Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, inc.
By Beth Wyse
Army of Darkness (AOD) took its first-ever Dunlop/WERA National Endurance Series overall race victory, in the 6-hour season-opener Saturday at Jennings GP in Jennings, Florida.
Sam Fleming, Ben Walters and Scott Brown rode a Mediumweight Superbike-class Suzuki GSX-R600 to win by one lap over FDK, another Mediumweight Superbike team consisting of Matt Lynn, Ryan Elleby and Chris Kessler. FDK also ran a Suzuki GSX-R600.
Team Velocity Racing won in the Heavyweight Superstock class and finished third overall with Chuck Ivey, Steven Breckenridge, Reuben Frankenfield and Bradley Champion riding a Yamaha YZF-R1.
Vesrah Suzuki’s Tray Batey took the lead in the opening laps of the race on a Suzuki GSX-R1000 but fell back after running off the track. As he was trying to make up lost ground, Batey crashed in oil that had been dropped on the track by another bike. Several other bikes were involved in the incident, bringing out the only red flag of the race, just half-an-hour into the event.
The Vesrah Suzuki crew got the bike repaired and back underway, but Batey, Mark Junge and John Jacobi had to settle for a finish of sixth overall. However, Vesrah Suzuki did win in the Heavyweight Superbike class.
CherokeeChallenge.com won in the Mediumweight Superstock class, with Scotty VanScoik, Jean Paul Tacte, Chris Normand and Jason Temme riding a Yamaha YZF-R6. The team finished eighth overall.
Roger Bell and Myron Bell won in Lightweight Superbike on the Bells Suzuki II Suzuki SV650. They finished seventh overall, after running as high as second overall at one point.
OVERALL RESULTS:
1. Army of Darkness (Sam Fleming/Scott Brown/Ben Walters), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superbike, 231 laps.
2. FDK (Matt Lynn/Ryan Elleby/Chris Kessler), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superbike, 230 laps.
3. Team Velocity Racing (Chuck Ivey, Steven Breckenridge/Reuben Frankenfield/Bradley Champion), Yam YZF-R1, Heavyweight Superstock, 229 laps.
4. Velocity Crew Racing (Paul Youngman/Kevin Perkins/John Joseph), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superbike, 228 laps.
5. Canton Racing II (Sean Dillon/Rob Palmieri/David Dais/Dale Davenport), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superbike, 228 laps.
6. Vesrah Suzuki (Tray Batey/Mark Junge/John Jacobi), Suz GSX-R1000, Heavyweight Superbike, 227 laps.
7. Bells Suzuki II (Roger Bell/Myron Bell), Suz SV650, Lightweight Superbike, 226 laps.
8. CherokeeChallenge.com (Scotty VanScoik/Jean Paul Tacte/Chris Normand/Jason Temme), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 226 laps.
9. Hillbilly Racing (George Gentle/John Sosebee/Mike Smith), Yam YZF-R6, Mediumweight Superstock, 226 laps.
10. B&S Roadracing (Brian Dalke/Josh Smith Moore/Scott Carpenter), Suz GSX-R600, Mediumweight Superstock, 226 laps.