UTAHSBA ROUND 3:
SPICY SPRINT RACING AND THE ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE HEATS UP
Round 3 of the Utah SBA Masters of the Mountains series presented by Utah Motorcycle Law took place June 14th & 15th on the East course configuration at the world class Burt Brothers Motorpark, formerly known as Utah Motorsports Campus and before that Miller Motorsports Park. It was a spicy weekend with temperatures in the high 90s during the day, but even hotter than the sun was the racing action on track. Racers flocked to Tooele Valley, Utah for their chance at winning over $8,000 in Purse money in the Superbike Sprint races, and to put themselves and their machines to the test in the Endurance race series.
Saturday Qualifying, Sprints & Endurance
When the track went hot at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, USBA racers had their game faces on for qualifying, throwing down their best laps to set grids for a full weekend of scheduled races. New for this season, all riders get a chance to qualify for their starting positions for every race, and this new format has been a hit for the racers and fans. In the first round of qualifying sessions, Anthony “Lugnut” Norton came out swinging, laying down the fastest lap of the morning at 1:34.1. In the second round of qualifying sessions the front row of the fastest grid in Utah would be filled in by Justin Delong at 1:36.3 in 2nd and Shane Turpin at 1:36.7 in 3rd.
Saturday’s Sprint race schedule provides plenty of racing opportunities for all level of racers, including a unique class to USBA, called Street GP, which gives street riders or track day riders interested in getting into racing a chance to have a taste of this amazing sport. Street GP provides a classroom experience as well as on-track sessions and a sprint race for its participants. Riders then can get a USBA race license after successfully completing two rounds of the Street GP program. This unique format provides education, experience, and excitement and has been the path of many new racers to the club. It also gives new aspiring racers an up-close view to some serious expert-level racing like Saturday’s Ryder Gear Expert Open SBK race where Lou Saccoccio started dead last and fought his way into podium contention. Brian Childree and Justin Delong battled at the front, as Saccoccio worked his way through the pack. By the start of the penultimate lap, Lou was in the fight and on Childree’s rear tire of Childree with Delong just ahead of the two. In a single lap Lou then passed both to take the lead and ultimately the Win with Delong second and Childree third closely behind.
The newly named “Duel in the Desert” Endurance race series is the main event of the day Saturday and is growing in interest and excitement round after round. For this round, “King of the Mountain” and new track title sponsor Burt Brothers Tire and Service joined the endurance championship sponsor list along with Apex Assassins, Racers Edge Dunlop, and Hardline Excavation. This new development makes endurance racing even more accessible and rewarding by reducing the entry to $0 for registered sprint racers and increasing the championship purse to $4,500 at the end of the season. This raised the stakes for endurance racers and their teams which was very apparent from the start of the 90-minute flag-to-flag race.
Precision Fab Machinery Racing, Paradigm Racing, and Chain Reaction sat 1-2-3 on the grid for the start of the endurance race, with all three competing for the Racers Edge Performance True Endurance Championship. When the lights went out It was Trever Nosack on the Chain Reaction Honda with the holeshot and a monster wheelie for style points. Anthony Norton on board the Precision Fab Kawasaki was second, but not for long, taking the lead into Turn Three on the first lap with local Legend Shane Turpin putting his Paradigm Racing Yamaha R6 into P2 after starting third.
Endurance racing is not just about outright pace, but also the strategies and efficiency in the pits as well. All this would come into play as the race unfolded, but at the front, Norton would hold first overall and maintain a blistering pace through the halfway point of the race. That’s where things would get even more interesting. At half distance, Norton had extended the Precision Fab Team’s lead over the Paradigm team in second with Chain Reaction losing laps due to a mechanical and the Relay team of Luxvoni Hancock Racing fighting their way into third overall. With a 40-second lead Norton came down pit lane for the first time, taking fuel and a tire and then handing the bike over to Teammate Kohl Burmester. Paradigm Rider Turpin inherited the lead while circulating a few more laps before bringing the team’s bike to pit lane. The Paradigm pit stop was seamless, getting rider Lee Callans back on track, leading the race after this first round of pit stops. Callans Maintained the lead for Paradigm Racing while Precision Fab’s Burmester was chipping away at that lead as time was now short sided. The Paradigm crew gambled bringing their rider back down pit lane for one final stop, giving up their lead but getting a refreshed Shane Turpin back on the Bike with about 20 minutes left. Turpin, now at a 21-second deficit to the leader, exited pit lane on a mission.
With eight laps left, Turpin took the lead and rode to an overall victory for the Paradigm Racing team. Precision Fab Machinery Racing secured a hard-fought second overall and the Luxvoni Hancock Racing Relay Endurance team of Dakota Burford and Aidan Hancock took secure first in the relay class and third overall. The Precision Fab Machinery team now leads the Paradigm Team by just 14 points in the overall championship after three rounds.
“I cant thank AJ, Lee (Callans), and the team enough for putting this endurance program together. We couldn’t do it without Dale with Racers Edge, either. I’m having a blast and it’s so cool to see so many riders and teams involved. Thanks to the USBA of course for putting on a great show for the sport and fans,” said Shane Turpin.
Sunday Sprints
The tone was set early on Sunday morning, and it was going to be a hot and gritty day of racing. The Edge Powersports Open Supersport race saw Norton jump out to an early lead and laying down the fastest time of the weekend at 1:33.4 with Delong and Childree fiercely battling for second and third and finishing in that order.
The Precision Fab Machinery-sponsored Middleweight SBK Novice race featured a 3-way battle for the podium and the purse money. Dakota Burford and Hunter Underhill went back and forth for the first three laps, allowing Parker Mayer to sneak away out front. Once Burford passed Underhill and took second, he began quickly catching Mayer–but Mayer held on for win!
After Lunch the “King of the Mountain” Racers fired up and took to the grid, with Norton, Delong, and Turpin on row one. Revs up, lights out, and Delong nailed the start, taking the lead into the first corner with Norton immediately behind. On the opening lap, Norton attempted a pass into Turn 5, but Delong defended. Again, Norton tried to make a pass into Turn 8, and again in Turns 14 and 15 before making a mistake and losing a little ground. Meanwhile, Childree had a less-than-ideal start from row two and was working his way back from 6th place. The running order was Delong, Norton, and Mike Bishop to start lap two. Norton worked his way back up to Delong on lap two and coming out of Turn 4 on lap three made a very tight pass on the inside of Delong into Turn 5 for the lead. Delong trailed close for the next lap or so before Norton pulled away. Childree had made his way to fourth by this time and found himself battling with Bishop for the final Podium spot which Childree secured on lap four. Childree tried to run down Delong, but the racers would see the checkered flag with the finishing order being Norton 1st, Delong 2nd, and Childree 3rd.
“I thought I got a good start,” Norton said afterwards, “but Justin ripped past me. He (Delong) was riding great. He kept the insides covered and still kept pace. I almost cleaned us out on the first lap but held it together and went back to work. I found a sliver of asphalt on the inside of Turn 5 to make a super-tight pass. I think we both had a blast battling in this one. Once I got by, I had a little pace on the boys, so I put my head down and now the battle was tricky track conditions and the heat. My Racers Edge Dunlops were the not-so-secret weapon here and worked great start to finish. Big thanks to the whole Privateer Ind. Team, Apex Assassins, Precision Fab, Damon of Legal Ride, Crossbeam Builders, Luxvoni, and of course Burt Brothers Tire.”
When asked about KOM from his perspective, Delong stated “I was pumped to get the jump on Anthony off the line. Multiple times I had him in my peripherals and had to hear that Kawasaki all over me. Once he got around I was battling the grip and the heat but happy to bring it home in 2nd place after a good battle. Nice to be back on the East track after six years and cant wait to do it again next round.”
Another Epic weekend of Utah Road Racing is now in the books and it’s now summer break time. The next round is scheduled for July 19th-20th on the East Course again and registration will be opening soon so get signed up to be a part of the action. Remember, the “Duel in the Desert” endurance race is now a free entry with weekend sprint race registration, so get your friends and get signed up. See Utahsba.com for more details.
Results From Featured (money-paying) classes at UtahSBA Round 3, held at Burt Brothers Motorpark:
