Chip Yates

2009 News Releases and Happenings:

August 25, 2009.  Chip Yates is able to walk without crutches and is working on physical conditioning.  He expects to be fully fit to participate in the Laguna Seca "Uncorked" charity race on Sept 12-13 and then in the AFM Infineon race the following weekend.  The team is participating in these events to keep fit and test some new bike settings since the Topeka injuries forced the team to sit out the last two AMA pro rounds.

August 1-2, 2009.  Chip Yates crashes in the last session of the Thursday promoter practice for the AMA Tornado Nationals at Heartland Park, Topeka Kansas while making steady improvements to laptimes.  The accident injured Chip's right foot but he was otherwise ok.  On Friday, the SWIGZ.COM team struggled to find a rear suspension setting that would work over Topeka's bumpy and irregular surface and so went backwards in laptimes, leaving Chip much further back on the grid than usual.  On Saturday prior to race 1, the team worked with Mike Fitzgerald of Ohlins to make a dramatic change to rear spring rate and settings to get the bike more stable over the track surface to give Chip his confidence back.  However, in Daytona SportBike race 1, Chip was held up by a group of slow riders and collided with one of them in turn 11, sending Chip flying over the bars upside down and slamming him into the track surface.  Chip suffered a torn groin, severely bruised right hip and a small fracture in his pelvis diagnosed by Dr. Thomas Bryan and as of August 4th is unable to walk without crutches.  The ending of the crash is seen on Speed's coverage of the race 1.

July 25, 2009.  SWIGZ.COM announces a new product - SWIGZ 2.0 for sale $10.99 at www.swigz.com.  Preview of upcoming Topeka Kansas Tornado Nationals race released - See Tornado Nationals page!

July 5, 2009.  Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix Weekend - AMA Laguna Seca - Daytona SportBike Race - Chip and the SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing team prepare a fantastic bike and Chip battles from his starting position of 33rd on the grid, all the way up to 21st for his best professional race finish yet!  Laguna Seca is Chip's 3rd AMA race and 4th professional race (World Supersport Miller being the other pro race).  Chip has never raced at Laguna Seca and the team quickly comes up to pace with excellent preparation of the suspension and utilizing on-board video and AiM Sport data acquisition over the 3 days.  Chip is getting faster and more comfortable each race weekend and the team is right on plan to get Chip into the top 15 and battling with the best fully funded pro riders in the AMA series.

May 31, 2009.  World Supersport - Miller Motorsports park.  This is only Chip's 3rd professional race weekend and his first world-level event!  Chip qualifies for the race on Saturday under extremely strict rules and makes the grid for Sunday's 18 lap race.  During qualifying, Chip is popped out of the seat which violently jerks on his already-injured right shoulder leaving him in severe pain and unable to move his right arm much.  Chip is assisted by his orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Bryan and the doctors of the SBK Mobile Clinic and sits out final qualifying session on Saturday and the Sunday morning warmup to ice his shoulder.  Chip takes the grid but during the first lap realizes he will not be able to push at maximum pace and slows several seconds per lap in order to finish.  Chip finishes the World Supersport race scored in 26th out of 30 riders and is the only American to finish the race.

May 17, 2009.  AMA Infineon - Daytona SportBike Race 2.  Chip battles for 22nd place and crashes out of the race when another riders rear tire makes contact with Chip's front tire.  Chip's A-bike is totalled and he walks away with a soft tissue shoulder injury.

May 16, 2009.  AMA Infineon - Daytona Sportbike Race 1.  Chip and the SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing team have their best professional finish with a 24th place out of 40 riders in high temperatures and a race full of crashes!

May 14, 2009.  Chip and the team pack up and head to Infineon with their brand new AMA-Spec Suzuki GSX-R600 built by Matsushima Performance.  Chip and Jimmy will shake down the new bike at Infineon AMA Race and then it gets a World Supersport motor specially built by Matsushima Performance just in time for the May 29-31 Miller Motorsports Park World Supersport race!

May 13, 2009.  Chip is interviewed by Onthethrottle TV and the full length feature is available at this link: http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/133/1/

May 9, 2009.  Chip Yates signs with Matsushima Performance to contest the remaining rounds of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike Championship as well as to field a special, one-race bike for the FIM World Supersport race at Miller Motorsports Park, May 29-31.  Grant Matsushima is personally building Chip's AMA and WSS Spec bikes and Chip will ride the AMA spec bike for the first time next weekend at AMA Infineon!

April 29, 2009.  SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing announced today that Chip has been accepted as an American wild card rider in the FIM World Supersport race at Miller Motorsports Park, Salt Lake City, Utah on May 29-31!  This is Chip's first world level race and the team is working to prepare a new bike and motor.  Contact racing@swigz.com to help.  Click on this link to see the AMA Press Release: http://www.amaproracing.com/rr/news/index.cfm?cid=21781

April 20, 2009.  Chip and Jimmy Summers test with top AMA teams at Infineon Raceway. The team tests several different tires and gearing combinations and Chip is interviewed by Onthethrottle TV.  For a partial of the interview (Chip is the first rider shown), go to: http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/93/1/

March 26, 2009.  Chip registers for the upcoming AMA Daytona SportBike race at Barber Motorsports Park, and the upcoming AMA Daytona SportBike race at Infineon Raceway.

March 22, 2009.  Chip signs over 200 posters for race fans and takes the grid for race 2 with dark clouds and bad weather threatening the race.  Crew chief Jimmy Summers stands by in the hot pits with a set of Dunlop rain tires, but the rain holds off and Chip finishes his second AMA pro race 31st out of 39 riders.  The SWIGZ.COM Pro Racing team is happy to have successfully navigated their first ever AMA Pro race weekend, but vows to fight for the top 20 at Chip's favorite track, Infineon Raceway, for the upcoming May AMA race.

March 21, 2009.  Chip Yates and his team easily qualify for the Daytona SportBike class with 2 seconds a lap safety margin.  Chip completes race 1 of the AMA Auto Club Speedway double header race weekend finishing 30th out of 39 riders.

February 15, 2009.  Chip Yates team of Jimmy Summers and manager Tim Rylott release four new videos.  Two videos mixed by Jimmy Summers are on www.youtube.com/chipyates.  The other two videos mixed by Tim Rylott are on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlE7Y__lCkQ

January 31, 2009.  Chip tests Dunlop AMA control tires at Auto Club Speedway supported by Aim Sports data acquisition technician Josh Hanrahan and crew chief Jimmy Summers.  Chip crashes due to a total loss of rear tire grip but walks away uninjured thanks to his Dainese Laguna Seca leather suit!

January 20, 2009.  Chip receives his AMA Pro-Expert racing license and is assigned competition number #89 for the 2009 Daytona Sportbike championship season!

2008 News Archive

November 4, 2008.  Chip and his team rock the races at las Vegas with his highest ever finishes in WERA.  Chip walks with 2 podiums and a 5th place to finish the 2008 season 4th overall in the 1,000cc Expert championship!  The team is now undergoing winter testing and rebuilding all 3 engines for 2009 AMA regulations.  Chip will be back in action for 2-days of testing at Laguna Seca in December! 

October 26, 2008.  After a short break to work on their 2009 AMA program with sponsors, Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.COM race team prepare to defend their 3rd place championship position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the WERA West final round of the 2008 season on November 1st.  Crew Chief Jimmy Summers compiles exciting onboard videos from the season and lanuches the team's YouTube site "ChipYates". 

August 17, 2008.  Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.COM race team stage their best race weekend yet in Chip's short, 16-month racing career.  Yates battled AMA rider Oscar Covarrubias for 5th place in the 750 Production class, finishing 6th out of 49 riders!  Chip then entered the premier class, Formula Pacific and competed against 1,000cc unlimited bikes on his Supersport 600, finishing 12th out of 15 riders.  Then, the team put on a new Pirelli rear tire and Yates charged to another 6th place out of 36 riders in the 750 Superbike class to end the day!

August 9, 2008.  Chip Yates writes another article for SWIGZ.COM sponsor Dainese, detailing how the new Laguna Seca suit Yates ran at the 2008 Las Vegas National Challenge in June provided excellent protection and comfort during sweltering conditions of over 112 degrees F!  The article is posted on this website and will also be published by Dainese on their worldwide website at www.dainese.com

August 3, 2008.  Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.COM team of Jimmy Summers and Julie Yates have succeeded in earning 300 Expert points following the WERA California Speedway round 6 of the championship and will receive an AMA Pro-Expert license over the coming months!  The SWIGZ.COM team is currently in negotiations with sponsors to work out details and logistics for running the AMA Superbike series in 2009 across the USA.

August 3, 2008.  Chip races in 3 WERA races at California Speedway finishing 6th, 8th and 9th against a strong field of competitors in the 750cc and 1,000cc classes on his GSX-R600 Supersport machine!  The team worked together to shave 2 seconds off Yates' time, which is fast enough to have qualified for the AMA race at California Speedway last season!

June 29, 2008.  The SWIGZ.COM team endures high heat and tough competition at the Las Vegas National round of the WERA Championship.  With temperatures reaching over 110 degrees, Chip took to the track in 3 races finishing 5th, 12th and 12th against 750 and 1000cc machines at the 1.8 mile road course.  Chip lowered his personal best laptime by 1 second and brought the SWIGZ.COM GSX-R600 home in one piece in a weekend saw a number of teams crash out.  The finishing results this weekend saw Chip move from 4th place up to 3rd place overall in the WERA West A-Superbike Championship!

June 8, 2008.  Chip Yates and the SWIGZ.COM team battle out 3 hotly contested classes at the WERA National weekend at Miller Motorsports Park with a best finish of 10 in the 1,000cc Superbike class on their 2007 GSX-R 600 supersport bike.  The team added 9 more points towards the AMA tally which is now standing at 241 points for the season so far.

May 26, 2008.  Strong points for the SWIGZ.COM team of Jimmy Summers, Julie Yates and racer Chip Yates during the AFM Infineon Memorial Day weekend.  After Saturday practice was shortened for rain, the team entered and finished 3 races on Sunday with minimal practice and testing (and Yates had flown in from Korea the day before!), but finished with 65 expert points to add to the AMA license tally, which now stands at 232 out of a required 300.  Yates set his personal best laptime of 1:47, which qualifies the team to enter AFM's premier racing class for the fastest racers called "Formula Pacific".

May 22, 2008.  Dainese has featured an article about their sponsored rider #489 Chip Yates on their worldwide website homepage and news section!  The article provides details and images of Yates’ Dainese leather suit following a high-speed crash in the infield at California Speedway.  The accident occurred during Saturday practice on January 12, 2008 prior to the WERA West round 1 Sunday races while the SWIGZ.COM team was making set-up changes to improve front end feel for Yates.

May 11, 2008.  A productive weekend at Buttonwillow for the Mother's Day WERA racing weekend - Yates enters 5 races and completes all, scoring 39 expert points while shaving 4 seconds off his previous best lap time at the notorously bumpy Buttonwillow Raceway Park. Chip scored a 6th, 7th, 7th, 10th, and 11th places in expert classes against 600, 750 and 1000cc racebikes on his SWIGZ.COM GSX-R600.

April 27, 2008.  Chip Yates surprises the 750cc Superbike field at Infineon Raceway to come from behind to finish 12th in a field of 48 racers, claiming 31 expert points in the process and setting a personal best laptime of 1:48, which is quick enough to have qualified for the 2007 AMA Supersport race at Infineon!  In other weekend action, Yates claimed a 15th and 21st place in 750cc Production and 600cc Production classes against huge grids of talented riders.  For these strong results, the SWIGZ.COM team was awarded 75 Expert points towards the requirement of 300 for an AMA Pro License!  SWIGZ.COM crew member Jimmy Summers was on-hand (traveling from Vegas) to manage strategy and set-up, including fitness and nutritional aspects of team performance.

April 13, 2008.  Yates has a strong weekend at WERA Las Vegas on the SWIGZ.COM GSX-R600 supersport bike, finishing the hotly contested 20-lap Middleweight Solo 20 race on Saturday, then running 4 sprint races Sunday against 750 and 1000 bikes in 4 classes - earning 26 points and finishing 7th, 10th, 10th and 11th place!

March 30, 2008.   Yates returns to California Speedway to complete tire testing with Michelin and Racer's Edge.  Faster in all sectors except between turns 2-3.

March 23, 2008.  Yates' first race of the 2008 season at AFM Buttonwillow nets 4 completed sprint races and 27 points!  Yates' GSX-R600 competes against 600 and 750 bikes in 4 classes. 

January 12, 2008.  Yates tests Michelin Pilot Power Race tires at California Speedway, working closely with Dale Kieffer of Racer's Edge, Las Vegas, NV.

News from the team of AMA racer Chip Yates.

Chip Yates talks with an AMA Official on the grid at Auto Club Speedway, March 2009.  Chip supports the new AMA leadership and the discipline and professionalism they have brought to AMA Professional racing.