Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Bruce Wilkins

VIRginia International Raceway may be the focal point of the AMA Superbike and support teams for next weekend’s Suzuki Lightning Nationals, but this weekend the rural Southside Virginia road course belonged to WERA, and more specifically, to regular winners at the track, Chris “Opie” Caylor and Lee Acree.

Caylor completely dominated the Heavyweight Solo 20 Expert race on his Suzuki GSX-R750, grabbing the holeshot despite starting from the third row. He roared to a commanding lead for the remainder of the race, while Acree on a Yamaha YZF-R6 finished second and WERA star David Weber on a Suzuki GSX-R750 rounded out the podium. Michael Barnes, piloting a Suzuki GSX-R1000, finished fourth and Vincent Haskovec came home fifth on a borrowed GSX-R600.

“A weakness of mine has always been getting good starts, but I got a real good start in this one,” commented Caylor of Marietta, Georgia, who rides for EMGO Fastlap Suzuki.

“The bike was awesome and it was really fun out there today. Lee’s always tough here, but in this race, I did have the 750 instead of a 600 like he did, so that helped, too,” Caylor added with a smile.

Earlier in the day, it was a race-long, see-saw battle between Acree and Vincent Haskovec in the Mediumweight Solo 20 Expert race, with Acree’s Triad Powersports Yamaha YZF-R6 edging ahead on the last lap to take the win. Haskovec, of Lake Elsinore, California, and Acree, of nearby Jamestown, North Carolina, put on a breath-taking show that caused many in the paddock to turn their attention away from preparing their own bikes to watch a classic matchup on VIR’s North Course.

“Oh, I learned a lot out there with Vincent and I had a great time doing so,” Acree said. “I’m really happy about how this new bike has done today. First race it’s been in and we won.”

For many of the 16 laps, Acree and Haskovec leaned into the famed front-stretch kink at the start-finish line side-by-side. Haskovec led for most of the race, but with Acree always only a few feet away, the last lap became a toss-up, with Acree winning the toss.

“That was really a good time out there racing with Vincent today,” reflected Acree. “I really enjoy VIR and I’m really looking forward to next weekend.”

WERA Regional races at VIR
Results
(In chronological order)

VINTAGE F2 TWO-STROKE:
1. Joe Pomeroy (Yam 350)
2. Lawrence Denmore (Yam TZ250)
3. David Keeley (Yam RD350)
4. Gene Lucas (Yam RD400)
5. Harold Hudnell (Yam RD400)

VINTAGE 4:
1. Eric Mercer (Yam 620)
2. Buckey Sexton (BMW 750)
3. Wayne Shelton (Yam 550)
4. Mark Mitchell (BMW 750)
5. Barry Crowe (BMW 750)

VINTAGE 2:
1. Buff Harsh III (Hon 362)
2. Eric Cook (Hon 350)
3. David Cornelison (BSA 499)
4. Rick Fogarty (Hon 350)
5. Pete Halko (Hon 350)

MEDIUMWEIGHT SOLO 20 NOVICE:
1. Kirk Downs (Hon CBR600)
2. Scott Collins (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Tim Francis (Hon CBR600)
4. Ernie Dix (Suz GSX-R600)
5. Brandon Parrish (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Casy Matthews (Hon CBR600)

MEDIUMWEIGHT SOLO 20 EXPERT:
1. Lee Acree (Yam YZF-R6)
2. Vincent Haskovec (Suz GSX-R600)
3. Shaun Fields (Yam YZF-R6)
4. John Lemak (Suz GSX-R600)
5. Myron Bell (Hon CBR600)
6. John Sign (Suz GSX-R600)

VINTAGE 3:
1. Buff Harsh III (Hon 362)
2. Mark Mitchell (BMW 750)
3. David Keeley (Hon 400)
4. Buckey Sexton (BMW 750)
5. Barry Crowe (BMW 750)

VINTAGE 5:
1. Joe Pomeroy (Yam 350)
2. Eric Mercer (Yam 620)
3. Lawrence Denmore (Yam TZ250)
4. Ken Lehman (Suz 500)
5. Joey Naval (Kaw 500)
6. Rick Young (Kaw 500)

LIGHTWEIGHT SOLO 20 EXPERT:
1. Brian Kcraget (Hon RS125)
2. Nate Kern (BMW R1100)
3. Phillip Chapin (Suz SV650)
4. Kent Larson (Suz SV650)
5. Shane Ramano (Suz SV650)
6. Paul Sluss (Suz SV650)

LIGHTWEIGHT SOLO 20 NOVICE:
1. Mark Biletnikoff (Suz SV650)
2. William Baragona (Suz SV650)
3. Bart Ruppenthal (Suz SV650)
4. David Wheeler (Suz SV650)
5. Kevin Hamilton (Suz SV650)
6. Frank Fanning III (Suz SV650)

VINTAGE 250 GP:
1. Chris Marshall (Hon 250)
2. Robin Scudder (Duc 250)
3. Chris Stupak (Hon 250)
4. Douglas Shackelford (Duc 250)

VINTAGE 500 GP:
1. David Cornelison (BSA 499)
2. Michael Ewer (Hon 350)

VINTAGE FORMULA RD:
1. Bucky Sexton (Yam RD400)
2. Richard Lucas (Yam RD350)
3. Harold Hudnell (Yam RD400)
4. Thad Stamper (Yam RD350)

HEAVYWEIGHT SOLO 20 NOVICE:
1.Jeff Floyd (Suz GSX-R750)
2. Scott Collins (Yam YZF-R6)
3. Greg Winslow (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Brandon Parrish (Yam YZF-R6)
5. Bart Francesco (Yam YZF-R6)
6. Phillip Doyle (Suz GSX-R750)

HEAVYWEIGHT SOLO 20 EXPERT:
1. Opie Caylor (Suz GSX-R750)
2. Lee Acree (Yam YZF-R6)
3. David Weber (Suz GSX-R750)
4. Michael Barnes (Suz GSX-R1000)
5. Vincent Haskovec (Suz GSX-R600)
6. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R750)

VINTAGE FORMULA 500:
1. Gene Lucas (Yam RD400)
2. David Keeley (Hon 400)
3. Richard Lucas (Yam 350)
4. Harold Hudnell (Yam RD400)
5. Thas Stamper (Yam 350)

VINTAGE 1:
1. Buff Harsh III (Hon 362)
2. Eric Cook (Hon 350)
3. Pete Halko (Hon 350)
4. Rick Fogarty (Hon 350)
5. Douglas Shackelford (Duc 250)