October 1, 2008 – Maumee, OH – Honda East Yamaha Suzuki of Toledo, located in Maumee, Ohio will continue its support of Eddie Kraft for the 2009 race season. Eddie competed in WERA events, as well as debuting in the AMA Supersport series at Mid-Ohio this year.
Amidst surgery from a get-off early in the season and missing a significant number of events during the year, Eddie still managed to win races and finish on the podium as the season concluded. Nearly missing out on the AMA Supersport race altogether after mechanical issues early in the weekend, help from a fellow competitor along with the work of the team consisting of Joe Kraft, Doug Cornett and Garry Hayes kept the weekend alive and gained Eddie valuable experience in his first AMA event.
Honda East’s Tom Beagle states, “We couldn’t have asked for anything more this year. It’s rare to find a rider who gives as much value to a sponsor as Eddie has done. Even when he went down and couldn’t race, he was at the track promoting the Honda East name and as a business, we without question benefited from this. We sold bikes, parts, accessories and further utilized our full-service dyno throughout the year – all of which tied directly to this program. It has well-exceeded our expectations and there was no question we wanted to work together again in 2009.”
When asked about the season and the outlook on next year, Eddie replied, “Well I’m extremely happy on how well things have come together with Honda East. It’s a special opportunity that doesn’t come along very often. In regard to the season itself, I’m not all that happy on how the racing went to be honest. This season started off perfect when we won our first race of the season, but quickly took a turn south after I crashed pretty badly shortly thereafter. Once back on the track, we were playing catch up for the remainder of the season and couldn’t quite get where we wanted to be. The AMA weekend threw us a couple curveballs as well and just making the race became an accomplishment. I can’t say enough good things about Honda East though. Throughout it all, Tom and the team over there have been 100% supportive both on and off the track. Racing is a game of highs and lows and always full of challenges. You never want to disappoint your sponsors, so it’s very encouraging to have Honda East benefit from this season as much as they did, even with my limited time on the track. We’ve got a great bike for next year and we will be ready to go in 2009. I’m very confident of that.”
Making their name a staple in the racing community, Honda East won a total of eight WERA Championships in 2008. Located in Northwest Ohio and in the heart of the WERA North Central region, Honda East is the largest Honda dealership in the state; offering a full line of sport bikes, cruisers, dirt bikes, ATVs, scooters, watercraft and snowmobiles – not only by Honda – but Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Aprilia, Sea-Doo, Bombardier, Polaris, Artic Cat and Ski-Doo as well. Honda East prides themselves on the best out the door deal, period. No games, no hassles.
For more information on Honda East, visit www.hondaeasttoledo.com or contact Tom Beagle at 419-891-1230. For information and news on the racing team, please visit www.witchkraftracing.com.