By Cory Stem Championship Cup Series Southwest Region at Las Vegas 9-17/18/05 With two racing organizations racing within six hours of each other and two again the next weekend, a light turnout was expected at Las Vegas Classic Course. The temperatures were under 100 degrees and the winds lighter than usual, but these two factors did not cool the excitement of the Twin-Sprint race weekend though. Small turnouts mean racers who usually finish in the top ten get a chance to take podiums and as all racers know that can jump start some real momentum for a racers career. The Lightweight classes had some of the closest battles that got everyone trackside to watch. John Jewett riding for Coyle Brothers/Dunlop had to use some of his best moves to counter the advances of Ted Rich from AZTrackdays while both on their Suzuki SV 650’s. John won all 5 of the close battles they had and the two provided some of the closest dicing of the weekend. One of the better Middleweight races was Middleweight Superbike. Bryan Land (Carter Powersports) lead flag to flag while Ivan Garza and John Blaylock traded blows for second. This was the best I had seen either rider ever perform while they traded the position lap after lap. Ivan opened up a gap with skillful use of lap traffic on the final lap but Blaylock (Dialitintracktime.com) was able to reel him in by the last two turns. Ivan left the door open in between turns 8 and 9 which was just enough for John to squirt his Honda through the gap. Garza tried to square up for the finish line drive but a shagged Pirelli (after seven races mind you!) spun up and left him short half a bike length at the finish. In the Racers Edge Middleweight Supersport, Land again took a victory (he won 13 of 14 races entered this weekend)with the young Tyler Jones (Blue Heron) taking second and Blaylock third after a NASCAR-style paint swapping start. Speedscreen’s $1000 Unlimited GP had some new names on the podium too. Tom Savoca (Michelin) led the first couple of laps on his Honda but then Garza snuck by and opened up a gap. Newcomer (to CCSSW) Vincent Chu (VC Performance) was thinking the race was 14 or more laps instead of 8 and when he saw the white flag immediately took the 3 to 4 seconds out of Savoca to race into second. Ivan Garza held onto a lonely first to take the lion’s share of the purse. Race Director Randy Stem also announced that the Southwest Region of CCS will now be run and is owned by Roadrace Southwest and will be an affiliate of CCS for 2006. Points for the year, a forum and online forms are available at www.roadracesw.com as well as the results from this years races. All racers are encouraged to provide feedback for the future through the website. Special thanks to Brian Kirkland for building and maintaining a beautiful site. More, from a press release issued by EDR Performance: During this past weekend’s OMRRA event at Portland International Raceway, EDR Performance riders once again distinguished themselves earning 10 first place finishes and 21 podium finishes, including podium sweeps for the 750 Superbike and 750 Supersport classes. Chris Ancien, OMRRA #3 and AMA #30, won both 750 classes on board his EDR built, Dunlop shod, Beaverton Suzuki GSXR750 and extended his points lead in each class. Mike Sullivan, OMRRA #74, WMRRA #1 and AMA #74, with his very first time riding the EDR Superbike R1 on Dunlop tires, flirted with the club track record while running away to victory in the Open Superbike race. Todd Frey, OMRRA #5 and 12 time OMRRA SV class champion, extended his points lead in Middleweight Supersport, Middleweight Superbike, and 450 Superbike classes on his EDR built Suzuki SV650. And finally, EDR’s newest employee, Drew Pearson, won both his novice events on his EDR built, Dunlop shod, Yamaha R6. Congratulations to all EDR Performance sponsored racers for a fantastic weekend.