Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, Lee Acree, Mark Junge and John Jacobi capped the WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series season with another victory, winning the 4-hour finale at Road Atlanta Motor Sports Center on Friday. The Vesrah Suzuki GSX-R1000 crossed the finish line two laps ahead of second place after three red flags caused significant down time.
The first red flag flew just four minutes into the race for a five-bike incident in turn 11. Dropped oil led to a lengthy clean-up, and the riders had to wait for nearly 40 minutes before the race restarted.
From there, Vesrah Suzuki’s Batey took the lead just as he had at the first start, and ARNCHU Racing’s Mark Crozier followed.
The second red flag came out at one hour and 20 minutes for the Team Chicago Yamaha YZF-R6 down in turn three. The timing of the flag caught a lot of teams out on their pit stop cycle. A number of bikes pitted just after the race restarted with 20 minutes left in the second hour, and one team ran out of gas before making it back to pit lane.
Batey pitted 10 minutes later and Team Velocity Racing took the lead shortly before the third and final red flag came out with five minutes left in the second hour.
The race started again nine minutes into the third hour and Vesrah Suzuki retook the lead, now with Acree on the Suzuki. As Vesrah Suzuki pulled away, 5150 Racing and ARNCHU Racing fought for second overall.
As Vesrah Suzuki extended its lead to two laps, ARNCHU and 5150 continued to battle for second overall and the Heavyweight Superstock class victory. At the checkered flag, ARNCHU Racing’s Crozier and Randy Sherman had taken second overall by 4.432 seconds. The class win secured the Heavyweight Superstock Championship for ARNCHU Racing.
5150’s Justin Marm, Phil Caudill, Tony Palarie and Charlie Coleman completed the overall podium on their Suzuki GSX-R1000.
Chris Normand, Opie Caylor and David Weber finished fourth overall on the Honk Bo-Bo Racing Suzuki GSX-R750, taking second in the Heavyweight Superbike class. The team’s name and number is a tribute to racer Chris Stevenson, who was killed in a crash at Road Atlanta in July.
James Stroud and Josh Day took the Mediumweight Superstock class victory and Championship with their fifth-place-overall finish on the TVRII Yamaha YZF-R6.
Red Star’s Ben Walters and Brian Gibbs extended the team’s Mediumweight Superbike Championship points lead, winning in the class by one lap on a Yamaha YZF-R6, at ninth overall.
The Lightweight Superbike victory went to Touring Sport Racing’s Brad Phillips, Frank Shockley and Pete Friedland on a Ducati 1000; they finished 16th overall and one lap up on Ghetto Customs. Russell Stoddard, Chris Parrish, Cale Swiger and Tim Brewer rallied back after being involved in the crash that brought out the first red flag, and their finish earned Ghetto Customs the Lightweight Superbike Championship.
RESULTS:
1. Vesrah Suzuki (Mark Junge/Tray Batey/Lee Acree/John Jacobi), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R1000, 106 laps.
2. ARNCHU Racing (Randy Sherman/Nathan Dressman), Heavyweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R1000, 104 laps.
3. 5150 Racing (Justin Marm/Phil Caudill/Tony Palarie/Charlie Coleman), Heavyweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R1000, 104 laps.
4. Honk Bo-Bo Racing (Chris Normand/Opie Caylor/David Weber), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R750, 104 laps.
5. Team Velocity Racing II (James Stroud/Joshua Day), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 104 laps.
6. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey/Scott Harwell), Heavyweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R1, 103 laps.
7. Dalke Motorsports (Giovanni Rojas/Keith Marshall), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 103 laps.
8. Macheca Motorsports (Matt Macheca/Jeff Kramer/Bob Sandy/Lance Yeager), Heavyweight Superbike, Kaw ZX-10, 102 laps.
9. Red Star (Ben Walters/Brian Gibbs), Mediumweight Superbike, Yam YZF-R6, 101 laps.
10. Dalke Motorsports II (Josh Smith-Moore, Matt Lynn, Andy Feuersthaler, Wrenn Smith), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 101 laps.