Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ach , Tom Wi lso n , an d S uz uki GSXR75 0 rider J eff Atwel l, For the second race, O liver 's new ly repaired YZR500 sat on th e back row. Wh en the green ligh t flashed, all of th e top five gri dded ri ders were determined to lead into o ne, but Graves prevailed o nce again . H all ran th rough the tu rn with hi s fro nt wheel alig ne d with Graves' rear, a nd Jacks and Ma rtin foll owed close behind. Wh en th e pack exited th e slow turn five onto th e tri-ova l, O liver m ad e his charge, d uc king a nd wea vin g th ro ugh racers a ll along th e banking. As th e pack crossed the start/fin ish line at the end o f th e first la p , O liver was u p to fifth. Mea n wh ile, Pe tersen ha d also bee n o n the move, pushing H all back to third on the b an kin g dur ing th e opening lap. Enteri ng tu rn o ne to begin lap number two, Oliver ra n around th e o utside o f H all, and lat er, he stuffed h is tea m mat e going into th e chicane to tak e over second. O nl y Graves stoo d between O liver a nd the chec kered flag; b u t no t for lo ng. The next lap saw O liver mo tor aro u nd Graves, leading across the start/ fin ish li ne to begin lap four. From th ere o n, Oliver would no t err a nd he left the o th ers in his wa ke. Petersen and Graves, too , wo uld ru n fl aw less ra ces, ta king uncontested seco nd and th ird p laces, respe ctively. T he real ba ttl e, once ag ain, bo iled do wn to H all and J acks. Kno win g tha t whomever won th e duel wo u ld end u p si tti ng in th e winner 's circle with third overa ll, th e two waged a war. Li ke th e first race, Hall led every lap. Bu t th is tim e, J acks stayed behind until th e last ba nk ed turn and it was his tu rn to try the draft, T he pair rou nded the banking with Hall barely in the lead. Jacks tried draf ting past, but he cou ldn 't safely stop in time for turn one an d was initially docked a lap for the infraction. WERA later reversed its decision, giving Jacks fifth in the second leg and fourth overall. For m u l a II Wh en th e Air T ech Formu la Two event was all sai d a nd do ne, Donnie G reene wa lked a way from P ocon o with an u ncon tested win , 12 seconds a head o f Allan Sco tt. Another 12 seco nds adr ift was the winner of a monum ento us four -wa y s tr u g g le invo lv ing Willi am H im m e lsb ach , Mike Graves, Ma rty Mill er , and Brad Saw yer. They finished in th a t orde r. The F-I1 race wa s sha ping u p to be o ne o f th e be tter WER A races o f th e weekend. Series points leaders, and Rainey Racing teamma tes Allan Scott a nd Kenny Robert s Jr. had th e services o f tuner Bud Askla nd for the weekend w hile th ird -seeded Don ni e Greene was receiving he lp from tu ne r Ro land Cush way . A major wil dcard maki ng an appearance was the Chris D'A lu isio /David H a ro ld team, a top AMA team whose reputa tion precedes them. At th e start, D 'Al ui sio bogged his DavH ar bike horrendously as Do n n ie Green e na iled a great ho lesh ot and was co ntent with th e situat io n: "The start wa s really good," Green e sai d. " I' ve been getting che wed on a little bit about my starts by Keith (Code ) and Roland (Cushway), so I was real ly set on getting a go od start. I did, a nd I was pleased abo u t that. " . Indeed Greene di d get a good sta rt and he led th e Rainey Racing teamm ates into tu rn o ne, followed by Ma rty Miller and a reco veri ng D'Aluisio. By th e en d of the firs t lap , D'Aluisio was up to thi rd, a nd was focu sed on second- p laced Scott. Sco tt soon succumbed , a nd th en o nly Greene stood be tween D 'Alu isio and th e lead . At th e end of the third la p , D'Al uisio drafted arou nd G reene do wn th e lo ng fro nt stra ight, and held him off in the trick y Allan Scott (44) leads his Rainey Racing teammate Kenny Roberts, Jr. (17) in the Formula II race; Scott finished second. first tu rn . T he New Englander looked set to ta ke th e wi n , b ut he crashed the T Z in slo w turn five. Dianeti cs-spo nsored G reene was left to ru n solo to the finish with Scott not q uite ca pable o f ca tch ing h im . Meanwhile, Miller was using his H yp o Ra cing /Royal City Cycle-sponsored Yam aha T Z to lea d H im melsbach , Sa wyer and G rave s around a falterin g Robert s J r. Little Kenny was havi ng a to ugh day and th ings got no better in the race. His bik e developed n u merous proble ms, including having the tachometer 'fall o ff and wedge itself between th e fairing a nd fork, making it quite har d to steer. Thanks to a hea vily bandaged hand af ter a Sunday morning crash, Rob ert s wasn 't ab le to rea ch dow n and p ull th e tach out. Graves had been sitt ing in th e back of the (our-ri der pack for the first 16 of 201aps, comforta bly wat ch in g from h is Bi effe/ Su dco / Li ttle J oh n ' s Candies-spo nsore d m ach in e. W i th three la ps to go, he took o ver thi rd a nd promptly rode a wheelie o u t of turn three, a llowing bo th Saw yer a nd Miller to pass. In turn five, though , Graves go t th em back, b ri n ging H immelsbach with h im . They all stuffed each o the r in the ch ica ne, a nd -went in two by two. Saw yer go t th e best o f it, an d led Graves , H im m el sbach , and Mi ll er across the start/ finish line. T h is ba ttle went o n to the finish with H immelsbach getting the drive of a lifetime o u t of tu rn five o nto the banking. H e p u lled a two-bike length lead by the chicane, a nd di d n' t relin q uish i t, ta king th ird by half a seco nd. G raves had follo wed H im m elsbach's lim; through five a nd a lso go t a good drive, one wh ich Stuck all the way to the finish line to giv e h im fourth. In tu rn , Miller edged Sa wyer by inches for fift h. Scott leads the championshi p over Greene b y 10 points, 77-67 , with Rob erts th ird w it h 64 points. Superstock/Future Stars For the seco nd WERA race in a row, Kur t H all d o m in ated Su p ers tock raci ng. Mu ch like the pr ior ro u nd a t Bra inerd, Hall entered bo th A a nd B P roduct ion, a n d won t he m bo th , thereby earn ing the lion 's share o f th e Suzuki contingency m on ey. In A Su perstock , Hall fende d off an ea rly challenge by Team Hamm er tea mmate a nd ' second seeded rider Mi chael Ma rt in. Early on , Stev ie Patterson co n ten ded with the Suz uki gu ys, but overra n tum one at the end of the fir st la p , losi n g p reci o us . time . H e would struggle back to fin ish fifth. Formula II winner Donnie Greene moved into third in the series poin t standings. Dutchman En durance rider Ch ris Hal dane passed Ma rt in go ing in to the chicane on the eig hth la p , an d wou ld finish seco nd with Martin th ird. T eam America rider Andrew Deatherage was fo urth, slig htly ahead of Patterson. Thin gs were sim ilar in B Su pe r Stoc k, but th is tim e Hall had to co ntend wi th Titian Bue a nd Bruce Baldus in addi ti on to Martin and Deatherage. H all wo u ld again lead fro m sta rt to fi nish, wi th Bue a nd Baldus ditching Dea th er age in the p rocess of ma king a la te rac e ch ar ge to surpass Martin. They fin ishe d: H all , Bue, Bal dus wi th Mart in and Dea th erage rounding o u t 'the to p Iive, C SuperStock was a th riller. Loca l ra cer Dar ryl Say lor put 'in a spirited rac e while chasing th e spee dy Ba ldu s. At th e start, Saylor erre d with the pack streaming past. H e wo u ld storm hi s way up to second by th e end o f th e first lap, eventually passing Baldus on the nin th la p. Baldustoyed with Saylor - 'w hose tattered Yam aha FZR600 j us t could no t hang wi th Baldus' H onda CB R600 F2 - for the rest of the race. At th e exi t o f tu rn five o n th e las t la p , Baldus ended the game. H e lau nched h is CBR o ut o f the co rner wi th exceptional dex teri ty, and left Saylor in th e dust. Wi lliam McGi ll, Chris Reiner and Rob ert Rich rounded o u t the top five. T he Future Stars ra ce boi led down to a ra ce between T im Bem isderfer, Tony Barchetti, Eri c Ochs , and Ch arli e Safl ey. Barch etti launched off the li ne · and into th e lead with Bernisderfer, Safley a n d O chs following - all determined to get the lead. A pecking order was soon esta blis hed : Bem isderfer led , O ch s foll ow ed , wi th Safley and Barch etti in tow . That was how they fin ished, with the exce p tio n o f Barc hetti surpassing Safley with two laps to go to finish th ird. eN Resu lts F-USA RACE t: I. Robb ie Petersen (Yam); 2. Chu ck Gra ves (Suz); 3. Do nald j acks (Suz); 4. Kurt Hall (SUI); 5. Mich ael Marti n (SUI); 6. Ch ris H alda ne (SUI); 7. Stevie Pa tterson (Suz); 8. Willi am H immelsbach (Ya m ); 9. Tom Wilson (SUI); 10. Jefl Atwell (SUI); 11. Ma rio DuHamel (Suz); 12. Doug Renfrow (Kaw); 13. Jay Bartlow (SOl); 14. Mall Cra ne (Yam ); 15. Kurt Liebmann (Duc). Time: 19 mi n ., 5.06 sec. Average speed : 93.75 mph. Dista nce: 12 la ps, 33.6 miles. Margin or Vict ory: 8.43 sec. R ACE 2: 1. Ri ch O liver (Yam ); 2. Robb ie Petersen (Yam); 3. Ch uc k Graves (S UI ); 4. Kur t Ha ll (S UI ); 5. Do nal d J acks (SUI); 6. Chris Haldane (SUI); 7. Micha el Marlin (SUI); B. Mario Du Ha mel (S UI) ; 9. Stevie Patt erson (Suz); 10. Willia m H im melsbach (Yam); 11. J elf Atwell (SUI); 12. Dou g Renl row (Kaw ); 13. J ay Bar tlow (S UI); 14. Rodney Ri chenberg (Yam ); 15. Sleven Lo mba rdo (Yam ). Time: 18 min.• 58.09 sec. Average speed : 96.77 mph. Distance; 12 la ps, 33.6 mil es. Margin or ViclOry: 4.98 sec. OVERALL: I. Ro bbi e Petersen (Ya m ); 2. Chuck Graves (SU1): 3. Kurt Hall (Suz); 4. Do nal d J acks (Suz) 5. Chris H ald an e (SUI); 6. Mich ael Marrin (S UI ); 7. Stevie Patt erson (S U1); 8. Willi am Himmelsbac h (Yam ); 9. Mario DuHamel (SUI); 10. J elf Atwell (SUI); 11. Dou g Renfrow (Kaw); 12. Jay Bart low (SU1); 13. Rich Oliver (Yam ); 14. Rod ne y Ri chen berg (Ya m); 15. Ma ll Crane (Yam ). F-I1: I. Don G reene (Ya m); 2. Alan Scott (Ya m) ; 3. Willi am Him melsba ch (Ya m ); 4. Michael Graves (Yam); 5. Mart y Mill er (Yam) ; 6. Brad Sawyer (Yam); 7. Kenn y Ro ber ts Jr. (Yam ); 8. Bria n Berna rd (H on ); 9. William McG ill (Ho n ); 10. Ma ll Crane (Ya m ); I I. Mik e H immelsbach (Ho n); 12. Michael Vadney (Ya m ). A S/STK: 1. Kurt Ball (SOl); 2. Chris Ha lda ne (S UI); 3. Mich ael Martin (SU1). B 5/STK: I. Kurt H a ll (SUI); 2. Titian Bue (SUI); 3. Bria n Baldus (SU1). C S/ST K: I. Brian Ba ldu s (Hon); 2. Daryl Saylor (Ya m); 3. William McGill (H on). FUT URE ST ARS: I. Tim Bemisde rler (Hon ); 2. Eric Och s (H e n): 3. Tony Barcheni (H o n). F-USA C'SHlP POINT STANDIN GS: I. Robbie Petersen (98 ); 2. Ri ch Oliver (841; 3. Chuck Graves (78); 4. Donald Jacks (65); 5. M.chael Martin (59); 6. Britt Turkington (48); 7. Kurt Hall (45); 8. Bria n Bernard (39); 9. J oe Brett Williams (21); 10. (TIE) Tom Kipp/ Jell Gaynor (20). F·II C'S HI P POI NT STANDINGS, I . Allan Scott (77); 2. Donn ie Greene (67); 3. Ken ny Roberts , J r. (64); 4. Brian Berna rd (53); 5. Brad Sawyer (46); 6. Chris O'Alui sio (4 1); 7. Mik e Gra ves (40); 8. Nick len alsch (37); 9. Da ve Sjob lom (34); 10. William H imm elsbach (31). 23

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