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Born August 31, 1985 in Davenport,
Iowa, Brunson Edward Grothus was born to drag race. I know, it’s
been said before, but Brunson literally was. Brunson’s first lap
down the track was when his mom was eight months pregnant with him
as she bracket raced her father’s Corvette. Then only days after he
was born he was bundled up and brought to the racetrack. Brunson
continued to travel with his mom and dad to nearly every race
whether it was a local or national event for the next ten years.
Brunson is the oldest son to Ed and
Judy Grothus, who were pioneers in Prostar’s early years as well as
Tim Mills’ “Dash for Cash” series along with IDBA and local events.
By the age of five, Brunson’s father, Ed, and Tim Mills started an
1/8 mile class for kids on mopeds and dirt bikes. The class
attracted 6-12 entries that got a few time trials before they
started the “Dash for Cash” races at Muncie Dragway. Brunson still
has his first event win trophy and time slips from that race. He had
four straight lights in the .500s or 00s depending on the timing
system. He says, "It's pretty funny to see the dial-ins and
video from those races, ESPN classic worthy." |
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Racing for the Grothus family was put on hold about the time Brunson
and his brothers started getting serious about baseball and
wrestling. To add to the madness, Brunson and his younger brother by
two years, Bryon, also played football. Ed retired from racing at
the top of his game when his boys were 2,4,10 & 12 years of age. He
was a four-time IDBA class champion and 1-time Dragbike USA champion
with numerous top five Prostar number plates. He had just won the
$5,000 to win ET race at the Prostar World Finals in Gainesville,
then sold everything: motorhome, trailer, race bikes, pit bikes;
pretty much everything except the tools. His focus in life was
turned towards his four boys. Ed said, “They were missing too much
school because of racing.” “We were trying to teach our boys that it
was important not to let their classmates down and to be team
players.”
Sports became a life for the Grothus boys. Brunson was a walk-on at
Black Hawk Jr. College in Moline, IL where he eventually received a
full baseball scholarship. He went on to play intercollegiate ball
with NAIA. Bryon (22) was a Division 3, All-American in wrestling.
Broady (17) played back to back in the Little League World Series in
Williamsport, PA in 2005 & 2006. Bradley (15) is the youngest of the
four and as Ed says, “Is set to be the biggest of all of them.” This
summer his baseball team won the 14-year old national championship,
he wrestled on the varsity team in his freshman year and recorded 15
pins and also plays football where this season he returned a kickoff
for a touchdown (one of three touchdowns for the night) at the
opening game. He is also currently #1 in his class and wants to be a
plastic surgeon. And yes, he is a motorcycle drag racer in training
too and has run low 10s on a Busa.
As to how Ed and the boys got back into motorcycle racing was this.
In 2001 Ed was clicking around on Dragbike.com and ran across an ad
for a 1996 never raced D&G Pro Mod chassis for sale in Wisconsin.
After talking to the guy, Ed told him he had a friend who had a
spare motor he would like to throw in it. So the guy loaned Ed the
bike in trade for finishing the project. Ed ran it at local tracks
then the guy made him a deal he could not refuse which included tons
of spare parts. Ed couldn’t resist and soon Grothus Racing was back
in business. He eventually bought back his old TG bike too. Brunson
started racing his cousin, Steve Klemme’s bike, then Brunson and
Bryon bought a 600 Kawasaki that he raced. Brunson mixed racing in
with school and work and eventually put the Pro Mod chassis to use
and today races in the ADRL series.
When not racing, Brunson is a contract specialist for the Department
of Defense. That’s all I’m going to say on this subject. He could
have told me more, but then he would have had to kill me.
Brunson’s climb to Pro Mod status was a gradual climb from his
cousin’s bike to the 600, up to his dad’s Top Gas bike and onto Pro
Mod. He says he had great racing coaches along the way which include
his dad and his uncle, Tom Klemme. The Grothus family is committed
to racing the way they always have by building and maintaining their
own bikes and engines. With the accomplishments the Grothus boys
have had in sports I’m positive that their accomplishments in racing
will be very similar. I’m proud to say that the future of motorcycle
drag racing is being left in good hands.
Other areas of interest:
Residence: Davenport, IA
Occupation: Contract Specialist, Pro Extreme Motorcycle
Rider, College Baseball Coach, Personal Baseball Instructor.
Home track: Cordova Dragway Park, Cordova, IL
Team Name: Grothus Dragbikes
Crew Members: Ed, Judy, Bryon, Brody, and Bradley Grothus.
Madeline Doll, Mike Moore Jr., Tom, Mike, Steve, Bryce and Blake
Klemme. Austin Ziegler.
Sponsors: Indocil Art, Klemme Performance Motorcycle, Olson’s
Auto Service, Legit Fightwear, & Hoffmann Trucking.
Accomplishments: National Event Wins: 2009 2wheelspeed
Inaugural 7.50 Index Winner, 2008 UBDRA St. Louis Quick 16 Event
Winner, 2008 UBDRA St. Louis Pro Bike Event Winner, 2003 Bracket
Finals High School Winner
Special Recognitions: 2006 2wheelspeed Rookie of the Year
History of racing bikes and classes:
• 15 years old bracket raced my cousin Steve Klemme’s 9.00s dragbike.
• 17 years old bracket raced a 600 Kawasaki Streetbike my brother
and I bought.
• 20 years old bracket & Top Gas raced my dad’s reborn Top Gas bike.
• 21 years old bracket & 9.50 Index raced a Hayabusa Streetbike.
• 22 years old rode & qualified for the Norwalk ADRL PXM class.
Current race bike / class: My current race bike is a 2009 C&W
Cycle Works 1570 Suzuki Pro Extreme/Mod Motorcycle. We had the
chassis built last fall after the World Finals and flew down to the
PRI show in Orlando, FL to crate it up and ship home. For the next
few months we thrashed on it and debuted it at the First ADRL race
of the year in Houston, TX by going to the semi-finals. I actually
had the custom painted body and helmet delivered to me in Houston.
Ryan Young of Indocil Art had literally only a few days to do what
he did and created one of the trickest paint jobs in all of drag
racing.
Goals: When I was in high school I had originally set out to
win more Top Gas and E.T. Championships than my father (5), but now
my focus has shifted to winning the ADRL PXM National Championship.
If I’m fortunate enough to win one, I would like to pull a couple of
Michael Jordan’s and repeat several times over.
Interest outside of racing: Baseball. I played four years of
college baseball and am the assistant coach at the college I played
for. If I’m not working or racing, you will find me coaching,
watching, or playing baseball somewhere.
Favorite foods: Nacho Cheese Sunflower Seeds
Favorite movie: Gone in 60 Seconds.
Daily driver: 2001 Jaguar
What was your first motorcycle: Yamaha PW 50. Red and white
with gold wheels. I had it decaled up with John Myers Dave Schultz,
Schnitz Racing, and MRE decals.
Hero: Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, & my father Ed. |
