WERA National Series on the Way to Summit Point
SUMMIT POINT, W. Va. Summit Point Raceway will host the WERA National Series this weekend for round six of the 2007 season. The weekend will have a lot to live up to after last year’s round, which included close racing, leaders crashing and a new track record.
Saturday’s schedule includes a six-hour WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series race. Vesrah Suzuki won by a long eight-lap margin of victory last year, with Team Velocity Racing behind them in second place.
Vesrah has been nearly unstoppable this year, winning all but one round this season. With four victories to their credit, they will again be pushing for the top spot on the podium. Brand X is the only other team to achieve an overall victory this year, and team principal Ben Walters finished third at Summit in 2006.
The WERA/Michelin National Challenge Series sprint races will be held on Sunday afternoon. Last year’s expert races were dominated by Robert Jensen, who won Open Superstock, 600 Superstock and Formula 1. The 750 Superstock race seemed to be his, as well, until a crash took him out of contention and Vesrah Suzuki teammates Mark Junge and Lee Acree fought for the win. In the end Junge had the advantage by only 0.011 seconds.
Jensen fought a hard battle with Tray Batey in Formula 1, and each rider lapped under the existing record before Jensen set the quickest lap of 1:13.059.
Jensen, Acree, Junge and Batey are all top contenders again this year, as well as Cory West and Opie Caylor. The 2007 season has featured close racing and a close points battle among the top experts at every round.
In the novice classes, Russell Wikle has been collecting trophies each weekend, though Philip Hart and Jason Palmer are other novices to keep an eye on.
The WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance race begins at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 4, and the WERA/Michelin National Challenge races start at noon on Sunday. Tickets for the weekend are $30 for the entire event, including Friday’s practice and qualifying, $25 for Saturday and Sunday only, or $15 for Sunday.
More information about WERA can be found at www.WERA.com.