AMERICUS, Ga. - After a successful 2012 season as a newly-assembled team, the Sovereign-Star Racing partnership announced plans on Jan. 3 to further expand their National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock Motorcycle program to include a third racer and a Suzuki motorcycle in addition to the two Buells that they currently run.

The team, which assembled for the first time only a few weeks before the start of the 2012 season, finished the year at No. 7 with rookie driver Scotty Pollacheck and also claimed the No. 11 spot with their second rookie, John Hall. Both racers were also nominated for the 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award and set new team records throughout the year.

The 2013 Sovereign-Star Racing team will once again include Scotty Pollacheck and will also welcome fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Michael Ray, who broke the Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle/Vance & Hines team's 13-event winning streak with his first NHRA national win at the Dallas AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals last year.

"Michael and I have been friends for 10 years," Star Racing owner George Bryce said. "I've worked with him a lot at NHRA races, AHDRA races and test sessions in previous years. He ran three NHRA races with our team in 2011 at the Gainesville, Houston and Atlanta races. Michael also has the quickest reaction time average in our class in NHRA, and he was the only guy to win a race in 2012 that wasn't on a Harley. We are happy to welcome him as a new member of our team."  

Ray's 2012 season was sponsored by Gottspeed Racing, with Viper Motorcycle Company also contributing as an associate sponsor during his last six races in the Countdown to the Championship. Ray also partnered with Matt Smith Racing for his engine program and tuning throughout 2012, which will now be provided by the Sovereign-Star Racing team.

"I met Jenõ (Rujp) when George and Sovereign teamed up two years ago when they made their European Championship run. They knew that we were an option (for the future)," Ray said. "I'd done a pretty decent job of driving the bike last year. When Viper (Motorcycle Company) and some other associate sponsors didn't come back (for 2013), it made total sense to come back and team up with Star and Sovereign for this year.

In addition to Pollacheck and Ray, Sovereign-Star Racing will also be developing a third driver as 18-year-old rookie Chaz Kennedy joins the team for several 2013 races. The crew has also brought back their PSM Suzuki engine program to fine tune and experiment with this third bike during the season in addition to the two Buells that they currently run.

"Chaz is a student of ours and has been to (my drag racing) school a couple times. We've decided to bring him in as a developmental driver for 2013 and have him practice and train on our new Suzuki to get him ready for NHRA professional competition," Bryce said.