Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.ROAD RACE USA Series. Final Round: Daytona International Speedway Sunoco Race Fuels Formula beating the Grigg Electric's Kawasaki 750 of Steve Grigg. The final point standings show Batey with 529, Kling with 485, Dave Stanton with 475, and Sadowski with 442. Sadowski failed to finish the second leg either, this time due to a cooling system failure. Of the two races, the first was considerably faster. Chandler completed the 14-lap, 50-mile race in 26 minutes, 22.144 seconds at an average speed of 113.406 mph. Kling took about 20 seconds longer to win the second one, averaging 111.947 mph for the 26-minuter 42.761-second race. RACE ONE Pegram got the jump on the field with Chandler second and then Team Suzuki Sport's Mark Miller, back on his mostly Supersport-spec Suzuki GSXR750 after running into engine problems on his borrowed Team Polen Suzuki. Then came Kling, Polen and Stanton. The second lap showed Pegram leading Chandler and Polen at the line and that would be the race for the win. The rest had their own races, but they would remaining supporting acts to what appeared to be a good dice at the front. It wasn't really so, but no one seemed to mind. Not. least of all the riders. Polen was in front on lap four, with By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥fa ABEACH, FL, OCT. 20 he inaugural NASB/Formula USA season climaxed in both predictable and surprising ways at Daytona International Speedway, with six different faces on the podiums in the two races which were competitive right to the flag. The predictable was also the most significant with Valvoline Suzuki's Tray Batey clinching his first Sunoco Race Fuels Formula USA title by finishing sixth in the first leg while using a spare motor, while his most immediate title challenger, Team Labelle's Dave Sadowski, pulled off with an engine failure. "I didn't even know I'd won the championship in the first race until later," Batey.said. "We had our good motor go down this morning so we had to put a spare motor in for the race and it kind of bounced around in th.e trailer for a few races. I didn't know what kind of condition it would be in. They thought it would be okay." Just as predictable was that first race winner, newly crowned AMA Superbike Champion Doug Chandler on the Muzzy Kawasaki "Raptor." Setting off from the pole position, Chandler toyed with Team Polen Suzuki's poug Polen and Fast by Ferracci's Larry Pegram before making a thrilling run by Polen to take the first leg by 0.020 second. "It was almost pointless to get away and abuse the engine," Chandler said. '1 knew I had something I could beat those guys with." ntird was the best Pegram could do after running straight at the chicane while avoiding a backmarker on the 10th lap. Dutchman Racing's Fritz Kling was fourth in front of Canadian Kawasaki's Don Munroe, the Canadian racing with a separated shoulder, the result of a spill in the previous F-USA race at Loudon two weeks earlier. T \,() 0\ 0\ ....-< O~ Cf') l-< (1) .g tJ o 10 (Above) Larry Pegram (2n) leads Doug Chandler (110). Mark Miller (24) and Tray Batey into the first corner of the first of two Formula USA races at Day1ona. (Right) Chandler earned the raceone victory after holding off Doug Polen (23) and Pegram (hidden). The second race was the surprising one, the AMA regulars and irregulars all dropping out and turning it into a proper F-USA race. This time Kling prevailed over Batey by using a power advantage on the Dutchman Yamaha to outrace him to the flag by 0.192 second. "It's always special winning here," Kling said. "It's the biggest race track and the best event of the season except for the first one. You start here and end here and it's great." Team Polen Suzuki's Polen was the first of the first race front-runners to drop out, victimized by a chunked rear Michelin tire on the ninth lap after being slowed earlier by a fading battery. Then, in quick succession, Pegram and Chandler were through. Pegram, like Polen, chunked a rear tire, but his was more dire. A foot-long section came out and the tire went flat just past the start-finish line. Luckily, he'd seen smoke corning off Chandler's Kawasaki and had slowed a bit when the tire blew. Chandler was taken out by an oilline failure, the AMA-mandated catch pan gathering about three-quarters of a quart of oil. He first noticed it in the chicane and it got worse braking for turn one, where he pulled off on the pit road. Third went to a surprised and delighted Mike Sullivan, the AMA 250cc GP regular making his second run on the Zlock Racing Kawasaki 850. "On the cool-off lap, Perry Melneciuc and John France had a pit sign that read '71-3rd.' I thought I might be in the top five," Sullivan said. '1 saw that and did a big old wheelie." Brett Metzger replaced the injured Chris Taylor on the second Team Labelle Honda and came home fourth, Pegram and Chandler following for a lap until Pegram decided it was his turn. Then Chandler looked like he was fading. In fact, he was sizing up the competition. Giving them some ground, then running them down at will. When the crossed flags were shown it was Pegram in front of Chandler and Polen, then Chandler by in the infield to take the point heading onto the banking. At this point they had about 15 seconds on the rest of the field, now led by Kling with Don Munroe chaSing. 01andler let the oversized Kawasaki stretch its legs on the ninth lap and he began to edge away before backing down. Ending the ninth lap, he was in front of Polen and Pegram, and again on the 10th. That time, Pegram was well back after having gone straight at the chicane. "There was a lapper between him

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