Army of Darkness Wins USNE/WERA 6 Hour at Hallett
The Army of Darkness team of Sam Fleming, Taylor Knapp, and Ben Walters were back on top with their Michelin-shod BMW S1000RR at the U.S. National Endurance (USNE) presented by Lucas Oil and WERA National Endurance 6 Hour Endurance race this past Saturday, May 17. The combined third round for both events brought the racing action to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Hallett, OK. The weather started cloudy and cool with rain the night before, but a stiff breeze and temperatures in the low 70’s made for fast lap times on the newly repaved 1.8 mile course.
The 6 Hour Endurance race had a combined grid of 36 teams, with classes including Heavyweight, Middleweight, and Lightweight Endurance. The starting lights went out at 12:26 pm, the Suzuki GSX-R1000-mounted BEi/Dunlop Development Racing team of Dustin Dominguez, Sean Dwyer, and Billy Ethridge took the early lead with the KTM RC8-mounted P1 Racing KTM team of Ryan Andrews, Ty Howard, Eddie Thornton, and Derek Wagnon hot on their heels. The BMW S1000RR-mounted Army of Darkness team had their hands full dealing with the Village Idiots on a Yamaha YZF-R6 and Excel EMR aboard a Kawasaki ZX636.
For the first hour, the teams continued to pick up speed, and the lap times dropped. BEi/Dunlop Development Racing had a mechanical problem when their Suzuki’s shifter broke, but were able to make it into the pits. Army of Darkness (A.O.D.), P1 Racing KTM, and the Village Idiots capitalized on their misfortune and then made the grab for the lead. A.O.D. took over the lead on lap 77 when the P1 Racing KTM team had their first pit stop.
A red flag came out at the 1 hour 49 minute mark, causing a race stoppage as the clock continued to tick down. All the teams were re-gridded for a race restart, and the race restarted at 2 hours 23 minutes.
A.O.D. held the lead for the remainder of the race, as the two-man iron butted team Excel EMR slipped around the Village Idiots for second. BEi/Dunlop Development Racing pulled into third, and the race leaders stretched their lead out to one lap over the rest of the field.
When the checkers fell at 6:26 pm, Army of Darkness brought it home with the overall and Heavyweight win, followed by the Excel EMR team of Conner Blevins and Dustin Meador in second overall and first in Middleweight, BEi/Dunlop Development Racing in third overall and second in Heavyweight. Rounding out the top six finishers were Village Idiots, LocoMotion, and LSTD II.
Other Lucas Oil winners from Saturday were: Army of Darkness and BEI/Dunlop Development Racing both won $250 in travel money for coming the farthest to get to the event. Army of Darkness traveled 1245 miles, and BEi/Dunlop Development Racing went 854. Tip Toes & Tonka Trucks won the donated ION camera for this round.
In addition to Lucas Oil, the USNE would like to thanks its other sponsors: M4 Exhaust Systems, Driven Racing, and Saddlemen.
For a complete list of the weekend results and standings, please visit the website: www.CMRAracing.com, www.WERA.com, www.facebook.com/usnationalendurance. The next endurance round in the WERA season will be June 6-8, 2014, at Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA. CMRA’s next endurance round will be June 14-15, 2014, at Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, TX. Details for both weekends will be announced when finalized. Come out and see some great endurance racing action!
U.S. NATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES Presented by LUCAS OIL
WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES
OVERALL
1. Army of Darkness (Sam Fleming/Taylor Knapp/Ben Walters) BMW S1000RR, 242 laps
2. Excel EMR (Conner Blevins/Dustin Meador) Kaw ZX636, 242 laps
3. BEi/Dunlop Development Racing (Dustin Dominguez/Sean Dwyer/Billy Ethridge) Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight, 242 laps
4. Village Idiots (Brandon Cleland/ Chris Headley/John Orchard/Garet Tomlinson) Yam YZF-R6, Middleweight, 241 laps
5. LocoMotion (Alonzo Contreras/Ryan Max Johnson/Matt Vastine/Mark Windham) Yam YZF-R6, 234 laps
6. LSTD II (Jesse Davis/Nick Doolan/Will Gruy/Wyatt Sperry/David Tiede) Kaw ZX-6R, 234 laps
HEAVYWEIGHT ENDURANCE
1. Army of Darkness (Sam Fleming/Taylor Knapp/Taylor/Ben Walters) BMW S1000RR, 242 laps
2. BEi/Dunlop Development Racing (Dustin Dominguez/Sean Dwyer/Billy Ethridge) Suz GSX-R1000, 242 laps
3. Desert Rats Racing (Stephen Guynes/Rick Hogge/Derek Thomas/Greg Wanless) Suz GSX-R750, 233 laps
4. I Like Big Gas!! (Scott Buckley/Dewayne Davis /Brad Kelly/Craig Montgomery/Brandon Young) Suz GSX-R1000, 229 laps
5. Howlie Boyz (Jason Swan/Dean Thimjon/Brent Wood) Suz GSX-R750, 221 laps
6. Team Bear (Harry Tomlinson/Phil Young) Kaw ZX-10R, 220 laps
MEDIUMWEIGHT ENDURANCE
1. Excel EMR (Conner Blevins/Dustin Meador) Kaw ZX636, 242 laps
2. Village Idiots (Brandon Cleland/ Chris Headley/John Orchard/Garet Tomlinson) Yam YZF-R6, 241 laps
3. LocoMotion (Alonzo Contreras/Ryan Max Johnson/Matt Vastine/Mark Windham) Yam YZF-R6, 234 laps
4. LSTD II (Jesse Davis/Nick Doolan/Will Gruy/Wyatt Sperry/David Tiede) Kaw ZX-6R, 234 laps
5. Hold Fast (Dirk Anderson/Ulug Bayramoglu/Chris Hamlett/Michael Humphries/Alan Phillips) Yam YZF-R6, 230 laps
6. Lapped Traffic (Shannon Ball/Robert Henderson/Keith High II/Roger Murray) Yam YZF-R6, 218 laps
LIGHTWEIGHT ENDURANCE
1. Team EDS (David Branyon /Scott Eichhorn/Darrell Ricks/Mike Sweeney/Shane Zelm) Suz SV650, 215 laps
2. Navy Seabee Team 670 (Blake Jones/Ben Kirby/Caleb Smith) Suz SV650 211 laps
3. Slick Willy (William Coats/Josh Henke/Renee Stephenson/Chris Woolsey/Rich Wu) Suz SV650, 203 laps
4. G-Baby Racing (Nicole Ayers/Daisy DeSimone/Anita Thomas) Suz SV650 200 laps
5. The Bike Doctors #2 (Sean Brown/John Byus/Karl Hansen/Nick McDonald/David Wilson) Hon CBR600F3, 90 laps
6.The Bike Doctors #1 (Jacob Asay/Ossman Avila/Ross Horn/Jeremias Moreno/Jennifer Norman) Buell XB12R, 50 laps