From a press release:

Team EMGO Taiwan and Chris “Opie” Caylor say next step is a green flag!

MARIETTA, Georgia — “Nearly all the pieces of the puzzle that will ensure us a successful season in Formula Xtreme are in place,” says Chris “Opie” Caylor of Team EMGO Taiwan. With the opening round of the 2005 AMA Formula Xtreme Series quickly approaching, Caylor and team have been methodically testing their Suzuki GSX-R 600s, training and finalizing sponsorships. “We certainly have the best of the best this year and everyone I’ve been working with is really excited to start racing.”

Always striving for improvement, Caylor has brought some of the sponsorships formed in 2004 to his reunion this year with EMGO. “There were many things about Team EMGO Taiwan in 2003 that I wouldn’t change for anything. Working with Emil Gomez and EMGO is and has always been great! Last year, I was fortunate to get hooked up with Teknic Gear and Arai Helmets. I am pleased to announce that those relationships will continue in 2005.”

An area that Caylor is particularly excited about is where the rubber meets the road: literally! After years apart, Team EMGO Taiwan is pleased to announce Opie Caylor’s return to Dunlop Tires. “I started my career in 1996 on Dunlop Tires and now I’m excited to be back on them!” During testing at Talladega Grand Prix Raceway and North Florida Motorsports Park it became apparent why Dunlop is the winningest tire in AMA history. Caylor was quickly near his personal best lap times ever at both tracks and continued to consistently turn those times on tires with nearly 30 laps on them. Caylor pulled in with a big grin and said “I can’t believe the side grip and life on these Dunlops!”

Testing in early January at North Florida Motorsports Park was particularly encouraging. With the help of crew chief Craig “Huey” Stewart and Mike Fitzgerald of Thermosman Suspensions getting the Ohlins suspension tuned to the new chassis and tires, Caylor was approaching to within half a second of the official track record. “The bike we rode is our Suzuki GSX-R 600 Formula Xtreme chassis with a Supersport engine built by Rodney Vaughn,” Caylor explained. “With this setup, we got close to a lap record set on a 1000cc machine. I can’t wait to put one of our Formula Xtreme spec motors in the bike!”

The positive results of these tests prove that the hard work is starting to pay off. “I can’t tell you how excited I am everything is coming together!” said Caylor. “As you may have read, I recently had a series of major sinus surgeries that seem to affect me in ways I never would have dreamed: I sleep better, I exercise better, and according to the tests that we just concluded, I am riding better!”