Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

th e end, with Team As ylum's Mich ael Friberg moving up two spots o n the final lap to take sixth in fron t of Fra nk Stro ma n, w ith Texter eighth . Ge r ma ny 's Th om a s Pfr om m w as n i n t h , wi t h Valley Ra cin g ' S C h ris Dem opou los in 10th. C\ Daytona Inte rnat ional Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) H AR LEY-D A VID SO N T W IN S PO RT S, !. BHly '(-! G raef 2. DaYL' Estok: 3. Jess RUL cr ; 4. Brinn Bod ine ; 5. Michec Friberg; 6. Stev e Blackburn: 7. Fra nk St roman: 8 . Rand y Te xt er ; 9 . T homa s P fr o m m : 10 . C hris Demo poulo s; 11. Greg Hutcheson; 12. Sco tt Koro l; 13. Robe rt S mit h; 14 . Matt hew Je ns e n ; 15 . S haw n Black burn: 16. Craig Gag ner; 17. Shaw n Higbee; 18. Richie Mo ms; 19. Chris Bliss. Ti me: 15 mi n.. 35.655 sec . Di s ta n ce: Seven laps, 25 m iles . Ave rage spee d. 95.880 mph . Ma rg in of victory: 0.487 sec. HARL EY·D A VIDS ON TW IN S P O RTS C' S H IP POI NT ST ANDINGS (Aft er 1 o f 7 race s): 1. Billy Graef (35); 2. Da ve Estok (32); 3. Jess Roed e r (30); 4. Bria n Bodi ne (2tH; 5. Mich ael Fribe rg (26); 6. Steve Blackburn (25) ; 7 . Frank St roma n (24 ); 8 . Rand y Te xter (23); 9 . Thomas Pfro m m (22); 10. Ch ris Dem o po ulos (2 1); 11. G reg H ut ch eson (20); 12. Sco tt Korol (lq); 13. Robert S m it h (18) ; 14 . Ma tt hew Ie n se n (17 ); 15 . S ha w n Blackburn (16); 16. Craig Ca g ner (15); 17. Sha wn H igbee ( ]4 ); 18. Richie Morris (13); 19. Chr is Bliss (12). Upcoming Rounds : Round 2 . May 10, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Round 3 . May 17. Watkins Glen. New York NAS BBuellLightningSeries R ound1:Daytona InternationalSpeedway Shawn shines By Henny Ray Ab rams DA¥rONA BEACH, FL, MAR. 1 t d idn 't tak e lon g fo r Ti ll e y ' s H D/ Buell's Shawn Higbee to make his w ay to the fro nt of th e Buell lig h tning Series field . The n he had no inten tion of leaving . What he d id leave w as the rest of th e 16-rider field , and at an alar ming rate. It end ed u p to be no t so m uch a race as an ex hi b itio n , w it h H ig bee la pping the 3.56·m ile Speed way at an av erage speed a bo u t 2.5 s econds faste r tha n seco nd pla ce . That spo t w en t to H a l' s H - D's Billy Grae f. . "I' m just trying to ge t up to speed," sa id Higbee, th e defend ing race wi n ner. Qua lifying had been held in the we t a n d h e e nded up seco n d, a spo t h e wa nted to im pro ve on . "The ra in kind of hampered ou r progra m a littl e b i'b/ ' H igbee sa id . " W e d idn' t ge t a lot of track tim e and it w as interesting to go ou t ther e. I d id n' t kno w w ha t my se tup was go ing to feel like. Th e bik e ra n good an d th e chass is wasn't too bad . So it was good eno ug h to win ." Higbee completed the seven-lap, 25m ile race in 14 m inu tes, 42.525 seconds at an average speed of 101.654 mph. He won by 19.126 seconds. H e could n' t better his race recor d, tho ugh, and par t of that could be put to the wea ther. The track was dry by the ti m e the race we n t off - the firs t of the seven-r ace NASB prog ram - just a fte r no o n o n a coo l, overcas t, bre ezy d ay at Dayt ona . H igbee too k the lead straight away and G raef was determi ned to go w ith -h im no t determined eno ug h, thou gh . Higb ee pu lled away qu ickly, u pby a bou t n in e seconds o n the fo ur th la p an d sail ing free to the end . Grae f'srace wa s equ ally un ev en tful. When he and H igbee pulled away, th e o thers co ul d n' t keep u p a nd so G ra ef w as a safe second alm ost from th e start. I "Sh a w n (Hi g b ee) go t awa y fr om m e," G raef said . "I was a littl e overgeared and w as push ing a lot of ai r out th e re a nd w asn' t ab le to p ick u p the time [ neede d to. I' m just ha ppy to finis h in sec ond place and now we are going for tha t title." Th e r a ce b eh ind ' th e le a d er s was inten se for the first four laps, and the n the pa ck of five began to break u p, with HMC Racing 's Shawn Co nrad and Valley Racing's Brian Co nley leaving a trio beh ind. . Th en , late in the race, Co nrad began to leave Conley behi nd and crossed the line in third pla ce. Bu t he w ould lat er be d isq u alifi ed bec a u s e h is e ngine prod u ced too much ' pow er in the postrace insp ectio n. The motor output m easu red 90.6 horse pow er and the class lim it is 90. That pu t Co nley up to third . Mill er Electri ca l Const ructi on ' s Jess Roed er , Lan cast er H -D / Bu ell 's Rand y Texter , and New Castl e H -D /Buell Racing's Brian Bod ine w ere the thr ee raci ng behind th e top fou r for w ha t would turn out to be fou rth pla ce. Texter had been closest to the fron t before dropping in to th is fray in front of Roed er on the third la p . Roeder was by on the fifth lap, wi th Bod ine jett ing by and in to fifth on the sixth . A lap late r, after being victim ized by the draft, it w as Bodine back to seve n th be hin d Roe d er a nd Texte r, a nd that' s how they' d finish, a bout 5.6 seco nds beh ind Conley. Illino is H arl ey -D a vi ds o n / Bue ll 's Michae l Fribe rg w as sixth in fro nt of H D /Bu ell of Boston's Cha d Hea ly . New Castle H -D /Bu ell ' s G reg H u tc hes on was n inth, and H MC Racing's Rya n Meyer wa s 10th . f:\ Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida Results: March 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 7) BUELL LIGH T NI NG SERIES, 1. Sha w n H igbee, 2. Billy Graef 3. Br ia n Co nley; 4. Jess Roe d er ; 5. Rand y Te xter; 6. Bria n Bod ine; 7. Mich a el Fr ibe rg; 8. Chad H eal y; 9. Greg H u tch e so n; 10. Rya n Mey er ; 11. Sco tt Korol; 12. Rubert S m ith ; 13 . Ma r k Re y no ld s; 14 . Man ifred Maen te le : 15 . Th o ma s Pfromm ; 16 . Da ve Esto k. Ti me: 14 min ., 42.525 sec. D is tance : Seve n la ps, 25 m iles . Avera ge speed: 101.654 mph . M argin of victory: 19.126 ~C. BU EL L LI GHTN I N G S ERI ES C' S H IP P OI N T STAN D INGS (After 1 o f 7 ro und s); 1. Shawn Hig bee (35 ); 2. Bill y Gra ef (32 ); 3 . Br ian Co n ley (30); 4. Je ss Roeder (28); 5. Ra ndv Texter (26); 6. Bria n Bod ine (25); 7. Micha e l Fri b e r g (2 4); 8 . C h.l d Ht.·a ly (23); 9. Gre g H u tcheson (22); to. Ry a n Mey er (21); 11. Scott Korol (20); 12. Robe rt Sm ith (19; 13. Ma rk Revnolds (18); 14. M,lni fre"d Maentele (17); 15 . Thoma s Pfr omm (16); 16. Da ve Estok OS). Upcoming Rounds : Round 2 . May 10, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Round 3 . May 17· Watkins Glen, New York ChampionshipC upSeries R 1:Daytona InternationalS ound peedway Winners galore By Henny Ray Abrams DAY TONABEACH, FL, MAR. 1 f there was o ne overrid ing theme to th e Da yt o na C h a mpio n s hip Cu p Ser ies sp rint races, it w as "s hare the w ea lth ." Amo ng the 34 races, the re were 29 d ifferen t w in ners, with five riders taking two w ins eac h, non e w in n in g m o r e th an tw o, a n d n o o ne g iving a br eakout performan ce - th ough a few carne close. Th is w as th e fi rs t D a y tona CCS week e n d s ince th e NASB a nd CCS I Shawn Higbee smoked the Buell lightni ng class, jumping out to the lead ea rly and pulling away at a rate of 2.5 s econd s per lap. organiza tio ns sp lit fro m Formula USA, and it w a s cl ea r th a t th e field s w er e bo th sm alle r and les s stellar . Wher eas in the pas t so me of the AM A Superbike te ams w o ul d co ntes t th e pr e vi ou s weeke nd 's Fo rmu la USA ra ce, and usu a lly ge t so me p ra ct ice in d u ring the C CS s p r in ts , t h ere we re n o fa cto ry tea m s r e p r e s e n ted thi s year. The re were, however , a few vetera ns work ing the kinks ou t of their ridi ng in a nticipa tio n of bot h the Da y to na 200 a nd the upcoming Formula USA o pe ne r at Wil low Springs, and , in al m ost ev ery cas e, th eir ta le n t s hone throu gh . A nd th e overa ll nu mber of en tr ies, thou g h no t necessaril y rid ers, w as d own a bo u t 10 p ercen t fro m las t year. NASB officials said they h ad noticed the trend at th e fall CCS rac es and att ribu ted it to economics . Those w ho sh o w ed u p h a d a full pla te of races and an eve n fu ller spectrum of wea th er . Devastat in g w eather this year has ra vaged Central Flo rida, and the fo recas t for the weeken d w as di re - rain y and wi ndy and ne ver -ending. As it turned out, the w eatherman w a s w ro ng . Tho ugh m os t o f Friday' s ra ce s w ere run in high w in ds (w h ich affec te d r id e r s in th e fa s t left- h and in fi eld ki n k) an d un der th rea te n ing skies, the rain held ou t u ntil Sat urda y m ornin g, a nd then en ded d u r in g t he lunch break. O nly so me NASB qualifying w as affected, though the firs t hand fu l of Saturday' s ra ces were run on a we t bu t qu ic k ly dry ing t ra ck . We ll before th e end of Saturday' s 15-race progra m, the sun was shining . Shining o n the track w as Dut chman Racing's Frit z Kling . Th ou g h the Dutchm an team won' t co m pe te d urin g th e NASB or AMA weekends, Kling wanted to get some sea t tim e in before the Formula USA se ason open er th e weekend after the 200. " Fritz is just rid ing the CCS stu ff as a wa rm u p for Wi llow Spr ings," te a m owne r D ave Schlosser sa id . A lso, the team w as going to help Devin Battl ey in the Day to na 200. Beca u se th e ir n e w Ya m ah a YZF1000R w ou ld n't be read y u n til the s ec on d Fo r m u la US A race, a t P ik es Peak, the team w as running the agi ng "Yarnamons ter," and it showed . "We ' re runnin g old stu ff. We' ll have fresh stu ff for Willow," Schlosser said . In Fr id ay's 30- minu te Expert GT -l race, Kling jum ped u p from the eig hth la p to take the lead on th e seco nd lap after lead ing a pack of six side by side across the finish line. By the third lap he was d one, let down by a cra nks haft failure. The win - his only one of the we eken d - went to Rad Greaves a boar d a Dega Ra cin g Suzu ki GSX R750, o ve r Cycle s o f Pal m Bea ch ' s Ya maha FZR1 000-rh ounted Mike Luke . Fro m - then on, Kling wa s inv incible. H e ended Friday's race progra m by winnin g the five-la p Unlim ited Su perbike by more than seven sec onds aft er ta kin g th e lea d la te o n the fir s t la p . Su zukis w ere seco nd and th ird , w ith Rad Grea ves second w ith Marc Und erb erg th ird after Tilley' s H - D' s Jami e James pulled on to th e p it lan e on the final la p. Kling' s next win was in .Satu rd ay' s pen ultim ate race - the Unlim ited Gr and Prix. This win w as more im pressive in e ver y wa y a n d tu rn ed o u t to b e the fastest race of the weekend . Th e Michigan native took the lead on th e back stretch of the first lap and rode cons istently in the 1:54 range to wi n by 17.685 seconds. At the end of the five-lap, 17.80-mile race, Kling wa s 17.685 seco nds in front, ave raging 109.713 mph. But he knew it cou ld have been better . " I can go o ut and ham m er it , but [ ca n' t get myse lf to go tha t lit tle extra," . Klin g said abou t raci ng w ith no one in pursuit. "There's no reason to do it. The bike is ru n ning really good, bu t I th ink the rid er need s a little more skill. I think th e rider 's in training righ t now." Kling' s m ar gi n of victory is deceiving, though. Rad Greaves had been running second and James was up to th ird befo re th ey both p ulled o n to the pit lane on the fina l lap . Th at han d ed seco nd a nd th ird to a p air o f the AMA' s 250 co m ba ta n ts, Erion Racing's Rand y Renfro w and Perfor ma nce Machine's Rolan d Sand s. Renfrow , s till n ot fu lly reco vered fro m the se rious injuries he suffered at Sear s Po int last Augus t, earned his lone wi n in Friday's Exper t Lig htwe ig ht G ra nd Pri x race . Pres su red by Worl d Sp ort Imports' Mark Foster th e w ho le way, the Virg inia ve ter an used tra ffic on the final lap to win the five- lap sprint by 1.788 se conds . Aprilia-mounted Glen Pa ro n was third . "We just have to go racin g now to be fas ter than we w ere at Phoen ix (w here he finished fourth)," Renfrow said . Ano the r rid er tr ying to make u p for a su b- p a r perfo rman ce a t Ph o enix was Ja mes . Th e fo r me r AMA Superb ike Cha mpion crashed out ea rly in the seaso n o p e ner in h is d ebut a bo a r d the Tilley' s H -D VR1000. And his start this weekend was tenta tive before he w as quickly u p to speed. _ In the 15-lap Expe rt GT-1, James wa s o n tr ack, b ut no t racing - ju st -getting acclimated . When he came back at the end of the d ay in the Unlimited Super-

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