Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By Beth Wyse
Chuck Ivey, Bradley Champion and Steven Breckenridge gave Team Velocity Racing its second overall win during round nine of the 2004 WERA National Endurance Series, winning a 4-hour race held Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park by one lap on a Heavyweight Superstock-class Yamaha YZF-R1.
CherokeeChallenge.net took the Mediumweight Superstock class win and finished second overall on a Yamaha YZF-R6 with riders JP Tache, Chris Normand and Scotty Van Scoik.
Scott Fisher and Chris Pyles co-rode to a finish of third overall on the Neighbor of the Beast Yamaha YZF-R6, completing the all-Yamaha overall podium and taking second in Mediumweight Superstock class.
Champion took the lead at the start before Robert Jensen got by on the Robert Jensen Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Jenson had only entered the race to get practice time, and when he pulled in the lead went to Tray Batey on the Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Just 15 minutes after the start of the second hour, Eric Taylor crashed the Mad Kaw Kawasaki 636cc ZX-6R. Batey was right behind Taylor and was unable to avoid getting tangled up in the crash, hitting Taylor and flying over the bars. The only red flag of the race came out while the medical crew attended to Taylor, who possibly broke his hip.
When the race restarted 25 minutes later, the Vesrah crew got to work making extensive repairs to the team’s bike while Team Velocity Racing took the lead.
Army of Darkness crashed shortly after the restart, Scott Brown clipping the rear of the Team Maxxis GSX-R1000 while trying to make a pass and giving up second place overall, and CherokeeChallenge.net moved up into second overall with Neighbor of the Beast just behind.
The top three positions remained the same for the final hour.
Paul Youngman and Kevin Perkins won in the Mediumweight Superbike class, finishing fifth overall on the Velocity Crew Racing Suzuki GSX-R600. Team Xtreme/Maxxis entered a second bike in Heavyweight Superbike and won in the class. Billy Ethridge, Mark Edwards, Mark Crozier and Jeff Walker rode the Suzuki GSX-R1000 to an overall finish of seventh.
Dixie Mafia won in the Lightweight Superbike class despite making a late-race stop for a new rear sprocket. Bruce Stanford, Bo Morgan and Derek Keyes shared the Suzuki SV650, and finished 17th overall.
OVERALL RESULTS:
1. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey/Bradley Champion/Steven Breckenridge), Yam YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superstock, 132 laps.
2. CherokeeChallenge.net (Scotty Van Scoik/Chris Normand/JP Tache), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 131 laps.
3. Neighbor of the Beast (Scott Fisher/Chris Pyles), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 130 laps.
4. Team Eclipse (Dale Burroughs/Ryan Gordon/William Mayfield), Suz GSX-R750, Heavyweight Superstock, 129 laps.
5. Velocity Crew Racing (Paul Youngman/Kevin Perkins), Suz GSX-R750, Mediumweight Superbike, 129 laps.
6. Team Xtreme/Maxxis (Mark Edwards/Billy Ethridge/Jeff Walker/Mark Crozier), Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superstock, 127 laps.
7. Team Pennzoil (Mark Edwards/Billy Ethridge/Jeff Walker/Mark Crozier), Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superbike, 127 laps.
8. B&S Endurance (Brian Dalke/Josh Smith-Moore/Larry Denning), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superstock, 127 laps.
9. Need A Sponsor (Aaron Aaronson/Shawn Hill), Yam YZF-R6, Heavyweight Superstock, 126 laps.
10. D&D Racing (Mark Reeser/Jeremy Smith), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 126 laps.