Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) The HarleyDavidsons SuperTwins race was a battle between Eric Bostrom (20), Shawn Higbee. Dave Estoc;k and Tripp Nobles (87). (Right) The win ultimately went to Bostrom, his fourth in as many races in 1997. (Below) Erion Racing's Andrew StrC!ud was again dominant in the Formula Extreme event, winning his third straight nice. final turn in second or third. So poor Dave was just left up there, a sitting ducle" As for his running up the inside of the track and near the pit lane, Bostrom said: "It was just a spur-of-the-momenttype thing. 1 wen t out over pit lane and then crossed a few feet of grass. 1almost hit the wall and took out a cone, but 1 was just doing what 1 had to do to throw around the draft a little. It worked." "A couple of times 1 came through the last comer seeing what it was going to be like drafting the two of them and if 1 could pass them before start/finish," Estok said. "1 knew last year that 1 won this one by being in third place and· coming up through and drafting past everyone, so 1didn't want to be in first. "It was a battle to the end," Estok continued. "1 passed him (Bostrom) going down the straightaway and down into turn one, and 1 kinda wished 1 hadn't done it. 1 was going slower and slower, hoping they'd come past me, but they didn't. 1 was just. trying to make a break for it, and 1 was expecting Eric (Bostrom) to stay behind me and, pass me coming up the front straightaway. But he came around me on the brakes, and 1 was really happy that he did it." . . Until he couldn't outpower Bostrom to the flag. ... "1 hadn't seen my teammate for' a while, so 1 was wondering what was up with him," Higbee said. "1 thought it was just Eric and I. Then 1 goofed up coming off the last turn here, 1 ran wide, and that allowed my teammate to get •back up closer to us. Then it was a threeway battle again, which 1 thought was cool. 1 was debating in my mind: Do 1 go for the win, or maybe try and help Eric and block or something?" After Nobles came the trio who'd been going at each otller'for much of the race, especially the second half. Las Vegas H-D's Jess Roeder was fifth ending the fifth lap, with Zemke and Conrad following. A lap later, Roeder had dropped a spot, with Conrad up to fifth, where he'd finish, then he was out of the race with less than two laps to go, handing sixth to Zemke. tN Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Results: June 8, 1997 (Round 4 of 11) , SUPERTWINS: 1. Eric Bostrom; 2. David Estok; 3. Shawn Higbee; 4. Tripp Nobles; 5. Shawn Conrad; 6. Jake Zemke; 7. Jeffrey Johnson; 8. Steve Johnson; 9. Shaun Russell; 10. Todd Evans; II. Lance Jones; 12. jody Hendley; 13. Brian Bodine; 14. Mark Zalke; 15. Jerry Casciero Jr.; 16. ~ichael Golden; 17. Robert Bussey; 18. Jess Roeder; 19. Billy Graef; 20. Jeff Eklund. , Time: 18 min., 16.340 sec. .Distance: 7 laps, 28 miles. Average speed: 91.942 mph Margin of victory: 0.001 sec. Upcoming .Rounds: Round 5 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 14 Round 6 - Brainerd, Minnesota. June 28 Pirelli Formula Xtreme Round 3: Road America Andrew the Third By Henny Ray Abrams ELKHART LAKE, WI, JUNE 7 ith each successive win, Erion Racing looks increasingly invincible, and Road America was no dilierent. New.Zealander Andrew Stroud beat teammate Doug Toland for the third Pirelli Formula Xtrerne race in a row, the Honda CRB900RR-equipped juggernaut lapping six seconds a lap faster than anyone else, turning the rest of the 14rider field into a mere afterthought. On his way to maintaining a perfect season, Stroud led every lap, helped in part by a faulty clutch on Toland's bike, which slowed Toland's start and· stopped a late charge. "1 tried to get a real hard launch at W the start," Toland said. "I ended up fourth or fifth." He closed the gap quickly and was ill second by turn five. Then he set out after Stroud. The gap between the leaders was only about a second on the sixth of 10 laps, when Toland appeared to run wide in· a corner, losing touch with Stroud. More importantly, it was his clutch acting up, and he was about 2.5 ' seconds back at the end of the lap. . From there, the gap grew as Toland realized that second-place points were all he would get on this clay. "The clutch started to go," Toland said. "1 thought it was better to finish second than not at alL" Until he started having problems, Toland made his presence felt. "1 saw Doug coming," Stroud admitted. "1 thought I'd better put my head down there. We were throwing those big bikes around." Stroud won by 5.413 seconds after 40 miles of racing on the 4-mile Road America circuit. He averaged 105.0i1 mph in completing the race in 22 minutes, 51.160 seconds. Having led the most laps and won all three races this season, Stroud leads the •championship with 108 points, 12 better than teammate Toland. Hooters' James Randolph, who broke his collarbone two weeks ago at Willow Springs, finished fifth today. Randolph is third with 86 points. Third on the day in a very processional race was DATS Racing's Dale Kieffer, the Utah rider moving into the spot on the second lap and edging away to his first-ever solo podium appearance. He was pursued for a while by Brewer Racing's Scott Ruehle, but the threat diminished as the laps wore on and Kieffer put the Suzuki GSXR1100 into the winner's circle. "1 knew 1 couldn't stay with them," Kieffer said of the Erion team. "1 did the best 1 could. After about four or five laps, they were gone. Looking at the trap speeds, we were definitely down on the Hondas." . At the end, he was about 38 seconds behind Toland. Ruehle was the first of nine Suzuki GSXR750s which made up the bulk of the field. He was about six seconds in front of Randolph, who'd tried to stay in front before getting passed on the third lap. Randolph settled into fifth, pulling away from Nielsen Racing Suzuki's Mark Junge at a rate of about a second per lap. . . The race for sixth was the only close one, with Junge holding off a charging Roger Bell by half a wheel. Hyper Graphics' Terry·Teske, Ohio Superbike's Daniel Bailey, and Hooters' Brian Gibbs filled out the top 10. tN Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Results: June 7, 1997 (Round 3 of 9) FORMULA XTREME: 1. Andrew Stroud (Hon);·2. Doug Toland (Hon); 3. Dale Kieffer (5u2.); 4. Scott Ruehle (Suz); 5. James Randolph (Suz); 6. Mark Junge (5uz); 7. Roger Bell n (5U2); 8. Terry Teske (Su.z); 9.Daniel Bailey (5uz); 10. Brian Gibbs (5uz); 11. Jeffrey Vos (Kaw); 12. Jeffrey P.urk (5U2); 13. Devin Battley (Yam); 14. Dean Mizdal (Suz). Time: 22 min., 51.160 sec. Distance: 10 laps, 40 miles. Average speed: 105.021 mph. Margin of victory: 5.413 sec. FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINT STANDlNGS (After 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Andrew Stroud (108/3 wins); 2. Doug Toland (96); 3. James Randolph (86); 4. Brian Gibbs (74); 5. Dale Kieffer (S8); 6. Scott Ruehle (54); 7. Ben Welch (46); 8. Mike Krynock (45); 9. Dean Mizdal (42); 10. Anthony Johnson (40); 11. Teny Teske (38); 12. Akiharu Shigeno (28); 13. Paul Mumford (26); 14. mE) Roger Bell If/Mark Junge (25); 16. Mike Sullivan (23); 17. (TIE) Daniel Bailey/David Stanton/Chris Voelker (22); 20. Craig Dabbs (21). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Loudon, New Hampshire, June 15 . Round 5 - Brainerd, Minnesota, June 28 13

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