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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128321
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);