Veteran Tray Batey and rising star Dane Westby each earned a pole position Friday during timed qualifying for the WERA National Challenge series event in Las Vegas. In spite of ambient temperatures in excess of 100 degrees F, T. Westby Corporation’s Westby, age 21, lapped the Classic Course in 1:18.802 on his Dunlop-shod Yamaha YZF-R6 to top a field of 26 in 600cc Superstock. “That was the first time I rode my ’08 bike,” Westby told Roadracingworld.com. “I like it a lot. We finally got our motor and suspension done, and we’re starting to get it sorted out.” Moments later, Batey ripped off a lap of 1:16.786 on his Pirelli-shod Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 to earn the Open Superstock pole. Batey’s time was not only the fastest, it was nearly a full second faster than the next-best rider. “I was just trying to get the bike working,” downplayed Batey. “My set-up from Miller Motorsports Park [the last WERA National Challenge round] didn’t seem like it was going to work. And with the limited laps we got today, I didn’t have a lot of time to work on it. We made some pretty big changes to the front end right before the session, and they worked great. I thought I could do some 1:17s, but to do a 1:16, holy moly!” The WERA National Challenge series sprint races will be run, along with WERA Sportsman races, on Sunday, June 29. Saturday, June 28 will be dominated by Round five of the WERA National Endurance series, a six-hour race that is scheduled to run from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time. The forecast for the weekend calls for hot and sunny conditions with temperatures over 100 degrees F both days. WERA National Challenge Series Las Vegas Classic Course Las Vegas, Nevada June 27, 2008 Qualifying Results: Open Superstock: 1. Tray Batey (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:16.786 2. James Randolph (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:17.635 3. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:17.792 4. Jimmy Wood (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:17.862 5. Dane Westby (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:18.289 6. Nicky Moore (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:18.502 7. Zac Chapman (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:19.007 8. Alessandro Assanti (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:19.110 9. Chad Lewin (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:19.654 10. Dale Kieffer (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:20.166 11. Russell Wikle (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:20.371 12. John Jacobi (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:20.545 13. Matthias Ullholm, 1:21.088 14. Thomas Bednash, 1:23.144 15. Chip Yates, 1:23.343 16. Aaron Bell (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:27.552 600cc Superstock: 1. Dane Westby (Yam YZF-R6), 1:18.802 2. Garrett Willis (Hon CBR600RR), 1:18.804 3. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:18.868 4. Chad Lewin (Suz GSX-R600), 1:19.091 5. Jimmy Wood (Yam YZF-R6), 1:19.198 6. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R600), 1:19.330 7. Lenny Hale (Yam YZF-R6), 1:19.494 8. Christopher Clark (Yam YZF-R6), 1;19.494 9. Scott Gilbert (Yam YZF-R6), 1:19.530 10. Zac Chapman (Suz GSX-R600), 1:19.830 11. Elena Myers (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:20.095 12. Bryce Prince (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:20.439 13. Shane McGoey (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:21.205 14. Tiras Banks, 1:21.366 15. Tyler Odom (Duc 848), 1:21.608 16. Ryan O’Donnell (Suz GSX-R600), 1:21.771 17. Russell Wikle (Suz GSX-R600), 1:22.176 18. Patrick McCord, 1:22.965 19. Mark McKinney, 1:23.315 20. Amber Rimes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:23.539 21. Kevin Edgington, 1:23.610 22. Mark Howell, 1:24.522 23. J.B. Layman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.638 24. Steve Brunton, 1:25.029 25. Chris Sarbora, 1:25.261 26. Scott Layman (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.145