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When Morris crossed the line in fourth, he guaranteed that the whole front row would finish in their qualifying spots. Fourth fastest in timed qualifying, Morris had to start in the back of the field when problems with his"A" bike forced to go to a different motorcycle. Riding a back-up machine he'd never ridden before, Morris was thick in the pack with Johnson, New Castle H-D/Buell's Brian Bodine, Hal's H-D/Buell's Brian Frank, and Jason Smith. Morris ran mostly at the front of the pack, seem· ing to pull enough of a gap to secure his third, only to get nailed by Johnson at the end. "Jeff kind of caught me sleeping there," Morris lamented. "I thought I had third. I wasn't really pushing it. He got by me. I wasn't going to wreck the thing. We're trying to win a points championship this year. We'll regroup and ride my 'A' bike at Willow." Following Morris across the line in quick succession were Bodine, after an off-track excursion, Frank, and Smith. eN o.ytona IntIlnIatlouI Speedw., o.ytona 1Iuch, Flo... llesults: MU'ClI4, 2001 [Round 1 of II BUELL UGHTNING SERIES: 1. Micha.1 Bames; 2. Tripp Nobles; 3. Jeffrey Johnson; 4. Richie Morris; 5. Brian Bodine; 6. Brian Frank; 7. Jason Smith; 6. eNld He21ly; 9. Mark Reynolds: 10. Timothy Johnson; 11. Steve Luxem; 12. Christopher Decelles: 13. Michael Friberg; 14. pzml James; 15. Gregory Avello. TIme: 9 min., 11.21 sec:. Distance: 4 laps, 14.24 miles. Average speed: 93.003 mph. Margin of victory: 1.480 sec. Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Rosamond, California, April 22 Round 3 - Danville, Virginia. July 1 ed that the chicane be a no-passing zone, which meant that if the lead pack caught a lapper going in, they had to sit behind him until they hit the white stripe on the exit. And that's exactly what happened. Silva was out front when he hit the chicane on the final lap, his lead suddenly evaporating as he had to wait on a backmarker. Sortor and King closed right up, both in perfect position to make a last-lap draft pass on the run to the flag. The pair both whistled by Silva out of the chicane, but a little too soon. While they could lead, they couldn't get away and Silva bided his time. As they approached the flag, Silva went low on the banking to steal the win by .610 of a second. "The lapped rider actually got me too close to him and I could get a really decent slingshot," Sortor sa id. "I'm really happy with the second place. " King said it was machine problems that slowed his run. "We had a front wheel misaligned and the brakes were dragging really hard and I didn't have much oil in the oil reservoir either and the motor was running about 104 degrees Celsius down the front straight," he said. Fischer finished just off the lead pack, then came Libasci Racing's Andrea Castanos. Casta nos had qualified second fastest to King, only to damage his Aprilia before the race. The team fitted a windscreen that was too high and he was forced to the back of the seven-row grid. By the third of six laps he was into sixth, making up one more spot to finish a secure fifth. Gus Holcomb came out of a large pack behind Casta nos to take sixth in front of Page Gathings. eN IIBytDna IntelMtiolllll Speedw., IJaJtaIIlI Buch, Florih Results: March 4, 2001 [Round 1 of II APRIUA CUP CHALlENGE: 1. Shannon Silva; 2. Joshua Sortor; 3. Derek King; 4. Dan Fischer; 5. Andre Castano,; 6. Gus Holcomb: 7. Page Gathings; 8. Thad Halsmer; 9. Jllson Morse; 10. Jeremy Bonnett; 1 J. Vicky Jllckson·BeIl; 12. Chllrlie Hewett; 13. Chlld Heaty; 14. Cerlas Bonds; 15. Ronald Woods; 16. Sterling Strauser; 17. Thomas Fournier; 18. Mathew Wissel; 19. Raymond Chilson; 20. Bruce Jacobs; 21. Andras Mak: 22. Dennis Nourry: 23. Buzz Povall; 24. MInk Blackmlln; 25. Eric Stevenson; 26. Tim Knutson: 27. Lavaughn Daniel. Time: 14 min.• 23.02 sec. Distance: 21.36 miles. Average speed: 89.10 I mph. Margin of victory: 0.610 sec. Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Rosamond, Califomia, April 22 Round 3 - Danville, Virginia, July 1 t:irGi DennIng fM9 w proIIIIc of tIM Expert race... In ccs...at at Daytona WInning . . . races ownill. Here he IeMIs . . . . ' . e ' . . - winner .Joseph GIll Iri ...... OTU. Formula USA Aprilia Cup Challenge Round 1 : Daytona International Speedway STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MAR 4 f the 27 riders in the wet Aprilia Cup Challenge, there were only four who could contend and only three who would. Champion Honda's Derek King had taken the pole position and jumped straight out to a commanding lead, trying to make a clean break. With the riders on mostly equal machinery, and fitted with full rain tires, the power wasn't there to pull away and he was quickly scooped up, the pack catching him in turn one of the race of six laps, shortened from 10 because of inclement weather. King was one-fourth of the class of the field, the others being Advance Autobody's Joshua Sortor, Tinting Technologies' Shannon Silva, and Dan Fischer. O By the third lap, all but Fischer had led with Fischer guarding the rear of the quartet, falling off the pace to a secure fourth in the final few laps. That made it a three-rider race with Silva establishing himself in the lead by the start of the third lap. There wasn't much in it for him with the pair hard on his tail and King taking the lead with an inside move in the International Horseshoe on the fifth of six laps. Silva took it back quickly and held the spot as they started the final lap. The race was the first run following an abortive 125cc Grand Prix race. The tiddlers couldn't handle gravity or the wet and, after three red flags and two hours of clean up, the race was postponed, then cancelled. The major effect of their travails was a skittery chicane for the following races. Formula USA officials mandat· Formula USA Championship Cup Series Round 1: Daytona International Speedway the trip, but both ending up making indelible marks on the Formula USA Championship Cup Series weekend at Daytona International Speedway. Among the Experts, Dega Racing's Larry Denning was the most prolific STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS DAYTONA BEACH, Flo MAR ne had briefly before nearly a and the other could O 2·4 been here decade ago never afford cue I e n e _ S • MARCH 14,2001 17