Chris Ulrich has been around motorcycle road racing as long as he can remember. He grew up riding in a box van with his parents John and Trudy Ulrich to racetracks all over the U.S. during the early years of Team Hammer. As soon as he was old enough, Chris started mini-road racing on 50s and 80s, then moved to 125s and 250s as a teenager.
Chris did his first pro season in 1998 in the AMA 250cc Grand Prix class, and finished third in the championship the following year with two podium finishes on the Kids: Don’t Smoke! Yamaha TZ250. Another podium and strong finishes in 2000 resulted in fifth overall in 250cc Grand Prix Championship with the World Sports Yamaha team in 2000.
In 2001, Chris left the two-strokes behind and moved up to the AMA 750cc Superstock Championship with Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki, where he won at Laguna Seca and earned two other podium finishes. In his spare time, he rode with Vesrah Suzuki to the Willow Springs 24-Hour victory and the WERA National Endurance Championship. A crash during magazine testing in the off-season healed initially, but complications and more injuries plagued Chris’ racing performance for the next several seasons.
Chris moved to the Valvoline Suzuki team for 2002, with a win at Mid-Ohio and four top-10 finishes, finishing eighth in the 750cc Superstock Championship. In his second year with the team, Chris’ luck turned sour and another injury held him back. For 2004, he ran an abbreviated season with Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki in the AMA 600cc Supersport class while he started to regain his racing health.
Chris moved to the new AMA 1000cc Superstock class for 2005 on the Team Roadracingworld.com Suzuki GSX-R1000, and there were glimpses of the previous form he had shown prior to his injuries. With good health, a good team and good momentum, 2006 was the turnaround season that Chris needed and he was able to start riding to his full potential again.
Ulrich ended the 2007 season ranked sixth in the AMA Superstock championship standings with 203 points. He earned a pole position at Road America and finished in the top ten in all but two races this season. He also co-rode to the WERA Endurance Championship with another team.
Ulrich opened the 2008 season with a fourth-place finish at Daytona followed by a return to the AMA Superstock Podium with a third at Barber Motorsports Park. However Ulrich's return to form was interrupted when he shattered his left hand mid-way through the season at Road America. Ulrich finished sixth in the 2008 AMA Superstock Championship. Ulrich was also part of the 2008 WERA National Endurance Championship winning team.
In 2009, Ulrich finished 12th in AMA Superbike while developing the team's Suzuki GSX-R1000K9.
After strong late-season and off-season performances, Ulrich was promoted to ride the #18 M4 Monster Energy Suzuki GSX-R1000 Superbike for the 2010 season.
When he's not chasing Championships, Chris continues as Racing Editor for Roadracing World magazine, traveling to new model introductions and racebike tests around the world and filling in readers on life as an AMA Pro in his monthly column called The Adventures Of A Racer.
Personal Stats
Born: 1979
Personal Status: Married to Jamie, one child, Van, 17 months.
