American Red Cross Devil’s Showdown/AMA Pro Road Racing GoPro Daytona SportBike New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, New Jersey September 7, 2012 Provisional Qualifying Session One Results (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Martin Cardenas (Suz GSX-R600), 1:23.522 2. Tommy Hayden (Yam YZF-R6), 1:23.549 3. Cameron Beaubier (Yam YZF-R6), 1:23.571 4. Jason DiSalvo (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:23.604 5. Bobby Fong (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.020 6. Aaron Gobert (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.529 7. Tommy Aquino (Yam YZF-R6), 1:24.720 8. Cory West (Suz GSX-R600), 1:25.081 9. JD Beach (Yam YZF-R6), 1:25.272 10. Jake Zemke (Duc 848EVO), 1:25.347 11. Shane Narbonne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:25.505 12. Jake Gagne (Yam YZF-R6), 1:25.544 13. Dane Westby (Suz GSX-R600), 1:25.672, crash 14. Joey Pascarella (Suz GSX-R600), 1:25.796 15. Huntley Nash (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.007 16. Michael Beck (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.193 17. Bryce Prince (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.417 18. Kenny Riedmann (Tri Daytona 675R), 1:26.483, crash 19. Ben Young (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.592 20. David Gaviria (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.665 21. Benny Solis (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.890 22. Josh Galster (Yam YZF-R6), 1:26.945 23. Fernando Amantini (Kaw ZX-6R), 1:27.701 24. Reese Wacker (Suz GSX-R600), 1:28.361 25. Michael Morgan (Suz GSX-R600), 1:29.217 26. Jeff Wrobel (Yam YZF-R6), 1:29.274 27. Anthony Fania (Yam YZF-R6), 1:30.029 28. Melissa Paris (Suz GSX-R600), 1:30.711 29. Daniel Ortega (Yam YZF-R6), 1:31.432 More, from a press release issued by GEICO Suzuki: Back on top: Points leader Cardenas the quickest in New Jersey MILLVILLE, N.J. (Sept. 7) — GEICO Suzuki rider Martin Cardenas posted a near-record lap of 1:23.522 about midway through Friday afternoon’s opening round of GoPro Daytona SportBike qualifying at New Jersey Motorsports Park to lead Day 1 action at the AMA American Red Cross Devil’s Showdown. When the number went on the board, Cardenas’ nearest competitor was more than a second behind, so the team elected to call him into the pits and try a different set-up. They then watched as several others took their best shots at the current points leader, but fortunately no one could match Cardenas’ blistering-quick time. “The bike has been awesome from today’s first practice,” Cardenas said. “We made some changes for qualifying but not too much. I was able to make several good laps and one of them was quickest of the day. After that we decided to try and run with a full tank because we had a nice gap, but by the end a few others had come very close so we feel fortunate to stay on the provisional pole.” Cardenas was followed closely by Tommy Hayden, who posted a 1:23.549, Cameron Beaubier (1:23.571) and Jason DiSalvo (1:23.604). The current track record is a 1:23.502 set by Tommy Aquino in 2010 during a race won by Cardenas. “If you go back and look at the times from 2010, they are very similar to what we were running today,” said Cardenas, who competed in the Superbike category last year. “I’m not sure what was the problem last year but everyone was a second slower in the DSB class. Maybe it was the tires; I don’t know. “Whatever it was is not an issue any more. Now we will hope for dry conditions again tomorrow and maybe we can go a little better.” Cardenas entered the weekend 64 points ahead of Dane Westby. Qualifying concludes with a second round slated to begin at 8:50 a.m. The field will then be set for both scheduled Daytona SportBike races, which begin at 2 p.m., Saturday, and 2:15 p.m., Sunday. SPEED TV will cover Saturday’s racing starting at 9 p.m. and Sunday’s starting at 11 p.m. More, from a press release issued by Team Hammer: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FOR WESTBY IN NEW JERSEY The AMA Pro Road Racing season picked back up in highly unusual fashion for M4 Suzuki’s Dane Westby on Friday at New Jersey Motorsports Park. ‘The Wolverine’ was solid in the first Daytona SportBike free practice session following the long six-week summer break. The Oklahoman was sixth best at 1:25.248 and expecting an even stronger qualifying performance. However, Westby suffered a big crash in Turn 1 after completing just his first flying lap of the qualifying. Excited and desperate to get back to his crew so he could resume qualifying as quickly as possible, Westby attempted to ride directly back to pitlane on the grass but against the flow of traffic. As a result, he was penalized and forced to sit out the remainder of the session. In his single lap at speed, Westby posted the 13th fastest time of the session at 1:25.672, but will have the opportunity to improve his grid position on Saturday. “The bike was feeling really good,” Westby said. “I only got one flying lap and we ended up 13th with that. I wadded it — highsided myself in Turn 1. I probably needed to let the tires come in a little bit more. And then I rode up the pitlane on the grass to get back up to my guys — I was pretty excited. The AMA wasn’t too fond of that and I had to sit out the session. “I had to sit out today but I’ll be back tomorrow. It is what it is. It was in the heat of the moment and I was just trying to get back, but I understand where they’re coming from.” Suzuki SportBikeTrackTime.com’s Elena Myers registered an impressive performance in Friday’s qualifying session. Myers hustled her GSX-R600 around the 2.2-mile circuit with a best time of 1:25.752 to clock the fifth-fastest lap of AMA Pro SuperSport provisional qualifying. M4 Suzuki’s Chris Ulrich qualified his GSX-R1000 Superbike 14th fastest on Friday. The Californian threw down a 1:23.606 in QP, improving upon his free practice time by nearly a full second. On Saturday, Westby, Myers, and Ulrich will claim their final grid positions for the NJMP doubleheader in the morning and then attack the weekend’s opening races in the afternoon. More, from a press release issued by LTD Racing: NASH AND LTD RACING BACK ON TRACK IN NEW JERSEY Millville, NJ (September 7, 2011) After a six-week break, Huntley Nash and the rest of the AMA Pro Daytona SportBike class returned to action at New Jersey Motorspors Park on Friday. The 20-year old shook off the rust at the 14-turn track and showed progress on Friday. Nash cut 1.2 seconds from his times in the first practice session but the Georgian still has more work to do after qualifying 15th with a time of 1:26.007 in the ultra-competitive class. “I hadn’t ridden in a month and was just getting up to speed,” said Nash. “I didn’t feel comfortable out there and we changed some things on the bike and then I felt comfortable. I was okay in the first two sectors but I wasn’t very good in the third. I felt like I was pushing to the edge but obviously that wasn’t the case. I’m pretty quick in the first half of the track, but when I got to those long righthanders, I got left behind. I need to work on it and trust the bike. I just have to get the feel for it and then the lap times will improve.” Nash has shown marked improvement during this season, posting his best results yet in the DSB class despite facing serious obstacles. The former SuperSport race winner will try to top his best yet (seventh) this weekend. “Huntley mainly wanted to ride and get back into the swing of things today,” said LTD Racing’s Jon Schiereck. “He’s always motivated to ride hard and we’re looking forward to getting another crack at qualifying it in the morning.” The first of two 23-lap, 50-mile DSB races will be held at 2 PM local time on Saturday.