BEi RACING / DUNLOP DEVELOPMENT WINS THE INAUGURAL U.S. NATIONAL ENDURANCE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AND THE FINAL WERA NATIONAL ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP.
At the final 2014 round of the WERA National Endurance series and the U.S. National Endurance Series presented by Lucas Oil Products held at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham AL on October 23rd, BEi Racing / Dunlop Development finished 2nd which clinched both overall national endurance championships for the team. This is the 4th consecutive WERA National Endurance overall championship for the team and was the closest finish in the history of the series with BEi Racing / Dunlop Development taking the title by less than 1 point. In the U.S National Endurance series the team took the overall championship in the first year of the joint CMRA & WERA series by 12 points.
For the first 3 hours of the 4-hour race, BEi Racing / Dunlop Development swapped the race lead with their competitor for the overall championship. Near the 3-hour mark, the team had a mishap, which was determined to be the cause of the red flag, which stopped the race. On the re-start the team quickly repaired their Suzuki GSX-R 1000 and rejoined the race in 2nd place and finished the race in that position.
Team owner Billy Ethridge also collected 2 WERA Sportsman National championships by winning both the Senior Superbike Expert Heavyweight race on Friday October 24th and the A Superbike Expert race held on Saturday October 25th. Billy also finished in 3rd place and on the podium for the Formula 1 Expert race, which was won by endurance team rider Tim Bemisderfer who captured that championship.
Billy Ethridge – BEi Racing / Dunlop Development team owner:
“I appreciate all of my sponsors, especially Dunlop tires, for making it possible to win 4 consecutive WERA National endurance championships and the first U.S.N.E championship. I want to thank Evelyne and Sean with WERA for keeping the endurance series alive as long as they did – I competed in my first WERA endurance race in 2000 at the 24-hour at Willow Springs. I also want to thank my riders and crew for all of their support – especially Tim Bemisderfer for running the show at the final round so I could ride on a second BEi / Hardball Racing entry with Scott Harwell.”
Dustin Dominguez – BEi Racing / Dunlop Development rider:
“The first hour was like a sprint race with Taylor Knapp and was so much fun. We were strong on the track and our pit stops were perfect. Sean had a get off but luckily it wasn’t too bad. We were ably to cruise on to a 2nd place which won both championships.”
Sean Dwyer – BEi Racing / Dunlop Development rider:
“We sure did have an exciting finish to the season. It is pretty awesome to win a championship against a few great teams and a bunch of great riders. Dustin and the team did an amazing job today. Huge thanks to Dustin, Big Tim, Billy and the whole BEi/Dunlop Development crew…Champions again!”
BEi Racing / Dunlop Development would like to thank their sponsors for the 2014 season: Dunlop Tires, Suzuki, Vesrah Brakes, MCJ Motorsports, Thermosman Suspension, Spiegler Brake lines, Arai Helmets, Vanson Leathers, Sidi Boots, Yoshimura, JRi Shocks, Motonation, Pit Bull, RK Racing Chain, Super Signs, American Supercamp, DYNOJET, Dion Device and Chicken Hawk Racing.
Photo courtesy of Active Shooter Photography / Lee Fields