Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128629
P a c e ForlT1ula USA N a t io n al R o a d R a c e S erie s Round 5 : Poc ono In t ern a t ion al Rac e w a y surpr ised that I c o u ld n ' t go faster than 1 could. And John [Hopk ins] , of course, he saw an opportunity and he pounced on m e becaus e I just could not get a ny drive off the corners." "We d e fin it el y st epp e d u p t he pa c e , " Hop k ins said of the seco nd leg . "It kind of surprised m e . I ha d to pick it up. " Ho pkins took second in the second leg . Along with his firs t -ra ce win his payday added up to $7750, plu s th e tw o $500 Barnett Holeshot Awards, and co ns idera ble conti ngencies . Arclight Racing 's Le e Acre e ro de his Suzuki GSX -R750 to third in both ra ces with Hop k ins ' teammate Ben Spies fifth in bo th races. Fourth in th e first leg went to Millennium Technologies' Shawn Higbee with Hopk ins ' other teammate , Grant Lopez, taking the spot in th e s econd leg after crashing out of the le ad in the first. Lopez got up , got going , a nd got eig ht h . Lop ez had a n up -a nd -d o wn day whe n be tter could ha ve meant much bette r. He 'd come into th e race with a 44 -po int le a d in the champ ion sh ip and cou ld have clinched th e $50,000 cla ss bonus by finish ing a s pot or two ah e ad of Acr e e in both races . He was in the le ad pac k in th e second ra ce , getting pa ssed by Acr ee o n th e final lap . So afte r five of six ro und s , Lopez will go into th e fina l ra ce s at Da yton a on October 22 with a 22 -p o int le a d , now over Hopk ins , with Acr ee an oth e r 1 1 ba ck . Because of th e possibility of afternoon s ho we rs , Formu la USA officia ls mad e th e dec is ion t o m o v e th e Unlimit ed Superbike ra c es to the st a rt S TO RY AND P HOT OS By H EN NY R A Y A BRA MS LONG POND, PA, AUG 27 a rry Peg ra m h asn 't ha d m uch to chee r a bo ut this ye ar. A swarm of mec hanical problems with his Ducatis in th e AMA /Ch e v y Truck s U .S . Sup e rbik e S eries has dropped the normall y c ons istent rider down to 13th place in the standings. Eve n his appearances in th e Loc khart-Phillips USA Unlimi ted S uperb ike series have been e rratic , with the low po int com ing at Road Am erica where electron ics probl ems added up to a zero sum da y . In th e s e cond race at Pocon o International Rac ew a y , his fortun e s took a turn for the better. Despite traction problems that cost him a shot at the first ra ce win - he was second to Valvoline EMGO Suzu ki's John Hopk ins - th e rider affec t io n a t e ly known as "The Worm " rebounded with a second -leg win , collecting the $7500 top p rize to go with th e $ 1750 he 'd earned in th e first le g . Of more importance to h is Competition Accessories.com tea m was that his b ig day wa s captured by the CBS Sports cameras that we re taping th e Wrenche ad .c om Na t io nal Road Race Se ries event for a n O cto be r 1 telec a st . "I wa s s ur p rised with th e t im e s I wa s a ble to do be c aus e we wer e abl e to go a lot fas te r tha n that all week e nd, a nd in the race , for some re ason , m y bike was ju st really spinning up a b un ch ," Pegram sa id after the sec ond- leg win , a nd his first National win s ince th e AMA round at Willow Springs la st April. "So I was just kind of figh~ing it. In the first leg I was a bit L 22 S EPT EMBER 6 , 2000' c ue I e n e VIl's Larry Pegram (7 21 l eads John Hopkins (21 ), po int lea de r Grant Lopez 1 5), and Lee Acree at the beginning of the second leg of Unli mited Superb ike . Pegram was the weekend's big winner - finish ing se cond in ra ce on e a nd th e n w inning ra c e two. of th e d a y , ensuring a better tel ev is ion package . "No red flags ," wa s th e m andate o ptim istica lly ordered o ve r th e wa lk ie -t al kies a n d th e y c a me close, with two in th e Sport Bike rac e, whi ch wa s run s e c ond . Th e April ia Cup and Buell Lightn ing S er ie s fina ls filled out th e day. Und er ov erc ast a nd warm skies , Lopez go t the jump, tailed by Pegram and Hopkins and ZIock Racing 's Mich ael Barnes and h is Kawasak i. S pies , Higbee , and Kaw asaki Team Green 's Ty Howard were next up. Lopez went down o n the second la p in the bus stop ha irpin tum e ight, a corner that would have a say in th e outcome of both ra ces. Qu ickl y back on h is feet, Lo p e z g ot going a gain , m in us a footpeg , a nd rode with h is fo o t on th e ex ha ust pip e t o fi ni s h e ighth . "I di d n' t feel like I wa s going too fa s t o r too hard ," Lopez s a id . "I wa s up fro nt wh er e I wanted to be. " When Lop e z t o ok hi s le a v e, Pe g ra m a nd Hopkin s jumped to the he ad of th e 48 -rider field, with Barne s a n d Sp ies just beh ind , th en Higbee, a nd Acre e in th e m idst a trio while trying to ma ke up for a bad begin ning . "I re a lly bl e w t h at s t art," Acre e wo uld late r say, but it didn 't blunt his dr ive. O ut fro nt it was a two -rid er sp lit: Pe gram and Hopkins , t he n Hopki ns o ve r Peg ram o n la p six in t he bu s s top. By now Pegram was well int o h is t rac tio n proble ms and th e b us sto p was a place where he h ad to take specia l care. "Today we were struggling , we had a grip problem that we didn't have all weekend ," Pegram said , which meant tha t he ha d to do a lot of block ing , "be ca us e I found out if I didn't. I was goi ng to get passed a nd have to pass him ba c k. It made it difficu lt for m e ." Th e pa ir we nt b a c k a n d fourth . Pe g ra m was out fro nt o n la p n ine , Hopkins o n 10 and 11 and away for the win on la p 12 , taking it by .9 82 of a second . Ac ree m ade his wa y into th ird o n the n inth lap afte r getti ng by Spies. By then th e le aders we re to o far away to make a run a nd he knew it wa s the best he wa s go ing to do . "My bike wa s th e c las s o f the field ," Acree s a id . "My hat's of f to th e se gu ys . If th ey ca n o ut -ru n m e with the b ike I had und er me , more power to them , be cause my bik e was ph enomenal. " O n the penult im a te lap , Higbee wa s able to get by Spi es to ta ke ov er fourth . He 'd gotten off the line slowly and got shuffled back to sixth. "I worked my way up to fourth by the end of the rac e ," Higbee said . "I wanted to be a lit tl e bit cautious . Wanted to make sure I was in good position for the second round. It pays more . I wanted to make some money Le e Acree (84) chases Shawn Higbee and Ben Spies In the second leg of the Unlimited Superblke race. Acree grabbed a pa ir of thirds, and Sp ies took a pair of fifths in the two races.