Quad ATV competitor likes being one of a kind

Courtesy Photo

Basic graduate Justin King races his all-terrain vehicle at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. King also competes in his street car with which he is leading the high school division standings after four races.

By Sean Ammerman (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008 | midnight

Henderson resident Justin King enjoys making an impression on the drag strip at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his modified Yamaha Banshee quad all-terrain vehicle.

Since King and his father, Bryan King, built the vehicle up to drag racing standards in 2005, they have been the only racers to compete in a quad in the motorcycle class.

"I like it because it's different," said King, who graduated from Basic last May. "It gets all the looks because it's the only one out there and I like that."

National Hot Rod Association rules allow all-terrain vehicles to drag race in the motorcycle divisions. Using the quad doesn't always result in a faster time, Bryan King said, but the Kings have posted some excellent times with it this year.

"Most of what we do is bracket racing so it's not how fast you can go, it's how consistent," Bryan King said. "It's all about reaction time."

Bryan King won the National Hot Rod Association Pacific Division National Open Motorcycle Championship in April, setting what was then a quad world record by running the quarter-mile track in 10.23 seconds with a max speed of 123 miles per hour.

For Bryan King, who has been drag racing for 18 years, the win was special for two reasons — winning as a non-professional is rare and he was the first to win the award on an all-terrain vehicle.

Justin King had success on the quad in June when he raced it in three consecutive weekends at the speedway in June to win the "Three in a Row Challenge."

While the Kings have had success with the quad, lately it has been difficult keeping it in shape every week. Justin King is in eighth place out of 26 racers in the motorcycle class points standings after seven competitions.

"We could have done a lot better but there have been a lot of problems with the transition," Bryan King said. "We have really used it a lot and it's a difficult vehicle to race."

The father and son have made a formidable team at the track in other divisions as well, with Bryan King racing a Camaro in the super pro class and Justin King racing his Saturn street car in the high school class.

"It's a family deal," Bryan King said. "I can't think of too many other things they will let me spend as much time with my son. When we're all at the track we'll all squabble and get on each other's nerves sometimes. But afterward we can all laugh at ourselves. It's all good fun."

Bryan King is leading the high school class points standings after four races.

"Of course winning the high school division would be a big win for me," said Justin King, who finished second in the high school class last year. "We someone pulls next to me before a race I want them to be scared of me."

Sean Ammerman is a reporter for the Home News. He can be reached at 990-2661 or sean.ammerman@hbcpub.com.