Yates (5uz); II. Steve Drew (Suz); 12. J.R. Schnabel (Yam);
13. Rob Pearson (Yam); 11. Jason Baldwin (Hon); 15. Doug
Beattie (Hon); 16. Justin R= (Hon); 17. Benny Carlson
(KTM); 18. Omar 1,..)( (Yam); 19. Dan Jannette (Suz); 20.
Nkk Daniel> (Hon); 21. Marco Bem (Yam); 22. GMy Trachy
(Hon); 23. Troy Herfoss (Hus): 24. Matt Burton (Yam).
Time: 18 min•• 41.()4() sec.
HMgin of victory: 7.227 sec..
SUPERHDTO RACE 2 (19 laps); I.JeffWanl (Han);
2. Trny Herl.... (Hus); 3. Kurt Nkoll (KTM); 1. Jurgen
Kunzel (KTM); 5. David lWfeleuf (KTM); 6. Chrn Pdlmon!
(Hon); 7. Steve D_ (Suz); 8. Ga
Briefly...
He may not have had the kind of AMA
Supennoto campaign that he had hoped for
in 2005, but that hasn't stopped Benny
Carlson from picking up a National Championship anyway. Carlson claimed the 2005
Canadian Supermoto Championship, wrapping up the title at the last race about a
month ago. "It was a fun series," Carlson
said. "We just used to get in some extra racing on top of the AMA stuff. It was a good
series, and we came out on top, which is
good." Carlson said that he plans to defend
his Canadian number-one plate in 2006.
Recently crowned AMA Repsol Superstock
Champion Aaron Yates raced in the Supermoto class at Nashville, and the Yoshimura
Suzuki rider was extremely competitive right
out of the box. "I'm having fun," Yates said.
"The track's a little tough. It has got short,
tight turns, and the dirt on it [the pavement]
makes you little hesitant to get wide out of
the turns. I'm struggling a little bit with the
suspension setup, but we picked up three
seconds in the first session. If we can pick up
another second and a half in the next session, we'll be in there." For the record,
Yates' was not a factory effort. In fact, he did
most of the prep work himself. "I've been
busting my ass, working on this thing," Yates
said. "I did the motor up myself, then I had
to go to California for a couple days for HJC
[helmets], then I came here. I drove till 2
o'clock last night to get here, but we're having fun." Yates struggled a bit in race one,
finishing 15th, but he appeared to be much
faster in race two, and his results improved
accordingly, as he finished 10th.
(Below) first Title foils: Burkhort (left) shows oH the new hardware on the
podium while being congratulated by AMA Supermoto Championship series
manager Todd Eagan (right).
Fonner Corona Suzuki-backed AMA road
racer Tony Meiring decided to come to
Nashville to race in his first AMA Supermoto event. The 21-year-old Meiring accepted
a guest ride aboard a FastSOs.com-backed
Yamaha YZ250F to contest the Supennoto
Lites class. "It's going to be interesting,"
Meiring said before taking to the track.
"[Fast 50s] Craig Mason talked me into
coming and giving it a try. I wish that they'd
just let us run all the way around the paved
oval, because I'd do better at that. It's going
to be fun. I'm looking forward to it. I'm
pretty nervous. I've done road racing and
dirt track, but it's the whole jumping thing
that I'm a little nervous about." Meiring
wound up having more trouble with his bike
than he did with the dirt infield section. In
the end, he failed to qualify for the main
event. "The bike just didn't seem to want to
run right," he said.
Also contesting the Supermoto Lites class
aboard a FastSOs.com-backed Yamaha was
Australian Women's Supermoto Champion
Erin Nonnoyle of Melbourne, AustraliaThe 22-year-old Normoyle raced at the
Copper Mountain rounds of the championship, missing out on the rnajn events there,
but she was undeterred, electing to give it
another shot at Nashville. "This track looks
fun, and it looks really fast," Normoyle said.
"It's not as technical as Copper Mouncain,
and the dirt section is easier, so it should be
fun. It's going to be tough." Normoyle struggled in the lCQ and failed to make the main
event. "I was riding like a girl," she said.
Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited Yamaha
AMA Flat Track Championship teammates
J,R. Schnabel and Rob Pearson were
among several top dirt trackers taking
advantage of the three-week break in the
AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track
Championship schedule to do battle at
Nashville. "If it would have been just one
week off, I probably wouldn't have come,
but when you sit at home for two or three
weeks. the racer in you comes out and you
say, 'I don't care what kind of racing it is, I'm
going to get out there,''' 5chnabel said. "Plus,
Memphis 5hades is just a couple hours down
the road in Memphis, so it was close for the
team. [Team tuner] Tryce Welch worked
with Mark Burkhart last season, and he has a
lot of Supermoto knowledge, so you can bet
we're going to use all the knowledge we can
get out of him." Schnabel qualified directly
into the Supermoto finals by timing 16th
fastest in timed qualifying [the top 16 were
automatically seeded into the Supennoto
finals]. He finished 12th in race one, and was
running 10th in race two before a flat rear
tire forced him to drop out of the running.
While Memphis Shades/Parts Unlimited
Yamaha's Rob Pearson raced Nashville last
year, there was a night-and-day difference in
his program this time around. "last year, I
raced my personal dirt bike, and it wasn't
really set up for Supermoto at all," Pearson
said. "This Is the first time that I've had a bike
with a slipper clutch and full-on Supennoto
suspension and wheels, so I'm just trying to
get used to it," Pearson said. "lAst year, I
crashed my brains out and didn't make the
main event. This year, I'm hoping to at least
be in the main event." Pearson cemented his
place by winning the last chance qualifier,
which placed the top eight finishers at the
rear of the Supermoto grid. He finished 13th
in race one and improved to II th in race two.
Top-10 ranked Supennoto contender Josh
Chisum has been released from the Joker
Machine Supermoto racing team. Jeff
Arnold, Joker's team manager, cited financial
hardship as the reason for Chisum's departure. "It was just too financially taxing on
us," Arnold said. "Right now, we can only
afford one rider. I would have kept Josh if I
could have, but this sport is getting more
expenSive." With Chisum off the team,
Justin Ross remains as the sole Joker
Machine rider, though Arnold said that he
has provided Chisum with a practice bike.
While both parties confinned that it was an
amicable split, Josh Chisum was disappointed
to be left scrambling for a race bike for the
Nashville round. "It kind of caught me by surprise, but I think we're better off just being
friends," Chisum said. "They're all great pe0ple, but I wanted to do some different things.
They were spending a lot of money, and the
rest of the team is more family than Iam."
Chisum borrowed a bike from fellow competitor Dan Jannette and earned a pair of ninthplace finishes in the two Supermoto races.
Currendy ninth in the series points standings,
Chisum is still looking for a ride for Reno.
Continued on poge 34
CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 5, 2005
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