Real quick:
I tossed this ball four games on World Ten Pin Bowling Association's Los Angeles which is 36 feet. I did not think I'd be able to throw it on the HPL surface with the pattern that short but the Fire Road opened my eyes. It had no problem getting down the lane and consistently hooked off of the spot. Wrapped in the cover the Gravity Shift used, the change in cover creates a smooth look with plenty of back end. Where the Fringe is making it's name for being snappy down the lane, the Fire Road blends the lane out.

Once I throw it a little more I'll post a real review ...

Older coverstocks create more skid-flip on today's oil so Randy is not wrong. For me, when I slide the CG below the centerline it helps me have a more controllable hook as the ball wants to start earlier and burn up some of the energy.

Interesting, R2X pearl was never skid/flip to me, even with higher pins. More like skid/roll. R2S pearl however, is different. The Victory RD, Rapid Fire Pearl, 2fast, and Fringe are all skid/flip balls. The only exception was the Reign as I found that ball to be hook/stop.

Thanks for your analysis.

Urethane Game, I have a Fringe that covers the skid-flip portion of my bag so I moved the CG down on the Fire Road to get a quicker read and in turn bleed a little energy off of her before she sees the friction.

Do you remember the Pro-Glide cover; when it was out it was great on dry. So I got my hands on another Big Hit Pearl and it is a more skid-snap move now than back in the day. The past covers skid on today's oil, which equals them having more energy and that extra energy in turns shows up down the lane.

Interesting, R2X pearl was never skid/flip to me, even with higher pins. More like skid/roll. R2S pearl however, is different. The Victory RD, Rapid Fire Pearl, 2fast, and Fringe are all skid/flip balls. The only exception was the Reign as I found that ball to be hook/stop.

Thanks for your analysis.

Really?  The Reign was very skid/flip (both of them) for me and I'm expecting the same-if not more-out of the fire road.  I'll find out next week hopefully.

After throwing on a house shot and the Cheetah pattern today,  The Fire road is indeed smooth overall as advertised.  I've never seen a high rg pearl react like that before.