Damon Buckmaster, Shawn Higbee and Jerry Wood were each taken to Halifax Medical Center after crashes in Sunday’s Formula USA races at Daytona International Speedway. Buckmaster crashed on lap 10 of the 15-lap Superbike race, causing the race to be stopped. “Damon was the red flag,” Buckmaster’s Yamaha teammate Jason DiSalvo told Roadracingworld.com. “He highsided in turn seven. It was like black mark, then Damon was over there where that fence is (approximately 30 feet) then his bike was where that building is (another 30 feet away). It looked pretty gnarly. We’ve all had our moments there.” DiSalvo said that he rode on the same set of tires in the Superbike race that he used in the 15-lap Formula Sportbike race in order to test the endurance of the tires. He said Buckmaster may have been doing the same thing. No one on the Yamaha team knew Buckmaster’s condition at post time, but DiSalvo reported seeing him sitting up at the accident scene. Shawn Higbee crashed his new Buell XB12R in turn one of the Thunderbike final and was taken to the hospital to have a hand injury examined. Jerry Wood also crashed in the Thunderbike final, highsiding his Ducati 1000 Supersport at the exit of the International Horseshoe. Wood was seen moving immediately after the crash but was taken to the hospital. Wood’s son Jeff Wood did not know his father’s condition at the end of Sunday’s race program. In addition, Roadracingworld.com’s Chris Ulrich was involved in a chain-reaction crash in turn one at the start of the Superbike race. Ulrich suffered a mild concussion but was treated and released from the Infield Care Center Sunday. The incident was set off when Heath Small highsided exiting turn one and his bike tumbled up into the air, hitting Ulrich’s bike at steering-stem level.

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. F-USA Formula Sportbike 1. Jeff Wood, GSX-R750, 15 laps 2. Lee Acree, GSX-R750, -5.802 seconds 3. Scott Harwell, GSX-R750 4. Robert Jensen, GSX-R750 5. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R750 6. Ryan Elleby, GSX-R750 7. David Weber, GSX-R750 8. Shawn Conrad, GSX-R750 9. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R750 10. Derek Keyes, GSX-R600 11. Scott Carpenter, GSX-R750 12. Bill Green, GSX-R750 13. Eric Haugo, GSX-R750 14. Joe Spina, GSX-R750 15. Chris Lynds, GSX-R750 16. Andy Feuersthaler, GSX-R750 17. Jason DiSalvo, YZF-R6, 14 laps 18. Ryan Andrews, 999 19. Joe Ribeiro, GSX-R750 20. Michael Cusano, 636cc ZX-6R 21. John Briody, GSX-R600 22. Kevin Tate, ZX-6RR 23. Nick Walsh, GSX-R600 24. Rick Beggs, ZX-6RR, 12 laps 25. Brian Stokes, GSX-R750, 9 laps 26. Bill Strandahan, GSX-R600, 8 laps 27. Shannon Huffman, GSX-R750, 6 laps 28. Kevin Gordon, GSX-R750, 2 laps F-USA Superbike (After red flag and restart) 1. Vincent Haskovec, GSX-R600, 16 laps 2. Michael Barnes, YZF-R6 3. Jeff Wood, GSX-R600 4. Jason Perez, YZF-R6 5. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 6. Scott Greenwood, Yam YZF-R6 7. Blake Young, GSX-R600 8. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 9. Armando Ferrer Perez, Yam YZF-R6 10. Barrett Long, Yam YZF-R6 11. Chris Rockwell, YZF-R6 12. Matt Hall 13. Ryan Patterson, YZF-R6, 15 laps 14. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R600 15. Mark McCormick, YZF-R6 16. Nathan Hester, YZF-R6 17. Robert Lombardi 18. Steve Vento, 636cc ZX-6R, 14 laps 19. Rodolfo Ramirez, GSX-R600, 13 laps 20. Rob Jensen, YZF-R6, 12 laps 21. Joe Arico, 11 laps 22. Josef Brenner, CBR600RR 23. Roger Bell, GSX-R600, 10 laps 24. Victor Chirinos, YZF-R6, 9 laps 25. Geoff May, GSX-R600, 5 laps DNF, collision and crash lap 1: Heath Small, Chris Ulrich Docked one lap for jump start: Roger Bell, Mark McCormick Docked one lap for wrong grid position: Nathan Hester, Brandon Parrish, Steve Vento, Ryan Patterson F-USA Thunderbike 1. Michael Barnes, Suz SV650, 10 laps 2. David Yaakov, Suz SV650, -38.112 seconds 3. Dan Bilansky, Buell XB12R 4. Sam Rozynski, Buell XB12R 5. Joe Rozynski III, Buell XB12R 6. Clint Brotz, Buell XB12R 7. Darren Danilowicz 8. Robert Fisher, Suz SV650 9. Nate Kern, BMW 10. Tim Hall, Buell XB12R 11. Paul James, Buell XB12R 12. David White 13. Scott Korol, Buell XB9R 14. Walt Sipp, Buell 15. Josh Guyer, Buell XB12R 16. Kiyo Watanabe 17. John Linder, Suz SV650, 9 laps 18. Micahel Delage 19. Pete Moravek, Suz SV650 20. Matt Buck, Suz SV650 21. Chris Young, Buell 22. Bryan Bemisderfer, Buell XB12R, 6 laps 23. Pete Willemse, Hon, 5 laps 24. Randy Rega, Buell, 2 laps 25. Darla Martinelli, Buell XB9R, 1 lap F-USA Sportbike (Revised) 1. Robert Jensen, YZF-R6 2. Jason Perez, YZF-R6, -0.291-second 3. Geoff May, GSX-R600 4. Jeff Wood, GSX-R600 5. Scott Greenwood, YZY-R6 6. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 7. Scott Harwell, GSX-R600 8. David Weber, GSX-R600 9. Armando Ferrer Perez, YZF-R6 10. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 11. Trey Yonce, YZF-R6 12. Shawn Conrad, GSX-R600 13. Barrett Long, YZF-R6 14. Gio Rojas, YZF-R6 15. Ryan Elleby, GSX-R600 16. Scott Jensen, YZF-R6 17. Jesse Janisch, GSX-R600 18. Joe Arico 19. Raymond Bowman, CBR600RR 20. Victor Chirinos, YZF-R6 21. Ryan Andrews, 749R 22. Brad Graham, CBR600RR 23. William Myers, YZF-R6 24. Brandon Parrish, GSX-R600 25. Jason Farrell, GSX-R600 26. Johnny Rock Page. YZF-R6 27. Donny Kelley, GSX-R600 28. Benjamin Perez De Leon, CBR600RR 29. John Ashmead, ZX-6RR 30. Matt Prentice 31. William Sheridan, YZF-R6 32. Scott Harwood, CBR600RR 33. Neil Pollard, YZF-R6 34. Jim Stanley, GSX-R600 35. Nathan Hester, YZF-R6, 14 laps 36. Steve Vento, 636cc ZX-6R 37. Darin Scherer, YZF-R6, 13 laps 38. Aaron Bell, GSX-R600 39. Greg Melka, YZF-R6, 11 laps 40. Nick Walsh, GSX-R600, 6 laps 41. Russ Intravartolo, 636cc ZX-6R, 5 laps 42. Roy Cadoo, ZX-6RR Unlimited GP Expert 1. Vincent Haskovec, GSX-R1000 2. Geoff May, GSX-R1000 3. Cory West, GSX-R1000 4. Eric Wood, GSX-R1000 5. Jason Perez, YZF-R1 6. Heath Small, YZF-R1 7. Brian Stokes, GSX-R1000 8. Jimmy Moore, GSX-R1000 9. Chris Ulrich, GSX-R1000 10. Anthony Fania, GSX-R1000 Unlimited GP Amateur 1. Andrew Moates, GSX-R750 2. Gene Gilchrest, GSX-R1000 3. JB Layman, YZF-R6 4. Tony Leong, GSX-R600 5. Scott Layman, YZF-R6 6. Michael Pietrzak, GSX-R600 7. Carlas Vargas, GSX-R750 8. Frank Giles, CBR600RR 9. Brian McCormack, YZF-R6 10. Denis Yalkut, GSX-R750 Lightweight Grand Prix Expert 1. Mark Stiles, TZ250 2. Nate Kern, BMW 3. John Costa, XB12R 4. John Cadreact, SV650 5. David White, 1000SS 6. John Linder, SV650 7. Jamie Hall, TZ250 8. Scott Korol, XB9R 9. Tom Fournier, TZ250 10. Kevin Weir, 1000SS Lightweight Grand Prix Amateur 1. Scott Robertson 2. Bob Buroker, SV650 3. Nathaniel Mendell, SV650 4. Domingo Navarro, 900SS 5. Guenther Weickert, SV650 6. Stephen Clark, SV650 7. Bret Marshall, SV650 8. Justin Hunter, SV650 9. Darren Coulson, RS250 Middleweight Grand Prix Expert 1. Chris Peris, YZF-R6 2. Heath Small, YZF-R6 3. Trey Yonce, YZF-R6 4. Carlo Gagliardo, YZF-R6 5. Hector Jimenez, GSX-R600 6. Ryan Patterson, YZF-R6 7. Brent Lilly, CBR600RR 8. Jonathan Lawrence, YZF-R6 9. Michael Murray, YZF-R6 10. Joe Arico, YZF-R6 Middleweight Grand Prix Amateur 1. Gustavo Laya, CBR600RR 2. Brian McCormack, YZF-R6 3. Chris Porter, CBR600RR 4. Greg Richards, GSX-R600 5. Gustavo Marquez, CBR600RR 6. Larry Karpinsky Jr., YZF-R6 7. Michael Pietrzak, GSX-R600 8. Scott Layman, YZF-R6 9. JB Layman, YZF-R6 10. Trivillus Lewis, ZX-6RR

Former Daytona 200 winner John Ashmead has returned to Daytona International Speedway in hopes of racing in the 2005 Daytona 200 by Honda and eventually eclipsing Rick Shaw’s all-time Daytona 200 mileage record. “Yeah, that’s what I want to do,” Ashmead told Roadracingworld.com during CCS’s event at Daytona March 5. “I was hurt last year, so I didn’t make it.” “I saw that,” said Shaw, when asked if he knew Ashmead was at Daytona and looking to ride in the 200-mile AMA race. “We went out on track together this morning, and I gave him the finger the number-one finger not the other finger. This may just kick me in the ass to come back and do it next year.” Shaw, 56, had planned to retire from Daytona 200 action after 2004, but the possibility of claiming the record for number of Daytona 200 starts (23) from Warren Sherwood and the challenge of doing the race on a 600cc Formula Xtreme bike drew Shaw back to the “World Center of Racing” in 2005. Shaw currently holds the Daytona 200 mileage record at 3365.48 miles. Ashmead currently has 2821.41 miles, a difference of 544.07 miles. While age is in 41-year-old Ashmead’s favor regarding his pursuit of the mileage record, 56-year-old Shaw will attempt to qualify for this year’s Daytona 200 on a well-prepared 2005 Yamaha YZF-R6 while Ashmead will attempt to qualify on a 2005 Kawasaki ZX-6RR that still wears the stock exhaust and bodywork. “Yeah, but Johnny always has a way of stepping up,” said Shaw. “He’s won the damn thing, so he knows what it takes. It’ll be fun.”

Texas club racer Scott Crews will be racing a Kawasaki ZX-10R in the Superbike TT, Superstock TT and Senior TT at the 2005 Isle of Man TT. Crews’ effort will be sponsored by Eurosport Cycle in Fort Worth, Texas. This will be Crews’ second appearance at the Isle of Man TT. He raced in the 600cc Production TT and the 1000cc Production TT in 2004.

Jeff Wood, Damon Buckmaster and Vincent Haskovec each earned a pole position during Formula USA qualifying Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. Wood earned provisional pole for the Formula Sportbike (750cc) class with a 1:43.864 on his Dunlop-fitted Arclight Suzuki GSX-R750. Yamaha’s factory Supersport racers Jason DiSalvo (1:44.010), Aaron Gobert (1:44.534), Jamie Hacking (1:44.541) and Buckmaster (1:44.638) recorded the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-fastest lap times, respectively, but the quartet’s times were disallowed when the team declined to undergo post-qualifying dyno testing. “We’re not going to the dyno,” said Yamaha Team Manager Tom Halverson. “We’ll just start from the back. We’ll probably pull in during the race.” John McGuinness (1:44.884) was next on the Formula Sportbike time sheet, but the former Isle of Man winner misunderstood the class regulations, rode his Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike and was disqualified. The provisional Formula Sportbike front row was completed by KWS Millennium Suzuki’s Lee Acree (1:44.948), Kneedraggers.com Jensen Racing’s Robert Jensen (1:45.353) and defending Formula Sportbike Champion Arclight Suzuki’s Scott Harwell (1:45.688). All four men on the front row rode Suzuki GSX-R750s. Harwell’s GSX-R750, however, suffered a blown engine during the session. Buckmaster’s 1:43.903 on his Dunlop-shod YZF-R6 was good enough for the Superbike (600cc) provisional pole position. Superbike does not have a horsepower limit and does not require post-qualifying dyno testing. DiSalvo (1:43.990), Gobert (1:44.354) and Venemoto Prieto Racing Yamaha’s Michael Barnes (1:44.733) completed the provisional Superbike front row. Team M4 EMGO Suzuki’s Haskovec used a 17-inch rear Pirelli qualifying slick on his 2005-model GSX-R1000 to turn the fastest lap of the weekend, a 1:42.531, and take pole position in Unlimited Grand Prix. Haskovec’s teammate Geoff May, who also used a Pirelli qualifying tire on his new GSX-R1000, qualified second with a 1:42.778. DiSalvo was third-fastest with a 1:43.712 on his Supersport-spec Yamaha YZF-R6. Rojo Racing’s Jason Perez claimed the final spot on the front row with a 1:44.624 on his Yamaha YZF-R1 in spite of crashing just moments before in Superbike qualifying. Saturday’s Thunderbike and Sportbike qualifying sessions were postponed until Sunday morning due to Saturday’s racing schedule running long with crashes, fluid clean-ups and other delays. Provisional Formula USA Qualifying Results: Formula Sportbike: 1. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R750), 1:43.864 2. Lee Acree (Suz GSX-R750), 1:44.948 3. Robert Jensen (Suz GSX-R750), 1:45.353 4. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R750), 1:45.688 5. Brian Stokes (Suzu GSX-R750), 1:45.744 6. Chris Ulrich (Suz GSX-R750), 1:46.342 7. Chris Peris (Yam YZF-R6), 1:46.900 8. Ryan Elleby, 1:47.980 9. Shawn Conrad (Suz GSX-R750), 1:48.104 10. David Weber (Suz GSX-R750), 1:48.385 Superbike: 1. Michael Barnes (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.733 2. Jeff Wood (Suz GSX-R600), 1:45.254 3. John McGuinness, 1:45.472 4. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R600), 1:45.645 5. Scott Greenwood (Yam YZF-R6), 1:46.418 6. Jason Perez (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.367 7. Robert Jensen (Yam YZF-R6), 1:47.442 8. Scott Harwell (Suz GSX-R600), 1:47.652 9. Heath Small (Yam YZF-R6), 1:48.026 10. Barrett Long (Yam YZF-R6), 1:48.353 Unlimited Grand Prix: 1. Vincent Haskovec (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.531 2. Geoff May (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.778 3. Jason DiSalvo (Yam YZF-R6), 1:43.712 4. Jason Perez (Yam YZF-R1), 1:44.624 5. Damon Buckmaster (Yam YZF-R6), 1:44.725 6. John McGuinness (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:44.849 7. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:45.274 8. Heath Small (Yam YZF-R1) 1:46.113 9. Brian Stokes (Yam YZF-R1), 1:46.170 10. Larry Pegram (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:46.384

British racer John McGuinness marked his racing return to Daytona International Speedway by winning the Solo class of Friday’s Formula USA Team Challenge on his Aim Racing Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike. “I didn’t expect to win,” said McGuinness. “We’re just here to have a bit of fun, really. I’m just here to have a test with my new bike and team. We were going to go to Spain, but it’s been cold and rainy down there the last few years. And after you shuttle all the guys and stuff down there, it’s just as easy to stick your stuff in a fly box and bring everything here and have a bit of a holiday, too.” “I don’t particularly like them,” said McGuinness of the changes to Daytona’s infield section. “It’s spoiled it for me, really. But I understand why they did it, because the bikes have so much horsepower now and they have such a hard time keeping tires on them.” “I’ve ridden around here on a 250 (McGuinness won the AMA 250cc Grand Prix in 1999 and 2000.), but it’s just awesome riding a Superbike around here. You even get slides up on the bank!” McGuinness said he planned to use the CCS/Formula USA weekend to warm-up for the AMA Superbike race March 12. Asked if he considered racing in the Formula Xtreme Daytona 200, McGuinness said, “Yeah, but it would be so expensive to build a bike for that one race that you couldn’t run anywhere else.” McGuiness, 32, plans to contest the entire British Superbike series, several classes of the Isle of Man TT, several other “true road races” in Ireland and the Macau Grand Prix in 2005.

Himmelsbach Racing misses Daytona opener. The crew for Himmelsbach Racing was in route to Daytona International Speedway for the opening round of the Formula USA series when the team was involved in a horrible accident. The team was traveling on Highway 26 in South Carolina when a strong gust of wind and a narrow shoulder contributed to the destruction of the recently purchased Chevy C4500 box truck and the teams motorcycles and equipment. Three members of the team Chris Rich, Chris Bynum and owner Michael Himmelsbach were aboard the vehicle during impact and escaped with no injuries. The team had recently purchased a Chevy C4500 Diesel box truck in an effort to step up their program for 2005 but had no idea the vehicle would contribute in saving their lives. ” I was very pleased with the design of the truck. You don’t buy a truck like this and think about an accident but we hit a tree head on, actually split it in half and the cab of the vehicle was undamaged and thankfully we all walked away.” Said Michael The crew climbed out from the accident to find one of the Yamaha R6 motorcycles had been ejected out of the roof and lay a couple feet from the truck while the other machine was buried under the equipment. Himmelsbach Racing is back at home and plans to compete in the remaining rounds of FUSA competition. Now we will begin to assess the situation and figure out how to accomplish the goals originally set for the remainder of the season. Michael would like to apologize to all of our sponsors for missing this event. It was a tough decision to return to the shop but due to the damage we felt it was best to regroup and bring the best program possible to Road America for our team and sponsors.