Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

because it came down to the last 10 feet and thai Tilley Harley-Davidson pulled ahead for the win." "The last few lap s, I tried to be first off the chicane and second off the ch icane and third off the chicane to see which position let me be leading at the line," Hale said. "When I led it off the chicane on the white-flag lap, I was leading at the start/ finish line, so I kn ew that's where I wanted to be on the last lap. I was leading coming off the chicane, things were going good, but I had to shut off there on the drive to the finish and I got second."· Third placed Higbee thought things might have gone better if he'd had a better set-up. "I was ha ving a handling problem goi ng through th e chicane. We had set the bike up to steer real quick and it was loose and causing a lot of head-shaking through th e re, " Higbee said . "They were able to pick up a lot of ground through the chicane, so I had to try extr a hard and ge t a good d rive out of there. Unfortunately, I set my drafting pass up a little too soon and they go t to use a little bit of draft on me and ge t bac k by me before the finis h." Des pite losing tou ch w ith the leaders, Graham held on to fourt h, edging Fenwic k a t the finish. In the p ro cess, Gra ham wrapped up the Co n tinen tal Cup titl e, a se ries th a t combined d irt tr ack racing points wi th those scored on pa vement. "I go t through the pack an d actu ally caught them, but when I got b ehind Fenwick he kind of let them ge t away and then it was just a drafting battle between he and I," Graham said. In the U.s. TwinSports race he ld on Saturday a fternoon, Lanca s ter H-D's Randy Texter took the win on a wet, but drying, track that spelled the end for a number of riders, including Hale. Hale took the lead on the third lap on the run to the ch icane, then crashed on the fourth lap going into tum one. Texter inherited a sizeable lead, holding close to an eight-second ma rgin at the end o f the fourth of seven laps. Zarnp ach was second, a spot he would hold to the end, with Brian Gibbs a safe third on th e Ea rl Sma lls Ha rley-Davidson from the the fourth lap on. "The rain ma de it quite a race," Texter said . "It was slippery ou t the re. I thou ght it was goi ng to be a real dirttracker's race because we're used to sliding things aro und, bu t the guys behind me went down and that was that." Q\ Results 1. Scott Za mpach; 2. Mike Hale; 3. Shawn Hig~; 4. Rick y Gra ham; S. Andy Fenwick; 6. Ja mes Les lie ; 7. C h uc k Blackmo n; 8 . Jam e s W h itaker; 9. Ric ha rd Koehl er; 10. Jason Flet cher; 11. Rand y Tex t~ 12. Jay Sp ringst een; 13. Rich ie Mor ri s; 14. Brian Gibbs ; 15 . Roger Reiman; 16. Joseph Winston; 17. Billy Graef; 18. Eric LaCruze; 19. Ernie Kickligh ter; 20. Sha wn McNary; 21. Ma tt Wai t; 22. Louis Saccoccio; 23. Jon Sta uf fer; 24. Do n Greene; 25. Michael Myers ; 26. Geoffrey Clark; Il. Sco tt Stu m p; 28. Darvin Loyd ; 29. C J. Hol mes 11 30. ; Rober t Crab be; 31. Ervin Lyska wa Sr .: 32. Dd.n i!l Kuttner; 33. James Ha rt; 34. Jeff Harding; 35. De n nie Krusinski; 36. Steve Blac kbu rn; 37. Kent Greenholt; 38. Th o ma s Ma rks ; 39. Robert Allison; 40. Russe ll Barron; 41. Ken 5eraka s; 42. Joseph Santa Ma ria; 43. Brian Ko hl; 44. Michael Barnes. Tim~ 15 min s., 58.060 sees. Distance- 7 laps, 25 miles. Average speeds93.369 mph. M .ugin of victory: .001 sees. FI NAL TWIN SPO RTS C HAMPIONSHI P POI NT ST ANDING S: I . Scott Za mpach (385/6 wins); 2. Shawn Higbee (336 /1); 3. Andy Fenwick (236) ; 4. C h uck Blackmon (229) ; S. Scott Gra y (220/1) ; 6. Ri ch a rd Koehler (20 4); 7. M ike Hale (195 / 3) ; 8.(T1E) Bill y G raef/James F. Whitak er (191 ); 10. Sh awn McNary (172); 11. Joe W inston (167); 12. Jam es Les lie (153); 13. Jay Spring steen (140); 14. Ricky' G raham (136); .15. Jason Fle tcher (107); 16. Brian Koh l (103); 17. Jeff Hei no (101); 18. Ra ndy Te xter (93); 19. Matt W ait (89); 20. Brian Tillso n (85). EXPERT U.S . TWINS PO RTS, I. Randy Texter; 2. Scott Zampach ; 3. Brian Gibbs; 4. Matt Wait; 5. Ja mes Leslie; 6. Brian Kohl; 7. Michael Myers; 8. Josep h San ta Maria; 9. Erv in Lyskawa Sr.; 10. Richard Hutchins Ill; I I. Robert Alliso n l~ 12. Geoffrey Eric Clarki 13. Mike Hale; 14. Richa rd Koehler; 15. Ernie Kicklighter; 16. Ch uck Blackmo n. Timer 19 mins., 13.840 sees . Distance: 7 laps, 25 miles. Average speed : 77.751 mph. Margin of victo ry: 14..580sees . ROAD RACE Honda CRR Challenge Roberts, Estok take CBR cash DAYTONA BEACH, FL, OCT 24 pair of Floridians won the Honda CBR Challenge races with West Palm Beach's Danny Roberts winning a thriller in the CBR900 Challenge and Port Orange's Dav id Estok being awarded t he CBR600 Challenge after the Dann y Rob erts (103) won the C BR900 Ch all enge, winner was disqualified. Deatherage (23) at Dayt ona In ternational Speedway. Of the two 10-lap sprints, the CBR900 race was th e more "Me and Fritz had a routine down: I thrilling with three riders go in g tooth could get by him going into the chicane and nail for nine laps before a spectacuand he could get by me into tum two of lar crash on the fina l lap made it a twoth e infield every .lap," Rob er t s s a id . way struggle with Roberts coming out "The problem for Fritz is tha t he's so big on top over Michigan's Fritz Kling. that he can 't reall y get behind the fairing " Th is is the first t im e I' ve had a to take advantage of the aerodynamics. ch ance to put my life on hol d a nd go Wh en he's in front, there's a big hole in ra cin g fu ll- ti me, w h ich is w ha t I'v e the wi nd behind him and you can catch w anted to do since d ay one," Rob erts hi s draft fro m a good d istance a way . sai d after be ating Klin g across the line Fo llowing h im was like fo ll owi n g a by .310-of-a-second. "Be fo re th is I've stock car." a lw ays h ad to work, and race when I Rober ts led the final lap throu gh the could. I kne w everything would payoff infield, the three-rid er battle losin g a if I could ge t a shot at it." co m ba ta n t w hen Orlando tumbled in Roberts completed the 38.7-mile race the second horseshoe. Kling would take in 20 minutes, 16.040 seconds at an averthe lead on the west banking and out of age speed o f 105.391 mph and ea rned the chicane and Roberts knew his tim e $3500 from the $17,000 purse. Kling won was now. $2500. "On the final lap , Fritz turn ed it on to Team America's Woody Deathera ge try and establish a bi g enough lea d , took over th ird when Rick y Orlando "Roberts said . " Fritz led out of the chicras hed the Cycles of Boulder b ike in cane and I th ought I might have lost the West End Horseshoe on the final lap him, but then I cou ld feel the draft and when hi s brakes failed . Orlando hoped I could catch back up and get emerged unscathed, though the same pa st before the finish. Tha t's what hapcould not be said for h is bike . The Honda cartwheeled through the run-off pened." With the sun peering th ro u gh the area and cleared the guardrail. clouds, an d the track nearl y dry, Roberts TBR Racing's Estok was named the sped to the ea rly lead in the 600cc class winner of the CBR600 Challenge after wi th Hyd-Mech Saws' Weichel second winner Owen Weichel wa s disqualified and Billy Eisenacher third . . following a post-race teardown. Weichel Af ter seeing th a t some rid er s were was found to ha ve a camshaft that had being cautious due to a few we t patches, 10 degrees more lift than stock. Weichel, Weichel sped up and took over the lead of Toronto, Ontario, Canada , planned to w ith a la te- b raking mane uve r in the ap pea l the d is qu a li fi catio n on th e In tern atio nal Horseshoe on the second grounds that his Honda is built for the lap, d ropping Robe rts to secon d ahead Ca nadian market an d the refore different of Lundgreen Mo torsports' Jeff Perry. A fro m th e U.S . mod el. CB R900 w inner lap later and Estok was int o thi rd and Roberts was also disqualified for technithe to p th ree would begin a race fo r cal reasons. position. American Flyers' Mike Murphy was We ic h el immediately p u ll e d ou t moved up from fourth to second, with some b rea th ing room, h old ing a 3.7 James Leslie being given third after the second lead on the fif th o f 10 laps.' disqualifications, Estok was now up to second a fter passThough he was given the win, Estok ing Roberts on the brakes go ing in to nearly earned it on the track, running the chicane the previous lap, and gaindown Weichel on the final lap to close wi thin .220-0f-a-second at the finish. ing. The margin was down to 25 seconds " I n ee d ed one more lap or about on the sixt h lap and under two seconds another 10 feet and maybe I'd have had on the seventh lap . Wha t was also comhim," Estok sa id after originally finishing down were lap times. Weichel began ing second."I tried li ke heck to ca tch the race running 2:09's, but had to dip him so I could get in that draft for the into th e 2:06's to stay a head of the last couple laps and I just couldn't do it. charging Estok . Fin ally, on the last lap, I guess I ju st Unofficially, Weichel clocked a w icked it up a little bit and I caught that 2:05.75 on the ninth lap as Estok contindraft." ued to close and a lap later w as into the Estok netted $2000 from the $8900 low 2;04's, again, unofficially. CBR600 Challenge purse for the win. It would be a race to the flag Mu rp hy'S cut was $1500 and Leslie Weichel to the bottom of th e tr ack to pocketed $1000. avoid bein g drafted, then w eaving to In the CBR900 Challenge, Roberts got the line w hile jud iciously using a backthe ju mp, takin g Klin g and Orla ndo marker . Estok held onto se con d, .with w ith him right from the start. The lead Roberts ge ttin g the better of a fine race trio qu ickly sp lit from the 18-rider pack, . w ith Mike Murphy for third. ano the r group form ing up to co n test Murphy ha d taken thi rd on the ninth fourth. lap, going around Roberts on the ou tAt the halfway point Kling was nomside of tum one, though Roberts took it in all y in th e lead, bu t it was anyone's back . Mu rp hy a ga in ch a llenged, th is race and Rob erts would be in fron t on time su ccess fully, with an insi de brakthe brakes en tering the chicane. Roberts ing move goin g in to th e Interna tional said th a t b ecamethe p atte rn and he Horseshoe. But on the final lap Rober ts knew he had the edge. : o A ... ~ H (l) ] (l) top p i n g Fritz Klin g (65 2) a n d Andy ;> o Z would slingshot past at the flag to take the third position. "I believe my biggest advantage over him was the ch icane, " Estok said . "The ch icane's always my strong point. I go in there deeper than mo st peopl e. It was wet there and it was intimidating everybody. I was just slidi ng across the wet and hoping I'd catch traction when I go t back to the d ry patches and it worked for me. I went a little crazy, but I wanted tha t $2000 and the win. " "Every lap I was looking back an d I s aw h im (M u rp hy) co m in g, " Rob erts sa id . "I knew when he pa ssed me it was the eighth lap . Wh en so meone's coming on you there's not much you ca n do. You know he's got fire in his eyes . But when he caught me, I jus t did what he did and stayed with him . I knew on the last lap it 'd be a matter of drafting. I think he thought I was coming around the outside in the triova l, because he was leaning that wa y. I ducked down to the apron and it worked out great. (On the las t lap) I went into the chicane and I saw God! I'm telling you, I wen t in ther e so hard it was scary, but that was the key." Weichel, before bei ng disqualified, was p leased wi th his performa nce: "It was a good smooth ride. When we go t started, it was a little wet in the horseshoe and I go t in a big slide, but these Dunlops, man, they're just unbelievable. I had some tire warm ers on and I sho t out to the front. I see n so me guys were ten tative and I just tried to push hard at the beginning, bu t a ten lap race is so long h ere at Daytona . You've got so ma ny th ings r unning th rou gh your mind . I haven 't been in the lead all year lo ng be caus e I' v e been ru nn in g the Na tio nals and chasing guys. It was so hard to concentrate. I looked back a coup le times and seen Estok but he wasn't wi thi n striking range. I figu red he's got to make the move and I'll jus t try to be consistent and smooth. I think I could 've go ne fas ter, but I d idn't ge t in any trouble and I figu red until I'm challenged I'm jus t goi ng to stay where I am. (On the last lap) He reall y put a charge on . I was a little too tentative, but I held him off to the line." Q\ Results HO NDA CBR900 CHALLENGE: I. Danny Roberts; 2. Fritz Kling; 3. Andrew Deatherage ; 4. Cene Ch urch; 5. Billy Eisenracher; 6. Larry Locklear; 7. Eva." Sem of f; .8. Tom G ira rd.; 9. Ron Ewerth; 10. Shane Turpin; 11. Kevin Hunt; 12. Pa ul Young man lIT; 13. Jimm y Shelton; 14. Jeffrey Johnson; 15. Barry Rompella; 16. Pa tri ck Ludwig; 1~. Ricky Orlando;.18. John Hilt on . Ti me of race: 20 mm s., 16.040 sees . Dista nce: 10 laps, 35.6 miles . Ave rag e speed: 105.391 m ph. Margin o f victory: 3 10 sees . H ONDA CBR600 CHALLENGE: I. David Estok; 2. Mike Mu rph y; 3. James Les lie; 4. Brian Gi bbs ; 5. Bill Know; 6. Billy Eisenacher; 7. Max Au try: 8. C ha rles Ch ouina rd ; 9. Je ff Perry; 10. Da n Turner) 11. Gle nn Szarek; 12. Mark Coop; 13. Micha el Lehning: 14. Tom Girard; 15. Micha el Ga llaghe r; 16. Michael Crepeau; 17. Todd Duncan; 18. Shawn Conrad; 19. Erik Larsen; 20. Michael Ca rter; 21. Douglas Tardio; 22. Stephen Cooke; 23. Larry Goldstein; 24. Jim Les ter; 25. Robert Presby; 26. Eva n Semoff; 27. Patrick Ludwig; 28. Dave Ros no; 29. Thomas Lom bardo; 30. Sean Sweeney. "Time, a ver a ge speed, and margin of victory no t available d ue to d isqualifica tion of w inner. 9

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