Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Randy Texter . Th e Penns y lvanian was penalized five points and $300 for an illegal rear brake in the Buell race. Had he no t been d ocked , he wo ul d h a ve been second in the points. " It was sli p p ery ou t th ere.. 1 d on 't know if I was ge tting oi l on my right hand side of the tire, but eve ry time 1 lean ed into a right hand er it wanted to kick out on me," Texter sa id . "The lefthanders were okay." Texter spent much of the race dueling ' with Low Co u ntry Bue ll' s Davi d McGrath, th ou gh McGrath was able to pu ll what ap peared to be a comfortable gap in the final lap s. Then Texter came back at him and made his move exiting tu rn seven. At the line it w as Texter by a bout a w heel len gth. M cGra th h e ld four th with Al Salave rria fifth in front of Earl Small's H-D Bill Willems and New Castle H-D~ s Brian Bodine. This was the las t race o f the day, a field of 18 takin g to the 2.5-mile track late on a we t and cold afternoon in a light, misting dri zzle. The stream of riders that crossed the line at the end of the first of eigh t laps w as soon redu ced to th ree, then two, w ith Nobles leading Estok. Far- . ther b a ck Text er an d M cGr a th w ere alrea dy getting ' into it w ith Todd Evans in between, though soon to d rop out. W h e n the crossed flags were d isplayed it w as No bles still at the fro n t, with Estok chasing and getting by on the fifth la p. That's w here he woul d stay u ntil the final lap when Nobles mad e a final push. After dra fting Estok down the front st raig h t, Nobles put h is Bu e ll inside Estok in tum one to take the lead . Know ing that he had time, Estok wa ited un til the run down the back strai ghtaway to ma ke his move. When they crested the hill under the bridge Estok was barely in the lead, but just in front were a couple of rolling roadblocks. They came up to them alm ost in the apex of tu rn 12, th e fina l corn e r, with Estok sp litting the p air of much slower riders, Nobles takin g tight to the apex to dr aw th rough, and Estok getting the nod at the line. Then cam e the race for third . Texter had the spo t for much of the first half of the race, then McGrath sped by coming down the hill from turn 11 ending the fifth lap. It appeared for the next tw o laps tha t McGrath was going to have it h is way. But Texter would come back at him on the final lap and make the pa ss that wo uld put him on the pod ium . "I just pushed up through the p ack real tight and got on him and 1 was getting a be tte r d rive out o f th e last tu rn before the long straigh taw ay and 1 go t him there," Texter sa id . "I thou ght if 1 cou ld get to the bridge 1 could probably hold him off." There w ere four ri d ers going after fift h and, fo r th e m o st pa rt , it w as Salaverri a at the front of the grou p. He moved into the spot on the third lap and ne ver g ave it up. H is cu shion gre w sligh tly with each lap and he took it to the end. Willems, Bodine, and Brian's HD's Ron McGill had all moved into their final finishing po siti ons by the halfwa y mar k. . Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia Results: March31, 1996(Round 2 of 5) BUEL L LIGHTNING SE RIES : 1. Dave Estok; 2. Tripp Nobles; 3. Randy Texter; 4. Dave McGrath; 5. Al Salaverria; 6. Bill Willems; 7. Brian Bodine; 8. Ron McGill; 9. Todd Eagan; 10. Roy Nichelson; 11. Darvin Loyd; 12. David Kieffer; 13. Michae l Friberg; 14. Roge r Hendricks; 15. Iess Roed er; 16. Devin Battle y; 17. Todd Evans; 18. Derek Leslie. Tim e: 13 min, 57.822 sec. Dis tance: Slaps, 20 miles. Anrage speed: 86:625 mph. Margin of victory: 0.102 sees. BUELL LIGHTNING SE R IE S CHAMP IONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (After two of five races): 1. Da ve (Left)MattWait put his foot down and slid to victory In the Harley-Davidson Twin Sports race. (Below) James Hanrahan (10) won the Triumph Speed Triple Challenge after racing with Tripp Nobles (1). Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia Res ults: March 31, 1996 (Round 2 of 7) HA RLEY -DAVIDSON TW INSPO RTS, I. Matt Wait; 2. Brian Gibbs; 3. Ron McGill; 4. Eric Bostrom; 5. Ben Bostrom: 6. Ch uck Blackmon; i . Hikaru Miyagi: 8. Al Salave rria; 9. Tripp Nob les: 10. Daigaro Suz uki; 11. Scott Za m pach; 12. Randy Te xter; 13. Tod d Evan s; 14. Alan Eadie; 15. Bri an Bod ine; 16. Brian Con le y; Ii. Roger Hendricks; 18. Darvin Loyd; 19. Mich ael Frib erg; 20. Devin Battley; 21. Darren Conra d ; 22. Jam es Whitaker; 23. Dave Estok. Ti me: 14 min., 38.794 sec. Distance: Eight laps, 20 miles. Average spee d: 82.586mph. Margin of victory: 7.508 seconds . HARLEY-DAV IDSON TWINSPORTS CSHIP POINT STAN D INGS (After two of sev en races): 1. Matt Wait Estok (70 /2 wins); 2. Roy Nicholson (51); 3. Brian Bodin (48); 4. Tripp Nob les (4i); 5. Mich ael Fribe rg (46 ); 5 Derek Les lie (45); i . (TIE) To dd Eagan / Dave McGra (4-1); 9. Bill Willems (43); 10. Rand y Texter (42); 11. Tod Evans /Rog er Hendricks (40); 13. Jess Roeder (3i); 14 Devin Battley (35); 15. Dervin Loyd (34); 16. AI Salave rri (26); 17. Scott Moon (25); 18. Ron McGill (2.1); 19. (TIE David Kieffer / Thomas Drago (19). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Brainerd, Minnesota, M 19 ay Round 4 - ElkhartLake, Wisconsin, August 4 NS A BHarley·DavidsonTwinS S ports eries R ound2:R dAtlanta oa 'W puts his ait foot down By Henny Ray Abram s .Photo by George Roberts BRASELTON, GA, MAR.31 itch e ll' s Modes to H -D ' s Matt Wait went back in time to showcase th e fu ture of road ra cin g. Ridi ng his H arley-Davidson 883 like a dirt tracker - uprigh t ha nd leba rs, feet down in the corne rs - on a we t and slipp ery track, the dirt-tracker and upcoming roa d racer left the 23-rider field behind at about a second a lap to claim his second victory in a row. "For not being the dir t, that was abou t as close as you canget," Wait said after sliding to victory in the Harley-Davidson Twinsports race at Road Atlanta. Equall y d ecisive wa s second place, w ith H al' s H -D ' s Brian Gib bs getting aw ay from Brian's H-D's Ron McGill and finishing abou t seven seco nds in fro nt. Early on, McGill had d isp at ched with another foot-do wn di rt tracker, Bartel' s H -D ' s Er ic Bo s t rom, w ho en de d u p fourth, one spot in front of broth er Ben . . Wait compl eted the eight -lap, 20 -mile race in 14 minutes, 38.794· seconds at an ave rage speed of 82.586 mph. His margin of victory was 7.508 seconds. With a p air. of wins in two tries, Wait hold s a 13-point lead , 70-57, ove r Gibbs after two of seven races. After quali fyin g on the p ol e, Wa il didn't wait for anyone. He got the jump on the field, the lead into turn one, and th e winner ' s trophy, in th at order. As easy at it looked, that's not how Wait saw it. "At first 1 thought Brian (Gibbs) w as going to hang with me and it kind of.su rprised me," Wait said . "I tend to break away and had my ow n race out there and had a good time. Traffic was a little slick out there and we dea lt with it." As dominant as Wait was, Gibbs nearly matched h im in secon d . At th e M halfway m ar k Wai t h ad abo ut 4.2 sec onds on Gibbs, with Gibbs hold ing 4.6 on McGill . It w as a parade and th at w as that. " It looks like 1 need to put my heart in to dirt and learn h o w to ri de one," Gibbs said . "Matt was doing a goo d job out there of keep ing it going." Once he moved into third on the second lap, McGill was n' t relenting and he was able to easily gap the Bostrom brothers. "Some times it takes an old guy to follow these young kids aroun d," the veteran racer said . " It was rea lly fun to rid e with these guys in the rain. I've always been a littl e d own on h orsepow er an d rain seems to be the great equa lizer in the corners. Eric Bostrom pu t u p a rea lly good figh t in th e beg innin g . H e w as pitching it sidew ays and backing it int o all of the corners and 1 had to wait him out a little bit and by then these guys had gotten too far awa y. 1 figured it wa s best to p lay it safe and get a podium finish, and here we are." Of the two Bostro m brothers, it was Ben whose ride was the more heroic. Eric was in fourth from the second lap on and th at' s wher e h e w ould fini sh. Ben Bostrom w as 12th on the firs t lap and only u p to 10th by th e halfw ay m ark. With a lap to go he w as up to eigh th, then passed thr ee riders on the last lap to take a narrow fifth over Hotshot Motor Work s' Chuck Blackmon, though abou t 20 seconds behind his broth er. Hikaru Miyagi, Al Salaverri a, Tilley's H-D's Tripp Nobles, and Daigaro Suzu ki roun ded ou t the top 10 after running as a pack for much of the race. (70 / 2 wins) ; 2. Brian Biggs (57); 3. Ben Bostro m (56); 4. Scott Zampach (52); S. Ron McGill (SO); 6. (TIE) Rand y Texte~Hi k.aru Miyagi/Trip p Nobles (45); 9. Todd Evan s (36) ; 10. D av e ' Est ok (32) ; I I. (TIE ) M ich a e l Friberg / Daigaro Suzuki (29); 13. (TIE) Brian Bodine/ Eric Bostrom / Robbie Hermans (28); 16. Brian Conley (26t J7. (T IE) Ch uc k Black m on lJa mes Whitak er (25); 19. Al Salaverria (23); 20. Matt Guidera (22). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Brainerd, Minnesota, M 19 ay Round 4 - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, August 4 M obil1T riumph Speed TripleChalleng eseries R und 3:Road Atlanta o Hanrahan's first · By Henny Ray Abra ms Photo by George Roberts BRASELTON,GA, MAR. 31 he difference in th e wet Mobil 1 Triumph Sp eed Ch a llenge race cam e down mostl y to tires. Firs t and third were using the su perior Pirelli rain tires, Second place was on Dunl ops. James Hanrahan, a Wi scons inite backed by Point Cycle, Moto Cycle, and Pirelli, beat Road Atlanta veteran Tripp No bles to w in h is firs t Triumph Ch a lle nge, th en immediate ly cred it ed the Pirelli MT-60 tires for his success. "1 give Tripp (No bles) a lot of credit for riding that hard on Dunl ops, but the Pirell is d e finit el y m a d e a d i fference today," Hanrahan said. Th e differen ce for Noble s: "1 just didn't have no knobby tires," the Butch T . .... ~ 0.. ~ 19

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