Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Beth Wyse

Mike Sanchez was the big winner at the Church of Speed’s Festival of Speed at No Problem Raceway in Louisiana, taking home the biggest payout of $1700. Sanchez won the first Expert race, a 20-lap event, on his Shogun Motorsports/Raceworx Suzuki GSX-R750. He then finished second in the second race, which was 25 laps in length.

Following qualifying on Saturday, riders were divided according to their top qualifying time. The top one-third of riders were put into the Expert class for the races, the middle went into the Novice class, and the final third were in the Trophy class. Each class had two races, but only Expert had a payout. Payout was determined by each rider’s combined best finish, with the second race carrying more weight because of its longer length.

In the first race, Greg Moore and Shane Stoyko battled for the lead in the early laps, until Moore’s tires began to wear and he fell back. Sanchez was able to move past both riders to take the lead, which he held for the final five laps.

Stoyko’s RacerSupply.com Suzuki GSX-R1000 hit a slick paint stripe on the final lap and he crashed, giving Moore second place on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Ben Thompson finished third on a Shogun Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R600.

Moore took the lead from the start for the second race, building up a lead of about nine seconds over Heath Small on a Formula Xtreme-spec Shogun Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6 and Sanchez.

On lap 22, Moore highsided violently coming out of the final turn onto the front straight. He was airlifted to the hospital with a suspected compound break of his femur. The race was red-flagged, and Small was credited with the win, while Sanchez was second and David Tullier was third on a Suzuki GSX-R750.

Sanchez’ first and second place finishes gave him the most points, and the top payout of $1700. Small received $900 and Thompson got $700.

In the two Novice races, BBC Racing’s Martin Musil won both on his Suzuki SV650. He won the first race by about 10 seconds, but had to battle with Jason Pirtle and David Chaplain before winning the second. Pirtle and Chaplain finished second and third, respectively, in both races.

Trenton Corday won the first Trophy race, while Nohl Haeckel was second and Chris Lossie was third. In the second Trophy race, Lossie won, followed by Luke Smith in second and Haeckel in third.