Chromie Sets Pacific Raceways Track Record while Sweeping WMRRA Round 5
WMRRA was back at the birthplace of the club for round 5 of their series August 23-24 at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA, after a year-long absence from racing there. Northwest racers were very excited to be back with fresh asphalt in a few turns, fantastic weather, and the chance to ride the challenging, well laid out circuit. Probably the most excited about the round was Ryan “Chromie” Sutton.
“I’ve been training so hard since the last round, running, working out, focusing on setting a new Pacific lap record, basically just chomping at the bit to get out there and throw down and destroy the old record,” Ryan was heard saying to his sponsor and close friend, Barry Wressell of GP Suspension/KFG Racing.
The opening race of the weekend in OpenSS, Sutton let his actions back up his talk too. A 1.23.173 bested the previous track record by a tenth and half of a second as Chromie just walked away from the contenders and won the race in commanding style. Sutton would go on to win 5 more races in dominating style, leaving the battles to be had for 2nd through 4th in the races he was riding in as he rode off into the sunset in the lead.Many spectators and racers, including Chromie himself, were hoping to see his new lap record drop into the 1:22’s to even better the track record over the weekend, but it didn’t happen despite his efforts.
In Sunday’s trophy ceremonies, Ryan brought a broom up with him (again), reminiscent of a Rossi stunt and proceeded to sweep off the podium, gesticulating his “sweep” of his 6 races for the weekend, which evoked quite a bit of laughter from the crowd at hand. Redline Motorsport’s Adam Robarts and 2Fast Track Days/EDR Performance’s Mark DeGross who finished 2nd & 3rd were laughing out loud, but grimacing under their breaths while Ryan pulled off his jovial little stunt. DeGross was heard grumbling something as Allister MacKinnon was heckling the trio from the crowd making for quite a humorous little time. Certainly a good comical ceremony with laughter all around as well as applause for Ryan’s success over the weekend.
In the vintage classes, visiting vintage class Bay Area racer, Andrew Grey, took a good come from behind victory on his Moto Guzzi 850 to the 750 Vintage win over Paul Brodie on his Excelsior, with Duncan Craick filling the podium on his Seeley Weslake Triumph. The Portland, OR duo of Derrick Cheshire and Mica Grohn took the top 2 spots in 160 Vintage while Neil Jensen earning the 3rd spot.
Allister MacKinnon took a win, leading every lap in a strong finish in 750 SB on his Speeddealer Motors GSX-R750, followed by Wes Stults of Hayden, ID on an Yamaha R6 with KFG Racing’s Sam Verderico hot on his heals.
Novice 2 rider Ryan Doherty took two solid wins on his Legal Shield Yamaha YZF-R6, dropping his best time down to a 1:33.1. In Novice 1, Eddie Owner and Nick Biesold traded wins and 2nd places on Saturday’s and Sunday’s novice races making for some exciting competition to watch.
The Ninja 250 cup race was another good one, which includes so much drafting and re-drafting, that it is quite enjoyable to follow. Premium Rush Motorcycle Rentals owner Phil Melnyk took the hard fought win in the end, with Derick Clary and Chris Johnson finishing 2nd and 3rd.
2014 marks WMRRA’s 40th Anniversary of racing with many more years to come. WMRRA’s final round of the year is September 27-28 at The Ridge Motorsports Park in Shelton, WA. Visit www.wmrra.com to learn how to race with or get involved with motorcycle racing in the Northwest.