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------------------1 ROAD RACe Final Round Oct. 1 S , 2004 Dunlop/WERA Nation al Endur ance Series . . . . I Tray Batey leads the first hou r o f the Dunlop/WERA National End ur a nce Series finale on the Vesroh/Nielsen Suz uki 1000. n cloudy a nd coo l cond itions , 4B qualified teams took the gre en nag to st art this four-hour endu rance race . Tray Batey snatched the lead on the Vesra h/S uz uki 1000 , w ith Bradley Champion second on the Team Velocity Yamah a R I. A six-way ba ttle developed fo r th ird among Team Xtreme , Army of Da r kne s s , Team Eclipse, Che rokeeChalienge.net , Velocity Crew Racing and Neighbo r of the Beast. B.P. Pipeline, coming through the pack, moved to third after just six laps. Yamaha R6-mounted Team Eagle Racing caught the pack and moved to fourth overall at the 20-m inute point. As the Superstock team s began to make their first pit stops before the top of the first hour, Neighbor moved to third overall and first in the Middlewe ight Superstock I class. The teammates in Army of Darkness were out with a dropped valve. Sam Fleming highsided the other race bike during practice, totaling the moto rcycle; there fore , Army had no backup bike on wh ich to co ntinue. In the Middlewe ight Superbike class, Stroud Motorspo rts held the lead, with Velocity Crew second and SMP/4&6 Racing in third. Right at the top of the hour, Idestory Racing dropped their bike in turn flve, bringingout the red nagand causing a complete restart. Vesrah again too k the lead. In turn six, Neighbor ran out of gas, droppi ng back to 34th; this disaster caused the team to lose its chance to win its first title, as it came into this race only four points behind Che rokee. In the Ughtweight class, Bells Suzuki II suffered a broken fairing bracket and had to pit for repairs, losingthe title to Team Velocity Rocing (3), running"1l~-r-4! se co nd overall, leads Faith on Wheel s Racing (57) and Mad Kaw (716) in Braselton, Georgia. a hard-charging Dixie Mafia. During the second hou r, Team Schwant z School began to make its presence known by moving to third overall, second in class. This te am of local heroes included Kevin Schwantz, Jamie James and Ben Spies. Team Velocity sta yed so lid, running se cond , whi le Vesrah Suzuki continued to lead. Velocity Crew Racing was again looking like t he favorite in the Middleweight Superbike class . Team Xtre me/ Maxxis crashed out of the race in the chicane . Team Eagle Racing moved to fourth overall, first in class, during th e th ird hou r. B&S Roadracing was second in class and 35 seco nds ahead of Cherokee, w hich was now third. Vesrah Suzuki now had a four-lap advantage over Velocity. Team Schwantz moved to with in 30 sec onds of Velocity. B&S moved to fifth overall, one up on Velocity Crew. Che roke e , now know n as Four Feathers Racing, held down seventh, just ahead of the hard-charging Arnchu Racing. SMP/4&6 Racing took 10th, one lap down on Canto n Racing II. At the checkered nag, Vesrah maintained its fo ur laps over Velocity, which beat Team Schwantz by more than one minute . "It has been a tough season," teammate Mark Junge said o f Vesrah's victory, "but we will be back next year with the same crew and riders." "Ben Spies asked me on Wednesday if we could ride the endurance," Schwantz said, "so we decided to team up with Jamie James and ride this four-hour event . We borrowed a crashed Suzuki World Cup bike, got it as straightas we could, replaced a few parts, put on a set of Michelin tires, .tlnth 4.nniv&:rc;, rll and added some Brembo brakes. I have run a few endurances, but this was a tough race, and we had a great time." "We planned on running a consistent race , running good lap times and making great pit stops ," Bruce Stanford of Dixie Mafia stated. '''-gain, Bell's Suzuki had problems, so our plans paid off. We inte nd to be back next year, but we don't know wha t class we will be racing in." "We have a great crew and great riders ," Chuc k Ivey of Team Velocity Racing said. "We intend to be back next year, but we don't know at the moment wh at class eN we will run in." R O AD A TLANTA BRA SELTON, GEORGIA R ESUL TS: O CTOBER 15, 2004 ( FI NA L R OUN D) OVERALL: I. Vesrah Suzuki (Suz); 2. Team Velocity Racing (Y am); 3. Team Schwanu School (Suz); 4 . Team Eagle Racing (Yam); S. B&S Road racing (Suz); 6. Velocity C rew Racing (Suz); 7. Fo ur Feathe rs Racing (fonne rly C he roke e ) (Yam) ; 8 . Am<:hu Racing (So2): 9. Can ton Racing II (Yam); 10. SMP/4&6 Racing (Y am); I I. Stroud Mot ors po rts (Kaw); 12. Ridge Racing II (Kaw); 13. Efijay Racing (Suz); 1-4. Dixie Mafia (Suz): IS. Legion of Zoom (Suz). DUN LOP/WERA N AT IO NAL EN DURANCE SERIES FINAL P O INTS STAN D IN GS (After 10 of 10 rounds): eam Velocity OVERALL: t .vesrah Suzuki ( 1000) ; 2. T (849); 3. Army of Darkness (833); "'. Fou r Feathers Radng/CherokeeChallenge.oet (78 1); S. Neig hbor of the Beas t (77 1); 6. 8&S Roadrac ing (677); 7. Dixie Mafta (652); 8 . Velocity Cre w Racing (629); 9. Be ll's Suzuki (6 11); 10. Team Xu e me/ Maxxis (6 10); II. Blue Ridge Perfor mance (52 1); 12. Deals Gap Racing (509); 13. Tea m Chicago (500); I"'.SMP Racing ("'87); 15. Aroch u Racing <"'63). LIGH TWEIGHT SUPERBIKE: I . Dixk Mafia (950); 2. Bell's Suzuki II (933); 3. Blue Ridge Performance (904). MID D LEWEI GHT SUPERBIKE: I. Army of Darkness (975); 2. SMP/"'&6 Racing (764) ; 3. Velocity Crew Racing (762). HEAVYWEIGHT SUP ERBIKE: I. ves rah Suzuki (1050); 2. Touring Sport II Racing (6 12); 3. Ca nton Racing # I (357). MIDDL EW EIGHT SU P ERST OCK: I. Fou r fea the rs Racing/CherokeeChaJfenge.net (968); 2. Ne ighbor of the Bean (945); 3. B&S Roadr.odng (880)_ HEAVYWE IGHT SUPERST OCK: I. Team Velocity Racing (986); 2. Team Xtreme/Maxxis (896); 3. Team HMR 1 (805).