Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

round tw o in Atlanta, but ma de up for it by a m a kin g a last-la p p a ss o n Jos h Hayes to take the 600cc Supers po rt class w in. Michael Himmelsbach we nt on to " in the 125cc GP class wi th an impressiv e victory o ver Chris Ulrich. The 600cc Superspo rt rae" pr o vided the hottest action, as N ielse n Racing' s Ma rk Junge fought it ou t w it h Emg o Valvo line Suzuki rid er Hayes and Team Fu ry' s Lantz. The race started ou t wi th Ju nge tak ing an ea rly lead . As the trio d iced wit h each other, they quickly left the rest of the field far behind . The com bat between the three go t so clos e th at you co u ld li ter all y co ve r all of them with a blank et. Junge led for three laps until he went w ide in tu rn o ne, and Ha yes quickly gobbled u p first place. Junge repeated his error in turn one and Lantz was also able to pass him th ere. "I mad e a couple of mistakes in tum one ," Jung e said. "Each tim e I mad e a mistake, Hayes and Lant z passed me." One" Lantz passed Junge, it wa s his show. Lantz closed a 10-bike-Ien gth lead d u r in g th e ne xt four laps an d found himself shad ow i ng Hayes on the las t lap . "O nce I go t by Junge, I started to reel in Hayes," Lant z sai d . "I made up the time on Hayes throug h the ca ro usel. I saw he braked a little early and I waited to climb up on him during the last lap. I go t up o n him and d ra fted by him for the checkered." Hayes was s u r p ri sed to see La ntz ca tch him , a nd los t by a fro n t-w h ee l length. "I sa w Br ian wa s a little qu icker across the p a in t a nd h e ca ug h t m e," : Hayes said . "Brian did a terrific job ru nning me down an d (my) hat's off to him for the victory." "Smo king" Joe Pru ssiano co nt in ued . to dazzle the crowd, and d ominated the B OO Supers port class wi th a solid victory o ve r Bemi sd erfer. The race started out wi th Emg o Val voline Suzu ki rider Josh Hayes taking first place; however, Hayes' race was cut sho rt wh en his bike lea ked oil , ca u s ing h im to cras h . Hi s bike sho t d own th e trac k like a co met with a real dust tra il. Fortuna tel y fo r Ha yes, he wasn' t injured and was able to mount his Suzuki 600 at the restart. From the restart, it wa s Prussiano, bu t n o t w ithout so m e p re ssure from Castle Creek Mo rorspo rts ' Greg Leffler . "Leffler never left me alone until he ran off," Prussia no said. "Every time I tried to ge t away Leffler wa s there, and fortunately for me he wa s o verzealous and ran off in tu rn one . After this, I sa w I had a big lead, and I maintained a consistent pace on the Arclight Suz uki ." Leffler was contend ing for first place until lap seven when he ran off. By the time he re-entered the track, he was able to cont end for second place wit h Bemis d erfer. "I tried to outbrake Joe and ended up running off," Leffler said . "Then I saw Berni sderfer as I re-entered and I went to wo rk on him, but Bem isd erfer had too much and passed me in tum five. I was glad to finish third aft er running off in (tu rn ) one." Bemisderfer inherited seco nd pl ace after Leffler ran wide, but had to fig ht back and forth with him to regain sec" nd place. "I set up Leffler in tum five," a Bemisderfer said. "Leffler had more topend, so I wa ited for the last lap. I made the pa ss and held o n to the checkered 1 flag." 1 Prussiano also walked away with the Fo r m u la T w o r a ce . "Th e p owerful Arclight 600 su perbike is really fast , and Chuck Warren does a fantastic job main- (Above) Josh Hayes (7) leads M J unge (57) ark and eventual wi nner Brian Lantz (24) in the . 600cc Expert final. Lantz drafted past Hayes on the last lap t o wIn by a wheel length. Jun ge was th ird . (Right) TIm Bemisderfer (511 ) leads Joe Pru ssiano III (2) and Greg Leffler (151) In 750cc Expert raci ng. Bemisdert er t ook t he win. ta ining it ," Pru ssi ano sa id . " I' m very fortu nate to ride it. I just put my head down and rod e as hard as I cou ld ." The re al b attl e w a s betwe en La n tz and Ha yes; how ever, this tim e it was a role reversal. Hayes nipped Lan tz on the las t · . "lap to take .econd. "Th is lime I got a little better d rive tha n Brian," Ha yes said . "I wa s able to make th e pass slick. Too bad it wasn't fo r first place, but Joe Pruss iano had checked out and I couldn' t catch him." Bemisderfer is fro m the area an d rid es a t Summit Point on a regular bas is. His kn owledge of the tra ck wa s appare nt in th e Michelin 750c c Supe rs po r t race when he w o n by a th ree-seco nd margin over Prussiano. "Joe go t out in front of me, but (took a cha nce and was able to outbrake him in tum one," Bemisderfer sa id . "After I . passed for first pla ce, I tried to work on bea ting th e track record , but th at will still tak e some time." Pruss ian o fi n is hed seco n d a nd fought it out with Leffler aga in. "It was a tight race," Prussian o said . "I led and everything was goi ng fin e until Bernisd erfer got by me. I went back and forth w ith Greg. It was real close. Ju nge w as th ere fo r a wh ile , but th e Arclight Suzuki held stro ng and I was able to make m y la st pa ss o n Leffler stick." Leffler settled for third and sa id , " It was really great racing. Everyone was so d ose, there was even some paint being swapped - bu t no thin g intentional, jus t ha rd racing. I'll take th ird ." Jung e was also in the mix with Prossiano and Leffler until he ran off in turn o n e . " I braked late g oin g into one," Junge said . "So did Leffler, but his rear wh eel was in the air and when it came down, he got all out of shape. To avoid hilting him, I ran off; then I had trouble getting out of the gravel." Bemisderfer also won th e Formula On e race in the absence of Tray Batey w ho was a tte nd in g a Formula- USA event. "It has been a good d ay and everything has co me together," Bemisderfer sai d . "I wen t o u t an d got a lead and held it. I did see th at (Lee) Acree wa s right there the entire tim e, thou gh ." Ho nda RS250-mo unted Lee Acree wa s indeed shadowing Bemis derfer the entire time. However. the long straigh taway was too mu ch for the 250 against the 1100 Suzuki of Bem isd erfer . Behind Acree in third pl ace an d roundi ng ou t the podium wa s Thomas Ridley. H i m melsba ch r an a w a y w ith the 125cc GP race, es tablishing a 12-second margi n o ver Chris Ulrich after Ulrich ran wide in tum two. Ulrich collected it back and held second to the checkered. Ch ris Pyles finished third on his Honda . As the sea son progresses, novic e racers start to demonstrate their cons istency and th eir ability to ride at expert paces. One of th es e rid ers is Br ia n Stok es, who dom inated th e 600cc Pro- duction class and ran a close second in th e 750cc Prod uction cla ss o n his 600. Two other rid ers to keep an eye on are Jam ie La n e and Cu r ry Justice . Lane came to Vir ginia from Mississippi for the firs t tim e and won on the sketchy and d a m p roa d course in the Novice 750cc Su perbike class. Justice is cu rrent ly dominating the 750cc classes. ' 0' Summit Point Raceway Summ R Point, Virginia Rasults: August 3, 1997 (Round 7 of 10) 1100 SlS TK EX: 1. Joe Prusaia no III (Suz) ; 2. Ti m Bem isd erfer (5u z): 3. Gre g Leffler (Suz); 4. Greg Harrison (Suz); 5. Joe Milanesi (Sun. 600 PROD NOV: 1. Brian Stokes (Hon); 2. Frederick Fa rz.l ne~n (Hon); 3. C rai g Wo rking ()(a wl; 4. Sea n Smith (Suz); S. Kevin Pezobl\5 (Hon) . 600 SISTK EX: 1. Brian Lantz ()(a wl; 2. Jot.h fu yl'S (Suz); 3. Ma rk Junge (Suz); 4 . Ale x Swartz (Hon); 5. Grq; Myrr (SuzJ. 7SO PROD NOV ; 1. Eric Bingaman (Suz); 2. Brian Stokes (Ho n ); 3. Jamie Lane (Suz); 4. Curry JustiCf> (Suz); 5. Fred Farza nq;an (Ha n). 125 CP: 1. Michael H im mel sbach {H on}; 2. Ch ri!l Ulrich (HoN; 3. Chris Pyles (He n): 4. Mar k Andy (Hon); 5. Mark Co rcoran (Hon). . 750 S /ST K EX: 1. Tim Beuusderf e r (Su z); 2. j oe P ru ssta n o III (Su z ); 3 . Greg Leffl~r (Suz); 4. Bill y Eisen acher (Suz); S. Mon k Jun ge (Suz ). 600 SIBK NOV: 1. George Wohlfarth (Kaw ); 2. John Boken IH cn): 3. Willi ilm Beims (Su z); 01. Sean Sm it h (5uz ); S. Frederick Filrza rwgan (Hon). F-1 EX: 1. Joe Prusaieno III (Sud; 2. Jm.. h HOlyI?"!' (Suz ); 3. Brian Lantz (K. w ); 4. Lee ACJft' (Ho nj: 5. C reg Mycr (Suz). 750 SIBK NOV: 1. Jami e Lane

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