By Cory Stem Championship Cup Series by Road Race Southwest at Firebird Raceway East Track February 18-19, 2006 A rain drought of over 120 days has plagued Arizona, but the racing drought is over in the Southwest Region of Championship Cup Series. A new organization, Road Race Southwest, brought in new sponsors, longer races and a fine class of new experts for 2006 to show off to the area road racers. With perfect temperatures in the mid 60’s, no wind and some clouds, the scene was set for winter racing in the desert. In the Lightweight classes, Bob Russell on his Dunlop/EBC brakes SV 650 dominated the Value Pools LW Superbike and the Cobbs Restaurant/AZ Sportbike Supply Supersport races. Wayne Nielson on his Mongrel SV played to the podium all day but finally topped it in the Tracktime GT Lights class, a half hour race that caught some riders unprepared for such a distance. The Middleweight races saw Kane Lasky on his Racer Support Technologies Kawasaki win all three handily as he showcased his new company that helps racers become better in all aspects – mind, body and machine. Ivan Garza and Jon Blaylock were left to battle for second with Jon taking two of them in the Racer’s Edge Supersport and Powerstands Superbike on his Michelin equipped North Valley Honda 600. Garza pulled off the second in the Moto-Services Grand Prix. The amateurs got to battle it out over a pot of money from Jim Cox Racing Service and Eric Sampson won on his Smart Start Yamaha. There were three sponsored classes in the Heavyweight and Unlimited categories on Sunday. The big guns were there and some hit their mark while others misfired on the track. The first race of the day was the A.J.’s Performance/TintWizard Unlimited Superbike class which had Mark Ledesma torch the field from the start on his much improved North Valley Honda/Red Baron CBR 1000RR. He never looked back at Lasky who held position and could not close the gap. It was a cool Sunday for the Heatwave Cycles Unlimited Supersport race and Johnny Rock Page, tuning up for his AMA season on his CGiATM.com Yamaha 1000, held off Garza on his ZX600 for the entire time. The race everyone was waiting for was the Unlimited GP. Road Race Southwest stepped up to put $1500 cash on the line for the top 5 finishers so the intensity was turned up a notch. The build up came before the green flag dropped as everyone watched the anticipated premier of new expert Davie Stone. Stone held his own all day but crashed and injured his shoulder earlier in the day. Stone, on his website Allstoneallthetime.com commented, “Lap times showed I was third fastest to Kane and Ledesma”¦I am shown that the fastest lap times don’t necessarily get you on the podium.” in reference to racing through traffic while still maintaining consistency. In qualifying, Mark Ledesma put his Honda on the front with a 54.985 lap time, a new record and on the same bike that was faster than all factory Honda’s at Laguna last year. Mark said his Michelin had not “even started to come in yet” and he pulled in after three laps to save it for the race. In the Unlimited GP, Mark checked out again and left Kane to his own devices in second who in turn gapped third. Joe “Eight Ball” Dawson sank his bike into third with a bank shot past Johnny Rock Page which he would hold onto to the finish. The real battle to watch was between Page and Garza. Ivan came into the race on his Edge Kawasaki ZX 600 on DOT tires to challenge and give fits to Page on his R1 and in many racers opinion Garza had the best ride of the day. Road Race Southwest/Championship Cup Series next event is March 25-26 at Firebird East. Check out www.roadracesw.com for all information, results, lap times and the best forum in the west! See you at the races!