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Mike Sanchez (85) emerged as a serious Horizon Award candidate and was the onl, contender for the award who did not have a pro racing license coming into the AMA Grand Championships at Mid-Ohio. Sanchez showed he could run with the pros. Here he leads Brian Stokes (34) and a lapped novice rider in the Mediumweight Superbike class. Sanchez won the race. line straight, but Stokes got a better drive and moved alongside. Furtek swerved not knowing that Stokes was alongside, and the two banged fairings as they crossed the line with Stokes ahead by a wheel. "On the last lap I knew he was going to try me going into turn five: Stokes said. "I was real far inside, and he passed me on the outside and cut across my wheel, and I'm like 'Oh!' I knew he was protecting that line on the last couple of corners, and I decided to just back it off a little bit and get a good drive on him. When we got on the front straight, he just weaved over a little bit, and we touched. I'm just glad he didn't hit my brake lever. Matt's a great rider, and I trust him, so it was no problem running that close together." Furtek was not happy about losing but knew he'd done all he could to get the victory. "I came into that last turn, and normally you sweep out wide to get a good drive onto the front straight," he said. "I figured I'd hold it tight so he couldn't come up under, and I didn't get the best drive, and I think he got me at the line. I moved back to the inside just before the line, and we hit. It was a pretty intense race." Chris Pyles, of Breezewood, Pennsylvania, dominated the 250 Grand Prix premier race. Pyles beat out Michigan rider Geoffrey Maloney and Miami's Barrett Long, son of AMA racing legend John Long. JD Hard took victory ahead of David Podolsky and Joshua Guyer in the Heavyweight Twins event after early leader Chris Voelker pulled out of the race. Stokes cemented his claim to the Horizon Award with another stellar performance in the Formula Xtreme final. The race came down to a battle between Stokes, riding a Team Embry Suzuki GSX-R750, and John Dugan on his EDR-NIC Suzuki GSXRIOOO. Dugan closed in and passed Stokes before experiencing a problem with his Suzuki. "We had an air duct fall out right after I took the lead;" Dugan explained. "I was on a 1000 so I should have been able to pull him no problem. After the duct fell out, it [the bike] was just dogging out of the corners. Every time I'd go down the back straight, the duct would blow up and be right against my wrist, and I'd go in on the brakes, and it would be pushing it down." In spite of the problem with his bike, Dugan managed to hold the lead coming into the final turn on the last lap. Again it was Stokes making a last-second pass to win his second Premier race. "I backed off a little bit and got a super drive coming to the line," Stokes said. "Steve Rapp showed me the line through that turn in practice, and man, it's the line." Greg Moore, a first year expert rider from Alabama, showed that he might be the frontrunner for the 2004 Horizon Award by nearly chasing down Stokes and Dugan late in the Formula Xtreme race to finish third. Moore went on to win the Superbike class, the final premier race of the day, over Stokes and former Horizon winner Douglas Duane. Had Moore been able to attend Wednesday's races, he might have been the frontrunner for the Horizon. It was an impressive shOWing for Moore, who was riding at Mid-Ohio for the first time. "I knew that from practice that I had some pretty good times," said Moore, a department head in a Mercedes-Benz factory. "This is my first time at this track, and I'm still learning it. I kind of did a wheelie off the start, and I ended up going in there in second. Into Turn Six I got Brian Stokes on the brakes and just tried to put my head down and turn in some good laps. I was getting info on my pit board, so I knew I was putting a AMA Road Race Grand Championship honoree Rich Oliver (left) congratulates Club Challenge winners Reuben Frankenfield (center) and Greg Moore (right). Frankenfield, Moore and Matt Furtek made up the WERA Nationals team that won the inaugural team competition. little gap on Brian. I ran some low 32s, so I feel pretty good about that. 1 hope to carry some momentum into the pro weekend." While Moore missed out on the Horizon Award, he was part of the team that won the AMA Road Race Club Challenge. Teams from eight clubs entered the Challenge, and the WERA Nationals squad was made up of WERA veteran Reuben Frankenfield and young up-and-comers Furtek and Moore. All three riders turned in solid performances, with Furtek leading the way. The WERA Nationals edged out a CMRA club team made up of Troy Green, Mike Sanchez and Logan Young, and the WMRRA team of Tom Wertman, John Dugan and Jake Holden, who tied for second. eN (Yam); 5. Calvin Barnett (Suz). H/W S/STK EX: I. John Dugan (Su,): 2. Mike SlInchez (Suz); 3. Matthew Furtek (Suz): 4. JJ Roetlin (Suz); 5. Eric Spector (Suz). S/SPT NOV: 1. Joe Hayes (Yam); 2. Ben Ungel (Han); 3. William Stranahan (Yam); 4. Chris Kessler (Suz); 5. Jeffrey Agnes (Yam). 250 GP NOV; 1. David Celento (Yam): 2. Rebecca Henn (Yam). H/W 1VI NOV: 1. Bentley Squires (Han); 2. Scott Sheehan (Han); 3. Mark Biletnikofr (Suz); 4. Scott Beckley (Suz); 5. Jesse Nunn (Suz): 6. Jerry Van Horn (Suz): 7. Christopher Draudt (Han); 8. Chad Teffi. (Suz); 9. Dane Bums (Han): 10. Sean Mueller (SU2). F·XTREME NOV: 1. Jeffrey Agnes (Suz); 2. Joe Hayes (Yam); 3. Ben Lingel (Han): 4. Larry Glaze (Han); 5. Brian Logan (Yam). L/W 1W NOV: 1. Jerry Van Horn (SUl); 2. Robert Breeden (Suz); 3. Mark Biletnikoff (SUl); 4. Alan Rader (Suz); 5. Andy George (SUl); 6. Joel Hammond (Suz); 7. Jesse Nunn (SUI); 8. Shannon Anderson (SUl); 9. Scott Beckley (Suz): 10. Aaron Bagwell (Su,). S/BK NOV: I. Jeffrey Agnes (Suz): 2. Joe Hayes (Yam); 3. Brian Logan (Yam); 4. Bentley Squires (Han); 5. Scott Collins (Yam). L!W S/BK EX: 1. Jason Temme (Yam): 2. Scott Evans (SOl); 3. Wes Swain (Suz); 4. Brett Campbell (Suz); 5. Robert Campbell (Suz). S/MOTO: 1. Jerry Shirley (Yam). M/W S/BK EX: 1. Mike Sanchez (Suz); 2. Brian Stokes (Suz); 3. Matthew Furtek (Suz); 4. Loglln Young (Suz): 5. Blake Young (Han): 6. Eric Spector (Suz); 7. Jonas McCluskey (SUI); 8. Rick Knuckles (Suz); 9. Jason Temme (Yam); 10. Nick Cummings (Hon). S/STK EX: 1. John Dugan (Suz): 2. Mike Sanchez (Suz); 3. Brian Stokes (Suz); 4. Matthew Furtek (Suz); 5. Mike Scruggs (Suz); 6. JJ Roetliri (SOl); 7. Jeff Muskopr (Suz); 8. Reuben Frankenfield (Suz); 9. Jake Holden (SUI); 10. Corey Eaton (Suz). S/SPT EX: 1. Brian Stokes (Suz); 2. Matthew Furtek (Suz); 3. Darren Luck (Suz); 4. Blake Young (Han); 5. Mike Sanchez (Suz); 6. Chris Peris (Han); 7. Nick Cummings (Han); 8. Reuben Frankenfield (Suz); 9. Logan Young (Suz); 10. Jason Temme (Yam). 250 GP EX: 1. Chris Pyles (Han): 2. Geoffrey Maloney (Yam); 3. Barrett Long (Yam): 4. Shawn Murray (Han): 5. Sandy Noce (Yam): 6. Mark Stiles (Yam): 7. Ed Marchini (Yam); 8. John Long (Yam); 9. Glen Christianson (Yam); 10. Bryan Hoelzer (Han). H/W TW EX: 1. JD Hord (Hon); 2. David Podolsky (Apr); 3. Joshua Guyer (Apr); 4. MIchael Hauknecht (Duc): 5. Christian Smith (Apr); 6. Mark Hatten (Due); 7. Robert Terando (Apr); 8. Jeff Caco (Suz); 9. Bryan Hoelzer (Han): 10. Scott Evans (SUI). F-XTREME EX: I. Brian Stokes (Suz); 2. John Dugan (Suz); 3. Gregory Moore (Suz); 4. JJ RoetJin (Suz); 5. Jake Holden (Suz): 6. Darren Luck (Suz); 7. David Duprey (Suz); 8. John Haner (Suz); 9. Tom Wertman (Suz): 10. Troy Green (Yam). l/W TW EX: 1. Jeff Caco (SUI); 2. Scott Evans (SUI); 3. Michael Graham (Suz); 4. Bradley Martin (Suz); 5. Wes Swain (Suz); 6. Shawn Romano (Suz); 7. Don Kinsey (Suz). S/BK EX: 1. Gregory Moore (Suz); 2. Brian Stokes (Suz); 3. Douglas Duane (Suz); 4. JJ Roetlin (Suz); 5. John Dugan (Suz); 6. Darren Luck (Suz); 7. Matthew Furtek (Suz); 8. John Haner (Suz); 9. Jeff Muskopr (Suz); 10. Mike Sanchez (Suz). AMA ROAD RACE CLUB CHALLENGE (Olympic scoring): 1. WERA NATIONALS (Reuben Frankenfield/Matt Furtek/Greg Moore) 14 points; 2. (TIE) CMRA (Troy Green/Mike Sanchez/Logan Young)/WMRRA (Tom Wertman/John Dugan/Jake Holden) 17 points; 4. CRA (Glen Christianson/Brian Stokes/Steve Atlas) 24 points; 5. AHRMA (Mark Hatten/JD Hord/David Podosky) 29 points; 6. CCS MIDWEST (Jeff Purk/Mark Stiles/Megan Stiles) 35 points; 7. SMRI (Scott McNew/Johnathan Butterman/Alex Anastansion) 35 points; 8. WERA NORTH CENTRAL (Jonas McCluskey/Doug Rose/Randy Sherman) 57 points. Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington. Ohio Results: July 23-24, Z003 L/W SOLO EX: 1. John Lord (Suz); 2. Jason Temme (Yam); 3. Jeff Caco (Suz); 4. Tristan Konneker (Suz); 5. Scott Evans (Suz). L/W SOLO NOV: 1. Robert Breeden (Suz); 2. Mark Biletnikoff (Suz); 3. Andy George (Suz); 4. Alan Rader (Suz); 5. Jerry Van Hom (Suz). LJW XTREME NOV: I. Robert Breeden (Suz): 2. Mark Biletnikoff (Suz); 3. Jerry Van Hom (Suz); 4. Scott Beckley (Suz); 5. AJan Rader (Suz). S/STK NOV: 1. Jeffrey Agnes (Suz); 2. William Stranllhan (Yam); 3. Chris Kessler (Suz); 4. Ben Lingel (Han); 5. Joe Hayes (Yam). H/W S/STK NOV: 1. Brifm Logan (Yam); 2. Charles Dozoir (Suz); 3. l..a:rry Glaze (Han): 4. David Garrison (Suz); 5. Christopher Draudt (Han). SR S/BK NOV: 1. Andrew Cross Jr. (Suz); 2. Christopher Draudt (Han); 3. Robert Zum Mallen (Han); 4. F. Jim Jenkins (Suz). SR S/BK EX: 1. Mark HlItten (Due); 2. Michael Hausknecht (Due); 3. Mike Radke (Yam); 4. David Alley (SUl): 5. Scott Evans (YlIm). M/W S/BK NOV: L William Stranahan (Yam); 2. Chris Kessler (Suz): 3. Keith Koeppen (Yam); 4. Calvin Barnett (Suz); 5. Joe Hayes (Yam). LIW XTREME EX: I. Geoffrey Maloney (Yam); 2. John Lord (Suz); 3. Jerr Caco (Suz); 4. Jason Temme (Yam): 5. Tristan Konneker (SUI). S/STK NOV: I. Jeffrey Agnes (Suz); 2. William Stranahan (Yam); 3. Chris Kessler (Suz); 4. Ben Ungel (Han); 5. Joe Hayes (Yam). LIW XTREME EX: I. Geoffrey Maloney (Yam); 2. John Lord (SUl); 3. Dan Chrystal (Yam); 4. Jeff Caco (Suz); 5. Jason Temme (Yam). M/W SOLO EX: 1. Shawn Conrad (Yam); 2. Eric Spector (Suz); 3. Logan Young (Suz); 4. James Kerker (Hon); 5. Blake Young (Hon). M/W SOLO NOV: I. William Stranahan (Yam): 2. Calvin Barnett (Suz); 3. Joe Hayes (Yam): 4. Jefrrey Agnes (Yam); 5. Ben Ungel (Han). l/W S/STK EX: 1. Richard Kjar (Apr): 2. Brian Kjar (Apr). CLBMN EX: 1. Joseph Ball (Kaw): 2. Randy Grove (Hon): 3. Paul Sicurezza (Kaw); 4. Shawn Romano (Han). L/W S/STK NOV: 1. Michael Scharer (Apr): 2. Chad Hinton (Apr); 3. Vincent Delorenzo (Apr). CLBMN NOV: 1. Erin Higinbotham (Yam); 2. Jerry Shirley (Yam): 3. Wade Parish (Hon); 4. Bruce McLaughlan (MuZ): 5. Jan Swain (Kaw). 125GP: 1. Larry Cohee (Hon); 2. Glen Pison (Han): 3. John Trautmann (Han); 4. Jonathan Butterman (Han); 5. David Celento (Yam). H/W SOLO EX: 1. Steve Rapp (SU2): 2. Chris Caylor (SUI); 3. Douglas Duane (Suz): 4. John Dugan (Suz); 5. Geoff May (Suz). H/W SOLO NOV: I. Jeffrey Agnes (SU2); 2. Joe Hayes (Yam); 3. Larry Glaze (Han); 4. Scott Collins G U G I e n e vv s AUGUST 13, 2003 35