Reigniting a championship-winning partnership, Brock's Performance and Keith Dennis are teaming up again in AMA Dragbike SuperSport competition to pursue race wins and national records on BMW's radical new S 1000 RR superbike.
One of the most storied and accomplished riders in the history of sportbike dragracing, Dennis, 47, from Cordova, Tennessee, is a four-time AMA national champion. A short-wheelbase specialist and multi-time national-record holder, he won the 1995, 1998 and 2008 SuperSport titles, as well as the 2003 Pro Stock Championship.
Most notable is the 2008 series, where Dennis unleashed a Brock's Performance GSX-R1000 on the field at the third race of the season, then won five-straight events and locked up the championship.
Today's announcement comes hot on the heels of the S 1000 RR's groundbreaking quarter-mile appearance at last month's AMA Dragbike Spring Nationals in Martin, Michigan. Competing on the BMW modified only with external bolt-ons—including a Brock's Performance CT Megaphone full exhaust system, BST carbon-fiber wheels and MacIntosh extended swingarm—Ryan Schnitz clocked a stunning 8.49 second at 159 mph elapsed time. These numbers astounded the dragrace community and garnered the S 1000 RR the unofficial title of the "quickest and fastest stock bike in the world." Schnitz later qualified the bike fourth in shortened, SuperSport-legal trim, but crashed during testing on Sunday morning.
Nonetheless, this was an impressive debut for BMW. "We're thrilled that a leader on the dragracing scene has decided to campaign the RR," said Todd Andersen, Manager, Marketing, BMW Motorrad, USA. "Although it was designed more for roadracing, we're looking forward to seeing how our bike performs in this arena."
Brock's Performance owner Brock Davidson was stunned: "The BMW has a better power-to-weight ratio than any bike we've ever run. We feel this bike is going to be popular for our customers so we want to build a full line of products for it. The best way to develop performance parts for any motorcycle is to race it, so here we go."
Dennis will run the SuperSport machine at the next event on the tour, in Montgomery, Alabama, in nine days. While Davidson admits a SuperSport championship may be out of reach three races into the season, he feels Dennis and the BMW will stir things up: "The competition will definitely know we're there."
Brock's Performance is also developing a "dry" nitrous-injection kit for the S 1000 RR and prepping an AMA Dragbike Real Street class-legal entry for Dennis to ride at selected events.
With such a late start on a brand-new platform, a championship in either class is virtually impossible, but with the tremendous potential of BMW's S 1000 RR, Davidson predicts, "the winner's circle is clearly in sight."
About Brock's Performance:
Home of six current AMA Dragbike World Records and countless national titles, Brock's Performance leads the way in sportbike innovation for acceleration addicts. From exhaust systems to wheels, this championship-winning company designs, builds and sells more than 1000 products that make it easier and safer for racers and street riders to reach record-breaking results through a never-ending process of research, development and track testing. For more information, go to BrocksPerformance.com.