Here is the data on the VICTORY ROAD from Storm:

http://stormbowling.com/products/balls/victoryroad

The VICTORY ROAD features the popular and highly successful R2S pearl coverstock – used in balls like the T-ROAD PEARL – over the re-engineered Fe3 weight block, which is the HY-ROAD core inverted. Storm says it was "looking for a versatile piece with a strong motion down lane." The box finish is 1500-grit polish.

The HY-ROAD was a ball that frustrated the heck out of me. When it worked, it was a world beater, such as in the minor events at the 2009 USBC Open Championships where I averaged 245 the last 5 games. But I lost track of how many times it got nothing but 9-counts for me – solid 9, ring 10, etc. Meanwhile, everyone I knew using it seemingly was striking all the time. I drilled three HY-ROADs and tricked up the surface.

I e-mailed Storm tour rep Chris Schlemer for suggestions on drilling my VICTORY ROAD with an eye to something that went long and made a strong move without being "squirty."

Per Schlem's advice, my VICTORY ROAD has the pin about 2 inches above my bridge, with the CG kicked right of my ring finger and a weight hole 4 1/2 inches on a line from my grip center through my CG. The idea is a ball that controls the midlane and makes a strong move on the back-end. He said that is a common drilling on Tour for control.

I ended up with a pin to PAP distance of 5 1/4 inches. The unmarked "mass bias" (it's a symmetrical ball) to PAP is 2 1/2 inches. The pin buffer is 3 3/8  inches.   

A picture of my VICTORY ROAD is in my blog here.

http://host.madison.com/sports/recreation/bowling/article_bf33dff0-1ffe-11e0-b5a4-001cc4c002e0.html

I've used the VICTORY ROAD in our Sport league on the PBA Earl Anthony pattern at a center with very hooking synthetics; in a singles tournament on the 2010 USBC Open Championships pattern at the same center; and in our City Tournament team event on the USBC White 1 pattern at a center with middling synthetics.  

So far, all I have to say about the VICTORY ROAD is OH MY! It does exactly what Schlem said it would do and then some – it gets to the break point consistently and makes an amazingly hard turn. It definitely needs some oil to get to the breakpoint but the reaction is consistent and strong – not crazy flippy.

I used it the most on the light oil (17 mls, 39 feet) USBC White 1 pattern and found myself moving too slowly and not enough, afraid that the VICTORY ROAD would skid too much in the oil as we turned that pattern into a tricky wet-dry condition. The VICTORY ROAD never once 2-10'd where my REIGN would do that. And it got to the spot a lot cleaner than my REIGN SUPREME, which is hybrid R2S and needs more oil for a clean skid than the VICTORY ROAD.

If you're looking for that ball to stand inside on a broken down pattern and send to the right knowing it will turn the corner and return, the VICTORY ROAD is your ball.

It is amazingly strong – much more than the T-ROAD PEARL and somewhat more than the REIGN – and predictable – more so than the HY-ROAD. Plus it is cleaner to the spot than either the REIGN SUPREME or HY-ROAD.

It reminds me of a stronger RAPID FIRE PEARL.

The No. 1 source for bowling news, analysis and opinion is my blog, The 11th Frame, which is here:
http://host.madison.com/sports/recreation/bowling/