Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Howard, Ball Top TWS Sprints

June 19-20, 2004

By Shan Moore

Ty Howard continued his trend as the CMRA racer with the fattest wallet as the Ride Smart/Shogun Motorsports/Motion CycleSports/Michelin/Hot Bodies/Vesrah/Typhoon PowerSports/Racing Performance Services-sponsored rider pocketed over $7300 at round six of the CMRA Championship Road Racing Series held at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. Howard stubbed his toe only once during the day, taking a back seat to Shannon Ball in the Formula 1 event, but posted wins in the C Superbike, A Superstock, B Superstock and C Superstock Expert races en route to the cash and yet another track record. Howard’s new mark was a 1:44.329, set on lap two of the Formula 1 event and eclipsed the old mark of 1:44.85, credited to Joe Prussiano and set way back in April, 2001.

Ball took home just over $2500 for his three-race effort, adding a fourth-place finish in the A Superstock Expert race and a second in the B Superbike Expert race to his Formula 1 win.

Other money winners included Ronnie Lunsford, who won the Heavyweight Twins event; Will Gruy, who won the 125cc GP race and Michael Nellis, who claimed top prize in the Mr. Corder Racing Formula 40 Heavyweight Expert race.

The race drew 536 sprint entries, including 10 riders from Mexico and Bermuda, and riders braved 100-degree F temperatures during the 20 sprint races on Sunday. Track temperatures reached 128 degrees during the day.

On Saturday, 55 teams competed in the Lone Star Track Days CMRA Endurance Series Presented by Shogun Motorsports. The 8-hour event was won by Desert-Rats.net thanks to consistently fast lap times on a Suzuki GSX-R750 and quick pit stops, beating GMAN Racing’s Kawasaki ZX-9R and Northwest Honda Racing’s Honda CBR954RR in the closest endurance finish of the year. The top three teams all finished on the same lap with Desert-Rats.net taking the lead in the final hour.

The Village Idiots Yamaha YZF-R6 led during the second hour of the race after series leader Vinyl Edge Racing’s CBR954RR threw a rod. A crash on the back side of the track put Village Idiots five laps down, but the team managed to recover two of those laps to finish fifth overall and first in the Middleweight Superbike class. Short Bus Racing also suffered an early crash, but recovered for a sixth overall and first in Middleweight Superstock on a Yamaha YZF-R6, while Faltless Racing ran a faultless race for best Lightweight Superbike honors, on a Suzuki SV650.

The CMRA returns to Hallett Motor Racing Circuit on July 16-18 with a full slate of sprint action, a 5-hour CMRA Endurance event and a 2-hour Mini Endurance race. More info can be found at www.cmraracing.com.