Ben Gloddy Doubles at Loudon
Ben Gloddy won both the 500cc Superbike and 500cc Supersport
races at the Loudon Road Race Series on May 19 riding his brand new 2018 Kawasaki
Ninja 400 prepped to Moto America Junior Cup specs.
Ben took full advantage of all the practice sessions leading
up to the race, including seven sessions on Friday, two on Saturday and a final
practice on Sunday.
Gridding in LRRS is done by points, and since Ben won the
first 500cc Superbike race of the year and came in second in the first 500cc
Supersport race, he got the pole and middle of the front row respectively for
his races. With set-up help from Eric Wood and John Grush of Woodcraft
Technologies and his stepfather Keith Day, Ben was ready to go.
The Supersport race was up first. “I didn’t get a good start
and was in fourth place going into turn one. Then I was able to pass two riders
in front of me and finally caught and passed the leader in turn six. From there
I lead the rest of the race, finishing with a 14.5 second margin.”
The 500cc Superbike race was gridded with three other
classes, with Ben’s class in the second wave. “My start was perfect. Then we
got a red flag for an incident in turn three. In the restart I was third going
into turn one when we got another red flag. On the third start I was in second
going into turn one and got by the leader in turn three. From there I led the
rest of the race.” Ben’s personal fastest lap of 1:20.1 on the weekend was
impressive and as any competitive racer would, he grumbled for not getting into
the 1:19’s but no doubt has set his sights on that for the next round.
Ben will begin racing with the Quarterley Racing On Track
Development team in the MotoAmerica Liqui Moly Junior Cup series at the Utah
Motorsports Campus on the weekend of June 15 and 16.
“Knowing that I’ve won these races by as much as 14 seconds
has been a boost to my confidence. It will be a little difficult going into
MotoAmerica racing without knowing any of the racers or the tracks, but I’m
really excited to get started!”
Ben Gloddy’s 2019 personal sponsors: Freedom Cycle NH, Argo
Cycles, Penguin Racing Schools, Woodcraft Technologies, American Supercamp,
First Trax Sports Shop, Dunlop Tires – Northeast, D’Andrea Foods, Stump Racing,
22photos.net, TCX Boots, Web Smart Advisors, Supreme Marine, Finn’s Garage, CFO
Speed Shop, Yoshimura R&D of America, Arai Helmets, Barnett Clutches Tool
and Engineering, Body Covers, A&B Locksmith, The Looney Bin Bar & Grill,
Moto Pizza, Roche Realty Group, Inc., Lynch Construction, Connected Car Audio,
Harley Davidson Shop of Rochester NH, Innovative Motorsports NY, KM Cheney
Concrete, Inc., Mark’s Adrenaline Motorsports, Kevin Day Home Improvements, RTT
Construction, JC Tinting, Kevin Shaw Realtor, Jake’s Trucking, Partridge
Construction & Trucking, Elliott & Son and Livingston Builders
Quarterley Racing On Track Development 2019 sponsors: Inter-Tech
Supplies, Fast By Ferracci Yoshimura Research & Development of America,
Inc., Wiseco Powersports, Motul USA., Regina Chain, BrakeTech USA, Inc., Ferodo
Racing, Matt & Jesse, Scott Powersports, Defiance Lifestyle, Woodcraft
Technologies, Dynojet Research, Beta Tools of Italy – USA, RoadracingWorld.com,
Drippinwet.com, MOTO-D Racing, Fast Bike Industries, VAN DYK Recycling
Solutions, Earl’s Racing Team and Kiwi Classic Moto
More, from another press release issued by Quarterley Racing On Track Development:
Daniels and Astudillo Win at Roebling Road
(Above) Dallas Daniels (left), Dale Quarterley (center), and Jamie Astudillo (right).
Quarterley Racing On Track Development Riders Jamie Astudillo and Dallas Daniels combined their efforts to take the win in the Lightweight Class at WERA-sanctioned N2 Track Days endurance race at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah, GA on Saturday, May 18. Riding a Dale Quarterley-prepared MotoAmerica-spec Kawasaki Ninja 400, the duo had a margin of over four laps at the end of the four-hour event.
The plan to race at Roebling Road came together on just the Monday before the race weekend. The team had originally planned to race at Summit Point, but that event conflicted with a regional dirt track event at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, PA that Jamie needed to attend as a lead-up to Loretta Lynn’s AMA Amateur Motocross Championship later in the year.
The plan was to get as much track time for the riders as possible. Both Jamie and Dallas made ample use of the N2 Track Day held on the Friday before, going out in all eight sessions. It turned out to be a good plan because there was only a single 15-minute practice session for the endurance race on Saturday.
Although she had been to Roebling Road before, Jamie was finding the track suddenly unfamiliar. It turns out that was because her Dale Quarterley machine was so much faster than the bike she rode last year.
“The bike I have now is so good compared to what I had last year,” she said.
Dallas last raced at Roebling Road a few years ago, and then he was on a personal Kawasaki Ninja 250. “The track felt a lot faster this time,” he said.
Dallas took the grid for the 12:50 p.m. start, facing a field of almost a dozen other bikes in his class, most of them Suzuki SV650s and some of them from experienced endurance racing teams. The hope was to get fourth or fifth in the race.
The entire team consisted of just Dallas, Jamie, Dale Quarterley and Jamie’s dad. When Dallas learned that only four people could be over the pit wall during pit stops, he thought, “Great! That’s everybody!” The team used a Ninja 400 prepared to MotoAmerica spec by Dale to keep from putting time on their racebikes that they use in the MotoAmerica Liqui Moly Junior Cup.
Dallas was in third place but a lap down when he came in at about the 50 minute mark, fueling the bike and handing off to Jamie. Despite the fact that the crew was small and they didn’t have a quick-fill, the pit stops went remarkably smoothly, if just a little slowly.
Taking over, Jamie soon found herself in first place in her class, holding it until the first of two red flags that happened about 40 minutes into her planned hour of riding. “They were going to call me in soon, anyway,” she said later.
The team in the lead had dropped from 1 minute 19 second lap times to running in the 1:26 range. Meanwhile, Dallas and Jamie were turning consistent laps in the 1:20-1:23 range. “At our best we were just a second off their best lap times,” said Dallas.
Dallas summarized their advantage by saying, “We were down on power compared to the 650s and we lost some ground on the long front straight but we were able to make it up in the infield. Once we had a one-lap lead we knew we could win it if we just stayed smooth and consistent and didn’t crash. The bike ran perfectly the whole time.”
As Dallas and Jamie each took one more turn in the saddle, they watched their margin grow to over four laps by the end. “It was really fun,” said Jamie afterward. “It was cool to see that the four of us could do it.”
While certain compromises had to be made in the bike setup due to the differences in size and riding styles of Dallas and Jamie, both agreed that, in the end, it wasn’t much of a problem. “We could ride around them if we had to,” said Dallas.
Dallas and Jamie will next race at the MotoAmerica Liqui Moly Junior Cup at Road America, along with their teammate, Teagg Hobbs. Dallas, who had raced at Road America last year, said the endurance race at Roebling Road was a perfect practice for Road America. “They’re both fast tracks and maintaining corner speed, particularly on a 400, is going to be so important.”
Jamie found the time at Roebling Road to be invaluable. “Working with Dale has been helping with confidence level. Right now if I try to run with faster guys in MotoAmerica I know I’m going to fall. There were just a number of specific things I had to work on. So I’m learning the steps to run with the guys at the front.”
Dallas agreed; “Riding this endurance race and working on my corner speed will help me the rest of the season in MotoAmerica. The other guys have been catching me in the corners at the previous races. And I’ve got the best bike underneath me. I really couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Quarterley Racing On Track Development sponsors for 2019 include Inter-Tech Supplies, Fast By Ferracci, Inc, Yoshimura Research & Development of America, Inc., Wiseco Powersports, Motul USA., Regina Chain, BrakeTech USA, Inc., Ferodo Racing, Matt & Jesse, Scott Powersports, Inc., Defiance Lifestyle, Woodcraft Technologies, Dynojet Research Inc., Beta Tools of Italy – USA, RoadracingWorld.com, Drippinwet.com, MOTO-D Racing, Fast Bike Industries, VAN DYK Recycling Solutions, Earl’s Racing Team and Kiwi Classic Moto