Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula USAlWrenchead.com Pro Singles Series Round 8: Portland Speedway By C L A Y LI G HT P HO T O S BY D A V E G O G A N POR TLAND OREG . SEPT. 9 . ON ashington 's Dan Stanley made hi s latest sta te men t in st yle as he made the competiti on see yellow en ro ute to stea mrolling to vic tory in the Pro Sin g les class at rou nd eig ht of th e F ormu l a USA /W r en chea d .c om series, h eld at t he Portl an d Speed way . Rid ing a b r and - n e w S uzu ki DR Z400 -b ased m achine, the always-po pul ar Nort hweste rner bec am e t he first rider t hus far t hi s season to notch a series wi n abo ard a Japanese m ot o r cycle . Stan l ey . a boa rd the Denn i s Armst rong / Br ian Bill ings/BBRP/ Circl e F -back ed Suzuk i. not o nly posted t he eve ni ng' s fastest ti me at 25.4 80 . but also wo n his heat race, and then fina lized his fash ion statement aboa rd th e dazzli ng y ell ow Suzuk i by dom in ating the 12 -l ap , 18 -r id er final. Sta nley, who sat on the pole pos ition in t h e f inal after win ning th e fastest o f t h e three heat ra ces , nabbed the lead right out o f the ch ute, pos t ing a wire -to -wire win in front of an est imate d 12 ,000 fans at the in aug ural Portland eve n t. T he cur r ent class po ints lea de r , Husabergm ounted Ken ny Noy es. put pressure o n St anley for t h e first ha lf o f the fina l , but he lo st tou ch in the later stag es. And , j ust lik e th ing s had gone all even ing for the Bellingh am , Wa shing ton . rid er , Stanley's sweep c ame to p ass afte r ga p p i ng t he Linew ea v er Ra c in g -b a ck ed N o y e s. wh o w ou ld eve nt ua lly fall back so m e six seconds behind whil e fini shing second. Noyes' second -place finish padded his poi nts lead . H e now has 546 points to Wisconsin's J .R Sc hnabel's 450. Sc hnabel finished fourth, t ra iling Sta n ley a nd t he rid er w ho r o und ed o ut th e posi t io ns on t he r o str um Id aho ' s Steve Li bert y . Liberty over took Sc hnabel o n t he fina l lap to net a third -place fini sh . his best th us far in the series . T he amazing th ing about St an ley 's impressive showing this even ing was the determina ti on on the part of the 29-year-old Gra nd Na tional veteran . After suffering a lower back inj ury in a crash at Springfiel d ju st a week ear lier, Stan ley was barely able to clim b abo a r d t h e Su zu ki th at h e'd n ev er eve n ridd en. It m ust ha ve been t he lure of a new t oy that got Stanl ey so fi re d up , as th e pol es i tt er cata p ul te d h i s n e w m ount o ut fron t out of turn one in th e fin al and would rema in in the posit ion W , to the fin ish . Although Noyes wo u ld d o all h e co u l d t o thwa rt Stanley 's prog res s aft er getting ar ound the ini tial s e c ond -p lace man , Oregon 's Beau A . Br own . O nce past the second-year Expert, Noyes t he n lat ch ed on t o St a n ley 's rea r w h ee l an d wo u ld stay in close q ua rters with th e oft -inj ure d St anl ey for the fir st si x l ap s. Th e l ead duo wo u ld put a large deficit on th e field during th eir clash, leaving t he CCMm ounted Brown t o fend off both Schn abe l and Liberty . Brown 's im p ress iv e p e r f o rm a n c e in fro nt of his h o m e crowd would fall by th e way side sev eral laps later as th e rid er from nearby Newbe rg, O reg on , ran into t ra ns missio n pro b le ms an d drop ped to an eve nt ual sixth-plac e fin ish . Whi le Noyes k ept Sta nl ey hon est fo r the first six laps, Stanl ey the n fig u red he 'd had eno u g h and le ft th e (A b o ve) Da n Stan l ey takes a well· deserved victory l a p after w inning his first Pro Sin g l es main ev e nt of the year . (Left· f rom left to ri ght) Championship l ead e r and second·p l a ce finishe r K e n n y Noyes, race winne r Dan Stan ley , and third·place finish e r St ev e U b e rty pose f o r p hotos on t h e victory stand. Port la nd Speedwa y Portland, Oregon Results: Septembe r 9, 2000 (Round 8 of 12J Husaberg rider to outdistance the ba tt le for third between Schnabe l and Liberty , a swap fest wh ich wo uld go to the wire and wo uld be fi nalized in liberty 's favor. "T hat Suz uki k ick s ass ," exclaimed Stanley from atop the pod ium. "It's like riding o n rails . so smooth and easy to ride." Things went eq uall y as smooth for Noyes, who with a second -place fin ish ke pt his title hopes alive. '" made a few m i st ak es,' Noyes said . "But I feel like I came out of it okay . I was t h ird off t he lin e behin d Bea u and Dan , and th en got by Beau reall y qu ic k and th en st uc k to t he back of hi m [Stanley ] fo r qu ite a fe w laps. Dan 's been at th is a lot lon ger th an I have , so it's hard to beat experience ." Lu ck w as o n Li be rty's si de w he n th e Po st F a ll s, Id aho, r id er d arted ah ead of the surprise d Schn abel o n HEAT 1 (8 lap s, 1 1 rid ers. top 5 qua lify ): 1. Dan Sta nley (S uz); 2 . Be au A . Bro w n (CC M) ; 3 . J .R Sc henbe l (Rtx} : 4. Lon nie Pauley (W-R); 5. Nathan Whart on (Rtx ) ; 6 . Ric k Warmbo . Jr. (5 uz); 7. Bob Rosie (Rtx); 8 . Brett Weston (Yam) ; 9 . Pete Medca lf (Rtx); 10 . J a c o b Currey (Rtx); 11. Pa ul Warne (Rtx). HEAT 2 (8 lap s. 11 rid er s. top 5 qualify ) : I. Ken ny Noyes ( Hbg); 2 . Ja ime Ag u il ar ( H- D) ; 3 . Scooter Ve rno n (Al K); 4 . Dan iel Ad k in s (Hon) : 5 . J erry South worth (CCM); 6. J erry Han sen (Rtx) : 7. Mi ck ey Lane (W· R); 8. Bea u Z. Bro wn (Rtx) ; 9 . Keith An derson (Rt x) ; 10. M ik e Martha ller (Rtx ); I I. Ron Wate rs (W- R). HEAT 3 (8 laps, 9 rid er s, t op 5 quali fy ): 1. Steve Libert y (Rtx); 2. Kurt Hawk (Rtx ): 3. Aa ron Weston (Rtx); 4 . John Gra nt (Hon): 5. Tim Rick ett s J r. (Rtx): 6 . J .P Simonsen (A TK ); 7. J eff Hia tt (W · R) ; 8. Tom Sheard (Rtx ): 9. Richard Wall (Rt x). leQ : (8 la ps , 13 rider s, t op 3 qua l i fy ) : 1. Mick ey Lane ( W -R) ; 2 . Rick War mbo Jr. (S uz) ; 3 . Bob Ro si e ( Rt x ) ; 4 . J e rr y Ha n sen ( Rtx) ; 5 . J . P Sim onsen (A T K) ; 6. Beau Z. B rown (Rtx ): 7. Aaron Westo n (Yam) ; 8 . Jeff Hiatt (W -R): 9 . Pete Medcalf (Rtx) : 10 . Mike Mart haller (Rtx): 1 1. J ac ob Cu rrey (Rtx) : 12. Tom Sheard (Rtx ); 13. Paul Warne (Rtx ). MAI N ( 12 lap s, 18 riders): I. Dan Stanley (Suz); 2. Kenny Noy es (Hbg) : 3. Steve U berty (Rtx ): 4. J .R Schnabe l ( W -R) ; 5 . K urt Hawk (Rt x) ; 6. Bea u A . Br own (CCM) ; 7 . Scooter Vernon (A T K) ; 8 . J a ime A guilar ( H- D); 9 . Mi ck ey La ne (W -R); 10 . Na than Wha rt on (Rt x ) ; 1 1. J err y South worth ( CCM) ; 12 . Aaron Weston (Rtx) ; 13 . Lo nnie Pauley (W· R) ; 14. J ohn Gr ant (Ha n): 15 . Dan Adkin s (Hon ) ; 16 . Bo b Rosi e ( Rt x); 17 . Ti m Ric ketts J r. (Rt x ) ; 18 . Rick Warrnbo. J r. (Suz). FO RMULA USA/W RENCHEA D.CO M PRO SINGLES PO I NT ST ANDI NGS ( Afte r 8 o f 10 roun d s) ; 1. Kenny Noy es (546/2 win s); 2. J .R Schnabel (45 0) ; 3 . Dan Stanley (356/1); 4 . Br yan Smi th (342 ); 5. Beau A . Brown ( 296) ; 6 . Jennifer Snyder (2 42) : 7. Willie McC o y ( 240 /1) : 8 . Eli Prtc e (2 3 6 ): 9 . A .J Esli c k (226 ); 10 . Kurt Hawk (2 14 ); 11. Tim Eades (2 10); 12. Sco oter Verno n ( 20 2) ; 13 . B randon Cart wr igh t ( 18 2 ); 14. Stev e U be rt y (178) ; 15 . Aaron W eston (I G8) ; 16 . Jaime Agu ila r ( 16 6 ) ; 17 . J ason T y er ( 16 2 ); 18. Will Davis ( 152 /1) ; 19. J acob Lat im er ( 140); 20. Micha el Gilkey ( 110). th e final lap to na il down the final position on the box. It was the La tus Harley -Davidson 's first suc h finish of t he year, which better ed his pre vio us be st of sixth at Sturgis. "I go t off to a bad sta rt, bu t I j ust kep t at it ," a beam ing Li berty said. " I' m really pleased that it worked out the way that it d id with the pass sticking and all ." Schnabel lost out to Li berty an d netted a fou rth-place finish, well ahead of Washington 's Kurt Hawk , th e fifth -place fi nisher. H aw k also wo uld later m ak e t he Natio nal fina l to ca p off his fi nest m oment as a rookie E x p er t. Haw k g ot ar oun d B ro w n to finis h i n th e posi t io n, whil e Brow n n ursed h is m ach ine to a sixth -place fi nis h ah e a d o f Sc o ot e r V ern on , Ja im e A gu i l ar , M i ck e y La ne and Na tha n Wh art on , who com pleted th e top 10 . CN c ue I e n Ie uv S S EPTEMBE R 20. 2000 29

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