Justin Miest breaks his own track record at Brainerd International Raceway’s Competition Course
Brainerd, MN – The Central Roadracing Association (CRA) held its third event of the 2022 season on Brainerd International Raceway’s Competition Course July 15-17. The event+ included the annual Jed Copham 3-hour Team Challenge as well as 8-lap Supersport, Superbike and GP sprint races. The whole weekend was hot and humid but the track showed plenty of grip, some of which can be attributed to the improvements BIR has recently made to repave turn 9, or also known as ‘The Joker’.
25 teams entered the Jed Copham 3-hour Team Challenge, which was created by the CRA to honor former owner of Brainerd International Raceway who tragically lost his life in 2018. In this 3-hour team challenge, each team can consist of three riders and each rider can race their own machine. As riders take their pit stop they must transfer the team’s transponder to the next bike before heading out on track. At the beginning of the race Jake Schmotter of team SMR / Cheap Thrills set the pace out front putting down lap times in the 1:37 to 1:38 range on his Yamaha R1. Justin Miest of Nielsen Racing matched Schmotter’s pace and was content stalking Jake for the entire first stint. Shane Keaveny of Team Hawaii trailed close in third putting down 1:39 lap times.
As the race progressed there was a natural rate of small tip overs and mechanicals but at one point, we saw a racer who crashed, quickly grab the transponder off their crashed bike, and give it the ol’ Tom Brady over the track/pit wall where his teammates caught it and continued the race on of their other machines. In the end, Schmotter and teammate Nelson took the overall win finishing ahead of Nielsen Racing by 1 minute 33 seconds. Coming in third place was team Joe’s Hoes aboard their three Krämer motorcycles.
Featherweight proved to be amongst the closest racing all weekend. In the expert ranks, we saw a four-way battle between Andrew Vandal, Justin Miest, William Miller and Ike Messmore as they put down lap times in the high 1:51’s and low 1:52’s. Each racer was using the draft and swapping positions with every lap. Justin came out with two wins and Ike came out with the other win; Ike’s first win as a club expert. The other small-bike class, Ultralight expert, it was Jake Vandal who swept aboard his Kawasaki Ninja 400 ahead of Justin Miest and brother Andrew Vandal. In novice it was complete domination by Sam Fisk in both Featherweight and Ultralight often finishing a half a second ahead of his competitors.
Giving credit where credit is due, 2021 #1 expert Christian Schmidt continued his superhuman form in the Welterweight expert class, sliding the front tire of his Krämer HKR EVO2 R through virtually every corner. The credit is warranted as he put down a blistering lap of 1:39.585 in Welterweight race two on a single-cylinder 690.
Kyle Franz was also a guy on the move this weekend aboard his team Futurestar Ducati 899 Panigale as he won both Lightweight Superbike and GP expert races, holding off the likes of Brian Rogers, Josh Pangier and Andrew Kruse. First-year expert Graham Williams was able to pull out his first win and hold off the likes of seasoned but new-to-lightweight Tony Mahto in Lightweight Supersport. Welterweight, Lightweight GP, and Supertwins novice was completely controlled by first-year CRA racer Thor Routh. Thor ended up winning every race entered and ended the weekend with a total of six wins.
Middleweight was the largest class we saw this weekend with 27 racers finishing Middleweight Supersport on Saturday. Naturally the larger grids made for excellent racing and needless to say, close racing. Zack Abraham won both Middleweight Supersport and Superbike expert races aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R putting down a best lap of 1:38.806 and consistently lapping in the low 1:39’s. Zack held off one of the club’s favorite (or is it favourite) Canadian Jordan Imrie, who also took a win in Middleweight GP with a best lap of 1:39.498. Chase Sellers of Cheap Thrills entered Middleweight Supersport on a borrowed bike, only to upset the competition and finish in the final podium position. There were also outstanding battles between Dillon Baumeister, Justin Ebnet and Brian Hebeisen who all found themselves on the podium throughout the weekend.
The position swaps didn’t end with the experts, as there were a number of good battles in Middleweight novice. Second-year racer Ryan Largent on his Nielsen Racing Yamaha R6 swept the field taking home three wins and putting down a personal best and fastest lap of 1:39.307. Ryan held off Judah Wimbley in Middleweight Supersport who also found himself in the 1:39’s, but due to mechanical he didn’t start Middleweight Superbike and GP. Battling for the final podium positions were Nick Bjornstad, Austin Yantes and Reed Anderson.
The fight in Unlimited picked up right where it left off last month between Jake Schmotter and Justin Miest, but Justin’s pace was too hot to handle. In Unlimited Supersport on Saturday, Justin put down a lap time of 1:34.163 on his Nielsen Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R using Michelin Power Performance tires, breaking the previous track record (set by Justin) on the Competition Course of 1:34.678. throughout the weekend Justin was able to do three additional laps all under the previous lap record, proving that there are still tenths of a second to be found at BIR. The pace for all three Unlimited races at the front settled in the 1:36’s. Justin crashed out of the lead in Unlimited GP and Jake was able to capitalize and walked away with the win. Veteran Shane Keaveny found himself rounding out the final step of the podium in both Unlimited Supersport and Superbike. The club’s other favorite Canadian JR Hiebert, as well as Justin Robson, found themselves on the podium in Unlimited GP.
The CRA is operated entirely by volunteers that are dedicated to the sport of racing motorcycles. A very special thank you to all our volunteers.
Round Four of the CRA championship will be held at Brainerd International Raceway on August 12-14.
Volunteers can pre-register for CRA Round Four starting July 23rd through MotorsportsReg.
Race Results
Middleweight SS Expert
1 Zack Abraham
2 Jordan Imrie
3 Chase Sellers
4 Justin Ebnet
5 Dillon Baumeister
6 Justin Robson
Middleweight SS Novice
1 Ryan Largent
2 Judah Wimbley
3 Nicholas Bjornstad
4 Spencer Morabito
5 Austin Yantes
6 Reed Anderson
UL Cup Race 1 Expert
1 Jake Vandal
2 Justin Miest
3 Andrew Vandal
4 William Miller
5 Max Bullard
6 Harlan Bullard
UL Cup Race 1 Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Tom Marchant
3 Katerina Litvinova
4 Alec Irwin
WelterW Race 1 Expert
1 Christian Schmidt
2 Kyle Franz
3 Ike Messmore
4 Graham Williams
5 Brian Rogers
6 Dane Fickel
WelterW Race 1 Novice
1 Thor Routh
2 Jason Denman
90s SB Cup Race 1 Expert
1 Jes Schwartz
2 James Michaelson
3 Jason Weidholz
90s SB Cup Race 1 Novice
1 Michael McMerty
HWSS Expert
1 Zack Abraham
2 Brian Hebeisen
3 Jordan Imrie
4 Justin Ebnet
5 Dillon Baumeister
6 Chase Sellers
HWSS Novice
1 Nicholas Bjornstad
2 Spencer Morabito
3 Austn Yantes
4 Logan Willet
5 Reed Anderson
6 Chris Chamberland
FWSS Expert
1 Justin Miest
2 William Miller
3 Andrew Vandal
4 Ike Messmore
5 Dane Fickel
6 Catherine Hurley
FWSS Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Nicholas Bjornstad
3 Ross Olson
4 Braden Routh
5 Jacques Smith
6 Katerina Litvinova
Unlimited SS Expert
1 Justin Miest
2 Jake Schmotter
3 Shane Keaveny
4 Zachery Hughes
5 PR Stafki
6 Jesse Nelson
Unlimited SS Novice
1 Mike Olson
2 Aaron Inouye
LWSS Expert
1 Graham Williams
2 Tony Mahto
3 Jake Vandal
4 Jason Weidholz
5 Jeffrey Quam
LWSS Novice
1 Jason Denman
2 Denyse Brooks
3 Miranda Cain
Formula 40 – F1
1 Josh Pangier
2 Tate Guckin
3 Kristie Strandmark
Formula 40 – F2
1 JR Hiebert
2 Justin Robson
3 Mark Dargis
4 Kris Skellenger
5 Denyse Brooks
6 Christopher Staub
Sportsman LW Expert
1 Ike Messmore
2 Dane Fickel
3 Billy Lachmiller
Sportsman MW Expert
1 Jason Weidholz
Supertwins Expert
1 JR Hiebert
2 PR Stafki
3 Josh Pangier
4 Kyle Franz
5 Tate Guckin
6 Graham Williams
Supertwins Novice
1 Thor Routh
2 Jason Denman
3 Don Blaess
4 Denyse Brooks
5 Miranda Cain
MWSB Expert
1 Zack Abraham
2 Jordan Imrie
3 Dillon Baumeister
4 Brian Hebeisen
5 Justin Ebnet
6 Colin McMerty
MWSB Novice
1 Ryan Largent
2 Austin Yantes
3 Reed Anderson
4 Chris Castle
5 Nicholas Tindal
6 Logan Willet
UL Cup Race 2 Expert
1 Jake Vandal
2 Andrew Vandal
3 William Miller
4 Max Bullard
5 Harlan Bullard
6 Billy Lachmiller
UL Cup Race 2 Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Tom Marchant
3 Hunter Hebeisen
4 Matthew Gauer
5 Katerina Litvinova
WelterW Race 2 Expert
1 Christian Schmidt
2 Brian Rogers
3 Kyle Franz
4 Josh Pangier
5 Graham Williams
6 Tony Mahto
WelterW Race 1 Novice
1 Thor Routh
90s SB Cup Race 2 Expert
1 Jes Schwartz
2 James Michaelson
3 Jason Weidholz
90s SB Cup Race 2 Novice
1 Michael McMerty
HWSB Expert
1 Zack Abraham
2 Brian Hebeisen
3 Dillon Baumeister
4 Colin McMerty
5 Aaron Anderson
6 Justin Robson
HWSB Novice
1 Nicholas Bjornstad
2 Austin Yantes
3 Logan Willet
4 Nicholas Tindal
5 Spencer Morabito
6 Chris Chamberland
FWSB Expert
1 Ike Messmore
2 Andrew Vandal
3 William Miller
4 Justin Miest
5 Harlan Bullard
6 Max Bullard
FWSB Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Ross Olson
3 Hunter Hebeisen
4 Matthew Gauer
5 Braden Routh
6 Katerina Litvinova
Unlimited SB Expert
1 Justin Miest
2 Shane Keaveny
3 Jake Schmotter
4 Jesse Nelson
5 PR Stafki
6 Austin Tschida
Unlimited SB Novice
1 Aaron Inouye
LWSB Expert
1 Kyle Franz
2 Brian Rogers
3 Josh Pangier
4 Andrew Kruse
5 Jake Vandal
6 Graham Williams
LWSB Novice
1 Thor Routh
2 Sam Fisk
3 Jason Denman
4 Don Blaess
5 Miranda Cain
MWGP Expert
1 Jordan Imrie
2 Brian Hebeisen
3 Justin Ebnet
4 Justin Robson
5 Tony Boshart
6 Nick Paidosh
MWGP Novice
1 Ryan Largent
2 Nicholas Bjornstad
3 Austin Yantes
4 Spencer Morabito
5 Nicholas Tindal
6 Logan Willet
UL Cup Race 3 Expert
1 Jake Vandal
2 Justin Miest
3 Andrew Vandal
4 Harlan Bullard
5 Max Bullard
6 Catherine Hurley
UL Cup Race 3 Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Tom Marchant
3 Hunter Hebeisen
4 Matthew Gauer
5 Katerina Litvinova
WelterW Race 3 Expert
1 Christian Schmidt
2 Kyle Franz
3 Brian Rogers
4 Jeff Bean
5 Ike Messmore
6 Dane Fickel
WelterW Race 3 Novice
1 Thor Routh
2 Jason Denman
90s SB Cup Race 3 Expert
1 Jes Schwartz
2 James Michaelson
3 Jason Weidholz
HWGP Expert
1 Brian Hebeisen
2 Justin Robson
3 Mark Dargis
HWGP Novice
1 Nicholas Bjornstad
2 Spencer Morabito
3 Logan Willet
4 Nicholas Tindal
5 Christian Swanson
6 Chris Chamberland
FWGP Expert
1 Justin Miest
2 Andrew Vandal
3 Ike Messmore
4 Harlan Bullard
5 Max Bullard
6 Dane Fickel
FWGP Novice
1 Sam Fisk
2 Ross Olson
3 Hunter Hebeisen
4 Nicholas Bjornstad
5 Braden Routh
6 Katerina Litvinova
Unlimited GP Expert
1 Jake Schmotter
2 JR Hiebert
3 Justin Robson
4 Russell Chamberlin
5 Pat Gill
LWGP Expert
1 Kyle Franz
2 Graham Williams
3 Jake Vandal
4 Jeff Bean
5 Ike Messmore
6 Jeff Franz
LWGP Novice
1 Thor Routh
2 Sam Fisk
3 Jason Denman
4 Denyse Brooks
