Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Michael Barnes won in Buell Lightning, Craig Connell won in Sportbike and Connell and Larry Pegram won in Unlimited Superbike races at Portland International Raceway Sunday.

Barnes started the afternoon by piloting his Kosco Harley-Davidson/Buell to victory in the Buell Lightning Series final. Barnes was shadowed by teammate Dave Estok for most of the race, as planned–Estok was brought in to help Barnes regain his points lead.

Bryan Bemisderfer, who led Buell points prior to Portland, lost his ride in a dispute with his team owner and did not compete at Portland. That meant that Barnes’ main Championship competition was Clint Brotz of the Hal’s Performance Advantage team. Brotz had troubles in the first corner of the race, lost the draft, finished third and dropped behind Barnes in the points standings with one round remaining.

Team Hooters Mountain Dew Suzuki’s Barnes led Connell, Lee Acree, Matt Wait and Pegram from the beginning of the Pro Honda Oils 600cc Sportbike final. While Pegram dropped behind the fight between Wait and Acree over third, Barnes and Connell battled for the lead.

Arclight Suzuki’s Connell took the lead on lap 12 of 18. Barnes soon crashed, unhurt, in turn four. About the same time, Acree went missing, the victim of mechanical trouble.

Connell won the Sportbike race by four seconds over Wait and Pegram. Jeff Wood got the best of Andrew Nelson in a duel for fourth.

Connell now goes into the final round with a 25-point lead over Pegram and a 26-point lead over Barnes. With the bonus point for pole position, 26 points will be available at the final Sportbike event at Daytona.

Barnes bounced right back to lead the first Lockhart-Phillips Unlimited Superbike race with Pegram, Connell, KWS Motorsports’ Shawn Higbee, Blackmans Aprilia’s Michael Himmelsbach and Acree in hot pursuit.

Acree would again drop out with mechanical problems, and Himmelsbach would lose count of the laps and his chance for a late-race charge.

Connell took second from Pegram via the draft on lap seven of 18. Aussie Connell then stalked Barnes until the final lap when he made the pass on Barnes to take the win. Barnes was second with Pegram third, Higbee fourth and Himmelsbach fifth.

After the scheduled 20-minute break between races, Pegram left the Unlimited Superbike field behind at the start of the second race. Barnes quickly joined his teammate at the front, and the pair began to inch away from Connell and Higbee.

Connell started to catch Pegram and Barnes on lap six of 18, and soon there was a lead trio. But moments later, rain began to fall lightly around the 1.9-mile, nine-turn track.

Officials stopped the race on lap 11 to wait for conditions to stabilize. During the delay, many of the leading riders, including Connell, approached F-USA personnel to say the race should be called complete.

With 10 of 18 laps in the books, F-USA officias called the race complete, and Pegram was declared the winner from Barnes, Connell, Higbee and Team Embry/Roadracingworld.com’s Geoff May in fifth.

Connell leaves Portland with an 11-point lead over Barnes. With 51 possible points remaining, Higbee and Pegram also hold mathematical chances at the Unlimited Superbike Championship.

In other action at Portland, William Morton beat Nobi Iso by the smallest of margins, 0.01-second, to win the 20-entry USGPRU 125cc Grand Prix.

Iso raced just three weeks after breaking his right leg.

Defending USGPRU 125cc Champion Stewart Aitken-Cade took third just ahead of Carlos Neves and Willard Ivins.

Local star Alan Schwen took another close win in Thunderbikes. Riding a Suzuki SV650, Schwen beat Dave Estok by 0.1-second with Richie Morris a close third.

Buell Lightning Series Race Results:

1. Michael Barnes, Buell 1200, 12 laps
2. Dave Estok, Buell 1200
3. Clint Brotz, Buell 1200
4. Richie Morris, Buell 1200
5. Jeff Johnson, Buell 1200
6. Darren James, Buell 1200
7. Steve Luxem, Buell 1200
8. Jeff Harding, Buell 1200, -2 laps

Pro Honda Oils 600cc Sportbike Race Results:

1. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R600, 18 laps
2. Matt Wait, Yamaha YZF-R6
3. Larry Pegram, Suzuki GSX-R600
4. Jeff Wood, Suzuki GSX-R600
5. Andrew Nelson, Honda CBR600F4i
6. Brian Parriott, Honda CBR600F4i
7. Josh Bryan, Ducati 748
8. Cory West, Honda CBR600F4i
9. Oliver Jervis, Kawasaki ZX-6R
10. Matt Zurbuchen, Suzuki GSX-R600
11. Darrin Mitchell, Suzuki GSX-R600
12. Paolo Mariano, Suzuki GSX-R600
13. Ricky Frasier, Yamaha YZF-R6
14. Craig Fabische, Suzuki GSX-R600
15. Luke Gaylor, Suzuki GSX-R600
16. Dan’l Knowles, Ducati 748, -1 lap
17. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R600, -4 laps, DNF, crash
18. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R600, -5 laps, DNF, mechanical
19. G. Hugh Pestes, Suzuki GSX-R600, -8 laps, DNF
20. Mitchell Pierce, Yamaha YZF-R6, -9 laps, DNF

Lockhart-Phillips USA Unlimited Superbike Race One Results:

1. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R750, 18 laps
2. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R750
3. Larry Pegram, Suzuki GSX-R750
4. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R750
5. Michael Himmelsbach, Aprilia RSV1000R
6. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750
7. Brian Parriott, Honda CBR954RR
8. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSX-R750
9. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000
10. Nathan Hester, Suzuki GSX-R750
11. Oliver Jervis, Kawasaki ZX-9R
12. Josh Bryan, Suzuki GSX-R750
13. Owen Richey, Suzuki GSX-R750
14. Michael Fitzpatrick, Suzuki GSX-R750
15. Nick Ienatsch, Suzuki GSX-R750
16. Briggs Willoughby, Suzuki GSX-R750
17. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical
18. Tyler Scott, Kawasaki ZX-9R, -17 laps, DNF

Lockhart-Phillips USA Unlimited Superbike Race Two Results:

1. Larry Pegram, Suzuki GSX-R750, 10 laps
2. Michael Barnes, Suzuki GSX-R750
3. Craig Connell, Suzuki GSX-R750
4. Shawn Higbee, Suzuki GSX-R750
5. Geoff May, Suzuki GSX-R1000
6. Michael Himmelsbach, Aprilia RSV1000R
7. Eric Wood, Suzuki GSX-R750
8. Lee Acree, Suzuki GSX-R750
9. Brian Parriott, Honda CBR954RR
10. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki GSX-R750
11. Owen Richey, Suzuki GSX-R750
12. Josh Bryan, Suzuki GSX-R750
13. Oliver Jervis, Suzuki GSX-R750
14. Michael Fitzpatrick, Suzuki GSX-R750
15. Nick Ienatsch, Suzuki GSX-R750
16. Briggs Willoughby, Suzuki GSX-R750
17. Nathan Hester, Suzuki GSX-R750, -5 laps, DNF

USGPRU 125cc Grand Prix Results:

1. William Morton, 18 laps
2. Nobi Iso
3. Stewart Aitken-Cade
4. Carlos Neves
5. Willard Ivins
6. Quentin Wilson
7. Jonathan Flack
8. Karl Gaines
9. Scott Jackson
10. Eugene Brown
11. Marcus Henderson
12. Darrell Baker
13. Phillip Krenn
14. Jeffery Lim
15. Leslie Green, -1 lap
16. Shawn McCormick, -1 lap
17. Herb Wagner, -2 laps
18. John Rabasa, -13 laps
19. Mike Orien, -13 laps
20. John Coulter, -18 laps

Thunderbikes Results:

1. Alan Schmidt, Suzuki SV650, 12 laps
2. Dave Estok, Buell 1200
3. Richie Morris, Buell 1200
4. Eli Edwards, Suzuki SV650
5. Jeff Harding, Buell 1200
6. Jeff Johnson, Buell 1200
7. Jason Cinqmars, Suzuki SV650
8. Dale Pestes