Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U. S. Superbike Series Rounds 2/3: California Speedway and center. I passed Chris in the right-hander that Jimmy fell in and just held it to the line. To come out of here in third place and with the points lead, you just couldn't ask for anything more, really." Szoke was mistaken in assuming that he had taken over the series lead, however. Hayden now leads Szoke, 62-61. Ulrich finished fourth, several seconds ahead of Team Kawasaki's Tony Meiring. "I think I need to go to a dragstrip because my start wasn't so good," Ulrich said. "Once I saw the speed some of these guys had, I knew I could get them. I burned the tire up just a little bit going through, and it was sliding just a little bit. Once Jordan actually passed me, I got back by him, and I figured if he got back by me again, then I could do it again. Then Jimmy [Moore) got in there, and I really can't believe that he tried to race us. I don't know what he was thinking. He got in there and was trying to race his own teammate and me. Jordan almost hit Jimmy, and I almost hit Jordan, and Jordan pulled just the slightest gap so that I couldn't draft him. That did me in, but I'm happy to get out of here with some points - not like Daytona." CN California Speedway Fontana, California Results: April 7, 2002 (Round 2 of 10J SUPER STOCK: 1. Tommy Hoyden (Kow); 2. Ben Spies (Suz); 3. Jordan Szoke (Suz); 4. Chris Ulrich (SUt); 5. Tony Meiring (Suz); 6. Craig Connell (Suz); 7. Lee Acree (Suz); 8. Ty Howord (Suz); 9. Brian Parriott (Suz); 10. Jeremy Toye (Suz); 11. Jason DiSalvo (SUt); 12. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 13. Rich Conicelli (Suz); 14. Brian U\lengood (Suz); 15. Robert Jensen (Suz): 16. Chris Coy lor (Su.); 17. Owen Richey (Su.): 18. Mike Ciccotto (Bue): 19. Scott Jensen (Suz); 20. Sh8wn Conrad (Suz); 21. John Dugem (Suz); 22. Mark Ledesma (Hon); 23. Jecob Holden (Suz); 24. Alan Schmidt (Suz): 25. Eric Erling Haugo (Suz); 26. Scott Simpson (Kaw): 27. Robert Christman (Suz); 28. Jimmy Moore (Suz); 29. Giovannie Rojas (Suz); 30. Phillip Herrin (Suz); 31. Aaron Clark (Suz); 32. Michael Hannas II (Kaw). Time: 25 min., 34.040 sec. Distance: 17 laps. 37.26 miles. Winner's average speed: 91.758 mph. Margin of victory: 8.991 sec. GENUINE SUZUKI ACCESSORIES SUPERSTOCK SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 10 rounds): 1. Tommy Hayden (62/1 win): 2. Jordi!ln S.oke (61); 3. Chris Ulrich (47): 4. Lee Acree (46): 5. Brian Parriott (45): 6. [TlE] Brian Livengood /Craig Connell (41); 8. (TIE] Vincent Haskovec/Jimmy Moore (40/1 win): 10. Tony Meiring (39): 11. Rich Conicelli (37): 12. Ty Howord (34): 13. Ben Spies (33); 14. Michael Barnes (29); 15. Larry Pegram (27): 16. Scott Greenwood (26): 17. Alon Schmidt (22): 18. Jeremy Toye (21): 19. Joson DiSolvo (20): 20. (TIE] Scott Jensen/John Ashmead/Mike Ciccotto (18). Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - Sonoma. California, May 4-5 Round 4 - Braselton, Georgia, May 16-19 MBNA 250cc Grand Prix Round 2: California Speedway By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTO BY BLAKE CONNER FONTANA,CA,APR.8 fter both riders suffered difficulties during the MBNA 250cc Grand Prix series opener at Daytona, the "Rich and Roland show" was once again in top form for round two at California Speedway, and this time it was Performance Machine's Roland Sands who got top billing over Team Oliver Yamaha's Rich Oliver when the checkered flag fell on the 17 -lap final. Sands' margin of victory over Oliver was 1.51 seconds at the finish, but the race itself was much closer than that. "I was looking forward all weekend to this race," Sands said. "This track is great. I'm real stoked to be racing in basically my hometown, Southern California. It has been a long time since Pomona. This track is a lot like Pomona. It's a kick in the pants to ride. There's bumps and curbs to jump off and stuff. It's a great time. Me and Rich had a great scrap there. I pulled a little gap on him at the end there, got through traffic a little better. My bike was a rocketship today." A rather sparse 18-rider field took to the grid for the start, but it was clear after only a few laps that Sands and Oliver were keen to renew their friendly rivalry and battle for the win between themselves. Sands held the lead for the first lap, but Oliver drafted him just past the stripe to take over when they started lap two. That set the seesaw in motion, as Sands shot back by Oliver with an inside move in turn two on lap three. Oliver came right back with a pass on the infield straightaway on lap four. Priority Racing's Simon Turner was third for the first two laps, but Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo took over the spot and then attempted to close the gap on Oliver and Sands. It A 24 APRIL 17, 2002 4 cue I • appeared as though the teenager might catch the duo to make it a three-rider battle - he pulled to within 1.4 seconds of the lead by the competion of lap eight - but DiSalvo eventually dropped back off the pace. He held on to finish third while struggling with an arm injury that had been incurred while practicing on Saturday. "I caught up to them quite a bit, and at one point in time I was maybe just out. of reach of making a move on Rich," DiSalvo said. "Then my arm started to act up. Maybe I didn't stretch properly. Everything was going good until I started thinking about it with eight laps to go. Then the pain kicked in." DiSalvo had inherited fourth place from reigning class champion Jimmy Filice, whose team had slapped together a new bike just before Fontana so that he could ride in the 250cc race. It proved to be an unlucky decision, as Filice pulled off with mechanical problems just four laps into the race. "During qualifying, a rivet from the airbox got sucked into the motor and stuck a piston, and blew it up," Filice said. "In the race, it did the same thing, sucked a rivet from the airbox and stuck a piston. This bike was just built on Thursday, and basically we weren't prepared. We did this because I broke two ribs while testing last week, so we knew we couldn't be competitive on the 600, because I struggled. We thought we could get some results for Mike Corbin in the 250cc class, but we ended up having a bad weekend. That's racing." Oliver and Sands continued to set a fast pace throughout the race, clicking off times that hovered just above and below one minute and 30 seconds flat. Oliver led laps seven through nine. The -pair began to encounter lappe~ traffic 0'1.Jap-eigtil:, and lappers would play a role in the outcome of the race. Sands regained the lead on lap 10, powering around Oliver on the outside of turn two. Oliver clung tight in anticipation of a possible draft move at the finish line. Oliver never got the chance, as Sands was able to shoot past a pair of lappers at the last possible instant before they reached the turn-one chicane that led to the infield. Oliver was forced to check up, and that was all the help that Sands needed. "I was just hoping that I could be a little closer on that last lap and draft him at the finish line," Oliver said. "I had practiced that move a couple times, and I was a little bit short, so I thought that I had better stay a little closer on the last lap. We got into those last couple corners, and Roland passed the traffic and I couldn't. That was what did it right there. My crew built me such a fast motorcycle, but Roland just totally out-rode me today. I've got a broken pelvis and a ground-down finger, but I didn't feel a thing out there in the race except a lot of fun. We had a great race. Roland is such a professional rider to ride with. It wasn't lappers that cost me the race, it was Roland passing the lappers that won him the race." Turner finished fourth, with former class champion and current series points leader Chuck Sorenson fifth aboard his Team Stargel Aprilia after running well off the pace. "The race was all right considering that we had a lot of problems with the bike," Sorenson said. "We Fiad aJet-eff~ - • prl:tblems d riDg qual;'yifIg.-THe bike -lWeul-dri't rev past 12,000 rpm. We .-.- - - Roland Sands (10) did what not many have done lately: He beat Rich Oliver (97) in a straight fight in the 250cc Grand Prix race. worked on it feverishly between qualifying and the race and thought that we had found the problem, but apparently we didn't. Sadly, we couldn't be at the front, but we got some points today and we're still in the championship points lead. We'll have to go do something and find out what is wrong with the bike and get it to work better." The potent Shark Energy Drink Aprilia of Daytona third-place finisher Al Salaverria never made the grid for the race due to gearbox problems. Salaverria was credited with 19th place. California Speedway Fontana, California Results: April 7, 2002 (Haund 2 of 10J 250« GRAND PRIX: 1. Rolond Sonds (Yom): 2. Rich Oliver (Vam); 3. Jason DiSalvo (Hon): 4. Simon Turner (Vam): 5. Chuck Sorenson (Apr); 6. Perry Melenciuc (Vem); 7. Ed Sorbo (Yem); 8. Colin Jensen (Apr); 9. Fnmk Aregeki (Vam): 10. Darren Fulce (Vam): 11. Cory Denton West (VllIm); 12. John Willioms (Yom): 13. Thod Holsmer (Yom): 14. Richord Denmon (Hon): 15. Ty Pi: (Yom); 16. Chris Pyles (Vam): 17. Jimmy Filice (Vam); 18. Jason Candelarie (Vam): 19. AI Selaverria (Apr). Time: 25 min., 30.90 sec. Distance: 17 laps, 37.26 miles. Winner's average speed: 91.941 mph. Margin of victory: 1.151 sec. MBNA 250cc GRAND PRIX SERIES POINTS STANDINGSGS (After 2 of 10 rounds): 1. Chuck Sorenson (63/1 win): 2. Perry Melnecluc (57); 3. Ed Sorbo (48): 4. (TIE) Thad Hl:llsmer/Colin Jensen (44): 6. Cory Denton West (40): 7. Ty Piz (39): 8. Dorren Fuloe (39); 9. Rolond Sonds (38/1 Win): 10. (TIEl Rich Oliver/John Williams (32); 12. Jason DI50lvo (30): 13. AI 5oloverrio (29): 14. (TIE] Simon Turner/Chris Pyles (27): 16. Jeff Wood (25): 17. (TIEl Fronk A,ogokl/Stuort Nodell (22): 19. John Fronce (19): 20. Richord Denmon (17).

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