Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Formula U S AlWrenchead .com National R o a d Race Series F inal Round : Daytona In t e r n a t io n a l Speedway FonnulaIlSAlWrenchead.com Sport Bike Series Final Round: Daytona InternationalSpeedway knew I had to ju st st a y th e re in the front ." Barne s used his wealth of ex pe rie nce to ma k e th e mov e into th ird , a nd nearly ta ke th e win. "You've really got to look at everybod y who 's out th ere and even th e ir ex pe rie nce lev el s and j ust k ind o f det ermine who 's going to be the le a st experien c ed to tr y to kind o f work ov er a little bit ," he sa id . "I'v e be e n up the podium be cause I think I outsmarted Jimmy Moore . He wa s re ally just go ing for the win , bu t y o u' ve reall y got to set up for th e win her e. If I had cut ba ck to th e ins ide for tha t fi nal lap , instea d of t h e outs ide , I think I could have wo n it. It wasn't as m uc h cra zy as it was real , real tight onto the front straightaway and I had a c ha nce to sling s hot down towa rd s the ap ron a nd I rea lly think I sh ould h av e t a k e n it , bu t I want ed t o b e c a reful, I g uess. " Sp ie s e n ded u p fifth , t he n c a me Ac re e , admi tt ing th at , as he had in the first o ne, he 'd ma de a co stly m is take in the second leg . "T he seco nd on e I th ink I bobble d com ing out of th e infie ld, c om ing out of t he infield onto t h e b a n k in g , " Acree said. "T he y were all dra fting to g ethe r a nd I was by m yself. I wa s runn ing 54 flats th e last two laps of the se cond leg , but I wasn 't about to catch ba c k up without th e dr a ft." Soon beh ind Acree ca me Higbee and Gibbs. eN Weichel! By DAYTONA BEACH, FL, OCT 22 . . ., hen th ey a rrive d a t Da ytona • • Int ern a t ion al Sp e edw a y fo r t he fin a l Wre nchead .com Na t io nal Roa d Race Serie s Sport Bike race, th ree points separa ted Pa rriott Rac ing 's Brian Parriott fro m Arcl igh t Ra c ing' s Lee Acree in the c ha m p ions hip po ints standings. Ma them ati c a lly, th ere we re othe rs who c ou ld win th e t itle , but the new class champion was like ly to be on e of these two. By th e third lap, it was more likely to be Acre e , with Parri ott ha ving e ffe c t iv e ly d imm ed h is c ha nc es by crashing in the West En d Horsesh oe. Even while ridi ng with his Ho nda F-4 ba ck to the paddoc k in the crash truc k, Parriott still held th e lea d, a nd it wa s up to Acree to st a y up rig ht to th e e nd. It wasn't th at ea sy, no t in th e com pa ny he wa s tra velin g in. Ac re e got aw a y with a lead pack th a t was vo rac ious , five ride rs at pitched battle thro ughout. He 'd ha ve t o be fast b ut p rud ent , a n d migh t have to sacrifice the ra ce fo r the title . He did , but not intentionall y. Kyle Raci ng 's Owen We ich el won the race in a near ph oto finish - with first to fou rth cove re d by . 19 0 of a second . We iche l, who ea rly in Sep t emb er wo n th e Can ad ia n 60 0cc S up ersport t itle ov er S teve Crev ier , used his years of experien ce to m ake the d raft pass a t the line and hol d off Acr ee by .0 86 of a second . "I've be e n com ing here 10 yea rs a nd I' ve fini sh e d second and third cons tan tly ," the Honda F-4 -m o unte d Uaytona lntenoatianalSpeedvway Daytona Beach, Florida Res ults: October22, 2UUD RACE ONE: I. J oh n Hop k ins (S uz); 2 . Gran t Lopez (Suz); 3. Jimmy Moor e (Suz); 4. Larry Pegram (Duc) ; 5. Lee Ac ree (S uz) ; 6 . Ben Spi es (Suz): 7. Michael Barnes (Kaw); 8 . Shawn Higb ee (S uz); 9 . Mike Su lli van ( Ka w ); 10 . Tripp No bles (Suz) ; 1 1. Br ia n Gibbs (Suz) ; 12 . Owen We ich el (Yam ); 13 . Vincent Heskovec (Kaw); 14. Ty Ho ward (K aw ); 15. A nthony Fan ia (Suz ); 16 . Tim Bem isderf er (Yam ); 17. Gab rie l Henning (Suz): l B. J ohn J acobi (Suz) ; 19. Byron Barbour (Suz); 20. J ohn Ashmead (Suz); 21. Roland Willi am s (Kaw) ; 22 . Michael Fitzpa trick (Kaw); 23 . Mik e Harth (Suz) ; 24. Charles Choui nard ( Yam ); 25 . J effer y Purk (Suz); 26. Keith Ma rque z (Yam ); 27 . Jo sh Bry an (Suz); 28. Christoph er Rank in (Yam); 29 . A listZlir Smith (Han) ; 30. Rog er Hendricks (Suz) . Time: 22 m in.• 54 .172 sec. Averag e speed: 111.9 16 mph . Margin of victory : 0.063 sec. RA CE TWO : I. J oh n Hopkin s (S uz); 2. Grent Lo pez (Suz) ; 3. Michael Barn es (Kaw ); 4. J immy Moor e (Sw ); 5. Ben Spies (Suz); 6. Lee Ac ree (Suz); 7. Shawn Higbee (Suz); 8. Brian Gibbs (Suz); 9 . Own Weichel (Yam) ; 10. Vincent Haekove c (Ka w) ; 11. Ty Howard (Kaw); 12. Mike Sulliva n (Kaw ); 13. Anthony Fani a (S uz) ; 14 . Jo hn As hmead (S uz): 15 . B yron Barbour (Suz); 16. Tim Bem isderfer (Yam) ; 17. J ohn J aco bi (S uz) ; 18 . Man ny Manusuthak is (S uz) ; 19. Rol and Willia m s (Kaw); 20 . Jeffery Purk (Suz); 21. Charles Chouinard (Yam ); 22 . J osh Bry an (Sw ); 23 . Mauro Cereda (Sua): 24 . Roger Hendrick s (Sw) : 25 . Christop her Ranki n (Yam ); 26 . Alstalr Smith (Hon ); 27 . Robb Martin (Suz); 28. Jo hn Orcha rd (Yam ); 29 . Paul Ryan (Suz); 30 . Larry Pegram (Due). Tim e: 22 min ., 51.700 sec. A verage speed: t 12. I 18 m ph. Margin of vict ory : 0.060 sec. LOCKHART· PHILLIPS USA UNUMITED SUPERBIKE C' SHIP POINT S STANDINGS (A fter 6 of 6 round s): 1. G ran t Lo p ez (228/ 2 win s) ; 2 . J o hn Hopk i n s (2 15/ 7 ) ; 3 . Lee A cr ee ( 175 /2 ) ; 4 . Larry Peqr em ( 1 10ft ) ; 5 . Michael Barnes (9 2) ; 6 . J im m y Moor e (B9); 7. Shawn Higbee (74) ; B. Mike Sullivan (57); 9. Vincent Haskc vec (54 ); 10. Ben Spies (44); I I. Ty Howard ( 43) ; 12 . Dam on Buc k ma ster ( 4 2 ) ; 13. Jo seph Prussiano (42) ; 14. Mark Junge (36); 15. Ti m Bem isder fer (36); 16 . Micha el Ciccotto (3 0) ; 17. J ami e Bowman (28); 18. Shane Clark (2 1); 19 . Brian Parr iott (2 I ); 20. Brian Gibb s (20); 2 1. Tripp Nobles ( 19 ) ; 22 . C ha rl e s Ch o ui nard ( 19) : 23. B rai n Li veng ood ( 17); 2 4. Ric ha rd A lexa nde r ( 16): 25 . Kenn eth Chase ( 16 ). 8 NOVEMBER 1, 2 0 0 0 · cue H E N N Y R A Y A B RA M S I e n e VII' So Weiche l said. "I knew I had a b ike good eno u g h t o win . I k new y ou ne ed to be far e no ug h ba ck so th at when yo u do ma ke th e dr aft ing pas s comi ng int o th e tri-o val , you got the lea d a nd you should kee p it. It ' s awesome . It's gr e a t. It's the first year we 've finis hed up th e year wit h a w in . The tea m has worke d really ha rd ." Acr ee finished second to take the title . / "T h e re were a c oup le of t im es wh ere I wou ld m ak e a m istake an d fall ba ck a little bit," he sa id . "Luc kily, Br ian Gibbs a nd I were abl e to hook up a nd get ba c k up to th e le ad I . e rs and make rt a four -w a y battl e. We've had s uc h a gr e at sea son. J us t to b,{ able to come out and finish the se a son with the c ha m p ions hi p feels great... Th e fina l num bers ha ve Ac ree with 85 to Parri ott's 68 , with Weichel tied with Valvo line EMGO S uzuk i's Ben Spies for third at 58. S p ie s had led a ll qualifiers a nd by a he a lthy m arg in, nearly .7 of a sec ond ove r Gibbs with Ty Howard th ird . Wei ch el a nd Acree we re fo urth and fift h , resp e ct iv e ly. with Pa rr io tt a close s ixth. Off th e s tart it was Spies le a ding a four-r ider bre a kaw ay, the n it was five , then Spie s took a s light leave on th e pack of four on th e fourt h la p, onl y to b e re ele d b a ck in a la p later , with Weichel a nd Acree a nd Gibbs linked fro nt to re a r. By n ow , Parr iott was ou t , and Acree kn ew it. "I had them show me wha t position he was in and I came around a fter th e IAbove) Lee Acree 184) couldn't beat Owen Welchel lt8) in the Sport Bike Se ries f inale at Daytona, but he did enough to ea rn the series t itle and the number-one p late that goes w ith it. first lap a nd it s how ed pos ition six , the n e xt la p or th e lap after th at it said 15th, a nd th en th e y pu t a ze ro up and I knew he must've either broken or fa llen ," Ac ree said. "I figu red s ince it wa s kind of a progression he mu st ha ve brok en, but apparently he fe ll. "I still wanted to win . I probably sh ould 've been a little more co nservative , but it's just hard to giv e up that rac er sp irit. I want to be on top of the box ev ery t ime I go out. I didn 't do anything o verly agg re ss ive . I didn 't take any undo ris ks . But I rode th e wa y I always ride ." Weich el took t he lead on th e sev enth la p, lost it th e next lap, then go t it ba ck . Acr ee moved to the fron t a nd s lowed t he pace down, not th at he th ough t it ma de a differ e nce. "If I made a b ike len gth or two in the in fie ld I knew it rea lly wasn 't going to make a dif fe re nc e when it cam e out onto the ba nk in g ," Acree said . "Ins te a d of p ushing really hard a n d r is k in g pitch ing away in t h e infield , I just took it easy. I figu red that they were probab ly goi ng to follow for th e draft anywa y, so I just took it e asy and when we got up on th e b ank ing eve ryt hing fe ll wh er e it wa s go ing to fall." Weichel said t h a t whe n Ac ree came by in turn one , with about th ree la ps to go, he get a tow off of Acree and Gibb s .

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