Event No. 1 / Mac Tools NHRA Gatornationals / March 17-20 2005 / Gainesville, Florida

Mike Berry entered the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle season opener in Gainesville, FL, after spending many hours during the four month "off season", making countless Dynometer pulls and working on a few new ideas for engine combinations for the upcoming '05 season.

 But instead of arriving with a new and competitive engine in the MB Precision Machining Suzuki, the Berry team was relying on an old "third string" piece to get the job done at the Gators.

 "We had some rotten luck right before we left and that forced us to either stay home or use one of our old engines," said Berry. "We broke some stuff on the dyno that looked promising, but we were simply out of time to fix it and had to thrash with the old stuff just to get here."

 Berry took the two Friday qualifying runs, laying down a 10th best 7.229 elapsed time, then a better 7.190 effort, but slipping to the 17th qualifying position.

 "Tonight was the time to run fast and grab a spot on the qualifying sheet," said Berry.

 Saturdays two sessions we much the same as the MB Precision Machining Suzuki clocked a 7.171 in the early session, then 7.182 in the later one to land in the 19th qualifying position for the weekend.

 "The 7.17 was the best of weekend run for us, but it wasn’t good enough to make the show on Sunday," said Berry. "We couldn't be working any harder than we are, that's for sure. We just need to get home and finish working on our new stuff before Houston."