Battle at Main I goes down at Firebird This last weekend was the second to last round for Roadrace Southwest/CCS held at Firebird International Raceway on the Main course. The weekend claimed its share of victims but others had breakthrough performances. Next year will see expert classes to watch as some very fast amateurs are headed that way and Ivan Garza had a perfect weekend once again. Perhaps the most entertaining race was the Roadrace Southwest $1200 Unlimited Grand Prix, with the top three qualifiers within three seconds of each other. Mark Ledesma was forced to sit this one out after a problem with the forks on his North Valley Honda CBR 1000RR oiled his front tire in practice causing him to crash, uninjured but bike damaged. That left the fight for the podium to Lenny Beckman, Ivan Garza and Rory Palmer who set in for a fight when the green flag flew. Ivan took the early lead ahead of a charging Beckman on his Mezcal Beneva Kawasaki, while Rory tried to recoup after being blasted off the start by the others’ liter bikes. Beckman then pulled in to the pits with a mechanical failure of his TintWizard GSXR that later was found to be a loose battery terminal that sent the bike’s engine management system into fits. This allowed Palmer, aboard the HelmetHarbor.com 600 Suzuki to jump into second place, four seconds behind Garza. Rory methodically picked time showing much more speed through the infield, only to lose half the advantage gained on the near half mile straightaway to the Evan Steel Performance motor of Garza. On the ninth of 13 laps, Palmer attached himself to Garza’s tailsection making daring outside passes going into turns eight and nine. The crowd roared their approval as the two battled back and forth between the twisties and the drag strip. On lap eleven, Rory seemed to have Garza beat when the faster Kawasaki did not get by down the long straight. Then on the turn before the white flag, Rory’s bike stepped the rear out too far and Ivan got by. Into the infield one last time, Ivan played Winnebago and took away all of the passing lanes to hold onto a win. After the race, Ivan remarked, “My plan was to take him and block in the infield which was all I could do to win.” What he did not know was that the Suzuki of Rory had taken shrapnel to the radiator that filled the required belly pan with coolant and was splashing his rear tire. Rory said afterwards, “If I could have the grip, I would have found a way by, but the rear just kept stepping out on me because of the radiator leak.” Clearly had his and Lenny’s bikes held together there would have been a nasty three way war for the win and one can only guess what December will bring. Ivan continued his winning ways with a perfect weekend and made it clear that there is no way he could do this many races without the help from Evan Steel and his crew. The last race of the season should be very interesting as all the same expert and amateur players will be back for the final “Battle at Main”. The next event will be December 2-3, for more information go to www.roadracesw.com. Results Firebird Int’l. Raceway November 4-5, 2006 Formula 40 1. Kris Gilbert (Suz) 2. Jim Davis (Yam) 3. Scott Ladd (Suz) Lightweight Formula 40 1. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) 2. Ed Jones (Suz) 3. Ray Hymer (Hon) Thunderbike 1. Bob Russell (Suz) 2. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) 3. Kevin Lynch (Suz) 125 GP 1. Brian Heess (Hon) 2. Kim Brauneis (Yam) Expert GTU 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Danny Demel (Suz) 3. Eric Bartlett (Yam) Amateur GTU 1. Willentino Harfert (Honda) 2. Tyler Smith (Hon) 3. Rick Phares (Suz) Ultra Lightweight Superbike 1. Ed Jones (Kaw) 2. Randy Jusi (Hon) 3. Ray Hymer (Kaw) Cobb’s Restaurant Lightweight Supersport 1. Bob Russell (Suz) 2. Wayne Neilson (Suz) 3. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) Expert GTO 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Scott Bergen (Suz) 3. Darren Kaye (Yam) Amateur GTO 1. Gary King (Yam) 2. Tom Hilsdorf (Hon) Tracktime GT Lights 1. Wayne Nielson (Suz) 2. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) 3. Matthew Kellerman (Hyosung) Powerstands Expert Middleweight Superbike 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Eric Bartlett (Yam) 3. David Siminski (Kaw) Powerstands Amateur Middleweight Superbike 1. Rick Bucher (Hon) 2. Kyle Klein (Kaw) 3. Trevor Van Horn (Hon) Expert Heavyweight Supersport 1. Danny Demel (Suz) 2. Nick Terrell (Kaw) 3. Donny Demel (Suz) Amateur Heavyweight Supersport 1. Rick Bucher (Hon) 2. James Joyce (Suz) 3. Monte Vogeli (Suz) Lightweight Grand Prix 1. Dale Whelan (Yam) 2. Wayne Nielson (Suz) 3. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) Amateur Unlimited Grand Prix 1. Patrick Bertinelli (Suz) 2. James Joyce (Suz) 3. Gary King (Unk) Roadrace Southwest $1200 Unlimited GP 1. Ivan Garza (Kawasaki) 2. Rory Palmer (Suz) 3. Kris Gilbert (Suz) Jim Cox Racing Amateur Middleweight Supersport 1. Kyle Klein (Kaw) 2. Tyler Smith (Hon) 3. Matt Hepler (Yam) Racers Edge Middleweight Supersport 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Eric Bartlett (Yam) 3. Danny Demel (Suz) Racers Edge Expert Unlimited Supersport 1. Scott Bergen (Suz) Amateur Unlimited Supersport 1. Patrick Bertinelli (Suz) 2. Raymond Thibedeau (Suz) 3. Gary King Moto-Services Expert Middleweight Grand Prix 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Rory Palmer (Suz) 3. Eric Bartlett (Yam) Amateur Middleweight Grand Prix 1. William Harfert (Hon) 2. Rick Bucher (Hon) 3. Kyle Klein (Kaw) Big Earl’s Big Greasy Eats Expert Heavyweight SuperBITE (bike) 1. Rory Palmer (Suz) 2. Nick Terrell (Kaw) 3. Donny Demel (Suz) Amateur Heavyweight Superbike 1. Rick Bucher (Hon) 2. Kyle Klein (Kaw) 3. James Joyce (Suz) Value Pools and Spas Lightweight Superbike 1. Wayne Nielson (Suz) 2. Bob Russell (Suz) 3. Jack O’Keefe (Suz) AJ’s Performance/TintWizard Expert Unlimited Superbike 1. Ivan Garza (Kaw) 2. Lenny Beckman (Suz) 3. Kris Gilbert (Suz) Supertwins 1. Tom Hilsdorf (Hon) 2. Steven Hymer (Suz) Amateur Unlimited Superbike 1. Raymond Thibedeau (Suz) 2. Patrick Bertinelli (Suz) 3. Gary King (Unk)