ROAD RACE
Round 3: Road Atlanta
N R AMERICAN
O TH
SUPERBIKE SERIES
out tha t I was in front a t thc 'start-finish
line."
Z10ck Racing's And y Dea therage was
sixth, all by himself, as was Grigg in seventh. Then came Eric Wood, in front of
Lee Sh ierts a fter a race-long duel. wi th
Michael Fitzpatrick 10th.
11,e second-race start looked different
th an the first. with Gra ves getting the
holeshot and Batey starting from the back
after his mechanical failure. The constan ts
w er e Sadows ki a nd Kli ng. who brok e
away with Graves at the start wh ile Batey
tracked them down.
Sadowski- began the th ird lap in th e
lead with Graves second in front of Kling.
th en seco nd a n d third swa p ped and
Batey was up to fourth on the fourth lap
and nipping at Gra ves' heels.
It did n' t take him long to get by and
close up on the lead pair, the ha lfwa y
point being marked by a lead trio form ing. One more tour and Batey was second, and on the 12th lap he was into the
lead . Sadowski said later he did n't know
he wa s coming.
"He really came out of nowh ere," Sadowski said. '1 wish they'd comm unicated
on my pit boa rd that it was Tray."
But there was nothing he could do but
try to get it back, whi ch he failed to do.
Part of the reason was the track.
"The tra ck go t real hot ," Sadow ski
said . "I tried to stay on line and wo uld
dri ft three, four feet off line at the exit We
got second and a big po ints lead, and that
was our objective."
"After I got by (Kling an d Sadows ki),"
Batey said, "it was almos t like they said,
'H e deserves somethin g.' and they didn't
come back by me. The first thing I wanted
to do was get on the box. The first lap I
was way back . I had to reall y pu t my
head d own . Wh en I close d on Chuck
(Graves), I thou ght. maybe I'd be on the
box; when I got by, I thought, 'Great, I'm
on the box /"
Consideri ng how he felt about his riding. Kling wa sn' t unhappy abou t finishing third.
"T he bike was g rea t, th e tires were
great , the rider need s a little work," Kling
sa id , adding that he was losing tim e in
the esses. "That's usually my stronges t
part of the track. The bike was makin g me
stay there. It says a lot for the bike. It's a
rocket ship ."
Graves came along nine seconds later,
his forearms preventing him from rid ing
mo re stridently.
"I ro de a bunch of races a nd did n't
drink e no ug h w ate r," G r aves sa id .
"When you d on ' t drink eno ugh water
your forearms pump up. "
Fraser was up fro nt fo r most of the
race; Lopez had to catch him - which he
d id, but not until the ninth lap. The pair
ran together to the end with Fraser again
getting the edge.
Shierts wa s about seven seconds
behind Fraser and Lopez; then came Eric
Wood , wit h Labelle's Cu rtis Adams getting the best of a four-rider figh t for tent h.
O'
Road Atlanta
Brase lton, Georg ia
Results: Ju ne 22, 1997 (Round 3 of 8)
22
smcoco RACE runs [ ·USA QUALIfYING: 1.
Tra y Batey 0 :22.796); 2. David Sadow ski (1:23.244); 3.
Fritz Klin g 0 :23,703) : 4. C huc k G raves (1:23.826); 5.
Gra nt Lopez (1:23.870); b. C u rt is Adams (1:24.163); 7,
C hri s Ta,,'16 r 0 :24.209); 8. Ja son Fra ser 0 :24.231); 9.
Doug Po'len (1:24.313); 10. Eric Woo d (1:24.322) ; 11.
Steve Grigg (1:24.363); 12. And y Deatherage 0:24.418);
13 . Lee 5hierts (1 :25. 820) ; 14 . Mi chael FitLpa trid.
0 :26.749); 15. Jonatha n Bolt on 0 :26.888); 16. David
Yaakov (1:17.8;.1) ; 17. Gn-g Harrison (L27 .915); l R $cot t
Carpenter 0:28.146); 19, Stoth Hahn 0 :28.220); 20. RK-L
Kirk. (1 :28 .2]'q); 21. Mittht ·w WinlldcLPr 0:28.492); 22.
Paul Nt"llt'T"otro m 0 ;29.492); 23. Jim Albritt on (1;29.497);
24, Kyk- Zazz i 0:29.514); 25. Rodn ey Burr <1:30.037); ze,
' on Schro ht (l :32.355 ); 17. Devi n Bartley (l:33lS52).
ow
RAC E O NE: I. Dave Sotd ski lMuz); 2 Fritz Kling
(Yam); 3. Ch uck G raves (5uz ); 4. Iaso n Fra~ (Hon); 5.
5uz); 6. Andy Deatherage (Kaw); 7. Ste\'e
Gra nt Lopez <
Grigg (Muz); 8. Eric Wood (K.aw ); 9. Lee Shit-rts (SUL) ;
.10. Mich.tel FitzpatriCL Oc..w ); 11. Onug PoIl"fl(SU7.); 12.
[onathan Bolto n (5uz); 13. Sco tt Carpente r (Yam ); 14.
D.tvid Yaako v (Yilm ); 15. 5l"th Ha hn (Su z); 16. Greg
Harrison (SuT.); 17. Pa ul Nettersrrom (Kaw); HI. Rodney
Burr (Dim); 19. Jim A lbritton (Ya m); 20. Jon Schroht
(Suz); 21. Devin Battley (Yam ); 22. Tray Batey CSuz ); 23,
Curtis Adams (Hon); 24. Chns Tay lor (Suz).
T ime: HI m m., 14.133 S(.'('.
Dt sran ces 13 la ps, 32.76 mill'S.
Average sp eed: 107.789 mph.
M.;Jrgi of victory: 2.153 sec.
n
RACE 11'\'0 : 1. Tray Batey (5u:t); 2. Da ve Ski
(Mu z); 3. Fritz Kling (Yam); 4. Ch uck Gr.wl"!> (SU7.); 5
Jaso n Fraser (Ho n): 6. Cr.l.llt Lope z (5uz) ; 7. Lee 5h it'Tt~
(SUL) ; 8. Eric Wl.uJ (K .-I ); 9 . SIt>V1" Gri ~g (Mu 7.) 10.
w
;
Curti.-'. Adam.. (Ho n); 11. Michael FilT.pa
tndr. (Kaw l; 12.
JOn.-llha n Bolton (Ho n); 13. Scott Carpenter (Yam); 14.
David Yaakov (Yam ); 15. Greg Harrison (502); lb. Seth
Hahn (5uz) ; 17. Rodne y Bur r (Bim) ; 18. Pau l
Ne tterstrom (Ka w) : 19. Devin Battley (Du c); 20. Jon
Schroht (Suz); 21. A ndy De atherage (Ka w ); 22. Jim
Albri tto n (Yam).
Time: 18 min ., 8.2275«.
Disunce: 13 Laps, 3276 mill"!>.
Ave~ge sre.ed: 108.374 m ph .
Mupn of victory: 0.678 sec.
S UNOC O RA C E FUE LS F· llSA C'S HI P P OI NT
ST ANDINGS (Aftf'r6 nf 16 round, ); 1. Dave Sedowsjc
(1R3/ 1 win ); 2. Fri tz Kling (168); 3. Tra y Batey (J36 /1 );
4. And y Deeeherege (DO); 5. jason Fraser (117); b. Eric
(Right) Eric
Bostrom (20) beat
BlUy Graef (11) to
win th e Harley~
Davidson
TwinSporl final at
Road Atlanta.
(Below) David
McGrath (66) won
• clos e ESC
Brakes Sporlblke
fi nal. Eventual
third-place
fin isher Mark '
Reed (170),
ru nn er-up Eric
Wood (7) and a
host of others
follow under the
bridge.
m ile race in 16 minutes, 4.635 seconds,
at an average speed of 103.451 mph.
Fourth place ended up in the hands
of Mi ke Cicco tto , the Luke's Kawasaki
rider an early third before being passed
by Wood. He ran ju st behind th e lead
trio until the en d, closing up, then losing
touch near the end .
Chuc k Gra ves was fift h aboa rd his
Suzuki GSXR6OO. He chased and caug ht
Ciccotto bu t could n' t get by and was a
secure fifth for much of the race.
Behind him ca me Micha el Conlon,
the Lee's Per form an ce Suz uki 600 rid er
_ running by himself from abo ut the mid point on,
Joshua Hayes was seventh after passing Tilley' s H·D's Buell-mounted Tripp
N obles o n the eig hth lap. Nobles fin0
ished eighth .
Road Atlanta
Braselton, Georgia
Wood n n » 7. Michael Fit zpatr ick (107); 8. C h u ck
G raves (l OS): 9. Stev e Gri gg (100 ); 10. Cu rtis Ad a ms
(99/ 2); I I. Lee Shierts (% ); 12. Dou g Cha nd ler (70 /2);
13. Doug Pol en (65) : 14 . (T IE) C h ris C ar r IJ aso n
Pridmore (64 ); 16. Sco tt Carpen ter (60); 17. [a mes
Randolrh (59); 18. Seth Hahn (56); 19. Grant Lopez (51);
ZO. Pau Mumford Jr. (49).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 4 - Portla nd. Oregon. J uly 20
Round 5 - Elkhart Lake. Wisconsin. August 3
N S CB
A BIEB rakes Sport B
ike
Round 2 Road Atlanta
:
McGrath in
a squeaker
By Henny Ray Ab rams
BRASELTON, GA,JUJliE22
f th ere was ever an arg ume nt for
achieving parity through mandatory
horsepower limits, this was it. Three
riders flew to the line in a blan ket finish,
wi th Te a m Suz u ki Sp ort's Da v id
McGrath taki ng the narrowest of wi ns 0.117 seconds - o ve r Peng ui n Ra cin g
School's Eric Wood, with Triple R Racing's Mark Reed a sha dow third.
It di dn't loo k like it wo u ld be th at
close for much of the EBC Brakes Sportbike final. McGrath got the jump on the
33-ride r field , sh ooting h is Su z u ki
GSXR600 to the front, wit h Re ed ' s
Kawa sa ki close behind , and th e res t of
t he 10 2-horsepowe r -maxim u m pack
stru ng ou t behind them.
The Kawasaki-mounted Wood didn't
get mu ch of a start and had to work his
way to the fro nt, wh ich he did in short
order, movin g in to thir d on the fourth of
11 laps.
I
By the n , Reed was i n th e lead ,
th ou gh nomin ally ; he a nd M cG r at h
gave every indication that it wou ld be a
two-rider ra ce - none others need apply.
But a lap later, Wood, who 'd been inchi ng fnrw ard with every passing corne r,
showed that his p rog ress wou ld cnntinue and it was o nlv a ma tter of time
before they were th;ee for the lead .
Th e eigh th lap is when th at wo uld
happen ; with less tha n four laps to the
end , it was Reed , McGrath a n d th en
Wood, then a ga p to seven more in various ly sized clusters .
End ing the nint h la p, it looked like
this one was Reed 's. He had his biggest
lead of the race, a nd now it was o ver
Wood , who'd passed McGrath ea rlier
the sa me la p . And whe n he took the
w hite flag , it loo ked like the fina l la p
was only a formality.
But when thev flew out of the Gravity Cavity, the long back straight leading
to the Goodyea r Bridge and then the
fina l turn and the start-finish line, Wood
and McG rath had not only reeled him
in, but dropped him to third.
Th ree-wide, th ey ex ited the bri dge;
Wood i n fr o nt, th e n M cGrath , then
Reed . It shou ld n' t have been a bad spot
fo r Wo od to b e i n , b u t it w a s, as
McGra th got just in fron t of him in the
ru n down the hill to the final right-hand
befo re the s tart-finish. Becau se of w here
the finis h line, is whoever leads out of
th e fi nal co rne r is u sually sa fe fro m
attack, and McGrat h wa s no differen t.
"I thought I had it won ,"Vvood said
afterward, but he had the conso lation of
maintaining his championship p oints
lead .
After two of se ven races he has 67
points - 12 mo re tha n McG rath . Reed
moved into third, wit h 46.
Reed completed the l1-la p, 27.72-
Results: June 22, 1997 (Round 2 of 7)
EBC DRAK ES SPORT BIKE: 1. David McGrath
Reed (Kaw); 4. Mike
C ic co tto ( Ka w); 5 . C h uc k Gra ve s (Su z) ; 6 . Michael
Co nlon Jr. (5uz); 7. Joshua Hayes CSuz); 8. Tripp Nobles
(Bud ; 9. (Juries Chouinard (Ho n); 10. O<'l\-ld Yaakov
(Ka w ); 11. David Josep h Rose (Hon); 12. Stev e Johnson
(Ka w); 13. joey G illeland (Ka.....); 14. Jim ll"Stt'f (Su.d; 15
James BroMOD (Suz); 16. Bud Lawt er (H , -.n) ; 17. M" rk.
k
;
McCormick (Hu n); 18. Marc 5I: "l'Wood (Stl1:) '19. Grq;
Harrison (Su;L); 20. David McPhtTo-.on (K" w ); 21. Krith
Wdson (Ka w ); 22. u... \\'hill" (Due); 2.1. \ t oll'(' Undt1'btTg
(Hon ); 24, Ti nlulh y CtOd win (Kaw ); 25. Stev en Schmid
(l0Iw); 26. Todd Evans (Bu e); rr . Eric Gra y (He n): 21:1.
Ma rt y Sa Ul5 (Suz ); :!9. f red Stucky (Ho n ): 30. Brian
Liven good (Suz) ; 31. William Taylor (Suz); 32. Rick Kirk.
(5uz); 33. Matthew wtnneckcr ; 4.
And rew Stro ud (32); S. Tripp No bles (31); 6. (TIE) Jim
Lesree/ Dou g Toland (30); 8. (TIE) Dave 5.1dowski /Mike
Cicco tto / j am es Br onson (2 8) ; 11 . (T IE) C h u ck.
G r avc s / Dav id Ic ecpf Ro se (26); 13 . (TI E) Rick
Kirk /Micha el Conl on (25 ); 15 . (TI E) To shi yu ll
Kaku /Joshua Hayes (24); 17. Rad Grea ves (23); 18. (TIE)
Michael Lu ke/Charles Chouinard (22 ); 20. (TIE) Owen
Weichcl / David Yaakov (21).
(Suz ); 2. Eric Wood (Ka w); 3. Mark
Upcomi ng Rounds:
Round 3 - Portland, Oregon. July 20
Round 4 - Elkhart Lake. Wisconsin, August 3
NS
A Blllarley-Davidson Twin Sports
R
ound3 Road Atlanta
:
·Eric tbe
Great
By Henny Ray Abra ms
BRASELTON, GA, JUNE 22
ll that's kept Miller Electrical Cons truction' s Eric Bos tro m from a
pe rfect season is a d isqualifi cati on
after w i n ni ng t he W ill o w Springs
A
