Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

pits. Two laps later, Steve Bell crashed in the same corner on the Blue Ridge Performance/Michelin Suzuki SV and knocked himself out. This brought out the first red flag of the day. As the ambulance took Bell to the local hospital, an elder crewmember of one of the teams fainted from the heat and humidity. This tied up another ambulance, so the red-flagged shut-down period was extended another 30 minutes. With the flip of the green flag, the racing action continued. This time, Team Info Tech/Valter Moto was right on Vesrah. Ten seconds back, Army of Darkness' Mark Crozier led Joe Prussiano, on the Eagle Race Team R6; Reuben Frankenfield, on the Team Velocity Racing Suzuki 600; and Scott Fischer, on the Neighbor of the Beast Yamaha R6. Velocity Crew Racing, TPM/Advance Rider, Ridge Racing and Ricochet Racing rounded out the top 10. Approximately at the four-hour mark, the weather changed dramatically. Heavy clouds came in from the southwest, and a light rain began to fall. The track became a little wet, with a definite dry line, when disaster struck Team Info TechfValter Moto. On the gas and coming out of the last turn, Champion highsided. The Yamaha R6 took three barrel rolls before settling on the edge of the racetrack. The tank flew off, and the injectors were crushed. Champion lay in the gravel pit for a minute and then got up, seemingly okay. The red flag flew again to end the racing action. After a brief 20-minute break, the action began again with the green flag. The rain had stopped a few minutes before the restart, but the track was still wet. Most of the teams stayed with either DOTs or slicks; nobody went to the rains. Vesrah Suzuki again took the lead, but Lightsmith Racing was right with them. Ten seconds back, it was Lightsmith II, Team Life, Deal Gap Racing III, Eagle Race Team, Team Velocity Crew, Neighbor of the Beast, JLR and Ridge Racing. As the track continued to dry, the team settled down for the last 90 minutes of racing. At the five-hour mark, Vesrah/ Pirelli Suzuki held a three lap advantage over Army of Darkness, on the Tower Analysis/Loudon Motorsports.com/ Suzuki GSX-R600. Team Velocity Racing held third, with Eagle Race Team fourth. Velocity Crew was fifth and Neighbor of the Beast was sixth. TPM/Advanced Rider Training, Lightsmith Racing, Ridge Racing and Ricochet Racing rounded out the top 10. MRP Motorsports held the lead in the Lightweight Superbike class on their Pirelli Suzuki SV650, with Team Charm second. Both of the Tight Squeeze teams were having problems; they were running third and fourth. At the checkered flag, Vesrah Brakes/Suzuki took their seventh win of the year. "We had that fuel problem and a little clutch problem, but we ran a good race to take seven out of seven," Vesrah's John Jacobi said. Scott Fischer, en route to sixth overall on the Neighbor of the Beast Yamaha R6. v...... .......u.... on the Suzuki 11), 1011_ the L1ght_1gItt Supetrbike winn. . . . . . Motonparta (a71J,. "The pace Team Info Tech ran impressed me, but this place can be a little treacherous in the rain." Army of Darkness returned to the podium with second overall and first in the Middleweight Superbike class. "It's too bad that Team Info Tech crashed," Army's Mark Crozier remarked. "I felt we would have had something for them at the end; Jeff and I had Nicky covered. Unfortunately, they crashed; fortunately, we took second." Team Velocity Racing led the IS other bikes in the Middleweight Superstock class and finished third overall, making the podium for the first time this season. "While we hate to win this class with the tragedy that happened to Team Info Tech, luckily Bradley wasn't injured too bad," Steven Breckinridge of Velocity said. "All three of us rode a smart race, and Reuben stepped it up at the end to pass Joe Prussia no for the class win." Local heroes Eagle Race Team came in seven seconds back and took fourth overall. "This is our first endurance race of the year," William Lindsay said. "Everyone is in the Middleweight Superstock class, and we knew it would be tough. We thought we were prepared, but when we saw the teams in that class, we wished we were a little bit more prepared." Velocity Crew Racing again finished second in class, fifth overall. Melissa Berkoff took the Neighbor of the Beast Yamaha R6 to third in class, sixth overall, by .082 seconds over Lightsmith Racing. Ridge Racing was eighth, TPM/Advanced Rider Training took ninth, and Team Xtreme II ended up 10th overall and first in the Heavyweight Superstock class and claimed $2000 of the Yamaha contingency money. MRP dominated the Lightweight Superbike class, finishing 20th overall. Taking second in the Heavyweight Superstock class, MR Racing's crew chief, Matt Mummau, explained the use of the Suzuki TLl 000: "The front forks on the TL were better than the ones on the GSX-R. This was the first time in seven years we finished here without crashing or having a mechanical problem. The TL went fine, but we had to stop every 45 minutes for fuel." CN Racing (Suz): 8. Ridge Racing (Kaw); 9. TPM/Advanced Rider Training (Yam); 10. Team Xtreme II (Yam). LJW 5jBK: 1. MRP Motorsports (Suz); 2. Team Charm (Suz): 3. T;ght Squeeze II (Suz). . M/W S/BK: 1. Army of Darkness (Suz): 2. Velocity Crew Racing (Suz); 3. Ughtsmith Racing (Suz). H/W S/BK: 1. Vesrah Suzuki (Suz). M/W S/STK: I. Team Velocity Racing (Suz): 2. Eagle Race Team (Yam); 3. Neighbor of the Beast (Yam). H/W S/STK: 1. Team Xlreme II (Yam); 2. MR Racing (Suz); 3. Lightsmith lJ (Suz). DUNLOP/WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 7 of 10 rounds) O/A: I. Vesrah Suzuki (784); 2. Army of Darkness (693); 3. Velocity Crew Racing (584); 4. Team Velocity Racing (550); 5. Team Extreme II (522): 6. Team Info TechfValter Moto (513); 7. Neighbor of the Beast (485); 8. Ricochet Racing (459): 9. Team Chicago (400); 10. Tight Squeeze II (369). H/W S/BK: I. Vesrah Suzuki (784): 2. Team Xtreme (451); 3. Northern Getaway (433); 4. Team Xtreme II (126); 5. Red Bull Racing (117). H/W S/STK: 1. Team Xtreme II (602): 2. Team HMR (413); 3. Jeff Wyler/Blue Moto (250); 4. Team Tachyon (244); 5. Ellijay Racing (213). M/W S/BK: 1. Army of Darkness (778): 2. Velocity Crew Racing (702): 3. Team Bear (190); 4. TFS Racing (179); 5. Deals Gap Rac;ng III (177). M/W S/STK: 1. Team Velocity Racing (673); 2. Team Info Tech/Valter Moto (632); 3. Neighbor of the Beast (613); 4. Ricochet Racing (597): 5. Team Chicago (527). l!W S/BK: I. Tight Squeeze II (667); 2. Tight Squeeze (599); 3. Deals Gap Racing (544); 4. Blue Ridge Perfonnance (479); 5. SVPerformance.net (353). O/A: 1. Vesrah Suzuki (Suz); 2. Army of Darkness (Suz); 3. Team Velocity Racing (Suz); 4. Eagle Race Team (Yam); 5. Velocity Crew Racing (Suz); 6. Neighbor of the Beast (Yam); 7. Lightsmith Upcoming Round Round 8 - Hallett, Oklahoma, August 30

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