Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I ~ ,~ \ - --- - J . \ ;:,. ' , _ . l_' _ NAIIO NAL CHAL LENGE SER IES NATION AL EN DURA NCE SER IfS r;::ioI~'~ ~" ~ Ind ianapolis Racewa y Park Claremont, Indiana Results: June2B, 1997 (Round 5 of 10) (Lell)The top three O /A : 1. Arcligh t Suzuki (Suz); 2. Team Fury Kawasa ki (Kaw); 3. Ta peworks Racin g III (Suz); 4. Canton Racing Endurance (Suz); 5. Tapeworks Racing (5oz) ; 6. Anny o f Da rkness (Suz); 7. Tape-works Racing 11 (Suz); 8. Cycle Speed Racin~ (Suz); 9. TKO Racing (SU}; ; 10. Nielsen Racing SULUki (Su: ); t 1. Team Fast ) £ Forwa rd (Suz); 12. Team Sharkskinz Racing (Yam); 13. TBA Racing (SU7.); 14. EMGO (5117 15. Curtis .. Racing .); Endu rance teams celebrate after four hours of raci ng. Fro m left to right: Lee Acree and Scott Carpenter of Team Tapewor ks III, Ch ris Hugh es and Joe Prusslano III of Arcl igh t Racing, and Brian (Ka w) . W ERA N A T'L ENDU RANCE SE R IES C ' S H I P l'OINTS STAN DINGS (After 5 of 10 rounds): 1. Te.. m a Suzuki Enduran ce (492.11); 2. Arclight Suz u ki (463.9); 3. Tapcworks Racin g (432 .59); 4. N ielsen Racin g Suzuki (432.09); 5. TKO Racin g (429.33); 6. Team Fu ry (369.89); 7. Tea m Fast For war d (329.18); 8. Team Sha rk ski n z Racing (313.90); 9. Ta pewor ks Racing II (308.30); 10. Team Te n 40 Raci ng (29 1.76); 11. Elresto rm Raci ng (271.07); 12. Tar-wo rks Racing m (260.91); 13. Curtiss Racing (259.05 ; 14. Cycle Sp ee d Ra cing (257.60); 15. Canton Racing Endu ran ce (256.05). Lantz and Ty Howard of Team Fury. (Below) In sprint racing, M ark J unge (57) leads Grant Lopez (196) and Jo sh Hayes (7) in the 600cc Superstock class. The trio finis hed In that order. Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Grattan, MI, July 5 Round 7 - Summit Point, WV , August 2 WR E ANational Sprint Series R d5: Indianapolis Raceway P oun ark The battle eeunnues By Aaron Mintz P hotos by Scott Carpenter CLAREMONT, lN, JUNE 29 he on -track battle between Grant Lopez and Mar k Junge continued as the pair p urs u ed ea ch o the r relentlessly in the 600cc Supersport and the Michelin 750cc Supersport classes. Wh en all w as said and done, it was Ju nge who came ou t on top, winning both hotly co n tes ted cl a ss es . While Lopez didn't find the top step of the podium in th e sma ller-dis p lacem en t classes, Lopez went on to win the 1100cc Super sport cla ss after team ma te Josh Hay es tossed his Valvoline Emgo Suzuki down the track exiting turn 15. Lopez also took the Formula One win when clas s d ominator Tra y Bate y wasn' t able to compete, due to mechanical prob lems . with his b ike in th e endurance race. Joe Prussiano III wa s able to d ominate the 600cc Su pe rbi ke class after Lee Acree crashed his Honda 250cc earlier in practice. As Lopez and Junge brought their Suzuki GSXR600s to the startin g grid of the 600cc Supersport class, they glan ced a t each other and nodded, acknowledging the battle th at was read y to commence. At the start, it was Team Fury's Brian Lantz ta king the lead, with Val voline Em go Su zuki rid er Lopez sha d ow ing Lantz with teammate Ha yes . However, N ielson Enterprise Racing's Junge d ived into turn one very late on the brakes and was able to snea k und er La n tz a n d Lopez. "I wanted to stay ou t in fr ont, but peopl e weren't letting me," Junge said . "I jus t kept pourin g it on, hopin g to break from Lopez." . Lopez ten aci ousl y pursued Junge, and eve n passed him dri ving out of turn two a couple of times. "I w as ge tting grea t d rive," Lopez sai d . "Ju nge w as be tte r on th e brakes than me today and he kept outbraking me." Ha yes met Junge a nd Lopez' s chal len ge by stay ing close to th e pair, not lettin g either leave his sigh t. l "If I could hav e made a pass, I would have," Hayes said , "Both of the m were better on the brakes than me." Early leader Lantz eventually slipped T ba ck to fourth, b u t d id not give any mor e ground to Billy Eisena che r, who finish ed fif th on hi s Marietta Motorspo rts Yamaha. Nielsen Enterprise' s Jun ge continued his d ominan ce at Indian apolis Raceway Park by also winning the Michelin 750cc Supe rsport clas s. From th e s ta r t, it w as Jung e and Arclight Racing's Prussiano jumping ou t in front of th e pack. Su zuki- mo u nted Tim Bemisderfer qu ickly caug ht u p to the pa ck, and the trio pulled away from the field. Pru ssian o led Jun ge, as Jun ge waited patiently and looked for some kind of weakn ess. " I kn ew I could g e t h im o n m y Ni elsen Su z u ki ," Ju nge sa id. " I w as faste r in turns one and two, and I kne w I could get him in s ix late o n th e brakes. At the halfwa y point, I started to make my move. I go t by him and it stu ck . I knew h e w a s be h in d m e, though." Pruss ia no sim ply couldn't ans w er Jun ge' s charge, and had to settle for second place. "I rod e as hard as 1 cou ld," Pru ssian o said . "Mark was a little faster and he got me on the brakes, but Ardight Racin g will be ba ck and read y in Mich igan . Rough track and sus pe nsi on compromises made me a littl e weak in cer ta in parts of the track, and I did not want to lose points by crashing ." Bemisderfer was third , hanging with the lead pa ck in a d ash to the fin ish . Fourth place wen t to Eisen acher, who did a fine job keeping fifth-place finisher Grant Lopez at bay . In the 1100ccSuperstock class, Valvolin e Emgo teammates Josh Ha yes and Lopez took off like rocket s on their bigbore Suzukis, stre tching a lead over the entire field right from lap one. Hayes wa s on fir e - a nd p roved it when he overcook ed the rear tir e a nd high-sid ed his powerful Suzuki exiting turn 1S. After Hayes went down, Lopez stole the show, pulling off a nine-second win over Joe Praesen . "Josh had a killer start," Lopez said. "I was trying to keep wit h him un til he we nt down. At that point, it was pretty much in the bag. I hope my' teammate is all right." Prussian o didn't get a grea t start, and Lo pez's 110 0cc m otor cycl e w as to o much for his Ard igh t Suzuki GSXR750. "We' ll take second," Pru ssian o said . "Whe n we ha ve se tt led for a se co ndplace finish, it isn ' t bad . We 'll hav e something for Lopez in Michigan . " Tim Bemi sderfer continued to hav e a g re at w eek e nd , fini sh ing th ird . Scot t Ca rpenter mounted his Rew ard Cycle Yama ha 1000 and put forth a ll o f hi s effort to keep first-year Expert Luke Ya rbrough at ba y as th e duo traded fourth throughout the race. "I was a thr ee-class Nationa l Champion last year," Yarb rough said. "Jum ping into th e Exp ert class takes a little more time than one w ould expe ct. I'm feeling more comfortable with the significantly faster speeds." In the Formula Two class, Prussian o went out on a mission on his powerful Arclight Suzu ki 600cc su perbike. Hayes diced hard wi th Prussiano, even passing him ex iti ng th e carou s el. H owever, when the d uo would reach the front s tra ig h t, it wa s all Prussiano, as hi s s tro n ge r motor allowed him to pull away from Hayes. ,"I knew I had ~ fas ter bike and my Metzeler slicks were (much better than) Haves' DOT tire s," Prussiano said. "It w as a serious wake-up when Hayes s n uck und erneath me ex it in g tur n nine." "I tried to make the pass stick in the carousel," Ha yes said . "1 knew he was gonna come by with all of the power he ha s. I ju st wanted to be closer and try and get him on the drive." Unfortunately for Ha yes, he was not able to pass Prussiano, and settled for second. Brian Lantz finished third all by himself as he bu il t a lead on Scott Brown, who finis h ed behind La nt z for fou r th p lace. William Himmel sbach took his 250cc two-strok e to fifth place. In th e Formul a O n e clas s, Emgo Suz uki rid er Lopez took adva ntage of - teammate Batey' s absence (due to earlier mechanical trouble) and dominated the race from beg inn ing to en d . Carpe nter closed u p the gap on Lopez during the later stages of the race, bu t was not able to catch him . " Lope z go t a terri fic start a n d he checked out." Carpenter said . "I knew I had second wrapped up, so 1 didn't see the need to pu sh ." Will iam Himmelsbach competed on his 250cc two-stroke bike, bu t clea rly d idn't have eno ug h s peed d own th e quarter-mile straightaway . However, Himmelsbach was able to fend off Andy Cold well on h is b ig Honda 900RR . Bu tch Lawrason rounded ou t the top five on his Yamaha YZF750. Still recoveri ng from a crash suffered in round thr ee, Kids: Don't Smoke! Racing' s Chris Ulrich narrowl y wo n th e 125cc Grand Prix ra ce as h e held off Team Himmelsbach Racing' s William Himmelsbach, wh o had bettered him in th e previou s round held in St. Louis. Third place we nt to Roadracing World' s John Ulrich on his Honda. Chris Pyles was in th e h unt for a tim e, but backpedaled himself ou t of contenti on as a result of mechani cal d ifficulties. One rider who deserves recognition for his effor ts is Novice racer and former Pro motocrosscr Brian Stokes from Douglas ville, Georgia . Stokes is competing in his firs t year as a road racer, and is turning lap times consistent wit h the top . expert riders. Stokes domi nated both 600cc Prod uction Novice and 750cc Prof~ duction Novice. Indianapolis Raceway Park Claremont, Indiana Results : June 29, 1997 (Round 5 of 10) 1100 S/STK: 1. Gran t Lopez (Suz); 2. Joe Prussiano III (Suz ); 3. Tim Bemlsd erfer (Suz ): 4. Scott Ca rpe nter (Yam); 5. Luke Yar bro ugh (Suz). 600 SISTI( EX: 1. Mark Junge (Suz); 2. Grant Lopez (Su;£); 3. Josh Hayes (Suz); 4. Bria n Lantz (Kaw); 5. Billy Eisena cher (Yam ). F2: 1. Jue Pnto;.... iano III (SU7. ; 2. [os h Hayes (Suz) ; 3. ) Bria n La n tz ( Kaw): 4. Scott Bro wn (K aw): 5. William Hi mm elsbach (Yam ). 750 S/ST K: 1. Mark Junge (Suz ); 2. Joe Pruss ia no III (Suz); 3. Tim Bcmi sd cr fcr (Su z ); 4. Bill y Eisc nac hc r (Suz); 5. Gran t Lopez (Suz). 125 GP : 1. C h r is U lric h (H o n): 2. Mic ha el Him melsba ch (Hon): 3. John Ulric h (Hon): 4. Doug Scron ce (Hon); 5. Da n Clemens (H on ). F1 EX: 1. Gra n t Lo pe z (Suz); 2. Scott Carpente r (Ya m ); 3. Willia m H im mels ba ch (Ya m ); 4. A ndy Co ldwell (Hen ); S. Butch Lawrason

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