V&H, Suzuki, Mission "Powerhouse NHRA Pro Stock Team"
Vance & Hines has announced a partnership "that brings three legendary brands together in a quest for the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle (PSM) Championship."
Aiming to add to its NHRA PSM legacy in 2022, Suzuki is to dub Vance & Hines as its "premier drag race team." The two have worked together since the launch of the legendary GS 1000 in 1978 with V&H operating Suzuki's factory drag racing team and programs under several sanctioning bodies. In the years that followed, they earned numerous victories and championships with company co-founders Terry Vance as rider and Byron Hines as tuner. Ultimately, the collaboration established Suzuki as the fastest and winningest brand on the drag strip. Their success paved the way for the emergence of PSM racing as a professional sport.
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| The first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle race of the season will be in Gainesville, Florida. |
When the NHRA established the PSM class as a fully-fledged national championship in 1987, Vance won its inaugural race in Gainesville on a Suzuki GS 1150E, and later in that season set a Pro Stock milestone as the first motorcycle to run a 7-second ET. Since that time, Vance & Hines-built Suzuki powerplants have won five NHRA national titles, including three consecutive championships on bikes piloted by Byron's son, Matt Hines.
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| Mike Kennedy, President of Vance & Hines: "Vance & Hines was born on a racetrack and has a passion for high performance - that's why partnering with organizations with equally strong cultures of winning is perfect for us." |
Mike Kennedy, President of Vance & Hines, stated that "the Vance & Hines/Suzuki partnership is a multi-year program which will showcase the performance of a 6.3 second, 200+ mph Hayabusa model in the world's premier form of motorcycle drag racing.
"Vance & Hines was born on a racetrack and has a passion for high performance - that's why partnering with organizations with equally strong cultures of winning is perfect for us. We are overjoyed to have Mission Foods return to our program, and to begin a long and successful strategic partnership with Suzuki. This is already a great start to the 2022 racing season."
For Suzuki, VP Marketing Kerry Graeber stated that "Suzuki has a tradition of competing at the highest levels in motorcycle racing and, given our history and success in drag racing, it's fitting that we take a high-profile role in NHRA PSM.
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| Kerry Graeber, Suzuki VP Marketing: "Suzuki has a tradition of competing at the highest levels in motorcycle racing and, given our history and success in drag racing, it's fitting that we take a high-profile role in NHRA PSM." |
"One of the specific goals of this program is to showcase Suzuki's all-new, third generation Hayabusa sport bike, and Vance & Hines is without a doubt the best partner for this initiative. We're thrilled to be reuniting with Vance & Hines in NHRA to show the extraordinary capabilities of the Hayabusa."
The first NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle race of the season will be in Gainesville, Florida. There will be 15 PSM races in 2020, with the season finale in November in Pomona, California, at NHRA's Auto Club Finals.
