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EVENTS
EDITED BYCAMERONCOATNEY
(Left) Elsenac her won the
750cc Superstock rac e by
a bike len gth at the
Improved Putnam Park
Road Course In Clermont.
Indiana.
(Below) MarkJunge. who
finished second In 750cc
Superstock at Putnam, .
. turned the tab les In 600cc
Supersport.
(Below left) Roger Bell
won three classes at
Putnam : Heavyweight
Twin. 750Cc Superb Ike and
Formula One.
By Aaro n Mintz
Photos by Andy Chadwell
QERMONT, IN, AUG. 10
illy Eisenacher, M ar k Junge
and Roger Be ll battled and
won big at the newly resurfaced P ut na m Park Road
Course.
Pu tna m Park has undergone a series
of improvemen ts - in cl u di ng a d ded
sand traps, ret aining wa lls whi ch ha ve
be en m o ve d ba ck, a n d a $2 m ill ion
resurfacing job - wh ich has contributed
to o ne of the best WERA road racing
facilities. Th is impression was reinforced with a huge racer and supporter
turnout. Furthermore, improvements to
42
the track could be witnessed by watchin g Pro AMA ra cer Matt Mladin, who
recently tested there, set a blazing new
track record of 1:10 :54 . (Team Emgo
Valvoline Suzuki rider Tray Batey held
the old track record of 1:12:24.)
Th e s ky was cloudy and rain was
around the corner; however, Mother
Nature held off long enough for the racers to appreciate the sticky new asphalt
at Putnam .
"I brought the Marietta Motorsports
Su zuki uphere to try the new surface,"
Billy Eisenacher said. "Let me tell you,
it' s no joke - the track is incredible and
breeds speed."
.
Eisenacher was in the comfort zo ne
as he won the 750cc Superstock Race by
fendi ng off th e u ltrafast Mark Junge.
The race started w i.th Billy Eise nacFier
check in g out on hIS "M a n e tt a Motor-
sports Suzuki, building a commanding three- secon d lead over th e lea d
pack. Lead ing th e chase pack was
Roger Bell, followed by TIm Bemisderfer, Daniel Bailey and the rapidly
app roa chi ng Mark Junge. As Eise n a ch e r sett led in to a pace, Junge
we nt to w ork . Ju n ge p ic k ed off
Bemisderfer an d then Bell.
By the halfw ay point, Junge was
on Bailey like a glove.
•
"Bailey's entrance speed into tum
ni ne was slo w, " Junge said. "I was
able to initiate the pass m id co rn er;'
and by the exit I knew I had him. "Then I
put my head down and chased down
Eisenacher on m y Neil sen Racing
Suzuki"
Once Junge moved into seco nd , he
reeled in Eisenacher. Eisenacher didn't
have a pit board and did not kn ow
Junge wa s approaching at first.
"I could hear a bike on my tail, and at
the end I could feel it was Junge behind
m e, " Eisenacher sa id . " I just kept
putting mo re pressure o n th e Dunlops
and wa s able to stay in front of him, but
it wa s really' close at the end . Furtherm ore, I have been co m peti ng aga ins t
Junge in the Nati onal series, and I needed this win against him."
When the dust settled in this race, it
w as Eisen acher taking th e checkered by
a bike length over Junge. Bailey settl ed
for third and Bemisderfer took fou rth.
Roger Bell rounded out the top five.
The action between Junge and Eisenacher contin ued in the 600cc Supersport Race. However, this time it was a
role reversal, with Jun g e takin g the
checkered over Eisenacher. Junge quickly worked hi s way to the front d uring
the first lap.
"My Ne ilsen Racing Suzuki is a rocke t. and I was a b le to m o ve fro m the
fourth row to second pl ace by tum one,
Junge sai d. " By turn seven - th e ' Bus
Stop ' - I outbra ked Robert Richards to
take the lead."
As Iu n ge mai ntai ned abo ut a onesecon d lea d over Richa rd s, Billy Eise nacher pu shed his Marietta Motorsports
Yama ha throu gh th e field to challenge
Richards for second. "I saw I could outbr ake Richards a t the ' Bus Stop' and I
mad e the pass there," Eisenacher said.
"Once I got by. Richards, I tried to run
down Junge, but I ran out of laps. It wa s
a great race, though."
Roger Bell was a WERA Natio nal
Champion last year and runs the AMA
series this year, but manages to squeeze
in time to run at Putnam.
"Putnam Park is one of my favorite
facilities. It ranks up there with the top
AMA circu its," Bell said. "I like to use
the facility to train. and the competition
is great." As Bell trained, he tested his
new Su zuki TLl OOO b y winning th e
Heavyweight Twins class. Bell also won
the 750cc Supcrbike class and the Formula On e cla... by sign ificant margins.
.s
A new name in the equation was Barrett Brumett, who w on the 600cc Produ cti on No vice Race which was h is
first caretir victory.
0
>
Putnam Parte
Clermont, Indiana
Results: August 10. 1997
SISTI< A: 1. Timo thy Bemisderfer (Suz); 2. Brian
Beverage (StU); 3. Jim Vandl