Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

run with the top tw o early before get ting caught from behind by the Honda of Chad Hea ly and Kawasaki-mounted Sherry Dowling . On the fifth lap , Dowling moved into thir d, lost it two laps later , then took it back - only to lose it again. So it we nt to t he fi nal la p , w hen Dow ling ed ged away, leaving Farash to finish fourth, wi th Healy fifth . "C ha d H ea ly a n d Dun can Fara sh gave me the best race I ha ve eve r had here at Daytona," Dowling said. "I wa s able to get a good ru n ou t of the chica ne and I guess they were not able to d raft up to me coming to the line. I'm glad to ha ve th e op po rtunity to be in Victory Lane, th e sa me place as my her o Dale Earn hard t. It' s the thrill of a lifetime." Stre tc he d o u t be h ind t he top five w ere Suz uki 400-mounted Bill Wacho lder . Mark Mo rrow a n a Ya maha 350 , Ch arl es Sander's Laverda 668, Ga ry Sallig on a Suzu ki E5-500 twin, and David 11\ Watson on a Yama ha 600. Daytona Internationa l Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Res ults: March 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) SUNOCO RACE FUELS GT LIGHTS: 1. Ron Perry (Yam); 2. Greg Do ney (Hen): 3. Sherry Dow ling (Ka w) : 4. Dunca n Farash (Hon); 5. Cha d Heal y (Hon ): 6. Bill Wa ch older (5uz); 7. Mark Morrow (Ya m ); 8. C ha r les Sander ILav): 9. Ga ry Sa llig (5 u z ); 10. David Watson (Yam); 11. Scott Jon es (He n): 12. Brad Dod ds (Yam ); 13. Ha ro ld Hill ard (Yam) ; 14. Traci Scha low (Hon ): 15. Ma rti n Sauls IV ([)uc); 15. Dave Ros no If-lon). Timer 21 min.• 39.251 Sl'C. Dist~ nce: ' 1 0 la ps, 35.6 miles . Ave rage speed : 98.641 mph. ('U1 Marg in of victory : 4.807 St.-' tdS. SUNOCO RACE FUELS GT LIGHTS C'SHIP POI NT STANDINGS (Afte r 1 of 7 rounds): 1. Ron Perry (35); 2. G reg Doney (32); 3. Sherry Dowli ng (30); 4. Dun can Faras h (28);.5. Cha d Healy (26); 6. Bill Wach older (25); 7. Mark Morrow (24); 8. Charles Sand er (23 ); 9. Ga ry Sallig ( 22); to. David Waban (21); 11. Scott Jones (20); 12. Brad Dodds (19); 13. Harold Hill ard (18); 14. Traci Scha low (I7); 15. Martin S. uls IV (16); 15. Da ve Rosn o (I S). a Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - May 10 , Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Round 3 - May 17, Watkins Glen, New York NASB/Sunoco Race F lsG Series ue TO Round 1 Daytona International Speedway : Wood by a mile . By Henn y Ray Ab rams DAYTONABEACH, n, MAR. I a d Du tchman Ya ma ha 's Fr itz Klin g fin ish e d this race on the track rat her than in the back of a p ickup truck - the victim of a blown mot or - he probably would have won. But inst ead he wa s left to give the thumbs-up to race winner Eric Wood . the Penguin Racing School Ka wasaki rid er having sped to an impressive wi n in the inaugural Sunoco Race Fuels GTO class for large-d isplacem ent motorcycles. It w as n 't a su rp rise tha t Kling was able to make his way to the fron t, even though he started on the sixt h row while Wood bega n on th e fro n t row. Kli ng u sed the power of his YZFIOOO "Yarnamonster" to move up to second by the end of th e fir st la p , th en camped o n Wood ' s rear tire for anot her few laps befo re closing in on th e Eas t Banking and flyin g by on the front straight of the tri -oval. It was clear that Kling was clear ing out and he had about a five-seco nd lead at the halfway point. Then, on the seventh lap, his motor began smo king as he entered tu rn one and he pulled off in the Internat ion al H o rs esh o e , wa tc h ing H (Left) Charles Chouinard (2) leads Eric Wood (5), Louis Cobello (92) and the rest at the start of the Sunoco Race Fuels GTO race. Wood went on to win. (Below) Wood als o won the GTU race , on a borrowed-back ZX-6R that he had recently so ld. Wood speed by on his way to his firs t win of the day. "O u r mot or ra n rea lly well," Wood . said after winning the lO-lap, 35.6-mile race by 35.389 seconds. "The bik e was ab le to stick to the track and it was very consistent. I thi nk wit h a set of new tires we' ll be ab le to drop a second off our times and maybe run so me 525." W hen Kling went out, Wood had more tha n 25 seco nds'in hand, so it was clear he 'd win u nless his m otor a lso went away. So the race was for second and it tu rn ed into a No rtheast region al event. New Hamps hire's Charles Chouina rd s lotted his Hooters Su zuki GSXR750 in to second, a couple of second s in front of New Jerse y's Richard Al exa nder Jr. on the Barnett Racing Suz uk i 600, one of the few GSXR600s in a field of 750s and larger. "We have been chasing our tails here all weekend," Choui nard sa id . "I think we' re hea di ng in the righ t direc tion n o w. The tight co u rse we have at Loud on h elps u s ou t h e r e w it h th e infield, bu t it' s a ll th rottle out on the bankings." Chouinard finished just over tw o seconds in front of Alexander [r ., w ho was recovering from a tough morn in g. . "I took a pretty hard cra sh this morning and we were ab le to ge t it togeth er and get back ou t there," Ale xander Jr . sai d . " I was actua lly ou t th ere on m y 600, tr yin g to brea k it in fo r th e EBC race. I decided to stay out there and run with th e guys . I d idn't realiz e I was third . I was coming from the back, jus t playing. My bike ra n well and I'm glad to be up here. It's kind of a shock. " When the race ended, Alexander Jr. h a d m ore than eight seconds on the fight for fourth between Suzuki-mounted Louis Cabello and Ducati-mounted Chris Fillmore. The pair had been part of a four-rider pack that broke up in the final few laps. On the final lap , Michael Fitzpatrick, who had been as high as fourth, we n t out of the race, handing fourth to Cabello, who was in eig ht h at the midpoint. Fillmo re was jus t off the pace, and the n came th e pa iring of Sco tt Rueh le and Angels Nic ho les, who hooked up from the early going and swapped back and forth befo re Ruehle settled it on the final lap. Eric Mo ucatel brought h is Duca ti hom e in eig ht h, in front of the Suzuk is c\ of Bre tt Singer and Rick'C roly. Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) SUNOCQ RACE FUELS GTO: 1. Eric Wood (K.aw): 2. C ha rles Chouina rd (Suz) : 3. Richard Alexan der Jr. (Suz); 4. Louis Cobe llo (Suz ); 5. Chris Fillmore (Due); 6. Sco tt Rueh le (Suz ): 7. Ange ls Nicholes (Kaw) : 8. Eric Mou cat el (Dud; 9. Brett Singer (Suz ); to. Rid C ro ly (Suz): 11. De Ho gd ahl (Suz) : 12. Michael Fitzpa trick r (Kew): 13. Brent Mercer (Hon): 14. Ryan Meyer (Suz): 15. Dou glas G ro ss (Dud ; 16. Fritz Klin g (Ya m); 17. Tim Bemisdcrfer (Suz) ; 18. Jamie Jam es (H-D). . T ime: 19 min., 31.601 sec. Di stance: to la ps, 35.6 miles. Average speed: 109.389 mph . Marg in of vict ory: 35.389 mph. SU NOCO RA CE F UELS G TO C'S H I P POINT STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 rounds); 1. Eric Wood (35); 2. Char les Cho uinard (32); 3. Richard Alexand er Jr. (30); 4. Lou is Cobe llo (28); 5. Chri s Fillmore (26); 6. Scott Rueh le (25); 7. Ange ls Nic hol es (24); 8. Eric Mou ca tel (23); 9. Brett Sin ger (22); 10. Rick C roly (21); 11. Der H og d .a hl (20); 12. Mic hael Fit zpatric k (19 ); 13. Brent Mer cer (18) ; 14. Rya n Meye r (7); 15. Douglas Gross (16); 16. Fritz Kling (15); 17. Tim Bemisderfer (4); 18. Jam ie Ja mes ( 3). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - May 10 , Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Round 3 - M 17 , Walkins Glen, NewYork ay N S lSunocoRace Fuels G Series AB TU Round 1: D ytona Inte tiona a rna lSpeedw y a Wood bounces back By Henny Ray Abrams DAYTONA BEACH, n, MAR. I w o ra ces a fte r the m o tor on his Penguin Racing Schools' Kawasaki ZX-6 expired, Eric Wood was back at it, racing a different mo torcycle he had recen tly sold and was now breaking in. He broke it in so we ll tha t he ended u p riding it in to Victory Lane, taking the ina ug u ral win in the Su no co Race Fuels GTU cl a s s for m id-di spl a cem ent machines. "I sold thi s bike to a gentleman not long ago and he fres hened it all up for me and tod ay I broke it in for h im," Wood said after gradually edging away from Brian Livengood to win the 10-lap, 35.6-mile race by 1.666 seconds. "I abo ut had my steering stem fall off on lap six, T a nd it ca used a p retty severe cha tter . Other th an t ha t, we got throug h th e race." Becaus e this was the first race, Wood se t the class re cord w ith a time of 20 mi nutes, 12.086 seconds at an average speed of 105.735 mph. It was Wood and Liven good p re tty mu ch from the start, with Larry Locklear an d Manny Manusut ha kis keeping pace, though they weren't able to make significant progress on the leaders . The lead quartet split into two pairs on the sixth lap wh en Wood and livengood made it a two-rider race for the lead . Wood always held the poi nt, with Liv engo od al w a y s press ing but n ot passing . And as th e race w o re down, Wood wo re d own Livengood and easily took the win. "O nce I got ou t of Eric's draft, the wind p revented me from catching him," Livengood said. "It was crowded at the beginning and I w as ab le to make my way to the front. Late-braking racing is th e th em e of our racing team and I've been ca lled ' La te Brake' a few times be fore." Th e couple behind th e lead ers was Locklea r and Ma nus u thakis, mostl y in th a t o r der fo r t he dura t ion , th ou gh never far apart. "None of these guys give you an inch out there," Locklear said. 'The race was tooth-a nd -nail the w hole way . I don' t know how I kept Ma nusut hakis behind me . We we re going back an d forth in the draft and la te -b raki ng each o the r . He gave me a tou gh race." After the lead four came Marty Sauls IV, all alone; then cam e another pack of four , and this bun ch hung together as a group almos t to the end. Des Conbo y, Mark Law son and Clin t Brot z, all Honda-mounted, ran just in front of the Health Systems Kawasaki of Michael Fitzp atrick at the midway point befo re Fitzpa tri ck began to ma ke h is m ove.

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