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The pair went back and forth, the position never settled until the final lap. Barnes made a run on Acree on the front straight, then held him off right to the final corner, where Acree took one last stab. "[Turn] 14, if you run it in there tight, and go too heavy on the brakes, a lot of people go sliding off there," Acree said. "And I figured I needed to bring this one home, put it on the box, not in the gravel trap. I knew once he led on the straight, that was pretty much it." Barnes was exhausted after the race, the wiry Floridian still suffering the effects of a lingering flu. Adding to his problems was that, due to the threat of impending rain, FUSA officials had changed the schedule, moving all three pro classes to the top of the schedule, forcing Barnes to run four races back to back. What saved him in this race was that, despite a lack of setup time caused by a program crowded with club races, Barnes still had a strong motorcycle, though not one that handled particularly well. "I had a little bit of a chatter and it was slowing me down mid-corner, and I couldn't get any corner speed," Barnes said. "I don't really know why 1 lost the lead. He [Connell] just had too much for me." Pegram dropped to fourth on the fifth lap and hung on to the tail of the trio for a while, before losing the draft and fading. On Sunday morning, the Hooters/Mountain Dew Suzuki GSXR600, which had run strong all weekend, developed engine trouble. Pegram thought a fuel pump had gone bad, so the team ran the bike on a dyno and the numbers were fine. But because the dyno doesn't put the (Yam): 6. Jeff wood (Su,); 7. Andrew Nelson (Hon): 8. Scott Greenwood (SUI); 9. Cory West (Han); 10. Raymond Bowman (Han); 11. David Weppler (Han); 12. Jeff Purk (SuI);13. Darrin Mitchell (SUI): 14. Russell Voigt (YlIm): 15. Scott Stevens (Suz); 16. Kurt Marmor (Duc); 17. Roger Lundsten (Yam): 18. Steve Atlas (Suz); 19. Mike Ogara (Yam); 20. Richard Kjar (Yam); 21. John Lounsbury (Suz): 22. Rick Brell (Yam): 23. Jason Temme (Yam); 24. Paolo Mariano (Suz); 25. Shawn Hill (Yam): 26. Jessica Zalusky (Yem); 27. Gordy Halsey (Yam); 28. Matt Wait (Suz); 29. Brian Cox (Yam); 30. Calvin Martinez (Kaw); 31. Dave Rosno (Suz). Time: 27 mins.. 53.00 secs. Distance: 12 laps, 48 miles. Margin of victory: 3.220 secs. Average speed: 103.288 mph. PRO HONDA OILS SPORTBIKE C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 8 rounds): 1. Craig Connell (79/2 wins); 2. Michllel Bllmes (63): 3. Lee Acree (61): 4. Larry Pegram (54): 5. Jeff Wood (38); 6. Scott Greenwood (32); 7. Matt Wllit (29): 8. Rllymond Bowman (27); 9. Eric Wood (25); 10. John Lounsbury (21): 11. Andrew Nelson (17): 12. (TIE) Clint McBain/Owen Weichel/Anthony Cammack/Jim Lester/James Kerker/John Dempsey/BrYlln Bemisderfer/Dale Dandrea/Slim Rozynski/Peolo Marillno (t6). same load on the engine that racing does, the problem wasn't revealed. "I couldn't draft anybody: Pegram said. Toward the end of the race, he lost touch with Acree and Barnes, but was secure in fourth. Matt Wait was running in fifth on a borrowed motorcycle [see Briefly ... ] when it threw a chain with less than two laps to go. That handed the spot to Penguin Road Racing School's Jeff Wood, who would be caught and passed by Monte Nichols, at the end of the race. With three races remaining, Connell leads Barnes, 79-63, in the points standings. Acree is third with 61. eN RDlId America Bkhlrt LIke, Wisconsin Results: August 4, ZOOZ [Round 51 Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Long Pond, Pennsylvania, August 25 Round 7 - Portland, Oregon, September 8 PRO HONDA OILS SPORTBIKE: I. Craig Connell (Suz); 2. Michael Barnes (SUI); 3. Lee Acree (SUI); 4. Larry Pegram (Suz); 5. Monte Nichols Formula USAlBuel1 Lightning Series Round 5: Road America STORY AND PHOTO BY HENNY RAy ABRAMS ElKHART lAKE, WI, AUG. 4 he Buell Lightning Series race at Road America was about brotherly love, of a sort. With an engine that was slowing, Sheboygan, Wisconsin's Clint Brotz held on for a popular win, just nipping his late-charging brother-in-law Richie Morris, who now resides in Elkhart Lake, both riding for the Hal's Harley-Davidson team. When it was suggested that Morris might have slowed to allow Brotz, whose sister he married. to win his second race in a row, Morris replied, "I didn't let up. I wouldn't do that. I don't love him that much." Like the Buell race at Mosport, this one was colored by events that happened before the race. On the warm-up lap, the chain snapped on the Kosco Harley- Davidson/Buell Lightning of defending class champion Michael Barnes. Considering that Barnes had qualified over 3.2 seconds faster than T Brotz, it was clear that he'd be the man to beat. No one had to. Instead, it was Brotz to the point and pulling away, seemingly in control. Morris had had a rough weekend. He'd crashed in practice, injuring his knee. He wasn't happy with the Buell, but hit on something that worked on Saturday. On the third lap of the seven-lap race, he had a moment in the Carousel which caused him and Harley-Davidson of Frederick's Bryan Bemisderfer to check up, and gave Brotz some breathing room. "The bike popped out of gear when I was leaned over in the Carousel: Morris said. "I had to stand up to save it and then I fell off the bike and hit my knee. It was a pretty sorry looking move, actually. I saved it and got back by those guys, and I didn't think I could catch Clint [Brotz]." Ending the fifth of seven laps, Brotz had over four seconds on Morris and looked to be home free. But the next lap, it was less, and on the final lap, Morris was right there. "I knew that the high-speed tracks, I was going to be definitely podium contention, but 1 didn't think 1 could win two in a row," Brotz said. "I'm just so happy." "I thought I had him right where I needed him, but I actually pulled out a little too soon," Morris said. "It was either that or hit his back tire. So I had to pull out. And when 1 pulled out, and I went by him, and then he had enough drive to get back by me. I don't know, I guess it was a bikelength or half a bikelength." Enough for Brotz to take his second in a row and move into the championship points lead. With three races remaining, he leads Bemisderfer, 84-80, with Barnes lurking at 64. Bemisderfer said that, after qualifying seventh, he was nervous. His goal is to get on the podium every race, and he accomplished it this weekend, though not without some drama. "I started hearing noises in my motor [toward the end of the race]," Bemisderfer said. "This is an embarrassing statement: I went from trying to go forward to trying to maintain, and that's where I was." He fInished third. Fourth went to Smith Brothers' Harley-Davidson/Buell's Jason Smith, alone in front of Hoban Bros. Racing's Jeff Johnson. Johnson rebounded from a vicious crash on Saturday. eN Morris saw he was catching Brotz little by little, "And I thought a few more laps I might catch him, and 1 did," Morris said. Morris caught him in the final comer, tum 14, the first inkling Brotz had that he was being challenged. Brotz said he didn't have pit signals, "Just had a bunch of thumbs up in the air. That's about it." So when he looked back, it was something of a shock. The reason Morris had been able to close was that Brotz's engine was going off-song. "I kept on looking back and nobody was there and my bike was breaking up a little bit, and going into one and a couple of others, like where you're really zinging the motor over seven [7000 rpm], it was breaking up a little bit. But I was kind of slacking and Richie caught up to me and 1 didn't know that until coming off of 14." The pair raced side by side up the front straight, Morris pulling out a microsecond too early and coming up .58 of a second short. eye I e RDlId America Elkhart like, Wisconsin Results: August 4, ZODZ [Round 51 BUELL LIGHTNING SERIES: 1. Clint Brotz: 2. Richie Morris: 3. Brylln Bemisderfer: 4. Jason Smith: 5. Jeff Johnson; 6. John Spinelli: 7. Joseph Rozynski; 8. Jeff Harding: 9. Pllul James: JO. Gregory Avello: 11. Scott Korol; 12. Tom Fritz: 13. Karl Kegel: 14. Mike Rakoczy: 15. Mark Bernard: 16. Robert Pirog: 17. Jeffrey Trudell: 18. Daniel Bilansky. TIme: J7 mins., 34.00 sees. Distance: 7 laps, 28 miles. Average speed: 95.636 mph. Margin of victory: 0.058 sees. BUELL UGHTNING SERIES C'SHIP POINTS STANDINGS (After 5 of 8 rounds): 1. Clint Brotz (84/2 wins): 2. Bryan Bemisderler (80); 3. Michael Barnes (64/2 wins): 4. Richie Morris (52); 5. Jeffrey Johnson (50); 6. Jason Smith (40): 7. Jeff Harding (39): 8. Joseph Ro,ynski (33): 9. Steve Luxem (30): 10. (TIE) Anthony Femia/Darren James (28); 12. Sam Rozynski (19); 13, Gregory Avella (18); 14. Mark Reynolds (16); 15. Paul James (15): 16. Shawn Smith (14): 17. (TIE) Oouglas Burton/Scott Korol (13); 19. Chad Healy (11); 20. Jesse Lauder ( 10). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Long Pond, Pennsylvania, August 25 Round 7 - Portland, Oregon, September 8 n e _ S • AUGUST 14, 2002 31