Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMA/MBNASUPERBIKE NATIONAL C AMPIONSH H IP • ' . 14 .. ': .." ~,- : i'~f\' ::;'." ;!-, .'" ~ : ~ ~~ " ". .-~...: . .. it d oesn ' t sto p making horse pow er . It ju st ke eps ma king it." Th e o n ly thi n g tha t has s to p p e d Bos trom this year has been his m otorcycle. Excep t for his mechanical failure a t La guna Seca, h e' s w o n eve ry race . Tod ay the gremli ns struck aga in. O n th e 21st of 29 laps, th e Honda CBR900RR ov erhe a ted , ca us ing him to slow d ramaticall y. H e gave u p the lead to Miller and was .passed by one oth er rid er before th e bik e came back to life a nd ca rrie d him to a so lid th ird-plac e finish and his second AMA pro fessional road raci ng title . H e 'd won th e 199 7 Harley-David son Tw inSports title an d th e 199 6 Harl ey-Da v id s o n 883 Dir t Track title. Bostro m w a s a ssu red o f th e cl a s s championship when teammate and title ri val Tripp Nobles dropped ou t with less th an 10 laps to go . At that point Bostrom was in fr ont, but he would soon fall b ack, though by virtu e o f Nobles stop pi ng, he had the crown. "I was just trying"to get out there and establis h mysel f.out in the lead and I thought we 'd done a decent job of it and then , I don 't kn ow, it ju st cu t out," Bo str om sai d . " It w ouldn't run . I thought it w as go ing to di e. It didn't die, and then fortunately in th e end it actua lly picked ba ck up and we wer e able to co nser v e it to third . I'm ha ppy to b e here. I feel lu cky to be her e." Bostrom w en t on to ex p lain th at he d idn' t know what it w as at firs t. " It sta rted to flu tter a little and I was kind of w ondering w ha t was goi ng on," he said . " I thi n k it actua lly happen ed the first tim e on the fro nt straight. The re wasn' t any thing I coul d d o about it. It was rea lly wei rd . It w as like fue l starvati o n . It w ould jus t barel y get en ou g h fuel to run . It. was weird , though. If I lean ed it into th e turns, it would ru n a little bit , th en it would d ie ag ai n . So I wa s tr yin g to actu a lly get th e thing to the side to make it run, but in the end it picked back u p ." The third-pla ce finish netted Bostrom 30 points and gave him an insurmountable 51-point cushion with only the final race in Las Vegas to be run in a month' s time. " I just want to win," Bostrom said . "Every race I ri d e, I wan t to win. I'm p lanni ng o n beating up on them ne x t time for ge lling champagne in my eyes ." Nobles' d ay w as jinxed almost from the s ta rt. Firs t his electr ic shifte r qu it, a nd then his bike bega n to over hea t, sp ew ing water and m aking him th ink tw ice ab out continu ing . He pu lled in o n the 20th of 29 laps. Seco nd, in his first AMA pro podium finish, w as a local rider , RYHO Racin g's Josh Gra ha m , who li v es in Littleto n , Colorad o. Rid ing a 1990 Yam ah a OWOl chassis, with an FZRI 000 engine , Gra ham scr a p ped ea rly with Miller an d N obles before settling in to third w he n his elec tric shifter broke, ju st before a gearbox gremlin w h ich p ro hibited him from downs hifting below third gear, "I had a qu ick shif ter go ou t on me and th at slowed m e down a litt le bit in thi s back section ba ck here," Graham sa id of the p ro blem th at arose just aft er th e halfw ay poin t. "The n I had a pro blem w ith third gear, I could n' t come off tha t back straigh t back there, I cou ld n' t down shift pas t thi rd . So I' d co me off six th d ow n to fo u r th gea r a n d it w ouldn' t go p ast fo u rth . So I had to come off th a t ho rsesho e bac k there in th ird gea r, which was just not the gear I need ed to be in . I lost a lot of time right there. At tha t point I kind of relaxed and said, 'H ey i let's fin ish this thing an d see w here we end up.' " He ended up a solid second, abou t 12 seconds in fro n t of Bostrom, w ho had m ore than 20 o n fourth-pla ce -fin isher Dean Mizdal, the Fastrax Racing Suzuki-mounted rid er . Fifth , at some di stan ce, and th e last .rider Miller didn't lap , was Orange County Triumph's Curtis Ada ms . Th en ca m e H ooters Re s taurants ' Mario DuHamel, follow ed at a d istance by Majestic Pools & Spas' Mar k Ledesma. A trio of Co lo ra do riders filled ou t th e top 10: Vick ery Mot orspo rt s' Doug las Vi ck ery w a s e ig h t h, S to b r idge Delivery's Russell Stobrid ge w as ninth, and Vickery Mo to rsports' Ma rtin Sim s was 10th . 0 Pikes Peak International Raceway Fountain, Colorado Results : September 5,1998 (Round 10 of 11) PIRELLI FO R MU LA XTREM E, 1. Mack Mille r (Yam ); 2. Jos h G ra ham (Yam ); 3. Eric Bostrom IHo n): 4. Dea n Mizd a l (Su z): 5. Cu r tis Ad ams (TrD; 6. Ma ri o Dul-lame l (5u7.); 7. Mark Led es ma (K,l W); 8 . Do ug las Vicke ry (Yam); 9. Russe ll Stobr id ge (Kaw): 10. Mart in Sims (Yam ); 11. Greg Wh ite (Suz): 12. Tripp Nobles (Hun); 13. Mitch Bowen; (Yam); 14. Micha el Cag e fF ri): 15. Sha wn Pott er ($u z); 16. Mark .Schellin ger (Yam); 17. Chris Voelker (Hon): 18. Shawn Co nra d (Tri): 1'1. Bryce G n 'lS~ (Suz); 20. Da niel Tu rne r (V,l m); 21. Mike Voe flwr (Hem) . Time: tt/ a, d ue to red flag Distan ce: 29 laps. 37.7 miles Average sp eed : 0/ a. d ue to red flag Ma rgin ·of victory: b.9!'\6sec. I'IR ELLI FO R MU LA XTR EM E C'SH IP P O IN T STA NDING S (Afte r 10 of 11 rou n ds ): 1. Eric Bostro m (326/ 8 w ins); 2. Trip p No bles (275/1); 3. Mark Miller (261/1 ); 4. Dean Mizdal (218); 5. Michal'! Taylor (201); 6. Mario Du Hamel (173); 7. Cu rt is Adams (l4.J); 8. Ch ris Voelker (143); 9. Tray Batey (142); 10. Greg White (107); 1 1. M ih· Su lli va n (97); 12. Mike Voel ke r (95 ); 13 . Micha l'! Ga ge (91) ; 14. Co ry Ca ll (9()) ; 15. [a ck Pfe if('r (8 5); 16. Eric Woo d (76); 17. Ke ith Ma rqu e z (5 7) ; l K Mich ae l Ba rnes (56 ); 19. Myron Sco tt (5 4) ; 20. (T IE) Micha el Smith / Pau l Ha rrel l (52). Upcoming Round: Round 11 • October 3, Las Vegas , Nevada . AMAJPiogressiveInsurancePro Thunderseries Round 1 : Pikes PeakInternational Raceway 1 Harrell gets closer By Mark Hoyer FOUNTAIN, CO, SEPT. 6 ra n g e Coun ty Triu mp h 's Pa u l Harrell came to Pikes Peak Interna tion al Racew ay with bu t one . thing on his mind w hen it came to the . AMA's inaugural Pro Thunder Cha mpions hip: a n umber-one plate. As th e series p o in ts lead er co mi ng into the penult imate ro und , he had th e best shot at ge tting th at much closer to wha t wou ld b e h is fi r s t- e ver AM A cha m pio nship, and hi s uneven tfu l wi n O Paul Harrell chases down Shawn Higbee en route to winning the Pro Thunder race at Pikes Peak International Raceway . in the red -flag-sh ortened 24-Iap race did just that. "I really w an t to win a number-on e plat e in the AMA," Harrell said after the race on a sUlm y and hot Colorado Rockies afternoon. "Thi s is, 1 hav e to ad m it, one of the easiest classes to win a number-o ne p lat e in , bu t it' s s till an A MA National number-one plat e andI want it bad . So, a t the next race, the las t race, I' m goi ng to com e ou t hard there. I w an t to win this thing badly, and I know I can do it." _ At this point in th e ga me, the re are only two other riders w ho have a cha nce to stop him from his goa l, and the order they fini shed in th e race is th e o rd er they were running in the Ch ampionship en te ring this r o u n d : Ti lley' s HarleyDavidson / Buell's Shawn H igbee· seco nd tod ay - ran d Orange County Triu m p h 's C u rtis A d a m s, w h o finished third . Hig bee - ridin g hi s B bike after a crash in practice dest royed his best bike " fired off the line at the start and pulled ou t a sm all ga p over the pursuing Harell . and Adams, the Buell rid er s et ting a pace for th e to p three that wou ld pull th em ou t to a 38-p lus-second lead ove r fourth pl ace at one poi nt in the race . Aft er a br ief ea rly-laps tu ssl e w it h Adams , Harrell bro ke free of his fello w T595 Daytona rider and began to close on Higbee, makin g up the most ground on th e fron t s traigh t. On the 11th lap, Harrell stuck a whee l in on th e Buell rider entering the chicane but opted not to pass Higbee - w ho se air-cooled bike was getting hot eno ug h tha t it began to burn his feet th ro ugh his boots - just yet. " I w as seeing if 1 cou ld get him to make a mistake," H arrell said . " I w as sticking a w heel in here and there, but he's usu all y pre tty calm . I knew his bike was ge tti ng hot a nd I saw the smoke and stuff, so I ju st wa s trying to push him arou nd a little bit but a t the sa me time keep a smoo th p ace m yself . My tem p erature was running in a good spo t a nd I knew I co u ld ge t h im in a few spo ts, so I jus t kind of let him d o the d riving." Harrell o nly let him lead for a few more la ps, taking o ver at the sta rt of the 14th lap on the front st raight as Higbee's bike appeared to have slo wed . "It wa s bu rning my feet extremely," Hi gbee sa id . " I was ta king my feet off the pegs, try ing to ge t some air on them. I thought I was going to ge t so me thi rd degree burns o n my fee t. The temperatures her e are just reall y brutal on th e bike. Being an air-cooled engi ne, I th ink we were at a slight d isadvantag e. It got extremely hot. It slowed d own a little bit and tha t' s all it took for Paul to get by me o n the straight there." Th at w as it as far as the race for the lead w as conce rned, wi th Harrell able to pull ou t to a three- to four-second mar gin an d keep it until th e, red flag flew, despite hav ing to "rid e the tem perature . gauge," short-shifting an d backin g off as his bike heat ed u p, th en ge tting back on the throttle w he n it coo led. By the tim e Hi g b ee h a d be en d ro p ped to second ' place, A d ams w as a lrea dy in to bi ke-conservat ion m od e , a fter h is Tr iump h s ta r te d m isfirin g a bo u t 11 laps into the race. H e'd had high hopes abo ut racing for the win and had clearly been able to keep the pace h is fe llow ch a m pi onship co ntenders w er e holding, but he was ultimately jus t ha ppy to ha ve finis he d th e ra ce a n d probably lucky it w as red-flag ged when it was, m o ving the fin ish line he was looking for a few lap s closer to his ailing ma chine. "I felt like w e w ere running a pretty comfort able pace and tha t I' d just kind of wait until the end and make a really good race of it," sa id six-time Pro Thund er race wi nne r Adams. "Bu t probably abou t la p 12 or so the th ing just felt like it started slowing down a little bit and . jus t gra d ua ll y go t wo rse and w o rs e . Then finally something began to fail on it. Au tomatically, your thought processes go from trying to wi n the race to finishing the race. So from lap 14 or so, all I was co ncerned with w as try ing to ge t the thing to the finish line." In the latt er stages of the race, th ird placed A da ms was so fa r in fron t of . then-fourth-placed Mich ael Gage - also riding for O range County Triumph on a T595 - th a t he prob ab ly co u ld ha ve walked th e fin a l la ps and still gotten third . Adams w as abou t hal f a minu te ahead when he sta rte d riding the low · line on th e front straig ht w ith his bike misfiring terribl y, but during th e 25t h lap, Gag e - wh o held fourth mo st of the ra ce - cra s hed in th e left-h and turn entering the infield and needed medical attention; so the race w as stoppe d, with the finishing order tak en from the pr evious la p . Ultimately it was Tempe, Arizona 's M a rk Le desma w ho la nded fou rt h pl ace, claw in g his way u p from as fa r back as sevent h, rid ing a 500cc Kaw asaki a n d p a s s in g fifth - pl ace fin ish er Shawn Co nrad late in the ra ce. Led esma, cl early at a po w er disad vantage, wou ld get left beh ind on -the straights, bu t he w as able to slowly chip awa y at th e m ar gin ahead of him in th e infield . The re we re 13 finishers, the top five cre d ited wi th be in g on the lea d lap when the race was stoppe d . C~ Pikes Pea k Inte rnational Raceway Founta in, Colorado Results: September 6,1 998 (Round 11 of 12) PRO THU ND ER FINA L: 1. Pa ul Harrell (Tri); 2. Shawn Higbee (Bue): 3. Curtis Adams (T ri ): 4. Mar k Ledes ma (Kaw): 5. Shawn Conrad (Tri): 6. Michael Gage (Tri); 7. Kell y New ma n (Rtx); 8. Dav id H ull (Du e); 9. Robe rt Gonzales (Du d ; 10. Davi d Kiefer (Bue): 11. Billy Graef (Bue ): 12. james Lickwar (Tri) : 13. Mark Fos ter (B ue) . T ime: No ne, du e to red flag Dis tan ce: 24 laps . 31.2 mile s Ave rage spe ed: None. due to red flag Marg in of victory : 3.568 sec. P R O GR ES S I V E IN SURA N C E PR O T H UN DER CHA M PIO NS H IP PO INT ST AND INC S (Afte r 11 of 12 ro u nd s ): 1. Pa ul Harrell (340 /2 wi n s); 2. Sha wn Higbee (326/ 3); 3. C ur tis Ada m!' (317/6); 4. Michael Gage (246); 5. Sha wn Conr ad (203); 6. James Lickw ar (201); 7. Rober t Gon zales (179); R. Da vid Hull (77); 9. Ma rk Miller (22); 10. Thomas Tu cciarone (16); 11. Bill St. Joh n (1 3); 12. Cra ig Mclean (104); 13. Thoma s HtJlI (103); 14. Pa ul O rlan di (% ); 15. Kurt Mund (32); 16. Billy G rad (72) ; 17. Nick lena tsch (63); 18. David Kieffer (59); 19. Kelly Newman (54); 20. Monte Ni chols (51). Upcoming Round: Round 12 - Las Vega s, Nevada , October 4

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