Yet More from The AMA National Weekend At Heartland Park Topeka

Yet More from The AMA National Weekend At Heartland Park Topeka

© 2009, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

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BEACH AND WORRELL CHARGE IN TOPEKA SUPERSPORT RACE FOR ROCKWALL PERFORMANCE Topeka, KS J.D. Beach and Lloyd Worrell both impressed while racing for the RockwallPerfrormance.com team at the Heartland Park Topeka Supersport race in Kansas last weekend. Beach earned a podium on his Rockwall Performance Yamaha and Worrell earned another top ten finish. Marcos Reichert overcame a Saturday crash and had a solid race on Sunday, battling to 13th place. Beach finished third in the Supersport race, charging up from a 14th starting position. The former Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion was fastest through the first split in the race and wasted little time as he headed to the front. He put the #73 bike in seventh place at the end of the first lap and moved up from there. “It was a good race for us. It wasn’t the best qualifying session for sure but I knew what I had to do in the race, get a good start and make some passes,” said Beach. “I wanted to get where I needed to be by lap five and we were able to do that with no problems. I was battling with Ricky Parker and Russ Wikle for third and I tried to pass them both but got sideways in turn 10 and lost some ground. I was able to catch back up and got underneath both of them, then pulled a gap. It would have been nice to catch up to second place but I ran out of laps. The team gave me a great bike this weekend and we all had a lot of fun. I want to thank everyone with Rockwall Performance.” Lloyd Worrell, also a young rider in his first season racing 600cc machines, started ninth and improved one position in the race to take eighth at the checkered flag. Lloyd led a competitive four rider pack contesting eighth to the line to take another fine finish, following his best result of the year last time out at Mid-Ohio. “A couple of guys got by me and I just put my head down,” said Worrell. “I knew the Rockwall Yamaha R6 had some legs on it so I needed to get down the straight and make some moves. It worked out for us and we were eighth. It’s been a real learning year for me this season but I think we’ve gotten some momentum now. I’m getting it figured out and I want to thank the team for working so hard to help me. I’ve been to VIR and hopefully we’ll have something for them there.” Beach and Worrell posted the two highest trap speeds in the race, a testament to the Rockwall Performance team’s preparation of their Yamaha R6 models. Beach and Worrell are now sixth and seventh in the East SuperSport points, respectively. In the highly competitive Daytona SportBike class, Guatemalan racer Marcos Reichert crashed on Saturday but earned a 13th place result in Sundays main event, racing amongst quality riders like Aaron Gobert, Michael Beck, and Garrett Carter to earn his spot. “I ran as high as 11th on the last lap and Aaron Gobert passed me and I was trying to get him back and made a little mistake and Michael Beck passed me. Still, it was a good weekend overall and I am happy about that,” said Marcos. “On Sunday, we had a good morning practice and we got a good finish. I think it’s better to finish on Sunday because you have a feeling of improving. We’re going to VIR now and we’ll race WERA next weekend, so we’ll set up the bike and learn the track. Hopefully, we’ll have another good weekend.” The VIR round is August 14-16. More, from a press release issued by Foremost Insurance Group: Foremost® Insurance Sponsored Racers Dominate AMA Superbike and X Games SuperMoto and Super X GRAND RAPIDS, MI (August 5, 2009) It was an exciting weekend for Foremost Insurance Racing, thanks to an impressive series of wins by Foremost Racing team members Larry Pegram, Mark Burkhart and Justin Brayton. Pegram claimed back-to-back victories on Saturday and Sunday at the Heartland Park, Topeka, KS stop of AMA Pro National Guard American Superbike. Mark Burkhart and Justin Brayton brought home Silver medals each from X Games 15; at Home Depot Park, Los Angeles. Burkhart raced in SuperMoto and Brayton in Supercross. “We had a feeling it was going to be a good weekend, but these wins exceeded all expectations,” said Randy Slotten, director, Foremost Insurance Independent Agent Direct Marketing. “Many companies take a lot of money and spread it all around hoping that something sticks. What we have done is focus our resources on a select group of talented riders. Their ability and results are a testament to the effectiveness of our philosophy and belief in each of the Foremost Racing team members.” Larry Pegram took early honors by claiming Superpole on Friday, July 31, with the quickest single-lap time, putting him in lead position for the start of both Saturday and Sunday’s Superbike showdowns. Saturday, Pegram, riding his Ducati 1098R, took an impressive lead early in the race. Sunday proved to be a more challenging contest as Pegram and fellow racer Tommy Hayden battled around the track neck-and-neck, but at the finish line Pegram etched out a .333 second victory. The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles was the site for X Games 15 and two hard fought races for Foremost Racing team members Mark Burkhart and Justin Brayton. Burkhart came out strong in SuperMoto, picking away the competition and battling back and forth with leader Ivan Lazzarini. The stadium erupted as Burkhart briefly took the lead near the end of the race. He was overtaken shortly after and in the end Burkhart walked away with a well deserved silver medal. Justin Brayton had a strong qualifying round, finishing first in his heat. The Super X Main Event was filled with a tough field of competitors. After a tricky start Brayton worked his way through the pack, overtaking riders one-by-one. Although he was running a strong, fast race, Brayton was unable to close the gap for first and took home silver. Foremost Insurance is the proud sponsor of a number of professional motorcycle race teams, riders and events including the Foremost Insurance Pegram Ducati Superbike Team, Monster Energy Burkhart HMC Racing Supermoto Team, Foremost Insurance Jim Neese Racing Arenacross Team, X Games medalists Justin Brayton and Tarah Gieger, and GNCC racer Josh Strang. Foremost is also the official insurance for the Suzuki Big Kahuna Superbike Nationals. Go ahead, visit ForemostRacing.com and learn more about the Foremost Racing team. Foremost Insurance Group is a single source for personal property and casualty and commercial insurance. A member of the Farmers Insurance Group®, Foremost has been a leader in the specialty insurance industry since 1952. Foremost is headquartered in Caledonia, Michigan.

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