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ROAD RACE
WR
E ANATIONAL
E
NDURANCE SERIE
S
Round 9: Texas World Speedway
Then, o n lap five , Batey slipped off of
the trac k and onto the banking.
. "I fell th e rear give, and on these big
bikes , that ca n spell instant tro ub le,"
Batey sa id. "I stra igh tened the bike up
and ran off, but fortunately the banking
was right there and I got back on pavement. I gathered the bike and went back
to w o rk. Kir k had checked o u t and I
knew the best I co ul d get was second
pla ce."
Batey did work his way back to second place, passing teammate Lopez and
Pete Martins. Mar tins and Lopez diced
back an d forth for third , but in the end
Martins go t the ed ge and too k third a t'
th e line. Lop ez se ttled fo r fo urth a nd
(Above) ChrIs Rankin (65)
chases Joe Prussiano III (2)
In the Formula Two race at
Texas World Speedway.
Prussiano went on to win.
(Lelt) Prusslano·s
successful sprint-race
outings also Included a win
in the 1100 Superstock
class , ahead of Grant Lopez
(196) eee Josh Hayes (7).
(Right ) Rick Kirk (s hown)
took the win In the Formula
One cl ass aft er a miscue by
early leader Tray Batey.
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talent ed and we didn' t come together. I
think I was ab le to better drive with mv
Metzelcr slicks vs, Rankin's Dunlops." •
Rankin did lea d o ne lap, but Prussia no wo uld get be tter drive out of tum
12 and was ab le to pull Rankin in down
the front straight. Rankin then held out
on the bra kes and reeled Prussiano back
in throug h tum one, but cou ld never put
together a pass through the in field . " I
tried to ma ke a brea k at the begi nni ng, "
Rankin sa id . "Joe had the championship
an d po ints at sta ke, so I d id n't think he
would ru n the pac~ - but he did, and he
ran very well."
Darryl Sa ylor is another veteran of
road racing a nd is contend ing his second
sprint ra ce since his retirement; however, Sa ylor ha s been rid ing endurance
with Nielsen Racing all season.
"I did n' t have the mo tor to dice with
the other two," Saylor sa id. "I am ge ttin g back into it - especially with two
podium finishes in as many races."
The a c tion s p ill ed into the 600c c
Supersport race, and Erngo Va lvolirie
Suzuki rid er Lopez took center stage in .
a race w hich looked like a shoo tout at
the OK corral . If Lopez was th e sheriff,
Rick Kirk an d Chris Rankin led the wild
gang s hooti ng it ou t with him . Mark
Junge got the ho lesho t, bu t Lo pez qui ckly swa llowed him up and too k th e lead,
wh ich he never surrendered to the mob .
in pu rsuit.
Local Ty Howard led th e posse tha t
cha sed Lopez but was passed by Kirk,
then Rankin. Afte r he fell to four th, he
low-sided an d wa s 'the first to go down.
Jun ge was the next to move into second
a nd try to cha lle nge Lo pez, bu t Kirk
showed him that sometimes yo u've go t
to watch your back in a gunfight. Kirk
sneaked under Junge in turn three to
take third place.
"I wa s gridded in back, so I had to
pick people off for a while," Kirk said. "I
got by Rankin in tu m four, wh ere I just
s tuffed him . Then I went after Lopez,
but tha t was a tall orde r and 1ran out of
laps."
Grant Lopez (196) leads Tray Batey (33),
Pete Marti ns and Butch Lawrason (15) in
the Formula One race. Second-place
finisher Batey led the early going but had
to work back up through the pack alter
having t o straighten up in a comer to
avo id crashing.
Af te r Kirk passed Rankin, Ra nkin
held third several bike len gth s in front
of Nielsen Racing's Jun ge, who had his
hands fu ll with his teammate. Darryl
Saylor may not have a lot of sprint races
under his belt. but his end u rance experien ce prevailed and he was ab le to pass
Junge for fourth pl ace.
"I cou ld Sec th e cha tter Ma rk was
suffering from in places I wasn't ," Saylor said. "I could pr etty much pass him
wherever I wanted. After I did, he drafted with me to the end ."
Mari etta Motorspo rts ' Billy Eisenachc r ran wit h t h e lea d pack, b ut was
quickly shut tled backward as he tried to
ke ep. his u nd er p o w ered Yamaha as
dose to the fro nt as possible. "I tho ught
Billy was waiting for a bus," Saylo r said.
"His bike is rea lly slow do wn the fron t
st raig ht. Hats off to his corne ring ability,
because that Yamaha is a dog."
Prussiano did n' t know whether he'd
be compe ting in th e 750cc race Sunday
when his m otor bl ew up o n Fr ida y .
However, mechanic Chuck Warren is a
magician and he waved his wand over a
borrowed bone-stock Su zuki to put
toget her a winning motor. Prussia no
pulled up to the sta rt ing grid wi th no
expectations of a podium finish.
When the green flag fell, Prussiano
jumped out to the holeshot, wit h Jun ge
. in second p lace. Kirk did n't waste any
tim e wor king to the front in this race,
passin g Jun ge in turn three. Once in second , he chased after Prussiano,
" I go t a g reat s ta rt this time," Kirk
said . "I go t by Jun ge on lap two, bu t Joe
had alrea dy buil t a good lead . I took the
next seven laps ca tching up but it was
100 late."
Like a bu g on his back, Rankin clu ng
to Kirk as Kirk chased Prussiano. However, Rankin didn't h ave eno ugh to
hang o n and he se ttled fo r th ird once
agai n. Junge d id n' t sacrifice any more
positions a nd settle d for fourth pl a ce.
Behind Junge was Mari etta Mo torsports '
Eisenacher, who ran in fift h un til h e
low-sided entering turn nin e. Ca pitalizi ng o n Eise n a ch ers crash w as Jo h n
Haner , who kept hi s Su zuki up front
with the lead pack.
Emgo Valvol in e Suz u ki rid er Batey
. usu ally walk s away with th e Formula
On e-class win, but that was not to be the
ca se in Texas. Bat ey jumped out to a
good start, but was quickly pursued by
Kirk on his Kawasa ki superbike. Batey
ri pped around th e trac k, bu t Kir k was
se tting new tr a ck records in pursuit .
Ronn ie Lund sford too k hi s H ond a
. CBRYOORR to fifth place.
The battle in the 125cc GP cla ss is
heating up as the championship is coming d own to th e wire. H imm el sb ach
came into the ninth round with a small
lead over Ulrich. Himm elsbach has been
on a five-race winni ng streak and add ed
number six to the list. Ulrich settled for
seco nd pl ace and Charles Ergle took
third.
•
"This victo ry is rea lly grea t for Him- ..
melsbach Racing," Himmelsbach said .
"We now go into the last round with a
few mo re point s, but th e season is not
over yet."
t~
Texas Wond Speedway
College Station, Texas
Resutts: september 19, 1997(Round9 of1 0)
bOO S/S P RT : 1. G ra nt Lopez (Suz): 2. Rick Ki r~
(Suz); 3. Ch ris Ran ki n (Suz); 4. Darryl Saylor (Suz);
Mark Junl4t" (Su.£); 6. Steven Isenhower (K.tw); 7. Dilly'
Ei!>l-'llacht.1' (Yam); 8. Shannon Be (Stu); q. Gn-g My....
n
(Su/); 10. PeW) IlonMon (Kaw); 11. Sp ileConlin (5oz).
150 S/SPRT: 1. jOt' Pruwia eo III (Su.r.); 2. Rick Ki rk
(Su d; J . C h ri .. Ra nkin (SUT. ); 4. Mark Junge