Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE NASBIEBC SPORTBIKE SERIES He picked off Bro tz on the sixth lap, Lawson on the next lap, then Conboy on the eighth lap. After that, Brotz fell back to nin th, w ith Lawson eigh th, Conboy seventh, and Fitzpatrick just in front in n six th. • Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) SU NOCO RA CE FUELS GTU, I. Eric Wood (Kawl; 2. Brian Livengood (Suz); 3. Larry Locklea r (Kaw): 4. Emanuel Manusu thaki.. (Suz); 5. Mdrty Sa u ls IV (Suz); .. 6. Michael Fitzpatrick (Kaw ); 7. Des Conbo y (H o n);. 8. Mar k Lawso n (H a n); 9 . Cli nt Bro tz (H a n); 10. Jim Dickenson (Suz ); 11. Pet e Joh n son (M-G); 12. Tod d Troxell (Suz); 13. Rick Shaw (Yam); 14. Bobby Ludlum (Ha n); 15. Brad Smi th (Yam); 16. Groff Sawyer IHon): 17. Jack Cotttieb (Honk 18. Bria n Ph illips (Honk 19. Victor Carpio (H e n ): 20. Brent Mercer (Hen). Time: 20 min.• 12.086 sec . Distance: 10 L1 ~. 35.6 mile . s Average speed: 105.735 mph. Marg in of victory: 1.666 sec. SUNOCO RA C E FUELS GTU C 'SH IP POIi'!.T STAND INGS (After 1 of 7 roun ds) : I. En e Wood (35); 2. Br ian Live ngood (3 2 ); 3. La r ry Lo ck lear (30 ); 4. Ema nue l Manusu thakis (28); 5. Marty Saul s IV (26); 6. Micha el Fitz pa trick (25); 7. Des Co nboy (24); 8. Mark Law son (23); 9. Clint Brotz (22); 10. Jim Dickenson (21); 1 t. Pet e John so n (20); 12. Todd Troxell (19); 1.3. Rick Shaw (8); 14. Bobby Lud lum (17) ; 1 ~ . Brad Smith ( ~ 6) ; ' 16. Geo ff Sawye r OS); 17. ja ck Gott lieb (4); 18, Bnan Ph illi ps ( 3) ; 19. Victor Ca rpio (2); 20. Bren t Mercer (J 1). , Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - M 10, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ay Round 3 - May 17. Watkins Glen. New York NASBI HRC Grand Prix by Idemitsu Roland rolls By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL ,MAR. 1 he HRC Gra nd Pri x by Id em itsu, a.k.a. the 12Scc race, was scheduled for seven laps bu t was over after 3 1/2. That's w hen Rolando Quintero, in p urs u it of Performance Machi nes' Rola nd Sa nds, cras hed in the Int ernationa l Hor sesh oe. H e was up qu ickly and even tua lly finis hed seven th in the 15-rider all-Ho nda field, bu t Sands was h orn e free a fte r tha t, ro ll ing to a n imp ressive 21.879-second win. "This was shaping up to be a prett y good race for a while," Sands said. "I passed Rolan d o Qu intero and he was able to pass me back and I was thinking it was going to be a race to the end, and I loo ked back one lap and he wa sn't there anvmore." Sands completed the seven -lap, 25mile race in 15 minutes, 35.593 secon ds at an average speed of 95.888 mph. He and Qu int ero had jumped to the T 00 0\ 0\ ...... ......... ...... ~ U l-o ec ~ 14 Round One: Daytona International Speedway fron t from the start, with Sands coming from the fifth (and back) row and Qu intero from his secon d-fa stest qu alifying spot. By the time they hit the chicane ~m the first lap, it was Sands out fro nt, WIth Quintero getti ng it back and the stru ggle begin ning. The two quickly split fro m the rest of the field and, barring misfortune, one of them would win. It was Quintero 's misfortune to fall and sudde nly Sand s had mo re than 15 seconds on second place. He was horne free. The race for the runner-up spo t wa s intense, .with five rid ers go ing a t it all over the track and nothing decided un til the end . The rider at the front ofthe five-rid er pa ck w a s Competiti on Ac ces sori e s' Stewart Aitken-Code. He had taken o ver th i rd when Quintero fell, jus t behi nd Lavaughn Montgomery, and in fron t of David Doe and Ryder Motorsports' Patrick Ryder . On the next lap he was still third, bu t it was Colin Gilb er t Jr. in second now and the rest behind , thou gh the order was constantly changi ng and the p lace to be on the fina l lap was cert ainly not at the head of this pack. But that's wh ere Aitken-Code found himself exiting the chicane - normally a reci p e fo r di sa s ter, es pecially w ~en yo u' re bein g hou nd ed by a pack like this. Ait ken-Code led in and out and led the pack of five to the line to take a narrow second place. "This was th e hardest race I have ever run," Aitken-Code said. "Anyone co uld have won th is race, because everyone was so close . Leadi ng on the last lap put me at a disad vantage, an d I figured that everyone would pass me, but I was able to hold on to second ." Mo n tgome ry took third, finishing behind his men tor, Aitken-Cod e. "We we nt to co llege together a nd he's kind of a mentor to me," Mon tgo mery said. "I was ab le to ho ld the cha llenges off a t th e beg in nin g of the race, and it go t rea lly crowded a t th e end and I was able to hold everyone off at the end to finish third." Fo u r th w ent to Ry d e r , fo llowed quic kly by Gilbert J ~. and Davi~ Doe.. , Qu in tero took eighth, des pi te losing a foo tpeg in the crash. Todd No rd by, Sean McNew, and Aaron Stein filled ou t l~ the top 10. Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Aorida Results: M arch 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) HRC G RA N D PRIX BY ID EMIT SU, 1. Roland Sand s (H e n) : 2. St e ward Ait ke n-Code (Hen) : 3. Lavau ghn Mont gomery (Ha n); 4. Patrick Ryder (Ha n); S. C uli n Gi lbe r t Jr . (H o n) : 6. David D Ol' (Hon): 7, Rol an d o Q ui ntero (Hen): 8. Todd No rd by (He n): 9. Sca n McNe w (H on ): 10. Aaron Ste in ( H~ n); 11. Jeff Young (Ho n); 12. Lan ce Yeager (Ho n ); 13'.Mlch.lcl ~crZ)' (Ho n); 14. Dennis Woods IHon ): 15. Dani el Ludwigse n (Hon). Ti me : 15 mi n.• 35. 593 sec. Distan ce Seven laps, 25 miles. A ver~ge speed: 95.888 m ph . M.ugin of victory: 21.879 sec. HRC GRAND PR IX BY ID EM IT S U C'SH IP POI NT STANDINGS (After 1 of 7 ro u nds) : 1. Rola nd San ds (35) ; 2. Steward Ai t ken -C ode (32); 3 . L~ v a ,:, ghn Montgomery (30); 4. Pa trick Ryder (28); 5. .Cohn Gtlbert Jr. (26); 6. Davi d Doe (25) ; 7. Rolando Quintero (24); .8. Tod d Nordby (23); 9. Sea n McN ew (22); 10. Aaron Ste m (21) ; 11. Jeff You ng (20); 12. la nce Yeager (19); 1 .3. Micha el Perry (8); 14. Dennis Woods (17); 15. Da niel LuJwigscn (16). Upcoming Rounds: , Round 2 - May 10, Elkhart Lake, Wiscons in Round 3 - May 17, Watkins Glen. NewYork NASB Harley-Davidson Twin Sports Series Round 1 Daytona International Speedway : Graef in a thriller By Henny Ray Abrams DA¥rONABEA CH,FL MAR. 1 , t looked like no one w anted to win this race. Certa inly no one wa nted to lead it, not w hen it w as th is close and not on the last lap .' It h ad corne d own to Hal' s H-D ' s Billy G raef a n d Ba r tels' H-D' s I:?a v e Estok slowing down at the end, neith er wa nting to be the victim of a draft-pa ss on the run from the chicane to the flag. Going into turn one on the final lap of the H arley-Dav id son Tw in Sp orts in race, Estok purposely ran very tu rn one, causi ng Gra ef to pass him on the inside . All Graef could do was look over and shake his head. Graef then went high on the banking, Estok we nt low and led ou t of the chica ne. Side by si de, th ey ra ced o ff of NASCA R tu rn fou r, with Gra ef g rabbing the win by 0.487 of a second . "It feels good to finish up front : ' sa id Graef, the defending class cha mp io n. "At the end I tried to slow d own a little bit, because 1 kne w I had to be in "s econd position to win the races. It feels good to have the nu mber-one plate an d win the first race of the seaso n:' , "Daytona is a d ra ft ing ga me, a n d Billy (Graef) just wo uldn't get ah.ead of me ," Estok sai d. "We were gOIng as sl ow as w e could and I wa s sa y ing , 'Billy, come on and pass me: He p layed it sma rt and drafted past me . It wa s a grea~, race and I am glad to finish second . I W!de (Above left) After a crash by the pursuing Rolando Quintero, Roland Sands (pictured) rode to the easy victory in'the 125cc GP class. (Above) BillyGraef (1) gels the jump on the Harley-Davidson Twin Sports field. Graef took the win by a scant 0.487 of a second. Graef completed the seven-la p, 25mile race in 15 min utes , 35.655 seco nds a t an ave rage speed of 95.880 mph, well off Estok's record from last yea r. From the start, this was a thr ee-rid er race, with Flynn Racing's Shawn Higbee jumping to the lead and wit h Graef and Esto k in h is wake. Hi gbee a nd Graef swapped spots over the first three laps, with Estok using the draft to move u p to seco nd on the fourt h lap. One mo re tou r and H igbee's day was d on e, t~ e Californian parking his 883 in the first turn after he d eveloped a misfire. The race was left to Estok and Graef, w ho had cleared ou t fro m the rest of the 20-ride r field . Estok wa s in fron t on the sixth lap , giving way to Graef to start the final lap . That set u p the run ou t of the infiel d , on to th e ban king, and to th e chicane. No thi ng mattered except for the exit of the chicane to the finish line, and that's . where Graef mad e his move. ' "It's always suc h a pleasure to race with Sha w n H igbee a n d Dav e Es tok b ecause the y b o th s how s uc h good sports manship:' Gra ef said . "I wish we could've wo n the race," Dayt on a Beach 's Est ok lame nted . "We had a good race and 1 am sorry to see Shawn (Higbee) fall ou t. I'm just happy to come from the back row and be able to run up fron t wit h these gu ys: ' Estok had started from the fifth of six rows. Third across the line was Shaun Russell after he'd spli t from Miller Electrical Construction's Jess Roeder on the final lap . But in the pos trace teard own, Russell's 883 was found to make 65.6 horsep ower, just over the class limit of 65, and he was disqualified . That moved Roeder up to third . He'd ru n by himself for most of th second 7 half of the race in front of a five-rider pa ck. The gang of five wou ld eve ntua lly be fi g h ti n g over four t h a n d t h e o rde r cha nged dramat icall y in the final two laps. Lancaster H- D/Bue ll's Ran dy Texter, w ho had ru n as high as fifth, was shuffled back to eig hth and it was New Castle H- D/ Bu ell's Brian Bodine w ho moved up to fourth, stretching his lead on the other four." • ( There was cons tant motion right to

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