DUNLOP/WERA National Endurance Series Final Round

Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA

October 14, 2005 by Dan Schmitt

It was a beautiful day in northern Georgia for the final round of the eleven race Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series. Forty teams that qualified during the season lined up for the 12:00 noon start. With the flip of the green flag, Mark Crozier took the Team Velocity Yamaha R1 to the lead with Tray Batey on the Vesrah Suzuki 1000 hot on his heals. Ben Walters on the Army of Darkness Suzuki 600 ran third with Ben Thompson on the Red Star Yamaha R6 following. The overall point championship was being played out between Velocity and Vesrah, as the battle for the Middleweight SuperBike class championship was going on between Red Star and Army. 5150 Racing, Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, Team Xtreme/Maxxis and Dalke Motorsports followed closely around this 2.250 mile roadcourse. Working their way through the pack was Kevin Schwantz on the Vesrah Suzuki 2 team. Joe Ball started the race for Team Chicago and ran mid pack during the first hour. The bike looked slow out there.

Thirty minutes into the race the red flag flew. It seems that Batey crashed the Vesrah Suzuki going into the chicane right in front of Jennifer Garner on the Wizard Racing III SV 650. She had nowhere to go and crashed into the downed Vesrah Suzuki.

 With the restart and at the top of the first hour, Schwantz held the lead with Team Velocity second. TVR 2 third, Red Star fourth, Army fifth and 5150 sixth.

During the second hour, Red Star lost a connecting rod and their bid for the Middleweight SuperBike title. A loose helmet camera brought Team Chicago to the side of the track, loosing two laps in the process. Dixie Mafia went down in the chicane and did not return to the race. 5150 charged to fifth overall and ARNCHU took over third. Jamie James continued to lead with the Vesrah Suzuki 750. Team Velocity went to cruise control, holding down second overall and having the championship in the bag. I was riding during this hour and although the bike handled well, there was no power down the long back straight-away.

During the third hour, Velocity Crew Racing on the Suzuki 600 and Ridge Racing on the Kawasaki 1000 moved into the top ten as 5150 grabbed fourth overall and leading the Heavyweight SuperStock class. Blue Ridge Performance led the Lightweight SuperBike class with Ghetto Customs and Notorious P.I.G. in second and third. Ted Cobb, one of the instructors with the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, continued to lead. Team Velocity had their Yamaha R1 in second and ARNCHU ran third on their Suzuki 750.

Five minutes before the four o’clock hour, Justin Marm highsided in turn six leaving the 5150 Suzuki 750 in the middle of the track. This brought out the second red flag of the day and ended the race. The Kevin Schwantz crew on the Vesrah Suzuki took the win, but this had no bearing on the points. Team Velocity Racing had the overall title for Yamaha. Ghetto Customs finished second on the track but took the title. Army of Darkness captured their seventh title with seven wins this season and announced their retirement from the sport. Chuck Ivey of Team Velocity Racing said, “We have been consistent all year, the crew has been perfect and the Yamaha R1 is just a great motorcycle.”

We finished the race fourth in class. We were only fifty seconds behind Rivalry Racing. If we were just a little quicker in the pits or quicker on the track, maybe we could have captured third in class. When I got back to 4 & 6 Performance in Skokie, Illinois, I did a leak down test and check the compression. Cylinder number three had zero compression and 100% leak down. Considering that we were running on three cylinders during this race, we did OK!

RESULTS:

 1.Kevin Schwantz/Vesrah Suzuki, Suz 750, 2. Team Velocity Racing, Yam, 3. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, Suz750, 4. TVR 2, Yam, 5. 5150 Racing, Suz750, 6. Army of Darkness, Suz 600, 7. MRP Racing, Kaw 600, 8. Velocity Crew Racing, Suz 600, Dalke Motorsports, Suz 600, 10. Ridge Racing, Kaw 1000

 RESULTS by Class

HWS/bk: 1. Kevin Schwantz/Vesrah Suzuki, 2. Team Velocity Racing, 3. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing

HWS/sk: 1. TVR 2, 2. 5150 Racing, 3. Ridge Racing

MWS/bk: 1. Army of Darkness, 2. MRP Motorsports, 3. Velocity Crew Racing

MWS/sk: 1. Dalke Motorsports, 2. Need a Sponsor, 3. Rivalry Racing

LWS/bk: 1. Blue Ridge Performance, 2. Ghetto Customs, 3. The Notorious P.I.G.

 Overall Points:

1.Team Velocity Racing, 1065, 2. Vesrah Suzuki, 1020;  3.Red Star, 913;  4. Army of Darkness, 898, 5. Bell’s ARNCHU Racing, 842 6. Darke Motorsports, 766, 7. Team Xtreme/Maxxis, 730, 8. 5150 Racing, 684, 9. Team Eclipse, 669, 10. Velocity Crew Racing, 640.

Overall Points by Class

HWS/bk: 1. Vesrah Suzuki, 1083, 2. Team Xtreme/Maxxis, 3. LA RACE.com

HWS/sk: 1. Team Velocity Racing, 2. 5150 Racing, 3. Zyvax

MWS/bk: 1. Army of Darkness, 2. Red Star, 3. Velocity Crew Racing

MWS/sk: 1. Dalke Motorsports, 2. Dixie Mafia, 3. Need a Sponsor,

LWS/bk: 1. Ghetto Customs, 2. Blue Ridge Performance, 3. The Notorious P.I.G.

PHOTO BY: E Tech Photos

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