Army of Darkness Wins WERA/U.S. National Endurance 4-Hour Race At Barber, Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing Wins Championships

Army of Darkness Wins WERA/U.S. National Endurance 4-Hour Race At Barber, Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing Wins Championships

© 2014, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

The 2014 WERA and U.S. National Endurance Championships concluded with a fierce final four-hour battle Thursday at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing’s Dustin Dominguez and Sean Dwyer fought Army of Darkness’ Taylor Knapp and Chris Peris down to a dramatic race finish that decided both National Championships.

The two teams swapped the lead back and forth for three hours, including several times on track during the fast first hour.

Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing made its third and final pit stop near the conclusion of the third hour, handing the race lead to Army of Darkness. Army of Darkness then brought their Michelin-shod BMW S1000RR into the pits for their third and final stop, but a red flag came out in the middle of Army of Darkness’ pit stop.

By the rules, no team can work on a motorcycle during a red flag situation, meaning Army of Darkness could not finish their pit stop. Further, rules state that a team that cannot go out for the warm-up lap of a restart loses a lap, a fate Army of Darkness could not avoid.

Just as these scenarios were being discussed in the Army of Darkness camp word came in that the red flag was due to Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing crashing and their Suzuki GSX-R1000 lying in the track.

This meant that Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing, by rule, could not begin repairing their motorcycle until the race was restarted, thereby missing the warm-up and losing a lap in scoring, like Army of Darkness.

So as the race restarted on the track, the leaders were racing to get out of the pits. Army of Darkness completed its pit stop within seconds and sent Knapp back out to complete the race and a double shift. Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing completed their repairs in under a minute and sent Dominguez back out to finish the race and a double shift.

When the two teams came back around after restarting, Army of Darkness led Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing by 39.0 seconds, but within two laps Dominguez cut his deficit to just 33 seconds. With less than 30 minutes and 20 laps to go in the race it was possible for Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing to catch Army of Darkness but it was going to be close and a huge task, but Dominguez could not maintain his initial pace and Army of Darkness went on to win the race.

Second place overall, however, was enough for Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing to claim the overall Championship – their fourth consecutive overall WERA National Endurance Championship — by a margin of just 0.66 point over Army of Darkness.

Army of Darkness won the WERA National Endurance Championship in the Heavyweight class.



WERA/U.S. National Endurance Series 4-Hour

Barber Motorsports Park

Birmingham, Alabama

October 23, 2014

Provisional Overall Race Results:

1. Army of Darkness (Taylor Knapp/Chris Peris), BMW S1000RR, Michelin, Heavyweight, 142 laps

2. Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing (Dustin Dominguez/Sean Dwyer), Suz GSX-R1000, Dunlop, Heavyweight, 142 laps, -70.841 seconds

3. BEi/Hardball Racing (Billy Ethridge/Scott Harwell), Suz GSX-R1000, Dunlop, Heavyweight, 139 laps

4. Village Idiots (Brandon Cleland/Garet Tomlinson), Yam YZF-R6, Dunlop, Mediumweight, 139 laps, -41.077 seconds

5. APEX Manufacturing (David Grey/Richard Harris/Gabe Miller), Tri Daytona 675R, Michelin, Mediumweight, 137 laps

6. Desert Rats (Justin Flores/Stephen Gaynes/Derek Thomas), Suz GSX-R750, Dunlop, Heavyweight, 132 laps

7. Hold Fast (Derek Anderson/Chris Hamlett/Michael Humphries/Alan Phillips), Yam YZF-R6, Dunlop, Mediumweight, 130 laps

8. Witchkraft Racing (Chris Broome/Joe Kraft/Eddie Kraft/Steve Palella), Suz GSX-R750, Pirelli, Heavyweight, 129 laps

9. Team EDS (David Branyon/Darrell J. Ricks, Jr./Mike Sweeney/Shane Zelm), Suz SV650, Dunlop, Lightweight, 128 laps

10. Buckeye Racing (Joseph Ball/Tristan Konneker), Tri Daytona 675, Bridgestone, Mediumweight, 127 laps

Provisional Overall WERA National Endurance Championship Point Standings (after 5 of 5 races):

1. Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing, 554.60 points

2. Army of Darkness, 553.94

3. Village Idiots, 430.15

Provisional Overall U.S. National Endurance Championship Point Standings (after 4 of 4 races):

1. Dunlop Development Team/BEi Racing, 450.44 points

2. Army of Darkness, 438.24

3. Village Idiots, 430.15

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