Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Daytona InternationalS peedway Smoldn' Mike and Prieto, too By Henny Ray Abrams DAYTONABEACH, FL, MAR -H he buzz is back. With next week's 53rd running of the Daytona 200 the most highly anticipated and competitive in recent history, most all of the major players came to Florida a week early for the AMA/CCS weekend to sor t out new equipment, shake the rust out of their bones, and get a look at the competition. All of th e major AMA Superb ik e teams were there ex cep t the Muzzy Kawasaki team, though World Su p erb ike Champion Scott Russell showed up to have a look around. The anticipation was further heightened by the debut of the Harle y-Davidson VR1000 Superbike, the firs t tim e th e orange and black has been a factor in the Daytona 200 since Cal Rayborn rode in 1973. It's safe to say that former Daytona 200 winner Miguel DuHamel converted a few non-believers with his aggressive riding; and the results put a smile on the face of a few Harley team members. But most of the big names chose to run at the back of the pack, or pull off while in the lead. One of the ones who showed up to race was Texan Mi ke Ha le, the newest recruit to the Smokin' Joe's Honda team, beginning his first full-season assault on a road racing crown with wins in three of the AMA/CCS Sprints aboard a Honda CBR6OO. Hale, who will contest the AMA 600ccSupersport Series, as well as at least 10 AMA Grand National dirt tracks, took his first win in Friday's Expert Solo GTU race. The University of North Texas student started from the 10th row of the grid for the 14-lap race and went on to win by 2.626 seconds, with Hurst Motorsports's Andrew Trevitt secon d on a Yamaha TZ250. Hale's next race was his closest, and hi s be st, narrowly edging ve teran Rand y Renfrow of Team Chafong Racing in Sunday's Expert Middleweight Superbike. After taking ove r the lead on the fourth of seven lap s, Hale w as passed, then drafted past Renfr ow at the line to take his second win by .02D-of-a-second. His final win, in Sunday's Exp ert Mid dleweight Supersport, w a s h is most leisurely. Takin g control on the second lap, Hal e quickly pulled awa y, bu ilding up a lead of near 12 seconds before backing down to win by 4.621 seconds. What Hale was looking for was not so much victories, as knowledge, "Basically we were working with the suspension and just getting the confidence of sliding the th ing around the track - that and seat time," Hale said after his final victory. "I went faster this morning. It 's ha rd to pace yourself w h en you' re by yourself. I got a confident pace and experimented with different lines, differing cornering techniques. If the lap times imp rov e, great. I think I w ou ld learn more if I was with some other guys. In the National next week there's going to be a bunch of us going at it. I'll go back, study the times. We 'll go fas ter ne xt week. I'm confident of that." Georgian Aaron Yates was the only other Expert with multiple wins, though both were gifts from the Yoshimura Suzuki team. Riding a Suzuki GSXRlloo T for Team Suzuki Sport, Yates wo n Saturday's Unlimited Supers port rac e after race leader Britt Tu rkington, o f the Yoshimura Suzuki squad, pulled in while holding a commanding lead. Yates knew it was a gift and he appreciated it. "I didn't kn ow Turkington was going to pull in on pit road before the finish line," Yates said. "I just tried to stay with tory, though Prieto had a three-second cushion on s econ d -p la ce d Sylva in Lemieux on the sixth of sev en lap s. His fina l w in came in the Amateur Heavyweigh t Superbike, again besting Lemieux, who was aboard a Karni Pro-Art backed Suzu ki GSXR750. Prieto again took control early, Lemieux sticking with him. At the halfwa y mark the gap w as 3.5 sec- through to finish second, with Jet Harbor Inc';Yamaha of Leesburg /Independence Performance Inc/s Damian Weber third. "I came out just to get some practice for the National next week on the 600," Hale said. "This is my first race with the new Smokin' Joe's race tearn. I want to go out and get as many laps in and as much seat time (as possible) wit h it being my rookie year on the 600. Today was a good practice day: ' "I got up near the fron t, but once I got close I cou ldn't close up anymore," Trevitt said . Next up for Hale was Sunday's Expert Middleweight SupeIbike. His grid position was slightly better, the seventh row, but his competition would come from the 12th row in the second wave. That would be where Randy Renfrow wo uld launch from. Fishers' Cycles Bill Know took the lead on the second lap and Q-Sport's Dave Rosno was second with Hale moving quickly up to third. On the second lap Hale took the lead with a draft maneuver on the east bankin g, though Damian Weber forged back to the front as they went three wide through tum one to s tart lap three. Weber was aboard a Superbike spec 600 and (Left) Texan Mike Hale won three sprint races at Daytona . (Below) Dale Quarterley (132) leads Miguel DuHamel (47) and the new Harley-Dav idson VR10oo . him after he got by me. Winning is great. This is my first ride on this bike." Yates switched to a Suzuki 750 for the Expert Heavyweight Sup ersport and led, briefly, before being passed near the halfway point by Turkington and Donald Jacks. The pair were well ahead and they wen t low on the banking on the final lap to hand Yates his second win. "Actually, I was leading until I fell off a little bit in Tum One. I guess I lost the fron t and Jack s and Turking ton go t by me," Yates said. "I didn't kno w Jacks and Turkington were going to pull in on pit road before the finish, but I was hoping they would . I thank them for it." Among the other Expert winners were Lucky Strike Suzuki's Thomas Stevens in the Unli mited GP, Mirage Racing's Dale Q uarterl ey in the Exp ert Hea vyweight Superbike, Tilley' s H-D's Scott Zampach in th e Exp er t U .S. Twinsports, a rid Jona th an Cornwell in the Expert Middleweight GP. H a le ' s victo ry to ta l was matched am ong the amateur riders by 21-year-Old Flor idian Sh ane Pri eto. Riding a 1993 Kawasaki ZX7-R for New Tech Racing, th e Hollywood , Florida rider began to collect gold on Frid ay in only his seven th road race. "I' ve got six races under me," said Prieto, who works in contract sales for a commercial glass company. "I ran in the Florida region. My first race was last year in Au gust and I raced here at the Race of Champions. I got a sixth and a 10th." Of his three w ins, Prieto felt the first, in Friday'S 14-lap Amateur Solo GTO, was the most fun. "I had someone to battle with for the firs t seven laps," Prieto said. "Th en he wrecked. I loo ked back and didn't see him. I took it a little easy ." Still, he was able to win by 7.815 secon ds. Prieto came back in Satu rda y' s Amateur Heavyweight Supersp ort for his second win, this time taking the lead entering th e chicane on the fourth la p and quickly pulling away. Because the results were revised there was no margin of vic- onds, and it wo uld expand to 6.078 at the end of the seven-lap race. "This is like a dream come true," Prieto said after completing the hat trick. "1 p lanned on coming here to Daytona to win and do minate if I could. I just didn't know if I' d be abl e to acc omplish it. I guess I did wi th three wins at Daytona :' EXPERT The first of the 21 AMA /CCS sprin t races we re 14-lap affairs, Solo GTU and GTO for Amateurs and Experts. Hale was in the second race of the day and his first for the , Smokin ' Joe's team, the Expert Solo GTU, racing his Honda CBR600 against Yamaha TZ250s, and other fourcylinder 600cc machines. He started on th e 10th row, quickly m oved up and motored on to the win, completing the 14laps at an average speed of 103.064 mph. Starting from the front row of the second wave, Hurst Mo torsports' Trevitt came he used the extra motor to lose Ha le on the banking, but his motor came undone on the fourth lap and Hale took the point with Renfrow closing to within 1.3 seconds. Renfrow took over the lead with a draft-pass at the end of the back stra ight on the fifth lap, with Knox fighting over third with Rosno. The race would be decided, as so man y are at Daytona, from the chicane to the finish line. Renfrow led, then Hale timed the pass perfectly and had the win by .020-of-a-second. Rosno moved into third with Knox fourth. "I had to really play the draft," Hale said. "In mi le dirt track racing, where I come from, that's a lot of the sport. Randy came up there. I was glad to be able to mix it up wi th some tough competitors. It's good to get some practice with the draft. I timed it perfectly, and got to the checkered flag first:' "H al e loo ked real good," Renfrow said. "He was real smooth and his bike

• Cover