Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

CMRA Sp rint Championship Road Racing Seri es Round 3: Oak Hill Raceway Browning, Sanchez Top Oak Hill Road Race By SHAN MOORE HENDERSON, A rx, APR. 3·4 lull 576 sprint entr ies filled the grids lo r 21 /""\sprint -class events, includ ing the very popu- lar Junior Motard class lo r 8- to 12-yea r-olds , at roun d three 01 the CMRA Sprint Cha mpionship Road Racing Series at O ak Hill Raceway near He nderson , Texas. Many were o n hand to compete for t he thousa nds of dollars in Yamah a co ntingency money; also, $24 25 in CMRA pu rse money was up for grabs. In the C Superstock Novice class, Yamaha jockey joe Brow ning got the jump at the start, wi t h Suzuki pilo t Brad Ke lly in se co nd and Yamaha ride r Kyle Rive rs in third . Kelly moved into the lead w ith a nice pass goi ng int o turn tw o. Brown ing latched on to Kelly and the d uo , ran nose to tail until turn seven, the carousel tu rn . where Kelly went down. "I'm not sure if I lost the fron t or the back, but I was 011 the brakes and o n t he gas, and it just spun around on me ," said Kelly. " I got a real goo d start, but that's just th e way it goes," " He was way hotter tha n he should have been going into the comer, and he just tucked the front," said Browning . " I w as afraid I w as go ing to hit him, and I was neady to jump 011 the bike to make it lighter ; then I saw an opening and went for it ." Bro wn ing managed to avoid Kelly and his b ike but lo s t se ver a l positio ns w it h t he mane uver, and crossing the st ripe for the first time it was Rivers in the lead , w ith Suzuki riders Nat han Weber and Corey Burle so n in sec ond and third . By lap four, Browning w a s bac k up into sec ond and dogging Rivers . W ith Rivers sticking t ight to t he inside line s, Bro w ning made an attempt to pass by diving in hard on the bra kes at turn three. Rive rs he ld tight and fe nded off Brown ing's c ha lle nge . On t he ne xt lap , Bro wning dived in even ha rder and , desp ite nearly losing the fro nt end, mad e the pass for the lead . Once in the lead, Bro wni ng established a sma ll gap and stretched it to the finish, where he to p ped Rivers by eig ht seconds . Weber, Burleso n and Suzuki jockey jan Stad ler rounded out the to p five. In the Expert divisions, Michael Sanchez set a new track record en rou te to a clea n swee p fo r t he day. Sanchez won every race he entered and set the new mar k, at I:22.565, w hile riding his Suzuki Gs X-R7s 0 in the B Supe rblke Expe rt ra ce, w hich he wo n ahead 01 jell Grant and Brian Lee. The old record was I:23.24, set by Jo hn Ha ner in 200 2 . T he Shogu n Mo t o rs po r t s/D unl op -bac ked Sa nc he z a lso topped the B Supe rst oc k Expert, C su pers tock Expe rt , A s upe rsto c k Ex pert, A s up e rbi ke Expe rt , C s uperbike Expert and Fonmula O ne races , poc keting $ 3350 in Yamaha contingency and CMRA purse money lor his ellorts. RESULTS S/ STK A NOV: I. Brad Kelty (Suz); 2. Bill Drake (Y ); am 3. Kyl Rivers (Yam);

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