Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Fourteen CCS regional sprint races scheduled for Saturday at Pocono International Raceway have been postponed until Sunday due to thick fog reducing corner-to-corner visibility at the Pennsylvania racetrack.

With the fog showing no signs of dissipating, CCS officials and racers waited until 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time before it became inevitable that there would be no racing at Pocono on Saturday.

Finding it ironic that they could’ve run the CCS races in the rain but not in the fog, Formula USA National Race Referee Phil Sberna announced in a special riders’ meeting that Saturday’s 14 races would be combined with Sunday’s schedule of 11 races. After combining as many races as possible, Sunday’s schedule now calls for 20 races plus practice.

Although CCS and Formula USA officials said they have received special permission from the track to start on-track activities at 7:00 a.m., planning Sunday’s crowded schedule demanded that timed qualifying for F-USA Unlimited Superbike, 600cc Sportbike and Buell Lightning Series be eliminated, an unpopular decision. Those classes will be gridded by points and no bonus point for pole position will be awarded.

F-USA racers at the meeting lobbied for timed qualifying instead of the warm-up/practice sessions on Sunday’s schedule, but F-USA officials refused their request, stating that, for safety, they would rather have racers spend the time working on their race set-ups rather than on single fast laps. F-USA officials also pointed out that not every racer was at the meeting to offer feedback.

Some Formula USA series regulars left the track earlier in the day after timed qualifying for the three featured classes was postponed due to rain.

Racers at the meeting then asked for the pole position bonus point to be awarded for fastest lap of the race, for most laps led or to the race winner. All of these suggestions were turned down by F-USA officials, who said that scenario was prohibited in the rulebook.

One racer particularly affected by the elimination of timed qualifying was Synergy Racing Technologies’ Brian Parriott. Riding a Honda CBR954RR in the Unlimited Superbike class as a tryout for the 2003 season, Parriott has no points in the class and must start from the rear of the grid.

Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell’s Rich Cronrath pointed out how the elimination of the pole position bonus point hurt his rider, Michael Barnes. After two DNFs in the last two Buell Lightning Series events, Barnes is trailing Clint Brotz by 21 points in the Buell Championship and needs every possible point to recapture the title. Barnes is actually third in the Buell Championship behind second-in-points Bryan Bemisderfer.

Sunday’s (August 25) F-USA/CCS Schedule:

7:00 a.m. Practice as follows:

– CCS & NRRS Even-numbered Amateurs
– CCS & NRRS Odd-numbered Amateurs
– CCS & NRRS Even-numbered Experts
– CCS & NRRS Odd-numbered Experts

8:00 a.m. CCS Sprints (4 laps)

1. $1000 Unlimited Grand Prix (Amateur)
2. Middleweight Supersport (Expert)
3. Lightweight Grand Prix (Amateur & Expert)
4. Middleweight Superbike (Amateur)
5. Middleweight Superbike (Expert)
6. Heavyweight Superbike (Amateur)
– Pro Honda Oils 600cc Sportbike Warm-up
– Buell Lightning Series Warm-up
– Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike Warm-up
7. Super Twins (Amateur & Expert)
8. Lightweight Superbike (Amateur & Expert)
9. Unlimited Supersport (Expert)
10. Heavyweight Supersport (Amateur & Expert)
11. Formula 40 (Amateur & Expert)
12. Middleweight Grand Prix (Expert & Amateur)

1:00 p.m. Formula USA NRRS Races as follows:

13. Buell Lightning Series (10 laps)
14. $1000 NRRS Amateur 600cc Supersport (10 laps)
15. Pro Honda Oils 600cc Sportbike (18 laps)
16. $3000 NRRS Thunderbike (10 laps)
17. Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike Race One (18 laps)
18. Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike Race Two (18 laps)
19. $1000 NRRS Open Supersport Amateur (6 laps)
20. $3000 NRRS Speedscreen Unlimited Grand Prix Expert (6 laps)

In the event of morning delays, F-USA officials have stated that National Road Race Series classes will take a precedent starting at 1:00 p.m.