Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Howard Rolls At Wet MotorSport Ranch

By Shan Moore

After a slow start under sketchy conditions, Shogun Motorsports/Ride Smart-sponsored Ty Howard came on strong to claim $6350 in CMRA purse and Suzuki contingency money at round four of the CMRA Championship Roadracing Series, held at MotorSport Ranch near Cresson, Texas on May 1-2. Howard took wins in the C Superstock Expert, Formula 1 and A Superstock Expert classes en route to the cash and set a new track record (counter clockwise direction) of 1:16.33 along the way.

Michael Sanchez held the track record going into the event with a 1:16.51 and, after off-and-on rain on Saturday left track conditions less than favorable, it looked as though no one would come close to setting any records on the day, however, a warm Texas sun and a light breeze on Sunday gradually dried the track and lap times dropped as the day wore on.

“Early this morning it was dangerous in almost every turn,” said Howard, after setting the record. “But the track started to get more rubber down and luckily now there are only two spots on the track you have to be leery of.”

Strong winds on Friday evening blew canopies down and heavy over-night rains left small lakes in the parking area, nonetheless, 42 endurance teams and 589 entries filled the grids at the beautiful MotorSport Ranch facility which is located just minutes from downtown Fort Worth.

In the B Superstock Expert race, Sanchez (GSX-R750) took a flag-to-flag win from the pole position while Howard (GSX-R600) cautiously worked his way up to fourth from last place on the grid. Brett Champagne and Andy Galindo, both on GSX-R750s, finished second and third, respectively.

The C Superstock Expert race was the first of the Suzuki money races and also featured a $500 purse. Howard, on his GSX-R600, came from the sixth row to pass Sanchez (Yam YZF-R6), for the win. Craig Montgomery (Kaw ZX-6R) was third with John Orchard (Yam YZF-R6) and Jeff Grant (Kaw ZX-6R) rounding out the top five.

Sanchez, who is not known as a crasher, did just that during the Formula 1 race, handing the lead to a hard-charging Howard. Howard (GSX-R600) went on to take a 3.5-second win over Champagne (GSX-R750) and Galindo (GSX-R750).

The track had dried considerably by the time the A Superstock Expert race rolled around, enabling Howard to turn his fastest lap of the day, for the unofficial record, on his way to a come-from-behind win. Sanchez (GSX-R750) was second with Champagne, Galindo and Chris Waller, all on GSX-R750s, rounding out the top five.

Sanchez added wins in the A Superbike Expert and B Superbike Expert races, rounding out a successful day for the Shogun Motorsports-backed racer.

In other money races, Phillip Fisher (Aprilia RSV1000) took home top prize for winning the Heavyweight Twins Expert race after early leader Ronnie Lunsford had an encounter with a lapper. Jason Pirtle (Suz SV650) and Eric Falt (Suz SV1000) finished second and third. Later, Michael Nellis (Hon RC51) bested Falt (Suz SV1000) and Lunsford (Duc 999) to claim top money in the Mr. Corder Racing F40 Expert race.

In Saturday’s M4 Exhaust CMRA Endurance Series Presented By Shogun Motorsports race, which featured a $500 purse, Vinyl Edge Racing led every lap of the 5-hour event to claim the victory by a three-lap margin on their Honda CBR954RR. RaceTex.com (Kaw ZX-6R) took full advantage of the four red flags during the race and never once pitted under green to overtake Village Idiots (YZF-R6) for second position overall and first Middleweight Superbike during the final hour. Desert-Rats.net, riding a GSX-R750, finished fourth overall and topped the Unlimited Supersport class while Lone Star Track Days (Hon CBR600RR) finished fifth overall and first in Middleweight Supersport. Heavy D and the Boys (Suz SV650) finished first Lightweight Superbike and eighth overall.

On Saturday morning, Team OZ Racing (Hon RS80) won a wet 2-hour Mini Endurance event by four laps over Mystery Dance, also on an RS80. Red Spade Racing (Derbi GPR) was third overall and top F-5 while Indenile Racing (Muz SM125) finished fourth ovarall and top F6. Double D Express (Yam YSR50) was the first F7 team to cross the finish line, in ninth overall.