By Beth Dolgner The fifth round of the WERA/Bridgestone National Endurance Series got off to a rough start, with a red flag coming out for a crash in turn four on the first lap, but the 6-hour event at Road Atlanta ran red-flag free for the rest of the race, and Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey, John Jacobi and Lee Acree brought home a win on s Heavyweight Superbike-class Suzuki GSX-R1000. After the brief red flag, the race got restarted with Reuben Frankenfield leading the way on the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Mark Crozier got by on the second lap, riding the ARNCHU Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000. Crozier held onto the top spot despite a challenge from Batey on the Vesrah Suzuki, but Erion Honda’s Josh Hayes, fresh off his Formula Xtreme win at Miller Motorsports Park, was heading for the front on the White Hayes Racing Honda CBR1000RR. Hayes started on row 20 in the third wave, but after 23 minutes he was up to fifth on the Heavyweight Superstock-class bike. With 20 minutes to go in the first hour, Hayes got past Batey and Crozier to take the overall lead. Hayes pitted not long after, and Batey moved to the top spot. Vesrah Suzuki never looked back, building up lap-after-lap over the field. At the checkered flag, the team had a 6-lap margin of victory. 5150 Racing’s Justin Marm, Chad Lewin, Phil Caudill and Tony Palarie took second overall and the Heavyweight Superstock win on a Suzuki GSX-R1000. The team ran in third for most of the race, trailing ARNCHU Racing by a couple of laps. Late in hour five, though, problems with a front tire change cost ARNCHU the second spot. Despite the trouble in the pits, Crozier and Randy Sherman were still able to earn the third spot on the podium and second in the Heavyweight Superstock class. Chuck Ivey, Steven Breckenridge and James Stroud were able to finish fourth overall despite a crash, taking the Mediumweight Superstock win on the TVR II Yamaha YZF-R6. Ben Thompson, Ben Walters, Brett Champagne and William Lindsay rode the Red Star Yamaha YZF-R6 to another Mediumweight Superbike class victory. The team is usually a contender for the overall podium, but crossed the finish line in fifth overall. In the Lightweight Superbike class, Russell Stoddard, Chris Parrish, Cale Swiger and Tim Birdsong dominated on the Ghetto Customs Suzuki SV650. Neighbor of the Beast gave Ghetto an early challenge, but Ghetto eventually finished with a two-lap margin of victory, at 12th overall out of the 46 race entries. RESULTS 1. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/John Jacobi/Lee Acree), Heavyweight Superbike, Suz GSX-R1000, 224 laps. 2. 5150 Racing (Justin Marm/Chad Lewin/Phil Caudill/Tony Palarie), Heavyweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R1000, 218 laps. 3. ARNCHU Racing (Randy Sherman/Mark Crozier), Heavyweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R1000, 217 laps. 4. TVR II (James Stroud/Steven Breckenridge/Chuck Ivey), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 213 laps. 5. Red Star (Ben Thompson/Ben Walters/Brett Champagne/William Lindsay), Mediumweight Superbike, Yam YZF-R6, 212 laps. 6. Macheca Motorsports (Matt Macheca/Jeff Kramer/Bob Sandy/Paul Volpe), Heavyweight Superbike, Kaw ZX-10, 212 laps. 7. Dalke Motorsports (Brian Dalke/Wrenn Smith/Josh Smith-Moore/Gio Rojas/Daniel Parkerson), Mediumweight Superstock, Suz GSX-R600, 210 laps. 8. L.O.C. Endurance (Joe Hayes/James Vanderhaar/Dan Carr), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 207 laps. 9. Twisted Wizard (Aaron Aaronson/Shawn Hill), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 206 laps. 10. Men’s-Trail-Cycle (Mike deBrabant/Brian Crane/Lyles Sanders), Mediumweight Superstock, Yam YZF-R6, 205 laps.