lartigue Racing Buell Pro-Stock Bike

Indianapolis, prerace: The approach may be the same, but this weekend’s 51st annual NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is not just another race for G Squared Motorsports.

“The U.S. Nationals will never be just another race,” says George Bryce, partner and co-owner of G Squared. ” There’s been 51 years of action at Indy and drivers have made careers by winning at Indy. The media and the fans spend so much time making it our biggest event of the year, and rightly so, but to our motorcycle and engine and tires and all the other things that make us competitive it is just another race and we must make our team understand that and not get caught up in the hype.

“We’ll attack Indy with the same intensity as we did last year and as we do every other race. We want to qualify high in the field, win every round and win every event. The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is no exception.”

Bryce’s partner George Smith added, “We’re trying to be as well prepared for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals as we’ve been all season. It’s no secret that the G Squared team has been underachieving all year. That being said, the facts are: we have a very good rider, a very good motorcycle, a very good power plant from S&S and my partner is the best tuner on the planet, but items beyond our control has keep us from putting it all together. My goal as co-owner of this operation is to be sure that we’re as well prepared as we can be for this weekend.”

Chip Ellis, aboard the G Squared S&S-powered Buell, will be trying to capture some of the magic he enjoyed last season as a rookie at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

“Last year was Chip’s debut at Indy and he did great, qualifying No. 1.  No telling what he would have done during eliminations had it not been for the breakage of a five dollar throttle cable. You can bet we’ll have a new throttle cable on for this year’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals,” reflected Smith, as he looked back at last year.

This year Ellis will also be competing in his first Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle, a special race-within-a-race being held Saturday during this weekend’s event. Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle rounds are scheduled for 1, 6 and 7:25 p.m. Ellis qualified fourth for this year’s Battle and will face Angelle Sampey in the first round.

Added Bryce, “This will be Chip’s first chance to win a special bonus race. The Ringer Gloves Pro Bike Battle has been a tradition for our team. We actually treat the Ringer Battle and the U.S. Nationals as two separate races. We do Friday and Saturday for the Ringer Gloves Battle and than we do Sunday and Monday for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

"If you break it down that way, it ends up being two races instead of so much crammed into a four day weekend and you don’t have to switch your concentration back and forth. Because of the hype, a lot of people fade by Monday. The two race format works well for this team and allows us to keep our focus.”

The total race day purse for the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle is $36,000. The winner will earn a $15,000 bonus from Ringers Gloves. Any rider who can win the Battle and the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will earn a $10,000 ‘Double-Up’ bonus from the NHRA.

The Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle runner-up will earn $5,000. The two semifinalists will earn $3,000 each, while the four first-round finishers will earn $2,500 apiece.

Ellis enters this event, the 12th of 15 races on the season-long NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, No. 6 in the POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle point standings.

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