AMAIChevy Trucks U.S. Superbike Championship
Round 10: Road America
"I'd love to address that: Oliver
said. "I have been asking the AMA
since last December what is going to
happen. First I heard from Gary
Mathers - who is now gone from the
AMA - and he assured me that there
would be a two-year notice if they
were going to drop any classes. Then
I heard from some journalists that
said they'd heard the AMA was going
to drop everything except Superbike
and 600, which would only give you
two races, and I don't think that you
can sell as many bratwurst that way.
Now I've heard that they're going to
have a meeting in two weeks, and
maybe they'll have some direction,
but they can't say anything right now.
As a business owner, trying to run a
business and make money racing, we
have no idea whether or not we're
going to have a business next yea r. It
is upsetting to me and to my sponsors. We feel that we put on a clean
program and a very strong show. To
tell you the truth, we feel like we get
treated like crap, and I don't appreciate it. I'm not just saying that
because of me and my team. I have
asked every 250 rider in here, and we
are all wondering if our bikes are
going to be used again next year."
DiSalvo finished some 18 seconds
back, with Turner another 16 seconds
behind him en route to fourth. There
was a good battle for the fifth spot,
however, as Team Oliver Yamaha's
Perry Melneciuc and Rising Sun
Cycles' Yamaha rider Chris Pyles battled back and forth for most of the
race, running alongside one another
up the long front straightaway on several occasions. Pyles led Melneciuc
off the last corner in the final run to
the checkered flag, but Melenciuc
worked the draft to slingshot past him
for fifth at the finish.
CN
Road Amerie.o
Elkhert LIke, VllSConsin
Results: JDlIe 9, 2002 lRound 6J
MBNA 250cc GRAND PRIX: 1. Chuck Sorenson
(Apr); 2. Rich Oliver (Yam); 3. Jason DiSl!llvo (Hon):
4. Simon Turner (Yam); 5. Perry Melne<:luc (Yam); 6.
Chris Pyles (Vern); 7. Colin Jensen (Apr): 8. William
Himmelsbach (Yam): 9. Ed Sorbo (Yam); 10. Ty
David P1z (Yam); 11. Frank Aragakl (Yam); 12. John
Williams (Yam); 13. John France (Hon); 14. Richard
AMAIBuell Pro Thunder
PHOTO BY BRIAN
J.
NELSON
ELKHART W (121); 7. Colin
Jensen (115); 8. Darren Fulce (105); 9. Rich Oliver
(10311 win); 10. John Williams (97); 11. Frank
Ara9aki (85); 12. Chris Pyles (79): 13. (TIE) John
France (71)/Rollind Sends (71); 15. Cory Denlon
West (58): 16. AI Saiaverria (55): 17. William
Himmelsbach (46); 18. Thad Halsmer (44); 19.
Richard Memar (41); 20. Stephen Bowline (39).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 7 - Brainerd, Minnesota, JuneilO
Round B - Monterey, California, July 13
fying, but the bike was set up quite a
bit off. We guessed on everything. It
has just been one of them years, I
guess. When it rains, it pours."
Nobles crossed the line fourth,
with AMS Ducati-backed Heath Small
rounding out the top five, 44 .528 seconds behind the winner.
I:N
Round 3: Road America
By SCOTT ROUSSEAU
Memer (Yam); 15. Netheniel Franson (Yam); 16.
Mark Stil.. (Yam): 17. James Worthington (Apr): 18.
Chris Hamilton (Hon); 19. Jeremy Bonnett (Yam);
20. Stephen Bowline (Hon); 21. Darren Fulce (Vern);
22. James Bonner (Yam).
Time: 22 min., 56.570 sec.
rider Mike Ciccotto ran second, with
Tilley H-D/Buell's Tripp Nobles and
Ciccotto's teammate Shawn Higbee
running fourth and fifth, respectively.
Higbee dropped out of the race with
bike trouble one lap later, while Ciccotto distanced himself from Nobles,
the front three riders running about
two seconds apart by lap four.
McCarthy was on the move,
though, and he lowered the lap record
several times as he viciously cut into
Montano's advantage, ultimately
dropping the single-lap race record to
2: 17.392 - nearly two seconds faster
than the mark Montano had set in the
same race - on lap seven.
McCarthy had already caught and
passed Nobles by then, but he still
faced an uphill battle, as Montano
was still 5.522 seconds ahead, with
Ciccotto running over two seconds
directly ahead, with two laps to go.
When McCarthy blazed past Ciccotto,
the Buell rider simply bided his time,
gladly taking third - and first Buell.
"Once I got around them [the other
Buell riders] and gapped them on the
back straightaway, I was hoping that I
could close up on Tommy: Ciccotto
said. "I'd close up on him, but then
he'd open it back up. All in all, the
bike worked really good this weekend, and I'm happy to be first Buell.
We made a bad tire choice on the
front of the bike, and it was tucking
bad in the Carousel. Then McCarthy
came by, and I just let him go and got
a good view of the race between the
Ducatis at the end. But I'm happy to
be the first Buell."
McCarthy spotted Montano up
ahead and came after him all the
harder.
"I saw Tommy up ahead, and I
didn't know if I could catch him:
n
__
s
McCarthy said. "I got a little fired up
and made a couple of mistakes, but
the bike was working really good and
the tires were working good. I
enjoyed it. It was a good race."
Montano said that he knew
McCarthy was coming.
"I thought he was further back
than he was," Montano said. "I looked
back a few times and didn't see him,
and I thought, 'Well, hell, I've got a
plus seven on the board.' Then all of
a sudden that was a plus zero, and I
thought 'What the hell does that
mean?' I looked back, and I still
didn't see him. Then the last lap, I
looked again, and he was right there."
The money pass came in the
Carousel - a right-hand sweeping
section that encompasses turns nine
and 10 on the Road America circuit.
"We weren't getting through there
all weekend," Montano said. "We
spent the whole weekend working on
the bike after the transmission blew up
on Friday. We got it together for quali-
Roa~
Amerie.o
E1lIUrt LIke, VI_asin
IleslIIts: J_ 9, 2802 lRound 3 at 10J
BUEll PRO THUNDER: I. Kirl< McCarthy (Due):
2. Thomas I'Iontano (Due); 3. Mike Ciccotto (Bue): 4.
Tripp Nobl.. (Bue); 5. Heath Small (Due); 6. Richie
Morris (Sue); 7. Daniel Bilansky (Sue); 8. DllVid
Estok (Bue); 9. Josh Bryan (Bue): 10. Kevin Hanson
(Due): 11. Clarl< Freatman (Due); 12. Brian Weber;
13. Jessica Zalusky (Due); 14. Alex Freeman (SUl):
15. Chari.. Sipp (Bue): 16. Chris Knight (Due); 17.
Michael Handegard (Suz); 18. Gregory AveDa (Sue);
19. Shawn Higbee (Bue).
lime: 23 min., 28.720 sec.
Distance: 10 laps; 40 miles
Average speed: 102.220 mph
Margin of victory: 00.632 sec.
BUELL PRO THUNDER C'SHIP POINTS
STANDINGS (After 3 of 10 rounds): 1. Kirk
McCarthy (11313 ",ins); 2. Mike Clccotto (90); 3.
Thomas Montano (73); 4. Josh Bryan (72); 5. Clark
Freatman (63): 6. David Estok (55); 7. Charlie
Hewett (47): 8. Charles Sipp (44): 9. Heath Small
(42); 10. Tom Hull (40): 11. (TIE) Tom Chauncey
(38)/Jesslca Zalusky (38); 13. Tripp Nobles (37):
14. (TIE) Michael Bames (29)/Dale Pestes (29): 16.
(TIE) Thomas Fournier (27)/Shane Turpin (27); 18.
(TIE) Richie Morris (25)/Ricky Lund9ren (25): 20.
Daniel Bilansky (24).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 7 - Brainerd, Minnesota, June 30
Round B - Monterey, Cal~omia, July 13
KJrt< McCarthy endured a stop-and-go
penalty but still won the Pro Thunder
final at Road America.
