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NASB Buell Lightning Series
Round 1: Daytona International Speedway
DAYfONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 2
he outcome of the Buell Lightning
race was decided in large part by a
single bolt. When the shockmounting bolt on Eric Bostrom's Electrical Con truction Buell 1200 came loose
on the second lap, the rear of the bike sat
down on the tire, the wheel locked up
and Bostrom, who was about 300 yards
out of the chicane, wrestled his bike to a
stop as it left a long black mark. That was
his signature.
After that, Shawn Higbee put his signature on the seven-lap race, blitzing
away from the 17-rider pack at better
than four seconds a lap to win his inaugural Buell lightning Series race on the
Motorcycle Online/Corbin-backed Bu~ll.
For Higbee, it was a warm welcome back
to racing after struggling through 1996
on the Fast by Ferracci Ducatis.
"After not making it on the podium
last year, it's great to be back as number
one," the former AMA Harley-Davidson
TwinSports champion said. '1 figured it
would be Eric (Bostrom) and lout front
and we'd probably have to dice it out. I
guess Eric had a problem on his bike."
To say the least.
'1t was a wild ride," Bostrom said of
his second-lap adventure. "One minute
I'm drafting Shawn (Higbee) and the
next minute I'm locked up. and sideways."
That he and Higbee had cleared out
from the field with relative ease does not
bode well for the series regulars, especially since this was Higbee's first race on
the Buell.
'1 still have to learn how to ride this
bike because this was my first time on it,"
Higbee said. "I was using the race to
learn as I went."
He learned well enough to win in
record time, completing the seven-lap,
25-mile race in 14 minutes, 36.486 seconds at an average speed of 102.354 mph.
Higbee lowered the average-speed mark
of 100.675 mph held by Eric's brother
Ben Bostrom.
He also takes the lead in the championship points standings after the first of
nine races with 35 points.
Second in the standings and on the
day was Shawn Conrad on the HMC
Hansen Racing Buell and his day was far
less leisurely than Higbee's. Starting on
the back row of the grid, Conrad waited
patiently through the initial sorting-out
process of the first few laps - Bostrom's
retirement, then Billy Graef pulling to a
smoking halt in tum one - rode hard and
found himself in third behind Roy David
Nicholson and in front of Young's H-D's
David McGrath, with Low Country
Harley-Davidson's Shawn McNary back
in fifth.
Conrad moved into second on the
third lap, dropped back to third on the
next one, but was back in, second by the
end of the lap on a machine that had a
visible speed advantage. He had Nicholson in tow and the two were pulling
away from McGrath when McGrath
overshot the first turn and rejoined the
field almost at the very back of the field.
He would end up 10th.
Meanwhile, Conrad was able to edge
(Above) Shawn
Higbee won his
first-ever Buell
Lightning Series
event in his debut
in the series.
(Right) Masahlro
lizuka was the
class of the 125cc
Al)'Ierican Grand
Prix. The
Japanese ace
easily won the
series opener,
topping Roland
Sands.
aw~om
icholson, who didn't make
the final lap, handing third over to Todd
Evans who moved by McNary with a
classic draft-pass on the final lap. Jody
Hendley was fifth until the post-race
inspection. He was found to be under the
class minimum weight of 395 pounds
and was docked his points and purse
awards, but maintained his finishing
position.
"I really had to ride to get through all
that traffic after starting on the back
row," Conrad said. "TIus is our first actual Buell race so it's grea t to be on the
podium. I managed to pass Graef on the
banking. I was able to hold enough of an
advantage in the infield so that the next
time I got out on the banking I was able.
to pull away without him drafting past."
After finishing third, Todd Evans
explained that he'd blown up his engine
in morning qualifying and had to rebuild it.
"Then we had to start in the third
row, but it all worked 'out pretty good,"
Evans said. ''TIle last lap was all pretty
much strategy. I've been here before. You
don't want to lead coming out of that last
corner toward the firUsh line. You've got
to be behind them, otherwise they're
gonna come right by you. That's what I
did. I just planned it right."
After passing him on the fourth lap,
New Castle H-D's Brian Bodine spent the
rest of the race trying to shake Illinois HD/Buell's Michael Friberg, which he did
a the race wound down. Bodine was a
secure sixth, Friberg seventh, then
Modesto Harley-Davidson's Robert
Bussey, David Kieffer and McGrath. (N
Daytona International !jpeedway
Daytona Beach, Aorlda
Results: March 2, 1997 (Round 1 of 9)
BUELL LIGHTNING, 1. Shawn ~bee; 2. Shawn
Conrad; 3. Todd Evans; 4. Shawn McNar)'; 5. Jody
Hendley; 6. Brian Bodine; 7. Mkhael Fribe