Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA/CCS 60 ((Supersport Series: Round 3 01750 ROAD RACE ~ P otofinish to Crevier in Calo h hr tte e By Paul Carruthers Photos by George Roberts CONCORD NC, MAY 4 , WO Broth ers Racing's Steve Crevier held .off th e last-lap charge of Camel Honda's Tom Kipp to win the 600cc Supersport final by on ly .015of-a-seco nd, in a co mp lete reversal of last year's race for second p lace at Charlo tte Mo tor Speedway. Wi th Miguel DuHamel taking the win las t year, Kipp was able to dr aft pass Crevier to tak e second place. Not this time, though. With victory at sta ke, Crevier moved down in fro n t of Kipp, with the two tou ching just before the flag, and the Canadian took the win. Third place went to Crevier's T wo Brot hers team mat e Rick Kirk with Yoshi mura Suzuki's Dave Sadowski bringing the new Suzuki GSXR600 home fourth. Randy Ren fro w finished fift h on his Hon da CBR 600. It was a good day for Bridgesto ne with both Crevier and Kirk using the Japanese rubber on their C BR6 00s . Ki p p , Sad owski and Renfro w used Du n lo p tires. Crevier averaged 100.807 mph in completing the 16-lap, 36-mile race in 21 minutes, 25.626 seconds. More importantly, the win moved Crevier int o th e cham pionship points lead over Kipp, 50-47. Kipp's teammate and the winner of th e first two events at Daytona and Laguna Seca , Mik e Smi th , crashed ou t of th e race wh ile lead ing early on and didn 't score an y poi nts . He now drops to third in the cha m p ionshi p with 40 points, just ahead of Kirk 's 37 and Ren frow's 36. Th e race started in fam ili ar order with fast-qualifier Smith leadin g the way. Kirk was his initial pursuer as he snuck by h is teammat e Crevier under braking for th e chic ane o n the open ing lap . Kipp, meanwhile, was fourth as tho se four broke away from a batt le betw een Lesl ie, Sadowsk i, Renfrow, Gerald Rothman, J r. and Brett Harrelson. Sadowski had kicked Renfrow ou t of th e way as the pack ent ered turn one at the start of the race: " H e just . gave me a big kick when 1 tr ied to go up th e inside," Renfrow exp lained. U n like the previous races, Smith was getting away from h is pursuers, but on the third lap he lost the front end in the tu rn three , a right-hand horseshoe-shaped corner. " I lost the fron t going in ," Smith exp lained. "I th rew it away. I was losing the front end in every corn er on every lap . The tir e just never came in; it never came up to temperature and I had to test it becau se I was getting ' caug h t." . Just prior toSmith 's cras h , Crevier had moved into second place with Kipp chasing him. By the time Crevier moved into the lead Kirk had started to lose tou ch with transmission problem s: " I on ly ha d five gears ," Kirk said . " It lost on e right aft er Smith crash ed." The Oklahoman carried on to finish th ird. The two-way fight up front continued to the fina l run to the check ered flag , with Crevier angered at the tho ugh t of not win n ing, and Ki pp celebrating what he thought was a victory. "T he Camel bikes are working real good an d Mr. Sm ith is worki ng real good," Crevier said after the race. "I wanted to put some pressure on him in the beginning when I thought I T cou ld stay with him. After he crashed, I was racing Tom (Kipp ) and I didn 't want to be leading on th e las t la p because he go t me here last year. 1 stayed high and dr ifted low at the line. I thought I lost - I was mad. " Kipp wasn 't pl eased wi th Crevier's tactics at the finish: " We hit comin g across the line," he explained. " H e moved over on me and I had to let off. I sho u ld have gone ou tside, I guess. The bike was jetted perfect; it was the best we've ha d it so far. It was fantastic. I th ought I could outrun them to the flag." Sadowski eventually pulled away to finish a lonely fourth with Renfrow also getting the best of Leslie to take fifth. Harrelson put in a strong ride to fini sh sixt h, mi ssing out on the Top Expert award to Leslie. CN Tom Kipp (4) tries to break away &om Rick Kirk (21) and Steve Crevier (16). Results Scott Russel l (1) leads teamma te Tripp Nobles (3) in the 750cc Supersport final. 600cc SV P ERSPO RT FIN AL: l. Steve Crevier . (H on); 2. Tom Kipp (Hon); 3. Rick Kirk (H on ); 4. Dav e Sadowski (Suz); 5. R a nd y Renfrow (H a n ); 6. J a mes Lesli e (Ha n) : 7. Brett Harrelson (Han); 8. Owe n Weichel (H an ); 9. Glenn Szarek (Han ); 10. J ohn Choate (Hon ); 1I. Ge ra ld Rothman . Jr. (Hon ); 12. Robi n Holida y (Hon); 13. Laney Cobb (Hon); 14. Thom as Dinardo (Hon) ; 15. Mike. Himmel sbach (Hon ); 16. Ken Pru itt (Yam ); 17. Brian Kent (H on ); 18. Max Aut ry (Hon ): 19. Dan iel Sabol, Jr . (H on); 20. G len n Coo per (Hon ); 21. Will iam Wh ite (H on) ; 22. William Beesch (H on); 2$. Roger Min or (H on) : 21. Jo hn Clar ke (Yam); 25. Paul Schwemmer (Hon); 26. Ma rc Mai sonneu ve (Hon); 27. Joh n Dibiase (lion ); 28. Jell Perry (H on) ; 29. Stan Poll ock (Yam); 30. Hugo G uen ette (Ho n); 31. Larry Go ldstei n (Ya m); 32. Gene Church (Hon); 33. Mike Sm ith (H o n). Time: 21 m in ., 25 .626 ~. Distance: 16 laps, 36 mi les. Average Speed : 100.807 mp h. Margin of Victory: .015 sec. 600cc SUPERSPORT C'SlItP POINT STANDtNGS: I. Steve Crevier (50); 2. T om Kipp (17); 3. Mike Sm ith (40); 4. R ick Kirk (37); 5. Ra ndy Renfro w (36); 6. James Leslie (25); 7. J oh n C hoa te (19); 8. Britt Turki ngton (15); 9. (T IE) Ch uck Down ie/ Owen w eichel/Dave Sado wski (13); 12. Mi ke Har th ( 10); 13. Breu H arr elson (9), Russell play Charlottewin sto By Brent Plummer P ho to by G eorge R ober ts CONCORD, NC, MAY 3 h e 750cc Super sport event at Charlotte Motor Speedway saw Scott Russell run a conservative, error-free race to defeat Muzzy teammate Tripp Nob les by a bit over a second and a half. In doing so, Russ ell average d 99.9 mph around th e North Ca rolina superspeedway's eigh t turn tri -ova ll infield combination. Russell 's win . moved him into th e cham pi onship points lead over Nobl es, 40-34. The points leader going into the Ch arl otte 'event , Steve Crevier, didn 't compete in the 750cc Su pers port race on hi s Two Brother s Racing Honda C BR6 00. According to his team, the 750cc cla ss is not a top priority to Two Brothers. Although Ru ssell too k the win , it ' was Nobl es who led the majorit y of the race, up until the second to last lap . At that time , Russ ell kn ew tha t he " was q ui cker through turn one " and grace fu lly dove under the slightly fishtail ing 'Nobles for the lead. And then he was go ne, off to his second (out of th ree) wins of this young season . Third place was righ tfully earn ed by . Class Racing 's J aso n Pridmore, who - until the last lap - ran th e entire race o n the heels of the two lead in g Muzzy Kawasakis. Wi th the checkered flag on ly a lap away, Pr id mor e was gunning for then second place No bles, when the two ran T in to a five-rider pack of backmarkers, Pridmore saw Russell and Nobles " get around the outside of the lap pers o n the banks. I got stuck beh ind them. I knew there was no o ne behind me, so I slowed. Because a t that time, I was so happy with th ird .. . " So Pridmore gave up hi s" race-lo ng chase, and settled for the final podium spot. Gerald Ro th man , J r. ran the entire race in a lon ely, un challenged fourth, whe re he eventually finished. The battle for fifth was not so easily decided . Orange Co unty Suzuki Racing's Dean Mizdal won a race-long duel with John Choate, then "got a smo king driv e out of the ch ican e on the last lap" to pas s not only Bob Sandy, but al so Renfrow, to take fifth . Renfrow and hi s Two-Brothers Honda CBR 600 was a half wheel length back in sixth , Sandy flan king hi m behind Mizdal, with Choate also wedged closely in that pa ck for eigh th . Wh en th e race got under way, Ru ssell - gridded on the po le na iled the ho leshot, and led un challenged into th e first turn. Nobles was not so lucky. Rothman and P rid more vaulted off the first and second rows, respectively , to tigh tly sq ueeze Nob les back to fourt h into the first turn. Undiscouraged, Nobles passe d bo th Pridmore th en Ro thman before the infield exit onio the banking. And then he passed Russell too, leading the pack across the start finish line for the completion of the first lap. Come the next lap, and Nobles still . led, and was working hard to keep it that way. Because while Russell loo ked smooth, relaxed, and tho roughl y in co ntrol, Nobles was . push ing and sliding in to many turns. Pridmore was comfortably in third, patien tly watching th e front-runners. Everyone else was already a good two seconds in arrears, Rothman in fourth, ho lding Fri tz Kling back in sixth. Klin g's day ended on the fifth lap, when he crashed in infield turn four. Past the halfway point on the 10th lap, No bles still led , and Ru ssell was three seconds back, having temporary . problems in traffic. P ridmore was again trying unsuccessfu lly to catch and pass - th e Muzzy bike, Rot h man was fourth, and Robert Wright sat in fifth . Wright's Suzuki GSXR motor so on started to stutter, event ua ll y dropping him to ninth overall. Mizda l won the desperate race for fifth, with Ren fro w (who started from the back row ), Sandy, a n d Choate close ly following. Behind Wright, in 10th, was Bruce Baldus. CN Resul ts 750cc SUPERSPORT nNAL: I. Scott Ru ssell (Ka w ): 2. Tripp Nobl es (Kaw); 3. Jason Pridmo re (Raw); '1. Gera ld Roth man (Raw); 5. Dean Mizdal (Raw); 6. Ra ndy Renf row (Hnn ) 7. Bob Sandy (Raw) 8. J ohn Ch oate (He n) 9. Robert Wright (Suz) 10. Bru ce Baldus (Sw ); 11. Mik e Karm (Suz); 12. Brian Kent (Ho n); 13. Rob in H oliday (H e n) 11: Hugo Gu en eue (H o n); 15. G lenn Cooper (H o n ); 16. Brett Ha rrelso n (H on); 17. T im Bemi sderfer (Ka w): 18. William Beesch (Hon ); 19. Max AulI1' (H on ); 20. Mar c Mai soneuv e (H o n); 21. Roger Min or (H o n): 22. Jo hn T. Clark e (Ya m); 23. Layn e Fould (Suz); 24. Fr itz Kling (Kaw); 25. Ti tian Rue (Su z). T ime: 21 min ., 37.221 sec. . Dista nce: 16 laps , 36 mit es. Average Speed: 99.906 mph. Margin o(Victory : 1.592 sec. 750cc SU PERSPO RT C' SHlP POINT STA ND· ING S: I. ScOIl Russell (40); 2. Tripp No bles (31) 3. Gerald Rot h man (32): 4. Steve Crevi er (28); 5. Jason Pridmore (26); 6. Friu Kling (26); 7. Micha el Taylor (21); 8. Mike H arth (20); 9. Randy Renfro w (17); 10. Bruce Baldu s (17); I I. Dean Mirda l (16); 12. Louis Saccocci o (15); 13. Robert Wr ight (15); 14. R ick Kirk (10); 15. Ow en Weich el (10). 11

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