Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE WR E AGRA N ND ATIONA INAL LF Road Atlanta Tripp Nobles (114) and Jason Pridmore (7) battled In both the 600 and 750cc SUZUki Cup races. Pridmore won both to take home $10,000In purse money. Nobles finished second In both races. By Aaron Mintz Photo s by George Roberts BRASa TON, GA. OCT. 12 yperCycle' s jason Pridmore continued to stam p his authority on the road racing community with re sounding wins in both th e 600 and 750cc Superstock Suzu ki Cup classes at the WERA Grand Na tiona l Finals at Roa d At la n ta , walking away with $10,000 in purse money. "We really got the bike set up we ll in II practice," Pridmore said. "Carl is a sus- r-, 0\ 0\ ..... ~ N ... OJ .£J o ~ u o 6 pensi on wizard and got the bike set up to handle the load the front end takes going down through the hills." Pridmor e carved through th e hill y a n d ex tre me ly fast 2 .5-mil e ro ad course, to be cha llenge d only by loca l favorite Tripp Nobles. Nobles went on to take seco nd in b oth the 600 a n d 750cc races. Richard Alexander d id the d oubl e as well, as he took a pair of third-place finishes in the two Suzu ki Cup classes . "I injured my should er and it hasn' t had time to heal," Alexander said. "I' m in a lot of pain, bu t the ad rena line kicks in during the race. 1 don't want peopl e to think it's an excuse ." Emg o Valvoline Su zuki rid er josh Ha yes took first in the llOOcc Superstock class and his first-ever Suzuki Cup victory. "I can't tell you how happy I am ," Hayes said . "This has been a tough season . and to come and finish first in the Cup race is terrific. 1 can't thank Barry and Tabitha enough for their help and support throughout the season." 750cc FINAL Pridmore w on both q u alifying rounds on Saturday to start the race on pole position. "We were working on set up and the team got it righ t," Prid more said . 'This track de mands a lot from the HyperCyc1e Suzuki, and Mik e, Greg and Ca rl tamed the beast." Another rider getting his bike right during p ractice was Tripp Nob les, who won his 750cc heat race a nd sta rted alongside Pridmo re as the green flag fell on the Suzuki 750cc Cup final. No bles got th e holeshot, but Prid more was side by side as they snaked up through turns one and two. Then th e race was red -flagged after Parrish Register crashed and left his bike on the track . At the restart, it was Nobles and Pridmore again, but this time Pridm ore held off the brakes and slid through the turn to lead by a wheel length . As the two settled into a pace that saw them turning 1:155 on lap two, they ran away from the rest of th e field. Team Pol en Su zuki's Dou g Polen ben efit ed fro m th e rest art a nd moved right into third place, with Team Suzuki Sport' s Richard Alexander in tow. "I've been in a lot of pain all weekend, but when I got out there, the ad ren- . alin e kicked in and I tem pora rily forgot a bo u t th e pa in ," Ale xander said. " I could n' t catch Tripp or jason though; they were gone." . Alexander and Polen's battle was just heating up. "Alexande r was hanging in there," Polen said . "He followed me around and found a few lines and was able to go faster than he did in pra ctice." Alexand e r p assed Pol en m id w a y th rou g h th e race to ta ke o ve r thi rd place. "I start ed slid ing around and the rear kept co ming around," Polen sa id . " I glad to have finished where we did wit h what we got. It was a good day." Alexander accommndated a shoulder injury and still finished third, ahead of Polen. Behind Polen was Bowman, with couldn't get enough drive to run down Michael Barnes , next after a seventh-row start to finish sixth. the front guys." Polen slip ped in beh ind Alexander to finish fourth. Jami e Bowma n ha d made a respectable run at Pridmore during the qua lifying race, but was off the pace of Alexander and Polen in the 750cc race, finishing fifth. "I got a really good start," Bowman sa id . "They had a littl e mo to r on me becau se [ cou ld n' t hang in the draft. [ also had a litiIe right -arm pump at the end. I'll have to go home and wor k on that. Doug and Richard pulled me and I did my best ." As the race progressed, Nobl es and Pridmore we re inseparable. One la p Prid more would come under the bridge and then the next Nobles would be flrst , eac h fight ing to outbrake the other as they entered tum one. "I'd say we were pretty equal;' Prid - "Ca rry Andrew bu ilt a great moto r and the bike ran great," Barnes said. "I ju st needed more track tim e to get my timing down mo re . Plu s, I jus t came from finishing fourth in an AMA race. The competition in WERA is excellent, and any of these guys could run wit h the AMA. They really impressed me." 600cc FINAL Pridmore and Nobles jumped out to the earl y lead at the start of the bOOcc Suzuki Cup race , but Prid more would claim the spo t permanently as he drove by Nobl es up the hill into turn one, a move similar to the one he made in the 750cc race. This time , though, Pridmore would lead a nd maintain a bike-length margin over N obles for the entire race. "I really thou ght I'd be able to pull away fro m Tripp on the horsepow er,' more said . "W e gave each other room to Pridmore said. "It's a true testament to pass and this is the way racing should be. It was terrific, and I'm glad we were ab le to put o n such a show fo r th e crowd." On the bo x, Nobles was all smiles after his second-place finish . " It was really something," Nobles said . "I was glad to be able to take it to him like that. Vic Fasola got the motor competitive, and we were really slid ing Tripp'S riding, because I could not shake him." obles tried to hang, but could n' t seem to be able to put toge ther a pass, even out of the draft. "1 just hung on," Nob les said . "[ ason . has a real fast bike. Vic kept a good bike un de r me but I came up a little short." Early in the race, th ere w as a tw ow a y battl e fo r thi rd between Team Suz u ki Sport rider Richard Alexa nder and Rick Kirk. Kirk made a pass, but it came to nothing as he low-sid ed in tum around out there, but I think Jason was hooking up a little better tha n me. All I have is a revalved stock rear shock. I'm

• Cover