Willis Racing Team

Hello and thank you for your interest in Willis Racing. Willis Racing was formed in 1999 and is continuously showing growth. The competition from racing has brought about many changes to the team. We started out as a two-member team and have added a third. Willis Racing consists of Janie Palm, Charles Willis Sr. and Charles Willis Jr. We are currently making sure not to extend our limits since we are a self-funded race team with minimal help from our Sponsors and are always seeking additional support. The past six years have been very good years for the team. We have numerous event wins along with countless runner up finishes. In 2005 Charles won the track Championship in the Street Bike class and Janie came in third in the points for the Street Bike class and finished seventh in Pro Bike. 2006 promised to be an exciting year with Janie almost taking the championship but was beat out by her team mate for the second position, Janie ended up third. In 2007 Janie won the Pro Bike track championship on a street bike. This was very exciting and has never done by a racer in Gateway International Raceway's history. It was almost a double up year for Janie as she ended up second in the Street Bike Championship but only by about 9 points. In 2008 the team took a break from the racing at Gateway International Raceway, well a slight break as they continued to go to the Test and Tune sessions at the track but opted out of the points races.

The team continues to race at Gateway International Raceway as time allows. Due to their hectic schedules they have been following the 2WheelSpeed events in Byron, IL. This series races once a month and has two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. It's a great opportunity to win with all the different classes.

Willis Racing still continues to provide top notch products and services to its customers and is always striving for the next level by providing new and inovative ideas for its customers, please check out the Products page for more information.

Team Member Profiles

Janie Palm janie@willisdragracing.com

Janie Palm has been racing since 2000 and has never looked back. She is having so much fun participating in a sport that she never dreamed of growing up. In 2000 she began racing at Gateway International Raceway, located in Madison, IL, in the Championship Bracket Racing series. She rode a 2000 Kawasaki ZX6R in the Street Bike Class. In each of the past three years of participation in the class she has finished in the top 10. In 2001, her second year of racing she was able to obtain a Wally trophy which to this date has eluded many of your top racing teams trophy case. This shows the quality and the precision of her riding ability to gain such a highly sought after award in two short seasons of racing. We know that with the support of an outside marketing partner she would be a force to reckon with in the motorcycle drag racing industry. In 2004 Janie rode a 2000 Kawasaki ZX9R, she ended the year with a few wins and several runner up finishes. She obtained another Wally from the local tracks National Dragster Challenge, she won NOPI again this year and had a very good showing at Black Sunday and Bracket Bash. In 2005 Janie started the year on her 2002 Suzuki Hayabusa but she ended up giving the bike to Charles to customize and got herself a brand new 2005 Limited Edition Suzuki Hayabusa. Janie won the Prostar Event in the Street Bike class and ended up third in the Street Bike points for the track Championship and finished the year seventh in the Pro Bike points. She was runner up at Black Sunday in the Street Bike class to none other than "Booney" from Kansas City, a little rivalary going on between the STL and KC :) all in good fun though. In 2006 Janie continued to ride the 2005 LE Suzuki Hayabusa and ended up third again in the Street Bikes points races at Gateway. Black Sunday was rained out and Soul Brothers she took home a couple of second place trophies. In 2007 Janie won the Pro Bike Championship at Gateway on the 2005 LE Suzuki Hayabusa. After the season was over she sold the bike. In 2008 Janie rode a few of Charles' bikes and in 2009 Janie is riding a 2008 Suzuki Hayabusa.

Charles Willis, Sr. charles@willisdragracing.com

Charles Willis, Sr. will be riding numerous bikes in several classes. He currently rides a 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa in the same class Janie competes. This lends itself to some interesting moments in the Willis Racing camp on race day. His main responsibilities are to maintain all the equipment the team uses and he is the mechanic on all the motorcycles. 2005 was a great year for Charles, he ended the season winning the Street Bike Championship over at Gateway International Raceway. He also had several class wins and numerous runner up finishes. 2006 was a pretty successful year for Charles as he ended up second in points in the Street Bike bracket class at Gateway, he beat out Janie to take the spot only by a few points. In 2007 Charles concentrated on building his business in the custom motorcycle market, although you will still saw him at the track he really only went to support Janie. In 2008 the track didn't have the races to support a chase for the Championship so Charles concentrated on his custom business and only went to a few select Test and Tune sessions and races at Gateway. In 2009 Charles has been building a few race bikes for customers so he is at the track almost every Tuesday or Wednesday they are open. He will follow the 2WheelSpeed events in Byron, IL for bracket racing and will again race the Black Sunday event at Gateway this year.

Charles Willis, Jr Charles@willisdragracing.com

Charles Willis, Jr. is currently serving his country in the United States Army. We support his efforts and hope he will be able to attend some events with us this year. He will be racing a Suzuki Hayabusa when the opportunity arises.