Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula USA National Road Race Series winner, taking three wins overall and nearly a fourth on a pair of Yamahas. Top Amateur honors went to Giovanni Rojas, who rode his Suzuki GSXR600 to four wins, overpowering larger bikes with his GSX-R600 in two heavyweight races. Family honors went to the Wood family of New England. Jeffrey Wood, the youngest of the clan, won two races on his Suzuki seventh lap of the race, less than 15 minutes in, brought a halt to the action and track clean up meant the race wouldn't be restarted. Denning had gradually moved up from this third-row starting position, moving into second on the sixth lap and emerging from a three-wide battle for the lead on the seventh lap. A crash in turn one soon after ended the race SV-650, and another on his Yamaha TZ-250, brother Eric made his return and scoring was reverted to the previ· to racing by riding his Suzuki GSXR750 to victory, and their father, "Expert GTU was a lot of fun," Denning said. "I fought [Ryan] Lan- Jerry, rode his Ducati 944 to second ders and Joe Gill, we ran around. On behind John Long in the Heavyweight the second lap I back-shifted once too many times going into the second Sportsman race. The high cost of coming to Day- ous completed lap. horseshoe and then they got me and I tona from Kansas had kept Denning thought I was done for, but then I from racing here before. He'd been here once, but only to ride around. This was his first serious assault and actually ran them down and could go by them and that was my first win, or he made the most of it. Denning is the definitive club racer. In 1999 he saw the contingency payouts Yamaha was paying even running at the front at Daytona." Fellow Kansan Joseph Gill of 4&6 Cycles earned the win, with Denning second, and Ryan Landers third. Friday's first race was Denning's and bought an R-1 and an R-6. Chas- first win, the five-lap Expert Mid- ing the big paydays around the country, Denning won $28,000 his first dleweight Supersport. Aboard the R-6, year and $36,000 last year. The bikes began their third year of service at Daytona with 5500 racing miles on them. Dega Racing is the sponsor, with 4&6 Cycles doing engine work Denning was in the lead by the time the 60-rider field hit the chicane on the first lap, Georgian Ted Cobb hard in tow, the pair pulling away in due time with Denning seeming to have more power on the long stretches. on the bikes. Friday's 30-minute Expert GTU Denning appeared to be in control, holding nearly a second cushion most was Denning's first race and he was of the race. Cobb looked like he was closing on the final lap, but it was given second after it was red-flagged less than halfway in. A crash on the deceptive. Denning would close it Matt Wait came to Daytona hoping to revive his once promising career. Early retums were promising. He'd qualified second for the SportBike race and fourth in the Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike race, both on Hondas backed by a newly formed team, Synergy Racing Technologies. In Sunday moming practice he was especially sharp, consistently tuming out the fastest lap times of the weekend on the CBR600, over a second faster than he'd previously gone, and well under the pole time set by John Hopkins. For Unlimited Superbike practice he'd switched to the Honda CBR929RR. After the first lap of practice he pitted. He never came around after the second lap. The crash happened entering the chicane, with Wait clipping the ground on the right, inside entrance to the tum, the impact sending him tumbling down the track. The Lodi, Califomia, resident suffered a compound fracture of the left arm and rib injuries. Daytona was lost. Now he hoped to return for the next race, at Willow Springs, a racetrack where his career, and life, nearly ended. It's been a long road back for Matt Wait. Once touted as one of the next wave of American road racers, Wait's career took a series of tums before ending, temporarily, with a broken neck at Willow Springs International Raceway. Now he's back, racing the Formula USA National Road Race Series for Synergy Racing Technologies. The crash came almost exactiy one year ago, while Wait was chasing Chuck Graves through tum two at Willow Springs in a practice session. Wait, who was using Michelin tires for the first time, came over the crown in tum two when the rear tire let go. "I just didn't give any waming," Wait said_ "It broke loose and I had no control to save it." The highside ended with Wait landing on his face shield, breaking his neck backwards. As he slid along the tarmac, his chin piece caught, breaking his neck in the other direction. For more than 15 minutes. he lay on the track motionless. "I had temporary quad paralysis: Wait said. "I wanted to get up. My brain was saying, 'Get up, Matt.' But I had nothing. No feeling. Dead.' After about 20 minutes, he began to feel a little tingling in his fingers. He brought his hand up and hit himself in the face and went into shock. He was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital where he spent two days in just a neck brace. "They were trying to get a specialist from Los Angeles, but nobody wanted to come up there." Eventually they put him in a halo and he was able to leave. Wait immediately went to a doctor near San Francisco who sent him to Dr. Robert Watkins, a renowned specialist at the University of Southern California. In a nearly eight-hour operation, Watkins put a titanium plate and two screws in his neck to secure the C-5 to C-7 vertebrae that he'd broken_ Incisions were made in the front and back of his neck and wires were wrapped around the damaged area to make it strong. Next, Wait was fitted with a hard collar for the next seven months. A month and a half 18 MARCH 14.2001 • cue •• ne"". Scott Russell came out and put on a show before pulling In during tlte Expert Super1'wlns class. The fonner AMA and Wortd Superbike Champion stayed on track to win tlte Unlimited GP class In what was a pre-200 test session for tlte Georgian. out, winning by 2.550 seconds. "I think we're down a little on and right up on Cobb on the third lap, taking the lead by drafting past Cobb motor," second-place finisher Cobb said. Except for Yoshimura slip-on exhaust canister and suspension modifications, Cobb's Suzuki GSX- on the run down the back stretch and into the chicane. The front five all began to spread out, with Denning again using the stronger motor in his R-6 to beat Cobb's Suzuki GSX-R600 to the line, this time by 1.840 seconds. "I'm just kind of losing him on the draft," Cobb said. "We're keeping up R600 was a stocker. "I was hoping that he just wasn't setting me up to draft me on the last lap," Denning said. "I just wanted to see where he was." Cobb and Denning met again a few races later in the Expert Mid· dleweight Superbike race. Cobb anticipated the start perfectly and sped into the lead, Denning lingering back in fourth early on. A red flag brought a halt to the race on the first lap and it was regridded. This time, Cobb got another jump on the field, but it wasn't as strong, and Denning was again fourth. By the second lap, Denning was into second with him in the infield." Pedro Valiente was third on a Yamaha R-6. Denning's final win came in the Expert Unlimited Supersport race. Cobb got another lightning start, Greg Harrison going with him, and Denning third. It didn't last long. There was a four-rider break at the front with Cobb at the point until the third lap when Denning caught up to him and moved past. On the next lap, Peter Brady Rac- after it was removed he raced at last year's season-ending race at Willow Springs International Raceway, a prelude to his full-time return this season. "Surprisingly, it's not so bad," Wait said at Daytona. "The only problem I have is a little tension. The muscles feel a little bit tight. Mobility's perfect. The doctors said it would be bet· ter than new. Hopefully, I won't have a chance to test it out. The doctors encouraged me to go racing." The only long·term affect of the broken neck is a fused vertebra. At Willow, Wait had qualified 14th, top privateer, in the 600cc Supersport class and rode the same Honda CBR600 to ninth in the 750cc Supersport race, the first 600. There were a few tests during the off-season and the results encouraged him to make almost a full-time return to racing. To support his racing, Wait works as a mason for his father's masonry company. Laying bricks all day is what Wait does to stay in shape. "I'm pretty much training all day: Wait said. The bikes Wait rode at Willow were owned by former racer Glenn Dekoven. Wait and Dekoven wanted to go racing and American Honda agreed to supply the machinery. They needed a team structure and that's where Synergy Racing Technologies came in. "They had the mechanics and more resources. We brought the bikes: Wait said. Willow Springs ace Mark Palazzo is Wait's teammate this year. Synergy Racing Technologies is a new team owned by Matt Spiwak and Dekoven, and they're paying most of the expenses out of their own pockets. Dekoven owns Dynamic logistics, a trucking company-that is an intemational forwarderfor the motorcycle industry. According to Spiwak, "Synergy is a race team that's going to eventually develop and manufacturer high-performance race parts." For now, however, "it's us spending our own money and hopefully putting on the best looking team, and someone will come along. We're looking for corporate sponsorship. If we can find a sponsor. we would absolutely change our image. Right now, we're top billing as sponsor." In addition to the F·USA series, the SRT team will do the West Coast rounds of the AMA series. The team is running 2000-model Honda CBR600s and 929RRs with help from Ameri- __~:----------- ~..... __ can Honda. They expect to move up to the CBR600F4is once replacement parts become highly developed. "We definitely get a lot of information from Erion Racing: Dekoven said. Dunlop Tires and NuTec fuel are aiso helping out. They have a secret weapon they use to lure sponsors into the fold. "We have a full-time cook. People smell the food and come over. That's probably the best move we've made,' Dekoven said.

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