Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

this weekend. It d idn 't wo rk ou t that way ." Higbee c rashed in the second le g and re -inju re d an o ld rib inj ury . "Whe n I c rashed in turn o ne on the S up e rb ike ra ce it flared up aga in," he said. Ty Howa rd was sixth , then Pa rriott Moto rs ' Brian Parriott and his underpowered Honda RC5! . "The horsepowe r's good, but it's not up to par with the other bikes ," Parriott sa id. Hopk ins got the holeshot again in the second leg , but it was short -lived. Pegram soon made his wa y past and was out front for the duration . Four oth ers jo in ed him: Higbee , Hopk ins, Lopez, and Acree , with Higbee first out wh en he cr ashed in turn one early on . "I was b e twe en gears and by the time I found the gear I was too wide ," Higbee said after los ing the front end and slidi ng off th e edge of the track. T hat le ft four. Pegram was sti ll c ontro lling th e pac e u ntil th e n int h lap when Lopez made his way by in the right hand turn three , but only for a very sh ort time . "Gra nt [Lopez] likes to make pass es like [Noriyuki] Haga in areas where there's really not room ," Pegram sa id. "I'm not go ing to giv e h im any room back. He stuffed it under me in a corner and I was back under h im one wa y o r th e other. I passed him in a go od br ak ing a re a wh ere there was plenty of room ." Th e p ass w ould st ick and the Worm would wal k . Pegram sa id the team didn 't have ti me to make any set -up cha nges du ring the 2 5 -minute b re a k before the second race . "S u re e no ug h it was spinning up aga in. I was just trying to su rvive ," he sa id. Whe re it ma ttered mos t wa s in the bus stop turn. ~ I t see me d li k e a n y tim e t h a t I didn 't block , these -guys cou ld stu ff it un der m e in that re a l tight corner in th e back, " Pegram said . "Ba s ic all y 1cou ldn 't reall y put m y head down and ride ha rd I had to kind of bloc k a little John Hopkins 1 1) leads Larry Pegram 2 172) i n race one. They swapped back and forth for most of the race, but Hopkins made it stick on the last lap to take the win. bit in certa in areas of the track." He late r said that , " Every t ime we 'd come through that little tight left b.efore that bus stop right, just check over my shoulder. If they we re there, I'd run it in tight, if they weren't, I'd square it up ." Hopkins , Lopez , and Acree were at each other the whole time. Hop kins ' best shot at Pegram came late in the race , but he made a fa tal m istake of en thus iasti c o ve r- a g g re s s io n and it cost him a shot a t the doubl e, and changed the way the race wou ld finish. On th e final lap he tried to make a run at Pegram o ut of turn fiv e and on t o t h e ba ck straight. Inst ead of shifting to sec ond, as he 'd be e n doing all ra ce , he wen t down to first. "I tried a burst to get a better driv e , obv iou s ly it was to o go od ," Hopkins said . "It just slid , and c a ught it , and it pit ch ed me up pretty high . I wa s qui ck to get under the bu bb le, bu t Lee [Acree] still got me going down th e ba ck strai ght ." "Wh e n Hopkins b obbl ed , Gr ant [Lopez] had t o check up a littl e bit a nd I nail ed Grant then and just tried to get in Hopper's draft," Acree s aid. "Was abl e to dra ft him down. If yo u're pulling out of th e dr aft , yo u' ve got the a d va nt a ge if yo u get o n the in si de lin e , s o I o u t b ro k e h im co m in g in there . We went back into the infield . I d idn't have the advantage of practic ing all the braking moves and Hopper got me back." So it was Hopkins tailing Pegram , with Acree just in front of Lopez. "These guys wer e riding great and t hey we ren't m a k in g a ny m is t a ke s a nd I just ke pt bobbli ng h e re , bo b bling th ere ," Acree said . "It's jus t a testa ment to how good m y bike a nd t ires were. I was able to re el them back in. It didn 't hurt that they were battling a mong the mselves ." Lope z said: "It was a quite a show , but it didn' t work o ut th at great for me. But I thi nk it was a good show for a ll the fans . I t hi nk the re was some pre tty go od exciting racing out there for me . I th ink I still do have a prett y strong race lead , even though I had a little m ish a p toda y." Spies wa s ag a in fift h with North East Spo rt Bike As s o c iation 's Bria n Livengood sixth o n a S uzu ki. Ricc i Moto rs po rts ' Jimm y Moore was seventh wit h a tal e of woe. Moore said the te a m 's tru ck drive r had q uit jus t be for e th e race, so he th rew his g ea r in th e Zloc k Rac ing tru ck out of th e Ta c oma , Wa shington , a rea . Th at m e ant m iss ing th e first d ay o f prac tic e o n a tra ck he 'd ne ver seen. "So mebody told m e it wa s reall y e as y ," Moore said . "It was j ust th e o p po s ite . It's a pre tty tec h ni ca l t rack." Run n in g a b a s ic all y sto c k stre et m otor m eant he was getting outpowered o n the long s peedway str a ig hts an d se venth wa s th e be st he would do . eN PoconoInternational Raceway Long Pond, Pennsylvania Results: August 27, 2UUU (Round 5J Race O n e: 1. John Hop k in s (Suz ) ; 2 . La rry Peqram (Duc ); 3. Lee Acree (Suz) ; 4. Shewn Higbee (Suz) ; 5 . Ben Spies (Suz ); 6 . T y Howard (Kaw ); 7. Brian Parriott (Hon) : 8. Gran t Lopez (Suz) ; 9. Vincent Hesk ove c (Ka w) ; 10 . Br ian Livengood (Suz); 11. Charles Chouinard (Yam) ; 12. David Rose (Suz); 13. Glenn Szarek (Yam ); 14. Mike Sullivan ( Kaw) ; 15. Ma nny Ma nu sut hakis (Suz); 16. Ti m Be misderfer (Yam) ; 17. Derek King {Sua): 18. J oseph Gill (Yam); 19. Anthony Fania (Suz): 20. Dean Scarpa (Muz): 21. Roland Willi ams (Kaw). 22 . Gary Rothwell (Suz); 23. Shane Clarke (Sur): 2 4 . Ry an Burk e { Su a} : 25 . Jimmy Moor e (Suz); 26 . J osh Bryan (Suz): 27 . Rich Conicelli (Suz); 28 . Ja m es Doerfle r (Suz): 29 . Ali stair Smi th ( Han); 30. Mic hael Evil sizer (Suz) : 31. Bob Bla nchette (Kaw) : 32 . Jo seph Lec hm an (Sua): 33. Jos eph Spina (Suz): 34 . Dale Dandrea (Suz): 35 . Dennie Burke (Sua): 36 . J oseph Capelli (Suz) ; 37 . De vi n Battl ey (Yam): 38 . Da vid Dalzell ( Hen ) : 39 . Christopher Godfrey (Suz): 40. Brian Gregory (Suz): 4 1. J ohn J acobi (Suz) : 42 . Mark Ju nge (Suz); 43. Michael Fltzpetnck (Kaw) : 44 . Micha el Barnes (Kaw); 45 . Clayton Chapma n (Yam). Ti me: 20 m in.. 14.700 sec. Distan ce: 12 laps. 30 m iles. Average speed: 88 .9 1 t mp h. Marg in of vict ory: 0 .982 sec. Lap 4 1: 40 .401 Acree Rac e T wo : 1. L arr y Pegram ( D ue ); 2 . Jo hn Hopkins (Suz): 3. Lee A cree {Suz): 4 . Grant Lopez (Suz); 5. Ben Spies (Suz): 6. Bria n U vengood (Suz) : 7 . J im m y Moor e (Suz); 8. J o seph Gill (Yam ) ; 9 . Charles Chouin ard (Yam): 10. Brien Parriott (Hon) : 11. Micha el Barn es (Kaw); 12. Glenn Szarek (Yam) : 13 . Vi nce nt Ha sk o v ec ( Ka w): 14 . Sh an e C lark e (Suz): 15. Michael Fitzpatric k (Kaw); 16. Da vid Rose (Suz) : 17. M ik e Sulli van { Kew } . 18. Jo hn J acobi ( Suz) : 19. Dean Scarpa (M u z); 20 . Manny Manu sutha ki s (Suz); 2 1. Anth ony Fani a Jr. (Suz); 22. Gary Rothwell (Hon ); 23 . Rich Conice lli (Suz ); 24 . Derek King (Suz) : 25 . Rola nd William s (Kaw) ; 26 . Ryan Burke (Suz): 27 . Ja m es Doerfler (Suz): 28 . Bob Bla nchett e (Kew): 29 . Jo sh Bryan (Suz): 30 . Jo seph Spina ( Sua): 3 1. A lis tai r Sm ith ( Hon) ; 32 . Joseph Cap ell i ( Suz) : 3 3 . Den nie Burke (Suz) : 3 4 . Dale Dandre a (Sua): 35 . Devin Bettley (Yam) : 36. Da vid Dalzell (Hon) : 37. Michael Evil sizer (Suz): 38 . Brian Gregory (Sua): 39 . Christopher Go dfrey (Suz) ; 40 . Joseph L echm an { Su z} : 41. C lay to n C h apm an (Yam); 42. Shawn Higbee (Suz): 43 . Tim Bemi sderfer (Yam) : 44 . Mark Ju ng e (Su a) : 45 . Keith Marquez (Yam ); 46 . Brian Gibb s (Suz): 47. Marc Underberg (Suz): 48 . John O'Agostino (Yam ). Time : 20 m in .. 10.523 sec. Distance: 12 laps. 30 mil es. A verage speed: 89 .2 18 mph. Margin of victo ry: 0.8 24 sec. LO C K HART - PH ILLIPS USA U NLIMI T ED SUPERBIKE C' SHIP POI NT STANDINGS (A ft er 5 of 6 rounds) : 1. Grant Lo pez (187/ 2 win s) ; 2 . J ohn Hopk in s ( 165/ 5) ; 3. Lee Acree ( 15 4/2) ; 4. La rry Pegram (97/1); 5. Mich ael Barn es (67) ; 6 . J immy Moore (60) ; 7. Shawn Higbee (57 ) : 8. T y Howard (46 ) : 9 . Mik e Sullivan (45 ); 10. Vincen t Haskov ec ( 4 4) ; 11 . (T I E ) Da mon Bu c k m a st er / J o sep h Pru ss iano ( 4 2 ); 13 . Ma rk Junge ( 3 6); 14 . Ti m Bem isderf er (3 5 ); 15. Mi chael C ic cc tto (30 ) : 16. Ja mie Bowm an (28 ); 17. Ben Spies (23) ; 18. Shane Cla rke (2 1): 19 . Br ian Parriott ( 20 ): 20 . Cha rle s Choui nard ( 18) . Upcoming Roun d: Round 6 - Daytona Beach, Florida, October 22 Team Pro-Motion Sportbike Series Round 5: Pocono International Speedway By H E N N Y R AY ABRAM S LONG POND, PA, AUG 27 he Team Pro -Mo tio n Spo rt Bike . Fina l was a ta le of two ra ce s . The first ra n for a little more tha n ei g h t laps of the 2 .5 -m ile Pocono Inte rn a t io n a l Raceway road course before be ing red-flagged , with fiv e ride rs strung nose to tail like parading horses - but it ulti mately meant nothin g more tha n gri d positions. The second was for all the marbles and money . It featured a two -rider break awa y with one clearly s uperior, and ra c ing to a place he 'd never been. "This is my first National win, " Pa rriott Moto rs ' Bria n Parriott said on the victory stand . "I' m as p le as e d as I could be. I do n't kno w wha t to say. " To get to Poc ono , Pa rr iott drove across country fro m his hom e in Ca listoga , Ca lifo rn ia, wit h h is m oth e r , who he soug ht out to g ive a big hug to soon after the win. It wa s a victory pu nc t uated with e motion, with Parriott sta ndi ng on the pegs approa c h ing the finish line a nd the n perform ing a stand- up whee lie enteri ng pit lane. It was a lso a vict ory tha t vaulted T c yc l e n hi m to the top of the Spor t B ik e po ints sta ndings with o ne ra ce to go . The race was red-flagged on the nin th of 12 laps , with a four -la p sprint ordered for the finish. Parriott and B e n S p ie s had broken away from the 66 -rider fie ld a nd Pa rriott p a s s e d the Valvoline EMGO Suzu ki rider early in the final four-l a p Brian Parriott won the red-flag interrupt ed Sportbike final. It was Parriott's fi rst National win, and it also gave him the Sportbike points lead. With on ly one round remaining he leads Lee Acree by three points 68-65. evus S EPTEM BER 6, 2000 23

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