Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Joe Prussiano, aboard an Ardight GSXR an d the youngster Hacking on a imilar mount sponsored by Valvoline, Suzu ki, Michelin, and Arai were having qui te a ba ttle o ut front. Grant Lopez, Dave Stanton, and Josh Hayes were all tied together just a sho rt di stan ce behi nd the leading duo. . Approach ing tum I I on the las t lap , the leaders encountered b a ckrn arkers, and suddenly all hell broke loose. Pru ssiano, leading, too k a very conventional line into the corner. Hacking, on the other hand, was in too hot for the tighter radius that he was tryin g. At the crest of the hill Hacking's rear suddenly broke loose, and he went down hard, taking Pru ssiano with him. Both rid ers walked away but their bikes were not as lucky with both suffering expensive-looking damage. This was an unexpected gift for Lopez as he took th e win over his Valvoline Suz uki teammates, Stanton and Hayes. five they had almo st three laps on TKO Too, wit h Arclight, KWS and R&D Racing each one lap beh ind the other. With about 15 minut es remaining in the grueling event, Stanton made a quick trip through the pits for a splash of fuel and then put it on cruise control to ensure the team's ll1th Endurance victory . Gill eland brought the TKO To o Heavyweight Supersport machine home second overall ahead of Prussiano on the Arclight Suzuki 750 and the KWS Suzuki 750 ridden by Kevin Hunt and David McGrath. Rounding out the top five overall were Middleweight Sup ersport-class winner s R&D Racing. I~ Road Atlanta Braselton, Geo rgia Results: May4,1 996 (Round 2 of 10) ENDUR O/A : 1. Tea m Suzuki Endurance (Suz); 2. TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too (Su z ): 3. Arclight Racing (Suz); 4. KWS Motorsports (Suz); 5. R&D Racing (Kaw); 6. Roswell Racing (Suz); 7. Royale Ra cing (Hon); 8. Anny of Darkness (Yam); 9. Team T riad II/ Tape works (Yam); 10. SBR (Vam); 11. Eag le Racing (Suz) ; 12. Team Ten 40 Racin g (Hon); 13. Performa nce Mot or sp or ts (Ka w): 14. Register Racin g (Kaw) ; 15. Sharkskinz Radng (Ya m ); 16. C A D Racing (Hon); 17. 650 N RI Ra cin g (Ka w) ; 18. C ycl e Spee d Racin g (H o n) : 19. Fly in' Colors / Ande rson 5 (Yam); 20. Bat Bodies (Kaw). T im e: 5 h rs.• 59 min ., 03 sec. D isbnce: 138 lap s. 345 miles Average speed: 57.7 m ph M a rgin o f victo ry: 3 tap s WERA N ATI O N AL EN D URA]', CE SERIES POINTS STAN D INCS (After 2 of 10 rouncU): 1. Team Suzuuld En d u ran ce (233.5 points /2 \\"'ins ); 2. TKO Rayce Team 2 Suzuki Too (205 .81); 3. Arcl ight Racing (195";3 ); 4. Royale Racing (157.66 ); 5. Tri ple R Racing (133.92); 6. Performance Mot or sports Racing (133. 84); 7. Cycl e Speed Ra cing (130.09); 8. Excel Racing (122.52 ); 9. Ro sw ell Ra dng (116 .44); 10. The TKO Re yce Te am Suz u ki (114.23); 11. Arm y of Darkness (113 .33); 12. DA 1'5 Racin~ (1125~ 13. H&H Racin g /RIC Motorspo... (108.29); 14. Team Fu ry (106.12); 15. HP Motorsports (10 1.22); 16. Screaming Howie Racing (96 .74 ); 17. Sin Ci ty Racing (88.61); 18. KWS Mot o rsports (88.25); 19. R&D Racin g (B2. 75~ 20. Silbers tein R&D Racing (72.67). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Summit Point, WV, May 25 Round 4 - South Haven, MI , June 8 WERA National Challenge Series Round 2 :Road Atlanta Rumble in the South By John Blackstock BRASELTON, GA, MAY 5 fter the wild and woolly six-ho ur en du rance race of one da y earli er, ev eryone on hand ex pected no thing less than all -out war for the WERA National Challenge Series sprint races at Road Atlanta. A qu ick trip through th e pi t area at A (Above) The Arcllght Racing team rode a steady 'ra c e after losing ground to TKO Rayce Team Suzuki Too and finished third. (Right) Brian Lantz held the H&HlRK Motorsports Suzuki in second overall before cras hing out of contenti on In the fifth hour. d ay 's en d p rov ed th is w as indeed the case as ex ha usted ri ders an d trashed motor cycles were everywhere, RK Mot orsports' Kevin Ren tzell and Valvo line Suzuki's Dave Stan ton shared the hono r as the d ay' s top finishers. Both r iders ended the day wi th two firsts an d one second-place finish . Th e fi rs t ra ce to grid w as 1100cc Superstock Expert class. Wh en the green waved all eyes were focused on pre-race favorites Stanton and Rentzell but out front at the end of lap one was the Valvoline Su zu ki ridden by Gulfport Mississippi resident Josh Hayes . Also cha rgi ng hard was the young rookie ex pert Jamie H ackin g, occupying the numbe r-two s lot. Follo wing clo sel y w ere Stanton and another H &H Mot orsports rider Brian Lantz. Rentzell was busy making up time he had lost in th e first comer of lap one. According to the Acworth, Georgia, resident he go t qui te a scarE;. "1 d ove in to o ne at the start and I don't kn ow if 1 hi t some liquid or what, but it just took off," Rent zell said. "My right kn ee w as the only th in g hold in g me up, and it rea lly pulled the m uscles insid e my thigh. Just when I thou ght I was d own it caught tra ction and I was ab le to continue up the hill, By the midway point Rentzell, Hacking, and Stanton had opened up a small ga p over the battle for fourth .between Hayes, Grant Lopez, and Joe Prussiano. The three fro nt-runners were swapping pai nt and positions all around the 2.5mile circuit. Ren tzell pu lled a move tha t he would use all day and dived under Stan ton enteri ng tu rn 12 to take the lead away at the sta rt of lap six. Stanton was back at the point to lead laps eight and nine. The stage was set. Stanton, Ren tzell, and Hacking disappeared over the hill in tight formation to begin the dash to th e checkered flag . Going throug h turn five, Stan ton zipped past a lap ped rider, bu t as Rentzell tried the same move the slower rider tried to move into Sta nton's d raft causing hi m and Rentzell to collide. Nei ther rider went d own but it allowed the Valvoline Suzuki r id e r just e nough b r e at h in g roo m to ou tduel RentzeB and H ackin g back to th e stri p e. St anton w a s very pleased with the outcome. "We had a late-brakin g co ntes t the whole w ay and 1 guess 1 won it a few times," Stant on sai d. "I passed a couple of 'gu ys very close but clean on that last lap. Kevin was real strong ou t ther e." Rentzell wasn't do ne yet and returned later in the da y to get so me reven ge by winning the Middleweight GP and 600cc Kawasaki di visions. Joey Gille land put up a struggle on ano ther ZX600 ou t of the Kawasaki of Can to n stable but was not able to overcome Rentzell's drive and determination to win . The fireworks really exploded in the Michelin 750cc Superstock event. Texan "1 really though t I had Joe se t up nicely down the back straight," Hackin g said. "But we came up on so me lappers and 1 ha d to go too far insi de. The rear jus t stepped ou t and we were down. I'm real so rry but it wasn't in tentional, jus t hard racing." 0 Road Atlanta Braselton, Georg ia Results: May 5, 1996 (Round 2 of 10) F-t , 1. Davi d Stanton (Suz~ (Suz~ 3. 5. JeffWilson 2. John Jacobi Jim Albri tton (Yam~ 4. Dean Ha yes (Suz~ (Suz~ MIW G P: 1. Kevin Ren tze ll (Ka w); 2. Chad Bynum ( Kaw ); 3. S tone y Land e r s (Hon); 4. W illia m Himmelsbach (Yam); 5. Reu ben Franke'Ofield (Ka w~ 125 G P: 1. Joh n Ulrich (Hon); 2. Jo ji To kumoto (Hon); 3. Chris Rogers (Yam); 4. Paul Black (Hon); 5. Steve H eilman (Hon). 1100 S/ S T K: 1. David Stan ton (Su z) ; 2. Kev in Ren tze ll (Suz); 3. Jamie Hacking (Suz ); 4. Josh H ayes (Suz ); S. JoePrussiano III (Suz~ MICHELIN 750 SIST I(, 1. Gra nt Lopez (Suz); 2. D a vid Stanton (S uz ); 3. Josh Hay es (S u z); 4. Billy Eisenacber (Yamt S. John Branch III (Suz ). 60 0 S /STK : 1. Ke v in Rentzell (Kaw ); 2. Joe y Gilliland (Kaw); 3. Ma rk Reed (Ka w ); 4. Chad Bynum (Kaw ); 5. Mik e Reed (Ka w], FACTO RY &00 PROD: 1. Luke Yarbrough (Hon); 2Gregory Whi te (Kaw ); 3. Darren Behm ( Hon~ 4. Chris No rm an d (Hon); 5. Rocky Gravley (Hon ). FACfORY 750 PRO().750 S/BK: 1. Willia m Taylor (Hon); 2, Ti mothy Godwin (Hon); 3. Arasj Hos hm andy (H o n ); 4. Ch ri s Normand (H a n ); 5 . Ric h a rd Pa re lla (Ka w ). 600 SfBK: 1. Willia m Tayl or (Hon); 2. Ti m oth y Godwin (Hon); 3. Greg White (Ka w); 4. Chri s No rm an d (Kaw ); 5. Mark Zaremskas (Hon ). 150 S /BK: 1. William Taylor (H on); 2. Timothy Codwin (Hon); 3. Arasj Ho shmandy (Hon); 4. Chris Normand (Hon); 5. Richa rd Pa rella (Kaw). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 . Summ it Point, WV, May 25 Round 4 - South Haven, MI, June 8 2

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