DUNLOP/WERA National Endurance Series Round 9

Nelson Ledges Roadcourse, Warren, Ohio

September 10, 2005 by Dan Schmitt

 In order to bring another challenge to the teams of this National Championship series, WERA returned to their roots and decided to bring back some night racing. This six-hour race was scheduled to start at 4:00 PM and run ‘til 10:00 PM. Twenty-seven teams made the trek to eastern Ohio and were greeted by absolutely prefect weather.

Mark Crozier led the charge on the Team Velocity R1, followed by Tray Batey on the Vesrah Suzuki. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, Red Star, Team Xtreme/Maxxis, P.B. Pipeline, Velocity Crew Racing, 5150 Racing, Army of Darkness and Dalke Motorsports followed. On the third lap Batey moved to the lead and ARNCHU moved up to challenge Velocity Racing.

Joe Ball took the Team Chicago R6 into the top fifteen during the first hour. For the night time activities, I fitted the stock headlight and fairing, and hoped for the best. We had good pit stop, as Joe handed the bike off to me.

As Velocity charged into the pits for their first of many stops for fuel at the fifty- minute mark, Need a Sponsor was in the pits to reattach their header pipe, which lost them fourteen precious laps. 5150 Racing was also in the pit with a bad running engine, traced to a misfiring Power Commander. Vesrah gained a lap on the field and by the second-hour mark, this advantage grew to two laps. ARNCHU, Red Star and Team Xtreme continued to battle for third overall.

Two hours and forty-five minutes into the race and with the shadows growing long on the track, Chris Pyles crashed out in turn three missing the television cameraman by ten feet. With an ambulance on the scene, Ghetto Customs ran off the track one-hundred feet down the line, and this brought out the red flag.

Vesrah charged to the lead again, with Team Velocity second. Again, Team Velocity needed fuel, running a required stock fuel tank, so they ducked into the pits. ARNCHU moved to second with Red star, Team Xtreme/Maxxis, Army of Darkness,  Dalke Motorsports, Wikle Racing and 5150 Racing hot on their heels.

As the shadows grew to darkness in the back carrousel section of the track, the headlights came on. Vesrah continued to lead with ARNCHU second. With the Prince of Darkness, Sam Fleming, on the bike, Army began their assault on Red Star’s two-lap lead. This was the contest for dominance in the Middleweight SuperBike class.

I rode the bike into darkness. The stock headlight worked fine on the straight-aways but we could have used an extra light in the long carousal turn. Whereas we didn’t pick up any positions during this part of the race, we didn’t lose any either. When I pitted, everything went fine until Joe tried to leave the pits. The countershaft sprocket nut was gone and the sprocket was spinning. Phil Caudill jumped right in and in a couple of minutes we had the new nut in place and Joe back on the track.

With the bright half moon shining in the southern sky, the teams began their final pit stops. Disaster struck 5150 Racing in the pits. Justin Marm was entering the pits and turned in early for their pit at the near-end of pit-row. His front wheel hit gravel at that point and the bike slammed into the steel guardrail. Marm was okay, but 5150 fell out of seventh place overall. 

During the last hour, Velocity chased down ARNCHU and snatched second. Army got by Red Star and Velocity Crew Racing charged to seventh overall, right behind Team Xtreme. With the wave of the lit checkered flag, Vesrah took the victory and moved closer to Team Velocity in the overall point standings. Vesrah’s John Jacobi stated, “I just worked off everyone’s lights during that final hour. It was a good clean race and we all worked together to finish.”

We ran a great race and finished second in the Middleweight SuperStock class. This is the best finish of the year, but the battery problem showed up again during the final minutes. Joe did a great job and I did okay also.

 RESULTS:

 Overall: 1. Vesrah Suzuki, Suz 1000, 2. Team Velocity Racing, Yam 1000, 3. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, Suz 750,  4. Army of Darkness, Suz 600, 5.Red Star, Yam 600, 6. Team Xtreme, Suz 750, 7. Velocity Crew Racing, Suz 600, 8. B. P. Pipeline, 9. Dalke Motorsports, 600 Suz, 10. Ridge Racing, Kaw 1000

 By Class:

H S/Bk: 1. Vesrah Suzuki, 2. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, 3. Team Xtreme/Maxxis

H S/Sk: 1. Team Velocity Racing, 2. B.P.Pipeline, 3. Zyvax

M S/Bk: 1. Army of Darkness, 2. Red Star, 3. Velocity Crew Racing

M S/Sk: 1. Dalke Motorsports, 2. Team Chicago, 3. Need a Sponsor

L S/Bk: 1. Deals Gap Racing, 2. Ghetto Custom, 3. The Notorious P.I.G.

 Over Points:

1.  Team Velocity Racing, 941, 2. Vesrah Suzuki, 913;  3.Red Star, 828;  4. Army of Darkness, 759, 5. Team Xtreme/Maxxis, 702, 6. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, 693 7. Darke Motorsports, 687,  8. Team Eclipse, 605, 9. Dixie Mafia, 565, 10. 5150 Racing, 560

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