Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 8: Brainerd International Raceway A C MAlC SHP4 600cc Su ers ort Series By Paul Carruthers Photos by George Roberts BRAINERD, MN, JULY 31 igh t ra ces, a tight cha m pionshi p . The 600cc class is p roviding bo th. Smokin' Joe's Racing's Mike Smith narrow ly d efeated se ries ri val Jamie James and the Vance & H ines Yam aha a t Bra in erd Interna tional Raceway today. Margi n of victory: .438-of-a-second . Champions hip poin t standings: Smith 256 points, Jam es 255. With only tw o rounds remain ing, it doesn't ge t mu ch better than this . Smith an d Jam es foug ht thr ough ou t t he 16-1ap, 48 -mile ra ce arou nd th e thr ee-mile, ultra-fast Bra ine rd International Raceway, with third-place finisher Mike Hale tucked neatly in behind with the best seat in the house. Behind them came an eq ually close race for fourth w ith Ch afong Racing's Rand y Renfrow g e ttin g the bes t of Muzzy Kawasaki's Steve Crevier on the final lap after their race-long battle. Kinko's Yamaha's Thomas Wilson, Renfrow ' s Chafong teammate Da vid Estok, Hyd -Mech Saws' Owen Weichel, Gerald Rothman jr., and Utah's Robert Wright rounded ou t the top 10 finishers. For Smith, the victory was his fifth of th e season and the 11th of hi s 600cc Supersport career. The Georgian's latest victory moves him past Doug Polen and into second on th e all-time 600cc win list. Only Miguel DuHamel and his 14 class victories is above Smith - who won his first 600cc race in 1988. The win also mo ves Smith pas t his rival Jam es in the ra ce for th e 1994 cha mpionship . Sm ith n o w has 256 po in ts to James ' 255 w ith tw o rou nds remaining in th e 1D-race series. Ha le's third-place finish vaults him to third in the standings with 224 points, just one better than Crevier. Rothman Jr. is fifth in the standings w ith 185 points. The race started with Smi th lead ing th e way d own the mile-lo ng front s t raig h t. The ever-learning, e verimp rovi ng Hale followed and he held seco nd at the end of the firs t lap with James in tow. Crevier and Renfrow were already deep into their race-long tussle. Even though he knew it wasn't going to work, Smith made a run for it on the second lap and he opened a gap of .78of-a-second over Hale and Jam es. That gap grew to .84 on lap three and .99 on lap four. By then James was up to second, and a lap later Smith's lea d was gone. W figured I'd try and break awa y and I hope Mike (Hale) gave Jamie some tro uble in chasing me. In Sup erspo rt racing the best thing is do n't pick one tactic change it around a little. I kn e w it'd happen (that the y would catch up). Then I figured I'd slow down and le t Hale get up there with us . My gearing was way off and 1 could n't get into the comers the way I wanted ." By the fifth lap it was all Smith and James, with Hale fadin g slightly. On the six th la p, Ja m es took h is turn a t the front, with a late-braking mo ve into tum 10, the final comer on the race track. It was on the fifth lap tha t Jason Pridmore went ou t of the race . "Transmission," the Californian said. T Chuck Sorenson (90) leads his team owner Rich Oliver (97) ear1y In the 250cc Grand Pr1x race. Sorenson went on to win his first ..ver NatIonal. pull out a small lead. As he raced past pit row on lap three, Oliver pointed to the rear end o f his bike and his crew readied a new rear wheel Salaverria overtook Oliver on lap four , as did Cornwell, Walker, D'Aluisio and Iena tsch, all of whom were engaged in a close race for second through sixth. . Oliver pitted on the next circuit for the w heel cha nge, but would find himself on the sidelines when he crashed only a few minutes later. Sorenson, meanwhile, maintained control of the race until lapIf), when a steadily closing Cornwell mad e his presenceknown. -"I coul d get a hell uva d rive out of tu m three," said Cornwell. "I was able to get under him an d pass him on the way ou t." Cornw ell too k over on lap 11 and hel d the lead for four laps , at one point p ulling out a small lead before being reeled back in. "It was harder to keep my same lap times out in front," said Cornwell. "I need ed someone to tow me ar ound. When you break the wi nd by yourself, the other guys behind you have an advantage." Almost unnoticed, Ienatsch had motored away . from Walker and D'Aluisi o, who were engaged in th eir own private battle, and slowly began to close in on the lead tri o of Cornwell, Sorenson and Salaverria. "They were going at it," said Ienatsch, "I could see something just waiting to happen." After reeling in Cornwell, Sorenson slipped back into the lead in tum four and led the charge past the start/finish line. Corn well, Salaverria and Ienatsch were close behin d. Co rnwell a ttempted th e same lowline pass in tu m three on the 14th lap, but was thwarted by Sorenso n mid-corne ro "Someone p lowed into th e back of me," said Sorenson. "It straightened me up, but I jus t rod e thr ough the next corner a Ii ttle wi de a nd held on to the lead." Cornwell' s version was a bit d ifferent: "I went low to pass him again, but I didn't 'plow' him - he moved down on me, " said Cornwell. Sorenson and Cornwell enjoyed a 20- bike-l en g th lead over Salaverria and lena tsch at the white flag, and for Cornwell, it was do-or-die time. The ex-dirt tracker attempted to put his low turn three line to use again, but this time, he grabbed too m uc h throttle and was flicked off his m ach ine . Sala verria straightened up to avoid Cornwell, and that was exactly the break that Ienatsch had been waiting for. The bespectacled rider zipped into second and thwarted the charges of Salaverria for the remainder of the final lap. "I was a little u pset with Nick, he was bl oc kin g m e pre t ty bad," said Salaverria. "But like they say - that' s racing." Uncha llenged, Sorenson raced across the finis h line wi th a two-second lead over a delighted Ienatsch, with Salaverria close behind. "The whole race, all I kept seeing on my pit board was 'plus zero, plus zero, plus zero:" said Sor en son . "I gave it 100% the whole time. I had no idea that I had a bit of a lead at the end." After swapping pos itions throughou t the race, Walker edged out D'Aluisio for fourth an d kept his championship hopes alive for at least one more round. a Brainerd IntematJonal Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota Results: July 29-31 Z50cc G P Q UAU FY\N Q 1. Rich Oliver (104.334); 2. Chris D' Aluisio (1 :~ .977); 3. AI Sala verria (1:015.491); 4. Jon Corn well (1:015.623); 5. Owd: Sorenson (1:015.773); 6. Nick l....tsch (1:0I5.B08); 7. Danny Wal k..- (1:015.974); 8. Chris Taylor (1:46.782); 9. Andrew Trevi tt (1:47.074); 10. 8rian Okubo (1:47.684); 11. Jason Pad en (1:-18.002); 12. Ch ris to p her Ran kin (1:48.166); 13. Jo hn France (1:48. 25 1); 14. Geep Te rra nova (1 :48 .269); 15 . Rick Bu lloc k (1:48.576); 16. Mike Sullivan (1:48.722); 17. Bobby Kei th (1:49.482); 18. Leon CO""" (1:50.422); 19. Bru ce U n d (1:51.293); 20. Bill Borse lli (1:54.496); 21. Andy Ed wards (1:55 .114); 22. Glen Ch ri st ian s o n (1:56.323);23. J.ff Vas (1:57.520). Z50cc GP F1N A ~ 1. Chuck Sorenson (Yam); 2. Nick lenatsch (Yam); 3. AI Salaverria (Yam); 4. Danny Walk..(Yam) ; 5. Chris 0 ' Al uisi o (Apr); 6. And rew Trevitt (Yam); 7. c..p Terranova (Yam); 8. Jason Paden (Yam); 9. Brian Ok ubo (Yam); 10. Christopher Rankin (Yam ); 11. Mike Su llivan (Yam); 12. John France (Yam); 13. Leon Cortes (Yam); 14. Ma rk Foster (Yam); 15. Bobby Keith (Ya m) ; 16. Bru ce U nd (Yam ); 17. Rick Bulloc k (Yam ); 18. Jon Cornwell (Yam); 19. Bill Borselli (Yam); 20. Jell Vas (Yam) ; 21. Andy Edwards (Yam); 22. Rich O liver (Yam). Time 28 mlns., 8.951 sees. D isb:nce 54 miles. Average s peed: 102.312 sea:mds. Margin of vidary: 1.905 seconds. 2SDcc GRAN D PR I X C HAMPIO NS HI P S ERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of lD ro und.h 1. Rich Olive r (251/6 wins); 2. Da nn y Walker (202); 3. Chuck Sorensen (199 /1 ); 4. Ni ck le n a ts c h (195 ); S. Chris D' Aluisio (181); 6. AI Sa laverria (179); 7. Mike Sullivan (168); 8. Jason Pad n (150); 9. Christopher Rankin (127); 10. Donald Ho ugh (1Z6) 11. c..p Terranov a (119); 12. ; Bobby Keith (109) ; 13. Jon Cornwell (108 ); 14. Jo hn France (106); 15. Takahito Mori (99); 16. Bruce Lind (90); 17. Bill Borsell i (86); 18. Bill Quinn (83); 19. (TIE) Leon Cortes/Chris Taylor (76). Upcom ing Rounds: Round 9 • Sonoma , california , August 21 Round 10 - Braselton, Georgia. sept.1B " It was ma kin g so me ve ry bad no ises goi ng in to one. I waved him (Michael Ta ylor) b y in tu rn tw o and then he crashed in tum three." Both Taylor and Prid more were running in the top lOa t the time of the ir incidents. Sm ith w as ba ck in fron t for la ps seven th ro ugh 10, w ith Jam es taking over on lap 11. By this time, Hale was back with the lead duo. Smith led lap 12, James led the 13th. Smith was back in front for the 14th lap, and he was never overtaken as he used lapped riders to hold back the cha rging James and Hale. Renfrow, meanwhile, got th e better of Crevier despite losing ground on the long front-straight. "Those guys are battl ing for the championship and I keep waiting for one of 'em to mess up ," Hale said. "But they're go od rid ers. I gotta han d it to the m . I was thinking that I need ed to save my tires a little bit, and I was able to run 'em back down. With the long straight and they way my bike was set up I wasn't able to beat 'em." "I used them for blocking," Sm ith said of the lappers. I tried to get them in the back section beca use 1 was h op ing they'd help. The gearing was a little 6ff because we figured for wind with drafting. 1 thought there'd be more (riders) up there." Though it was his best finish of the season, Renfrow was still a little disappointed with finishing fourth: "I'm frustrated," he said. "I need ed to be up with those gu ys. 1 enjoyed myself ou t there. Crevier wa s very clean a nd I was as clean as I could be. It was enjoyab le, but I wanted to catch the lead ers. We were competitive all weekend, and this is the best I've felt physicall y. H is (Cre vier) bike was a lot faster at the end of th e front straight. He 'd pass me every lap, but he wa sn' t going fla t out through tu m one . On the las t lap, I backed off and ou tbroke him. 1 di dn' t give him a chance on the last lap ." a Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, Minnesota Results: July 31, 1994 6OOa: SUPERSPO RT F1NA~ 1. Mike Smith (Hoo); 2. ja mte Jam es (Hon); 3. Mik. H a l. (Hon); 4. Randy Renfrow (Ho n); 5. Stev e Cr evi er (Kaw) ; 6. Thomas Wilson (Yam); 7. David Estok (Ho n); 8. Owen Weichel (Yam); 9. Gerald Rothman Jr. (Kaw); 10. Roben Wri gh t (Kaw); 11. Dale Kieffer(lion); 12. Jamie Bowman (lion); 13. Larry Pegram (Han): 14. Joe Winsto n (Han); 15-. Mi ke Murphy (Hon); 16. Tod d H a rri ngton (Hon); 17. James Milroy (Kaw); 18. Hikaru Mir agi (Hon); 19. Jason Brooks ha w (Hon); 20 . Jeff Wil h ams (Ho n) ; 21. AI MacMartin (Han) ; 22. Bro ok An th o ny (Hon); 23 . Bradley Zajic (Hon) ; 24. Todd Evans (Hon) ; 25. leo Johnston (Hon); Z6. Cordon lund. (Hon); "0. Jim lester (lion); 28. Tun Gal vez (Hon); 29. Robert Deli. (Hon); 30. Matthew Brown (Hon); 31. Jess Fa rr (Hon); 32. Douglas Farrar (H o n); 33. Chris Wicker (H on); 34. John Hilton (Hon); 35. Lee Johnston (Hon); 36. Dave Rosno (\Caw); 37. Jason Pridmore (yam); 38. Michael Tay lor (Kaw ); 39. Russ Katzenberger (\Caw); -10. Randy Brod y (Hon); 41. larry Sha w (Hon). Ti me: 28 rrdn., 49.130 sec. Dis ta nce: 16 lars:, 48 miles. Avenl gr S p«d.: 99.935 mph. Margin of Victory: 0.438 sec. 600cc S UPERS PORT S ERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 10 rounds): 1. Mike Smith (256/5 wins); 2Jamie Ja mes (255/ 2 wins); 3. Mike Ha le (224); 4. Steve'" Crevie r (223) ; 5. Ger ald Rothman Jr. (185); 6. Jaso n Pridmore (158/1 win ); 7. Robert Wrig ht (142); 8. Randy Renfrow (138) ; 9. Owen We ich e l (113); 10. (TIE) Jon ComwelllJamie Bowman (103); 12. David Estok (102); 13. Thoma . Wilson (93); 14. larry Pegram (91 ); 15. Hikaru Miyagi (82). . Upcom ing Rounds: Round 9 - Sonoma , California, August 21 Round 10 - Braselto n, Georgia, sepl1 B

• Cover