Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula USA National Road Race Series Round 2: Summit Point Raceway Mlah•• I ...... (1t .... ............ d•• feI(88tto .............. LIgMI..... c.... at SummIt PoInt RKI.&j.It_ .... -'r to _pi...... _ ndn -.II ........... hit the _ltIat,. - . ~ fIoocIhlf to b........ ......... .... I'IID ill. 'h" the_II..... ., STORY AND PHOTOS BY HENNY RAY ABRAMS SUMMIT POINT, WV, MAY 26 he story of the second round of the Formula USA National Road Race Series at Summit Point Raceway has a happyish, not storybook, ending, with a pot of gold at the end of the rain clouds and the yellow brick road submerged under water. That there was very little racing in the premier classes - only the Buell Lightning Series race ran to term - produced a fair amount of acrimony. Weather was the main culprit. Torrential rains and ground lightning hit the area with biblical force, putting an end to the race not halfway into the already shortened Honda Pro Oils Sport Bike race. After some delay, while race organizers tried to determine if racing could resume, and when, the weekend's racing was officially terminated. Fearing that they wouldn't be adequately compensated, a group of prominent riders approached FUSA officials to ensure what they felt 36 JUNE 5, 2002' cue I e would be an equitable solution. In the end, the episode dredged up misgivings that the riders have about the series; the way its administered and the tracks it races on, fairly negating the goodwill shared when both sides compromised to make the most of a bad situation at the season-opener at Daytona. First to the racing. It was no surprise that Buell lightning Series Champion Michael Barnes took the race win, though it looked like the Kosco's Harley-Davidson/Innovative Motorcycle Research rider had to work for it. Local wizard Bryan Bemisderfer, of Harley-Davidson of Frederick, not only kept Barnes honest, but he led the majority of laps, though Barnes was admittedly concerned about bigger issues. Having won five of the six Buell Lightning Series races in 2001, plus the 2002 opener at Daytona, Barnes had made himself the prohibitive favorite. Add to that a qualifying mark that was 1.5 seconds faster than Bemisderfer, second best, though not for lack of effort. The Pennsylvanian, who's been racing at n e _ s Summit Point for 16 years, fell trying to match Barnes' time. As the race began, Bemisderfer and Hal's Performance/Daytona Harley-Davidson/Buell/Ocean Deck's Richie Morris took off in front of Barnes, stifling his original plan. "I wanted to get out and just take off, but once I got out there and I was second into turn one, and got outbroke and double-stuffed by [Richie] Morris and [Bryan] Bemisderfer, I was like, 'I think I'll just cruise in behind them and see what happens,'" Barnes said. "I know that I have a lot on them here and there. Pretty much that's what I planned on doing. Bemisderfer was not shy about throwing it in there, which is fine; I half expected it. And 1 think the other thing was that I was really thinking about the races later on in the day as well." Morris was the first to drop back after hitting a false. neutral in tum five on the fifth lap. "I lost Barnes and Bemisderfer," Morris said. "When I lost them, I knew there was no making it up." Morris had to settle for a secure third. • The leaders were going back and forth, Bemisderfer stronger into turn one and in turn three, his local knowledge paying off, Barnes better in turn four. Barnes first took the lead on the fifth lap, Bemisderfer taking it right back. There wasn't much between them and Bemisderfer knew it. Barnes was in a playful mood, reaching over and tapping Bemisderfer on the seat of his leathers as the pair sped down the front straight on the seventh lap. Barnes was into the lead and held it until the eighth lap, when they came upon a lapper in turn three. Bemisderfer made the more aggressive move, Barnes was content to sit back, knowing what he had in reserve. "That was one of the times there was a backmarker going into three and J saw that he hesitated," Bemisderfer said. "Again, that's one of them local things where you know what to do there. I seen him hesitate and I took advantage of it. He retaliated and come around the backmarker." As they passed the white flag, Barnes was in the lead. Bemisderfer thought he had turn one covered, but Barnes did everything a little better on the final lap, and sped to victory by 0.596 of a second. "I thought I had it covered," going into turn one, Bemisderfer said. "I didn't want to show my card there until the last lap. That was my last effort. I pulled out beside him going into one and made sure I had him, three or four laps previous to the last one it wasn't really a ·problem. Going into turn three is where 1 was passing him and I was hoping he was going to think that was where I was going to do the passing and he wasn't going to be ready for me in one. The whiteflag lap come and he went a little deeper everywhere. I could stay behind him but that was about it. He was doing his job." Bemisderfer added: "He was pretty strong everywhere for being here for the first time." Barnes leads the eight-race Buell Lightning Series Championship with 35 points after two rounds, seven more than Bemisderfer, with Morris third at 24. The Buell Lightning race was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. but had been green-flagged over an hour late. Oil on the track from earlier National Road Race Series classes forced FUSA officials to alter the program. The morning's support NRRS races had been prematurely curtailed and the final two forced to run after the lunch break, beginning at 1 p.m., when the Buells were to have run. Race director Kenny Abbott estimated that 2 1/2 hours was lost cleaning up the various oil slicks. What bothered some of the riders was that FUSA officials hadn't

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