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RICKY GADSON: Green Wave Swamps Supersport

March 27 2009

There certainly has never been an all-Kawasaki ZX14 Dragbike.com Supersport
final until Valdosta, that is. Kawasaki superstar Rickey Gadson made a
triumphant return to the class, running 9.0s every pass all weekend on his
Brock¹s Performance/Quantum Motorsports '14. Brock Davidson used to race for
Suzuki back in the day, and last year teamed up with Quantum to field the
class winning GSXR1000 for Keith Dennis. But last year it was good business
to race a Suzuki.

"It's really a shame that Keith is not defending his championship," said
Brock. "When I told him that Suzuki had completely dropped their drag race
contingency program for 2009, he said Well, it sure don't make no sense for
me to come all the way from Memphis to whoop them boys and not get paid!"
Are you reading Suzuki? Your most cost-effective marketing tool in the
US without question is staying home.

But wait, Suzuki marketing folk, it could get worse. "Bryan Snyder and I
have even been thinking about throwing that #1 plate on the side of a
Kawasaki," continued Brock. ³Keith reminded me that he ran a 9.08 on my
Diary bike in the blistering heat with a completely stock engine, he said he
would like nothing more than to go out there and show Rickey who is the
fastest on identically prepared bikes. The sheriff may just have to step out
of retirement one more time.

"The program with Rickey and his Monster Energy ZX14 began in the same
fashion as Keith last year. A bike was available all of a sudden, so it
became a fire drill for Bryan at Quantum to finish it in time for the race."

"We built this bike at the track, basically," said Gadson, the '05
Supersport champ.

"In a nutshell, Rickey's Œ09 Œ14 has our new owners special and a Quantum
Supersport prepared engine," continued Brock. "That's it. All of the rest of
the mods are exactly the same as our ZX14 Diary bike on Dragbike.com

"Rickey had called me a couple weeks earlier to ask whether or not I thought
he would be competitive with the new 2 inch ground clearance rule for the
big bikes. I told him I thought he would do well and have a legitimate shot
at the championship for Kawasaki. He really impressed me with his ability to
race during the 2005 season when we won our last Supersport championship,
and I've always said the ZX14 has a great engine in stock form. It seemed
like a perfect match."

"I almost doubled up (Rickey runner-upped in Super Street), but I won in the
class that mattered to me the most," said Gadson. "I'm not racing Super
Street no more, so that was like a finale. But this here? This means
everything. What a feeling to be able to come back in a class with‹hands
down some of the best raw talent in the sport and be able to produce
results such as this. The most amazing part is the fact that my ZX14 with me
on it has to weigh 130 pounds more than the liter bikes that have dominated
the class since the merger."

Gadson beat Farlie Hall, also on a '14, in the final. Hall beat #1 qualifier
Jeremy Teasley in the semi, spoiling the Ohio teenager's (and former Suzuki
die hard) debut on the Adams Performance/Muzzy's ZX14.

Eddie Murphy still rides a GSXR1000, but lost ugly in round 1. "If you don¹t
know, if you didn't see it, I got beat by a female (Jennifer Robertson)‹on a
holeshot," said the grim Murphy. "You live, you learn. I can promise you it
won't happen again. I was way too relaxed and underestimated my opponent. I
lost, ain¹t nothin' else I can say about it. Pack it up and try again in
Atlanta and give em hell. It's really tough out here this year."

It can be tough in Gadson¹s own family, and I'm not even talking about his
nephew Richard. "Who¹s #1?" Rickey asked his infant daughter in the winners
circle.

"Spiderman!" she said without missing a beat. Who doesn't love Spiderman?

"I can't say thank you¹ enough to Bryan, Brock, and Jason for getting this
bike done for me in a weeks notice," said Rickey, who also thanked Kawasaki
Motors Corporation, Monster Energy drinks, Quantum Motorsports, Brock¹s
Performance, Dusty at Dynojet, XXX Race Fuels, Lee at Vortex, Steve at Litz
racing shocks, Joe Rocket, Motul lubricants, Dave Conforti at Worldwide
Bearings, GPR stabilizers, Hotbodies Racing, Condor lifts, Gale Speed rims,
Falicon, NGK, Motocam 360, Muzzys, Lisk suspensions, Innovate, Adams
Performance, Rickey Gadson Sportbike dragracing school, Sportbike, and
Rickeygadson.net.

Rickey Gadson
owner of Sportbike Zone & Rickeygadsondragracingschool.com

Ricky Gadson is sponsored by Hotbodies Racing and uses our windscreens on all of their bikes. Hotbodies Racing specializes in manufacturing high-performance parts for high-performance sportbikes, and is the North American distribution of KR Tuned performance parts. Hotbodies Racing is the market leader in Undertails, Huggers, Windscreens, Flush-Mount Signals, Megaphone Exhausts and full-race Bodywork. Hotbodies Racing supports the sport with sponsorship around the world and encourages dealer and distributor inquiries. For more information visit: www.HOTBODIESRACING.com.