From a press release issued by Team Velocity Racing:
TEAM VELOCITY RACING TAKES SECOND IN HEAVYWEIGHT SUPERSTOCK AT NELSON LEDGES
GARRETTSVILLE, Oh. – Team Velocity Racing led the Heavyweight Superstock class during the six-hour WERA National Endurance Series race at Nelson Ledges on Saturday, September 11, before a high-speed crash in the fifth hour dropped them to second in class.
Chuck Ivey, Bradley Champion, Steven Breckenridge and Reuben Frankenfield rode the Team Velocity Racing Yamaha YZF-R1. Frankenfield rode the first stint, and he took the lead at the green flag and held onto it for the first 50 minutes.
Frankenfield pitted at the end of the first hour to hand the bike over to Ivey, who was able to hang onto the team’s position of second overall, extending their lead by two laps over third place.
Champion and Breckenridge rode the next two stints, holding onto Team Velocity Racing’s position of second overall and the Heavyweight Superstock lead.
Frankenfield began his second stint in the fifth hour, but with only about ten minutes remaining in his stint, he missed a shift in the kink on the back straight. His rear tire locked up as a result and he crashed, sustaining a broken scapula and foot.
Once the battered bike was returned to the pits, the Team Velocity Racing riders and crew got to work making repairs. The front brakes and exhaust were replaced, and the bodywork was torn off before Ivey rejoined the race just 25 minutes after Frankenfield’s crash.
Ivey turned his quickest times ever at the track, anxious to make up for the lost time. Team Velocity Racing was able to finish second in class despite their setback, crossing the finish line in 11th overall.
“Everybody rallied together to get the bike done. The communication on this team is phenomenal,” said Ivey. “I was amazed at the quickness with which we got it done. I’m thankful for everybody there helping. I took one lap to kind of feel things out and to get the tires scrubbed in. Then I went and did my personal best time of the whole weekend.”
Frankenfield commented that, “at the start, I got a decent launch. I had a really good time out there. The pace was quick, but I was comfortable.”
“I got on the bike and for me, having never been here, I really just wanted to get on the bike and learn the track, and try to maintain our second overall,” said Champion. “I started to relax and got into a rhythm, and the laps times just kept falling.”
“I’d never been to Nelson before,” said Breckenridge. “I went out in practice and got used to the layout and the rough pavement. In the race, I went out and in three or four laps I dropped two seconds off my lap times. I was able to maintain that and I had some fun out there.”
Team Velocity Racing will make repairs to their Yamaha over the next two weeks in preparation for their next endurance race, a four-hour race at Barber Motorsports Park on September 24.