Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Series Rounds 4/5: Sears Point Raceway which he did by the ninth lap, but couldn't progress farther. "It's one thing to run them down, it's another thing to pass them," he said. On the final lap, he made a run at Craggill in two spots - turn seven and in the final turn 11. He overshot turn seven, pushing Craggill wide with the Aussie recovering to dash back underneath. In the final corner, Hale tried again - in vain. Craggill was able to speed home just 0.45 of a second in front of him. "I was riding defensively and Mike [Hale] tried to get past me," Craggill said. "That's racing. It worked out alright for me." CraggiJl said that his earlier hunt for Buckmaster was stalled by reartire problems. "I was catching Damon [Buckmaster] for a while there once I got past Jake [Zemke], but I just ran out of grip," Craggill said. "He [Zemke] got a bit of a gap through the traffic. He was making the holes and I was just going through them. One guy going around the sweeping right before you go under the brjdge, pushed me right out. That left a gap and I suppose that's where Mike [Hale] caught up to me: Craggill finally had to give up on Zemke after getting thrown out of the seat one too many times. He reasoned that he was better off finishing. "I've come over here under pretty awkward circumstances," he said. "I'm not insured. I didn't want to fall off. I'm not getting paid. I wanted to earn some money." Craggill said he'd like to continue to race in the U.S., a goal he's been chasing since first visiting Road America in 1998. "I don't know what's going to happen now. I want to stay. I'm booked to go home Tuesday," he said. Behind Hale came the Attack Suzukis of Ben Spies and Jason Pridmore, the teammates finishing on the same 10th of a second, three seconds behind Hale. Then came Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Tom Kipp and Arclight Suzuki's Dave Stanton, who mostly races AFM events for the Arclight team, but was enjoying his time back in the professional ranks. eN Sears Point IIaceway Sonoma, California Results: March 5, 2002 (Round 2 at 91 LOCKHART·PHIWPS USA FORMULA XTREME: 1. Damon Buckmaster (Yam); 2. Jake Zemke (Hen); 3. Martin Cragill (Suz); 4. Mike Hale (Hen); 5. Ben Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock Round 3: Sears Point Raceway STORY AND PHOTO BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS SONOMA, CA, MAY 4 fi' ee Acree was a long way from !.1::1 home. Home to the Arclight Suzuki rider is Jamestown, North Carolina, not far from his home track of Virginia International Raceway. But Acree has a strong connection to Sears Point Raceway: The Arclight Suzuki team is based in nearby Lafayette, where owners Chuck and Susan Warren live. Which meant that, although Acree was a long way from his wife and young daughter, he had some incentive to excel in front of his second-home crowd. Directly in his way was Brian Parriott, Acree's teammate from last year who lives in nearby Calistoga, and who considers Sears Point Raceway his home track. Parriott has raced here his entire career; this was Acree's second racing visit to the 2.32-mile Sonoma facility. That didn't stop Acree from taking the pole position. And by the time the 16-lap Genuine Suzuki Accessories Superstock race was over, you'd have thought he'd grew up here. Despite constant pressure from track master Parriott, Acree hung on to win his first race at Sears Point, and his first AMA race of the year, in front of the Warrens, their friends, and family. Parriott was a close second, with Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden flogging his ZX-6 home to third. "Chuck Warren, Susan Warren 22 MAY 15, 2002' cue I e work so hard to provide me with the best equipment in the paddock," Acree said after beating Parriott by 1.253 seconds. "To come here, where some of their family can be out and see the race, and to do so well, it feels really good. It feels really good to come to a race that's so close to them and bring them a win." Kawasaki's Tommy Hayden was the early leader until first Parriott, then Acree came by, Acree taking control on the fourth of 16 laps. At the halfway mark, he was less than a second in front of Parriott, with Hayden close behind. Parriott was biding his time, waiting for an opening. "I just hung on to the back of him," Parriott said of Acree. "I was waiting until the second to the last and the last lap in turn 11. I was stronger out of 10, and that's where I was going to mount the charge." With about four laps to go, Parriott had what he described as a "huge moment" in the downhill turn-six carousel. He'd closed right up on Acree, but wasn't sure why. He didn't know if Acree had gotten balked by a lapped rider or had a bad lap. Regardless of the cause, Parriott "lost the front tire pretty severely, was able to save it, but lost a lot of time," he said, "and then I was worried that Tommy [Hayden] might catch up from that. So I figured I'd just keep my head down and go and just try to maintain second." Parriott reasoned that, since Acree, whose primary responsibility n e _ s is the Formula USA National Road Race Series, isn't doing the whole AMA series, he was less of a worry. "I'm in front of Tommy [Hayden],' Parriott said. "Let's get out of here with second place." At the flag, Parriott was nearly five seconds in front of Hayden, who was offering no excuses for the lack of displacement. "I don't really think it was a bike factor," he said. Acree credited his team, more than himself, with the win. "This is Brian's [Parriott] home track," he said. "I'm glad it wasn't the first time J was here. It was the second time I raced here and the second time really is easier than the first. It's a pretty technical track to learn. I knew these guys were going to be Spies (Suz); 6. Jason Pridmore (Suz); 7. Tom Kipp (Suz); 8. Dave Stanton (Suz); 9. Alex Gobert (Hen); 10. Lance Isaacs (Suz); 11. Clint McBain (Suz); 12. Jason Curtis (Yam); 13. Jeff Bostrom (Suz); 14. Vincent Haskovec (Suz); 15. Cory Call (Suz); 16. John Scott Wilson (Suz); 17. Simon Forder (Suz); 18. Kim Nakashima (Suz); 19. James Compton (Suz); 20. Jeremiah Johnson (Suz); 21. Kenyon Kluge (Suz); 22. Garry Combs (Suz); 23. Steve Smith (Due); 24. Bryan Edginton (Suz); 25. Eric Haugo (Suz); 26. David Bell (Apr); 27. Jamie Thompson (Suz); 28. Ken.!!n Rappuchi (Suz); 29. Timothy Falcone (Suz); 30. M.!!rk Hindman (Due); 31. Shawn Reilly (Kaw); 32. Bob Siebenhaar (Hon); 33. Michael Kosta (Suz); 34. Robert Mesa (Suz). Time: 25 min.. 18.661 sec. Distance: 16 laps. 37.12 miles. Average speed: 95.579 mph. Margin of victory: 5.325 sec. LOCKHART· PHILLIPS USA FORMULA XTREME C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 9 rounds): 1. Damon Buckmaster (75/2 wins); 2. Jake Zemke (61); 3. J.son Pridmore (58); 4. Mike H.le (54); 5. Ben Spies (52); 6. Tom Kipp (47); 7. Alex Gobert (44); 8. Clint McB.in (41); 9. J.son Curtis (36); 10. (TIE) J.mes Compton/Jeff Bostrom (32); 12. John Scott Wilson (30); 13. Martin Cr.gill (29); 14. (TIE) Steve Smith/Jordan Szoke (25); 16. Steve Rapp (24); 17. D.vid St.nton (23); 18. (TIE) Jeremi.h Johnson/Eric Haugo (22); 20. Lance Isaacs (21). Upcoming Rounds Round 3 - Braselton, Georgia, May 18 Round 4 - Fountain, Colorado, June 1 strong and I tried to do my own thing all weekend and my team put a flawless motorcycle under me. I couldn't have asked for better. Whoever got on that bike was going to win that race today." Hayden maintained his championship lead over Acree, now seven points in front, 91-84, after three of 10 races. Parriott is third with 77. The podium trio had made an early break, along with Attack Suzuki's Ben Spies, who ran in fourth for the first five laps before pulling into the pits. Behind them came a trio composed of Corona Extra EBSCO Media Suzuki's Jimmy Moore, Valvoline EMGO Suzuki's Chris Ulrich, and Cruise America's Jason DiSalvo. Then came another pair, Annandale Racing's Ty Howard and Studio Gear Racing's Scott Jensen. Moore lost fourth to DiSalvo on the 12th lap, with Ulrich dropping off the pace as his injured right shoulder Tommy Hayden (22) gets the jump on eventual race winner Lee Acree (184) and runner-up Brian Parriott (46) in the Superstock final at Sears Point.

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