Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ui i:i" ~ 54 Superbike to win the Formula One National Challenge race and set the fastest official lap of the day, a 57.7-second lap time. Unofficially, the fast lap of the weekend was turned in by Vesrah/Marshall Distributing-sponsored rider Mark Junge to win the 600cc Superstock race. Junge wasn't using the new AMB timing system, sponsored by American Suzuki, that WERA is putting into place this season; therefore, Junge's fa,st lap was caught by none other than Batey on his hand-held stopwatch at 57.5 seconds. Also at Talladega this weekend were three of the fastest young racers in the country: Jason DiSalvo, Ben Spies and Ben Walters. For most of the day, DiSalvo was in possession of the official fastest lap of the weekend at 58.4 seconds, set during his runaway win in the 125cc Grand Prix National Challenge race on his Alien Racing Honda RSl25. The first National Challenge race of the day was the Open Superstock class. The race was red-flagged after one lap when Marietta Motorsports rider Chris Caylor crashed on the front straight in a bizarre accident that badly damaged his Suzuki GSX-R750. At the restart, Caylor's teammate Brian Stokes took advantage of his front-row starting position to rocket his Rodney Vaughn-tuned GSX-R750 into the lead. Stokes held. the lead over the Marshall Distributing-sponsored Kawasaki ZX-9R of Mark Junge and Billy Eisenacher's Peachtree Performance-backed Yamaha Rl. Junge and Eisenacher both made their way past Stokes on the brakes into the high-speed sweeper on the back straight on consecutive laps. Stokes' bike didn't give away too much horsepower to the Open-class bikes and he was able to maintain third ahead, of the rest of the field. Junge was pressured by Eisenacher the entire race; Eisenacher would close the gap on the brakes into every corner, but Junge's ZX-9R would always outaccelerate the R1 to the next turn. Junge held a small advantage over Eisenacher at the checkered flag. The ride of the race had to be that of Joe Prussia no on an Arclight Suzuki GSX-R750 from the last row of the second wave to fourth at the finish. He was followed in fifth by his Arclight Suzuki Racing teammate 'Lee Acree on another Pirelli-equipped GSX-R750. The Michelin 750cc Superstock race started out the same way the Open Superstock race did: with Stokes getting the holeshot on his Michelin-shod GSXR750. Unlike the first race, Acree started his Arclight Suzuki from the second row instead of the second wave. Acree quickly began pressuring Stokes for the (Above) Third after four hours was Tapeworks Racing, tirst Mediumweight Superbike, on its GSX-R600. (Above right) Former twostroke pilot Lee Acree won the 750cc Superstock race. (Right) In 600cc Superstock racing, Mark' Junge (57) leads Billy Eisenacher (75) and David Rose (180). Junge won the class, as well as Open Superstock. lead, followed by fast starter Wade Buffington. On lap four of 10, Acree passed Stokes around the ou tside entering the turn-seven/ eight switchback area, but that put him out of position for the drive onto the front straightaway, where Stokes regained the lead for ano~her lap. Entering the fast sweeper on the back straight, Acree made the pass for the lead stick just as Junge and Eisenacher had earlier in the day. At the halfway flags, Buffington surrendered third to Da vid Rose entering turn one. Rose soon came under threat from Prussiano, who again started on the last row of the second wave. Prussiano briefly made the pass for third 011 Rose but was unable to keep his bike out front and had to settle for another fourth-place finish. The Pirelli 600cc Superstock class should have been the most competitive race of the weekend, with the new Yamaha R6 in the hands of Billy Eisenacher and the well-developed Suzuki GSX-R600s of Acree, Prussia no arid Rose going head to head with the superquick Kawasaki ZX-6Rs of Junge and Lan~z. What spectators got instead was an exhibition of flawless riding by Vesrah-backed Junge. From the green' flag, Junge pulled the holeshot and quickly began to distance himself from the pack. Entering the front straight, Robert Crawford duplicated the exact same crash that caught local hotshoe Caylor out in the Open Superstock race earlier in the day. As Crawford's bike slid down the front straight, the red flags flew and everyone would'have to try it again. . The restart was a mirror image of the first, with Junge getting the holeshot and pulling away. Rose slipped into second, chased by Lantz and Eisenacher. Junge continued to stretch his lead over the pack and it was during these laps that Batey timed him at the unofficial fast lap of the event. At the halfway point of the race, Lantz slid past Rose on the entrance to the sweeper and Eisenacher made the exact same pass one lap later, relegating Rose to fourth for the rest of the race. By the finish, Junge had a sizable lead over Lantz and Eisenacher in second and third. Since its inception, the 125cc Grand Prix race has always helped to showcase the up-and-coming talent in American road racing. Tommy and Nicky. Hayden, Rodney Fee, and Chris Ulrich, to name just a few, have all competed in the WERA 125cc Grand Prix class and have all gone on to greater success in racing. If they are any indication of the caliber of racing coming out of this series, then the newest generation is right on schedule to join them in the near future. The story of this race was 15-year-old DiSalvo. The race was all but decided when the green flag flew. !ly the back straight, DiSalvo had opened a three-second lead over defending champion Michael Himmelsbach and fellow teenager Spies. All were on Honda RS125s. DiSalvo, whose bike was outfitted with the new timing system supplied by WERA, turned a string of 58-second laps, with a best of 58.4, before relaxing the pace but still managing to turn 59s until the end. Spies came under attack from John Bellinger, who was able to wrestle the final podium position away from the youngster. The Formula Two National at the WERA National Challenge Series is the only race in the country where 600cc superbikes and 250cc Grand Prix machines get to race head to head to prove which is the better bike. Defending Champion Lee Acree has been campaigning Honda and Yamaha 250s in .this class for quite some time, but in 1999 he will be riding for Arclight Suzuki, so the two-strokes are off limits this yellI. Lantz got the holeshot from the middle of the front row, followed by Rose from the outside of the front row and Acree, carrying the number-one plate on his GSX-R600, in third. American Supercamp owner Danny Walker's protege Spies was in fourth and followed Acree for two laps. Acree outbraked Rose into turn one and Spies outbraked Rose two turns later to take over third. Lantz used his time at the front wisely and opened a sizable lead over the pursuing duo. Spies dogged Acree, but years of Grand Prix bike experience told Acree where to put his four-stroke to block the progress of the Keith Cherry Racing TZ250. David Boosales, using the Tri-City Honda RS250 he purchased from Acree, closed on the battle for second on the white-flag lap. Boosales passed Spies at the spot in which he had been unsuccessfully trying Acree for the past several laps: the highspeed sweeper. Boosales had just two comers to make the pass on Acree before the checkered flag and he rode around the outside of the Arclight Suzuki'rider, only to be outdriven off the corner to the

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