Wood Sets Record at Homestead-Miami Speedway CCS Florida Finale Homestead-Miami Speedway December 7, 2008 By Lisa Theobald Jeff Wood broke the motorcycle track record at Homestead-Miami Speedway during the Unlimited Grand Prix race during CCS Florida’s 2008 season finale. Riding a Suzuki GSX-R1000 around the 2.21-mile road course, Wood set the new lap record at 1:24.291, just fast enough to replace the standing record set in 2004 by Geoff May at 1:24.373. Wood entered only two classes and took victories in both races, the first and last races of the day. Wood was gridded on the third row of the GTO race and had to maneuver through traffic to get to the front. After that, he put his head down and took the checkered flag ahead of Barrett Long and Robertino Pietri. Wood got a great start during the last race of the day, the Unlimited Grand Prix and nailed the lead from his row-three grid position. He led the entire race from start to finish with Pietri on a Prieto Racing Suzuki in second and Long on a Ducati in third. “I knew Robertino was going to get faster as the day went on and he sure did,” Wood said after the race. “So, I tried as hard as I could off the start. I tried to get into the lead right into Turn One and I just put my head down right away. I was hoping he might get held up for a couple of corners, because if he was right on me, I’m sure he would have had that much more motivation. He didn’t give me any rest the whole race. He just charged the whole time and it was good.” Pietri said, “I knew I had to get a good start and I did. In Turn One I was third, but Jeff was still in front of me so it took me two corners to pass Greg Melka and that’s when Jeff did the gap. I don’t think I was catching up, but I think we were running the same pace, mid-24s but if we’re both going the same pace and he’s two seconds ahead, there’s no way to catch him. It was a good race. Congratulations to him, to Barrett. They all did good and it was a fun race. It’s always good to come here and race at Homestead.” When asked if he had anything for them, Long stated, “No, I’ve just been feeling a little bit slow all weekend. I caught a cold yesterday and I tried my best.” Long’s best put him on the top spot of the podium more than any other racer of the weekend. He took home four first-place trophies for the Unlimited Supersport, Unlimited Superbike, Supertwins, and Heavyweight Superbike races. He also finished second in Heavyweight Supersport and third in GTU and Middleweight Supersport. RESULTS: Expert Unlimited Grand Prix: 1. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R1000); 2. Robertino Pietri (Suz GSX-R1000); 3. Barrett Long (Duc 1098); 4. Sean Dwyer (Suz GSX-R1000); 5. Lars Remsen (Suz GSX-R1000); 6. Michael Rouleau (Suz GSX-R1000); 7. Fernando Ferreyra (Duc 848); 8. Shane Narbonne (Suz GSX-R1000); 9. Greg Melka (Yam YZF-R6); 10. Paul Manuel Decouto (Yam YZF-R1).