Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series Round I: Jennings GP Army Victorious! Bv DAN SCHMITT JENNINGS, FL MAR. 27 , G reat weather and a perfect ra cetrack greeted the co mpetitors at the first race of th e Dunlop/WERA N at io na l End ura nce Ser ies in Jen nings. Florida. Fo rty-seven teams fro m 16 states cha rge d into the first co rne r of thi s 2-mile ro ad course . Tray Bat ey led th e charge on the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R I000. Hot o n his heel s wa s Br ad ley C hampion, on th e Team Ve locity Racing/T Force Y amaha RI. Be n Walters had the Army of Darkn ess 600cc Suzuki ne ar t he fron t , w ith Taylor Knapp, o n th e Ray C Yamaha R6, closing. Thi rty minutes in, d isaster struck as Blue Ridge / BBC Racing's SV lost mo re o il than its belly pan cou ld hold . Wit h oil on the track fro m t ur ns se ven t hrough I I. bike s began to go do w n - including the Vesra h Suzuki. T he red After killing the engine with the kill switch, Ben Walters waits to return to action on the Army of Darkness Suzuki, as Team Xtreme/Maxxis Tires goes by. Regardless, Army of Darkness won the overall victory. flag flew, and the teams returned to the "hot pits ." Wh en the green flag flew again, 41 team s resumed their que st again. C hamp io n took the le ad . Scott y Van Soeik ran se cond o n the Che r oke e Ch a llen ge R6 , wi th th e Te a m Xt reme/Maxxis Tires Suzuki 1000 in third. Vesrah Suzuki spe nt 12 minutes in the pits , rep lacing th e fair ing, fron t brake s, c1 ip- o ns , w hee ls and various o ther bro ken parts. T hey re -enter ed the race in 30th place . As the tea ms began to make th ei r first pit stops, Army of Dark ne ss gr a b bed t he le ad . On e o f t he adva ntages of racing in the Superbt ke classes is t he per mitte d use of e nlarge d ga s t an ks . Walte rs had the lead, despite having killed the eng ine wit h the kill switch and pu lling off the track during the first hour. He figured o ut his mistake and re-entered the race. Phil Caudill lost sixth place on the Team Ch icag o/4&6 Racing R6 w hen he unloaded in turn I I. At halfway, Roge r Bell took his Bell's Suzuki II SV6S0 to third overall with steady, fast riding. Ar m y was in t he lea d , wi th Te am Velocity follow ing one lap down. Taylor Knapp/ Ray C's R6 led the Midd lew e ight Supe rstock class in fo urt h overall. Vesrah Suzuki moved up to 27t h. FDK Racing made thei r charge during the fourth hour, moving to fourt h overal l. Ve locity Crew Racing and B&S Road racing con tinued the st ruggle for fifth overal l. Can ton Racing II and Be ll's Suzuki II held seventh and e ighth , w ith Deal s Gap Re so rt in ninth. Pe rfo rm ance Psycle Racing rou nded out the top 1 0. With BO minute s re maining, FDK got by Taylo r Knapp/Ray C's to gra b th ird . Army co ntinued to lead. with Team Velocity second. In the final hour, FDK to o k second ove rall, gaining o ne lap o n Team Velocity Racing. "We ' re runn ing Sup ersto ck, w it h a st oc k gas tank, so we have to stop every hou r, and it's hard to make that lost time up," Cham pio n said. "Th e Velocity Racing RI is running really we ll, a n d we ' re happ y w it h w ha t we've acco mplished so far in the race. " Taylo r Knapp ran off the track and was ou t of the race. Velocity C rew Racing mo ved to fourth, wit h Canton Racing IIin fifth . At th e c heckers, Army o r Darknes s to o k t he overa ll wi n an d fir st in Midd le w ei g ht Sup e r bike . FD K t ook seco nd in cla ss a nd ove rall. Ch e r oke e C ha llen ge t o ok t he Middlewe ight Superstock win. "We are committ ed t o t his se rie s," Van Soeik said, "and th is is a great way to sta rt the season ." eN JENNINGS GP JENNINGS , FLORIDA RESULTS: MARCH 27, 2004 (ROUND 1) O /A : I. Arm y of Darkness (Suz); 2. FDK (Suz); 3. Team Velocity Racing (Yam); -i. Veloci ty C rew Racing (Sur }; 5. Canton Racing II (Su:r.); 6. Vesrah Suzuki (501.); 7. Bells Su:r.uki II (Su:r.); 8. Cherok eeChailenge .com (Y ; 9. Hillbilly Racing am) (Y am); 10, B&S Roadra cing (Su:r.). L/WS/BK: I . Bells Suzuki II (Su:r.); 2. Rapid Transi t (Su:r.); 3. Dixie Mafia (Su:r.). MfW S/BK: I. Army o f Darkness (So2); 2. FDK (So2); 3, Ve locity Crew Radn g (Suz), H/W S/BK: I . Vesrah Suzuki (Suz): 2. Canton Ra ci ng (S u:r.). M/W S / STK : I . C h e rokee Ch alle nge .co m (Yam) ; 2. H illbilly Racing (Yam); 3. B&S Roadracing {Sua}. HfW S/STK : I. Team Velocity Raci ng (Y am); 2. Team X tremelMaxxis Tires (Su:r.); 3. Team HMR (Hon). '---- King of Sand Hill Four ·Stroke·Only Minibike Races Race 'ITT: Sand Hill Ra nch The Awwwwww Factor Bv RENEE ROBERGE-ANDERSON BRENTWOOD, CA, MAR. 13 \ A. /here else coul d one see Rodney Smith on Y V his stock Suzuki DRZ I25, tearing it up on the TT track on t he same day as -l-year-olds Gavin Tomberl in and Chase Hofmann? On ly at the inaugura l King of Sand Hill Four-Stro ke Only Minib ike Races at Sand Hill Ranch in Bre ntwood, California! Eve ry kid 10 and under received a tr op hy, and the older ride rs co m pete d for customdesigned King of Sand Hill medals from Italy. T he 50cc (4-6) class had an "Awwwwww" factor of plus IO. It was a treat to watch the he roes of tomorrow line up at the start w ith the same intensity in the ir eyes as the seasoned Pro s. At t he ripe old age o f 4, Honda ride r To mberlin of Half Moon Bay show e d he has w hat it takes to win . He had his work cu t out fo r him , as he was riding against very dete r mine d 6- ye a r a ids Chelsea Glanz and Saman tha Re pstad, both also o n Ho ndas, but he held the m off in the main event to capture that 3-foot tr oph y. Glanz placed seco nd and Repstad third . T he SO (7- 10) class was exci ting, du e to cc the unique riding style develope d by 9-year-o ld Rico Abre u of Ruthe rfo rd , who, due to his size, cou ldn't quite reach the foo tpegs. This one was a definite nail-bite r, as Abreu got a bad start but worked his way through the pack, tip-toeing o n the rear brake as he pitched his bike sideways 48 into the infield corner. T he crowd cheered him o n every lap, especially on the fifth and final o ne as he caught and passed his fe llow Honda rider Bee Nava for the win . Another close battle on the day was in the 12Scc St o c k/ Mo d ified (20- 39) ma in event. Yamaha-mounted Rich Facciano of Disco ve ry Bay, r idin g for Any Su nday Spo rts of Tracy, APRIL 21,200 4 • CYCLE NEWS Ca lifornia , got th e holeshot , o nly to be passed by Fac tory Suzu ki's Smith coming ou t of the first turn. Hon da-mo unte d Ryan C hamberlin, rid ing fo r Fra nk Nye's Engine s O nly, got by Facciano on the second lap and took off after Smith, catching him by lap four. Trying to put th e squeeze o n Smith on the inside of the right hand turn, giving him a little bump that wasn't enoug h, Chamberlin we nt down an d was passed by two riders. C ham be rlin got back up and re passed one of them. but he couldn't catch Facciano and ended up third. Th e o nly th ing better than all of the great racing was the incredi ble raffl ing off of do nated product from the event's sponsors. RESUL TS 50 (4-6) : I. Gavin Tomberlin (Hon ); 2. Chelsea Glanz (Hon); 3, Samantha Repstad (Hon) . 50 (7. 10): I . Rico Abreu (Hon) ; 2, Bee Nava (Hon ); 3. Mor gan Tomberlin (Hco). 50 STK (19 -39): I. Scott Salas (Hon) ; 2. l en Tom berl in (Ho n); 3. Randy Repstad (Hon ), 50 MOD (23-39): I. Jeff G riffin (Han ); 2. John Roitinge r (BBR); 3. Robe rt Wells. 60 /80/ 110 (10- 15): I, Matt Magg iore (Hon); 2. Daniel Brandt (Hon) ; 3. Anthony Nava (Ho n). 100 ST K (10-39): I. Jimmy Sanche :r. (H on ); 2 . Da vid Bo o th (Ho n) ; l . Jir o N akamura (H o n) . 100/110 ( 10- 15) : I. Ryan Mart in (Kaw ); 2. Brad Alvara do (BBR); 3. Sean Bias (Hon) . 125 (10 -15 ): I. Daniel Neva (Y am): 2. CI= Rowe (Y am): 3. Scott Upp (y",,). 125 (1 0-3 9): I . Rod ney Sm ith (Su:r.); 2 , Rich Facciano (Yam) . 3 . Ryan Cham be rl in (H o n) . 115 (4 0+) BEG /INT: I . Tro y D e Herr era (Yam); 2. Kevin Horn (Yam); 3. Don Dotson (Hon) . 150 ( 15. 39 ): I. Jo hn Ro itinger (BBR); 2 . C hr ist e r !ra ny (H on ); 3, Robe rt We lls (Yam ). 125/150 (40+) ADV: I. Rodne y Smith (Suz); 2 Troy De He rrera (Yam); 3. Pat McC oy (Hon) . Yahoo Winter Indoo r ST Series Creek County Fairgrounds Duvall Makes Deep Impact on Points Race Bv DAN MAHONV SAPULPA, OK, MAR. 13 oe Duvall con tinued to pad his po ints lea d in the Yahoo Winter Indoor Short Track Series, presented by Eric's Off-Road, with a co nvincing w in in th e O pe n Pro class Satu rday night at Creek Cou nty Fairgrounds. After a red fiag for yet another Bre t Sowd e rs/Russell Marlin w reck - the two have tangled at every race this seas on - Duvall jum ped to the fro nt an d was never J Troy De Herrera (33) leads Ron Melton (28) and Jerry Brandt (412) on his way to win ning the Over 40 class· a nd the title of King of Sa nd Hill - at the inaugura l Fou r-Stroke Only Minibike Race event at Sand Hill Ranch. 40th Anniversary

• Cover