PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLIST CHIP ELLIS JOINS DON SCHUMACHER RACING FOR 2008 NHRA SEASON
INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 12, 2008) - Don Schumacher announced today that Chip
Ellis will join the Don Schumacher Racing stable for the 2008 NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing season in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock
Motorcycle class. Ellis will begin his fourth full season in that
category. The team, headed by longtime DSR tuner Steve Tartaglia, will
be sponsored by Schumacher Electric under a developmental relationship
with Suzuki.
"This is an awesome opportunity and I'm grateful to Don Schumacher for
providing it," said Ellis, who rode for G2 Motorsports from 2004 to
2007. "I'm really happy to be here and ride for such a great team,"
added the 37-year-old Florida native. "The DSR shop is quite the
facility and Steve Tartaglia is very smart and I'm going to be working
with a good bunch of guys. It's hard to find the words to describe how
excited I am."
Tartaglia joined DSR as an engine builder and assistant crew chief
shortly after the debut of the U.S Army PSM team in 2003. He took over
as crew chief for Angelle Sampey and Antron Brown in 2005 and has
wrenched Brown and Sampey to a combined nine victories in 20 final
round appearances, a national elapsed time record for Sampey, and 13
No. 1 qualifying efforts, until the departure of U.S. Army as a PSM
team sponsor at the end of 2007.