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Shawn Gann has piloted some flashy rides during his career as an NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro
Stock Motorcycle racer, but the new paint scheme on his XTreme Rebellion/RumBum Buell for this
weekend's United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway is guaranteed to turn
heads.
The bike was painted at Performance Auto Crafters in Locust Grove, Va., by Barney Squires and
designed by Gann whose love of psychedelic design and the Grateful Dead is evident in the final
product. "Man, I've been telling people about this paint scheme for a while and we finally got it
finished a couple weeks ago," said the 31-year-old North Carolina native. "It's gonna look good
when we get back to the Winner's Circle and with the way we've been running, that's gonna be sooner
than later."
Gann, a four-time National event winner who won the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in
2004, is a fan of the facility, but being near the Windy City when racing a Pro Stock Motorcycle
has its challenges.
"Chicago is sometimes bad (because) it's windy, but everyone has to drive through it," he said.
"It's a really nice track in a good location with a lot of nice fans. A lot of stuff goes on. It's
one of my favorite tracks."
Currently seventh in PSM points behind Craig Treble and ahead of Karen Stoffer, Gann is looking to
return to his 2004 form, when he won here and at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, and finished fourth
in the final series' points. His round record coming into Joliet is 4-4 and he intends to improve
on that this weekend.
"It's been a long time, but we're ready to get back to racing like champions," he said. "With the
help of my sponsors, XTreme Rebellion and RumBum, we're gonna win again. I can feel it."
Gann and the rest of the NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle class qualify for Sunday's
eliminations for the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals Friday at 2:30 p.m. CST and again
at 6 p.m. Saturday's qualifying for the bikes is scheduled to start at Noon with the second round
starting at 3 p.m. Sunday's eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
For more information about the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway,
visit them on the Web at Route66Raceway.com. Event qualifying can be seen on ESPN2 Saturday at 9:30
p.m. CST with eliminations airing at 3 p.m. CST Sunday and re-airing Wednesday at 1 a.m. CST. The
race can be heard via live streaming Sunday at NHRA.com.
Fans can follow Shawn Gann at Twitter.com/ShawnGann or on his page on Facebook.
SHAWN GANN FAST FACTS:
* Gann is a four-time Nationals event winner in the NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock
Motorcycle class: Joliet, Denver (2004); Englishtown (2003); Las Vegas (2001)
* Gann has earned five career top qualifier awards: Las Vegas (2006); Englishtown, Madison
(2003); Houston, Pomona (2002)
* Gann's career round wins record is 116-111, including 12 final round appearances
* Gann round win record in 2009 is 4-4
* Last year at this event, Gann lost to Angelle Sampey in the second round after beating 2007
PSM champion Matt Smith in the opening round
* Gann's highest finish in the year-end points standings in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class is
third (2003) on the strength of one win, one runner-up, and a final round win record of 21-14
* Won the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle at the U.S. Nationals at Indy (2001)
* Gann's career-best speed is 193.65 (Houston, 2006) and career-best ET is 6.952 (Reading,
2006)
