From a press release issued by Sears Point Raceway:

Sears Point Raceway Kicks Off Second Phase of Modernization Plan

SONOMA, Calif. (IMMEDIATE RELEASE) – Sears Point Raceway has begun phase two of its $35 million Modernization Plan as huge Caterpillar machinery has, once again, taken over the road course and drag strip.

Phase two officially kicked off on Sunday, August 5, at the conclusion of the NHRA FRAM Autolite Nationals when drag racers John Force and Gary Scelzi ripped up portions of the drag strip while piloting Caterpillar bulldozers.

The ripping of the drag strip was a premonition as the second phase will focus heavily on both the road course and drag strip. Phase one, conversely, was centered on infrastructure, traffic access and circulation and environmental mitigation. The bulk of the track improvements and spectator amenities is expected to be complete by the NASCAR Winston Cup event in June, 2002.

“It has been interesting and somewhat challenging to stage our 2001 event season in the midst of a major remodel, but our staff has done a spectacular job making it all work. Now it’s time to move back into our construction mode,” said Steve Page, President and General Manager of Sears Point Raceway.

Phase two of the $35 million Modernization Plan will feature the following elements:

· Construction of 30,000 hillside terrace seats alongside Turns 7-9, bringing the total to 64,000 hillside terrace seats.

· Construction of a go-kart track on the south side of the property.

· Construction of a 10,000 seat permanent grandstand at Turn 7.

· Construction of a 15,000 seat permanent grandstand along the west side of start/finish line, bringing the total to 25,000 permanent grandstand seats. Twenty-two suites will be built along the top of the grandstands.

· Creation of a 660-foot concrete launching pad for drag racing and separation of the road course from the drag strip. Construction of drag strip return road.

· Increased run-off on the road course at Turns 8, 8a, 9 and 10.

· Enlargement of pit road to accommodate a 43-car starting grid for road-race events.

· Repaving of the road course and drag strip. The width of the road course will also increase from 40 to 50 feet.

· Expansion of paddock by more than 70 percent.

· Pedestrian tunnels under start/finish line and Turn 10.

· Remodeling Trackside Tower, Media Center and Driver’s Lounge.

The official groundbreaking ceremonies for the project took place in September, 2000, and since then, more than 5,000,000 cubic yards of dirt have been moved. The two-phase plan will give fans a state-of-the-art facility that provides all of the amenities seen at today’s modern sports venues.

Phase one, which was completed over the summer, featured the construction of 34,000 hillside terrace seats above Turns 2-4; construction of shuttle and shade shelters; permanent garages (40) for teams; dramatically expanded entrance and access roads to reduce traffic congestion around the raceway; a new entrance for fans at Gate 7 alongside Highway 121; and increased run-off on the road course at turns 1, 2, 3, 3a, 4, 6 and 7, among other things.

“We had hoped for a good response from fans who tried the new terrace seating this season. As it turned out, the reaction has been enthusiastic beyond anything we could have expected,” Page said. “The seats are roomy, comfortable and the views are breathtaking. We can’t wait to complete the terraces on the east side of the track.”

The specific improvements to the road course in phase two will give competitors a state-of-the-art surface, featuring a wider track, more run-off for safety and a repaved circuit. The improved drag strip, with a 660-foot concrete launch pad and re-paved surface, will also make Sears Point Raceway one of the top venues on the NHRA circuit.

“It’s great to be part of Bruton Smith’s master plan for this track,” said John Force, 10-time NHRA Winston Funny Car champion. “You can bet this will be a super track once they’re through with it. I can’t wait to get out here next year.”

Fans will also enjoy the tunnel under the start/finish line, which will expedite pedestrian traffic flow around the property, as well as the 30,000 hillside terrace seats, which will be built along Turns 7-9. The first hillside terrace seats were utilized during the 2001 main-event season above Turns 2-4 and were a huge success among fans. The same is expected for the seats above Turns 7-9.


Sears Point Raceway is owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc (NYSE: TRK)., a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. SMI also owns and operates the following premiere facilities: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway. SMI also provides food, beverage and souvenir merchandising services through its Finish Line Events subsidiary, and manufactures and distributes smaller-scale, modified racing cars through its 600 Racing subsidiary.

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

2000 WERA 125cc Grand Prix National Challenge Series Champion and current AMA 250cc Grand Prix racer Chris Pyles proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Beth Walters, on Sunday, August 5 at his home track, Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia.

“My girlfriend Beth Walters, who also is my crew chief on my bike, she’s usually in the pits giving me signals,” Pyles told Roadracing World in a telephone interview August 8. “I did the WERA Formula Two race at Summit. Then for the Formula One race, I talked her into going over in turn six where all of my family and friends hang out and watch the races.

“So, she went over there. Then on the cool-down lap of the Formula One race, I pulled off to the side there. I’ve done it before. All of my friends were cheering. I’m high-fiving them and all. I hopped over the fence and was hugging everyone. I give Beth a hug, and when I hugged her, a friend of mine who had the ring gave it to me. Then, I got done hugging her, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She said, ‘Yes.’

“I’ve been planning it for a while actually, like five months or something. She loves going to the races with me and enjoys the traveling and all. We just have so much fun at the races together. I couldn’t imagine taking her out to a fancy restaurant and having the waiter bring it over or something cheesy like that. I mean, what better place than at Summit Point in front of all of my family and friends. It was pretty cool.

“I got eighth in that race. I was in a three-way battle for sixth, but all I could think of was, ‘Man, don’t wad it. Don’t mess this up.’ So I just kind of hung back there.”

Pyles said that a wedding date hadn’t been set but that the couple is looking toward the off-season between 2002-2003.

Following two days of tests at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) by Honda, Kawasaki and HMC Ducati on Monday and Tuesday, factory teams will return to VIR again next week.

The next round of factory Superbike team tests will be August 13, 14 and 15 and will include Honda, Yamaha and Yoshimura Suzuki.

Factory teams use such testing to develop machines and refine set-ups.

Leading factory teams spend an estimated $70,000 to $100,000 each on stand-alone testing during a typical calendar year.

Factory teams want an end to Thursday practice prior to AMA National races, prefering to use Thursday to park their semi-trucks and set up their pit areas, and claiming that the extra expense of showing up on Wednesday to set up instead of on Thursday is a budgetary burden.

Private teams and riders unable to afford extensive stand-alone tests rely on pre-event Thursday practice to develop and set up racebikes.

AMA Pro Racing officials and representatives of factory teams have not been sympathetic to the Thursday practice needs of non-factory teams and riders, and, earlier this year, AMA officials flatly stated that Thursday practice will be eliminated next year.

From a Honda press release regarding further testing of the RC211V on Wednesday, August 8 at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, Japan:

Day two of the Honda RC211V Test Session

Weather Hampers Ukawa at RC211V Test

The second day of the Honda RC211V test was held in the same cloudy weather with intermittent rain showers as the opening day.

With Valentino Rossi, Shinichi Itoh and Manabu Kamada undertaking the first day of RCV testing yesterday, it was the turn of Repsol YPF Honda WGP 500cc rider Tohru Ukawa to test the V-5 four-stroke machine today, August 8.

Reigning Superbike World Champion Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda), who had stayed on in Japan following his winning ride in the Suzuka 8-Hours, with Rossi, was a special guest at the test today. The American took the RC211V out for a few laps but the track conditions were not good at the time.

Tohru Ukawa:
“The track conditions were not too good but I felt comfortable riding the machine. The RC211V is simply a fast machine and I felt the torque and power of the motorcycle. There are still many changes to be made after this test but with its high potential it is heading towards a positive outcome. I am looking forward to testing the machine in better conditions.”

Colin Edwards:
“I was curious about the machine but I didn’t do many laps because of the conditions but it was interesting. The machine has good torque and power and I enjoyed riding it. But it’s back to work for me now, in the Superbike Championship. I don’t have time for anything else right now.”

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By Bruce Wilkins
Photos by Bruce Wilkins

Doning his racing leathers for his first track session since a horrible crash earlier this year at Daytona, Scott Russell took some surprising laps earlier this week around Virginia International Raceway. He recorded several 1:29 laps, coming in after his first hot lap session grinning from ear-to-ear.

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A smiling Scott Russell gives the thumbs up during testing at VIR with HMC Ducati Crew Chief Owen Coles (left) and team owner Mitch Hansen (right).

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“I’m thrilled to be back…I never thought I’d ever be able to race again the way the injuries were at first,” Russell said during a Tuesday afternoon practice session on VIR’s North Course. “I’ll be honest with you, I never expected to be able to come here and run this fast.”

He arrived at VIR with low expectations that quickly evaporated after sharing track time with teammates Steve Rapp and Andy Meklau, as well as fellow road racers Kurtis Roberts, Miguel Duhamel, Nicky Hayden, Doug Chandler and Eric Bostrom.

“I rode my streetbike around a couple of days last week and I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to have a rough time when I get to VIR,'” Russell said. “But the racebike is actually easier…it’s lighter, the brakes are better, it made it a little bit easier on me riding it.”

Russell concedes he has not fully recovered, but doing wheelstands coming out of the downhill turn into the front straight, Russell showed many of his peers that he is well on his way to becoming fully race-ready. “I had some problems with shifting because I lost a lot of feeling (in his left foot) and nerve damage from that crash,” Russell said. “But I expect to be 90-95 percent when I come back here to race. Hopefully, I’ll be back.”

As for when, where and if he will return to race at the AMA Superbike finale at VIR on the weekend of September 28-30, Russell and his team remain mum, but with obvious smiles of high hopes and solid confidence brought on by Russell’s remarkable recovery-in-progress.

HMC Ducati team owner Mitch Hansen is every bit the optimist, despite the tragic start for the new team. “It is a start-up year and, of course, we couldn’t have started up on a worse foot with the crash,” Hansen said. “It took the wind out of our sails with a bunch of new guys working together for the first time…it was devastating to the team.”

However, the adversity faced by the trying year is a source of pride for Hansen. “I’m very proud of my team, but especially so for Scott. (The crash) has made us closer as a group; made us stronger. We haven’t won yet…but the key word is YET.”

Hansen believes that Russell’s return to the track, even in a practice session, is the turnaround story of the season. “Scott is incredible…he’s not up to speed yet; he hasn’t even really rehabilitated his arm and his leg. The left arm and left leg are a little bit thinner because he hasn’t been able to work them out…but give him another four or five weeks.”

HMC Ducati Crew Chief Owen Coles is another true believer in Russell’s comeback prospects, especially after receiving a call from Russell last week in which the racer complained about sitting around his home for six or seven months in pain. “He still has some issues with some bones that haven’t healed up in his arm yet. The doctors really didn’t want him to get on the bike…but we said to him, ‘Listen, we’ll get your bike ready, just come on out here, there’s no pressure, just have some fun.'”

When he did come back into the pits after his first run, Russell “couldn’t even talk, he was grinning so much from ear to ear,” Coles said. “The whole paddock was happy to see him back. It put that smile back on his face.”

One of the factors that Russell has pointed to as important to his ongoing recovery is the expressions of concern from so many fans. “It was awesome. When I got hurt you just couldn’t believe all of the letters and all of the responses we got,” reflected Russell. “It really showed me how many fans I do have out there and it’s just nice to know. I want to thank them for all of their support.”

Honda’s new RC211V four-stroke Grand Prix racebike was ridden in public for the first time Sunday, at Suzuka Circuit prior to the start of the Suzuka 8-Hours race. Taking turns at the controls were 5-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan and Manabu Kamada; Kamada is an HRC test rider and was the reserve man for the winning Suzuka 8-Hours team of Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards.

Doohan proclaimed the bike to be “quite good and fast” but said he doesn’t want to race again himself.

Today, Tuesday in Japan, Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa and Makoto Tamada are testing the RC211V, with Edwards scheduled to watch and hoping for a test ride himself. Before the 8-Hours race, Edwards said he would like to test the RC211V but had not been invited to ride it. Now that he and Rossi have co-ridden to the 8-Hours victory, Edwards may get his wish.

Responding to a post dated 8/6/01, headlined “Latest Loudon LRRS Incident Likely To Lead To Rider Sanctions” and based on what we were told by New Hampshire International Speedway Motorcycle Safety Director Jerry Wood, LRRS racer Pat Salonis sent roadracingworld.com this e-mail:

After spending the past several days with the injured rider, Charles Chubbuck, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital as he underwent surgery to stabilize his shattered L1 vertebra and fractured L2, I returned home and saw the post on your website. I then shared the post with him.

Charlie is unable to speak for himself at the moment and when he is well enough, he wishes to address this issue. Right now, all his efforts are concentrated on getting well.

While it’s never been his intent to draw attention to this, he is bothered by the lack of facts or partial truths as represented in the posting. He’s disappointed in that it quite literally adds insult to injury.

This incident was witnessed by several people including other riders and cornerworkers.

While the statement made is true, if you dissect each piece, it clearly does not describe what happened that day.

While Charlie may have slid into a fire extinguisher or other cornerworking equipment, that equipment was propped up against or right in front of the concrete wall that Charlie slammed into. Make no mistake, the wall caused his injuries, not the “equipment”.

Further, the statement “next to the end of a wall” is extremely misleading. The wall in reference is likely the tire wall that covers some of the concrete wall in Turn 2. So yes, Charlie slid feet first into the concrete wall to the right (next to the end) of any tire wall, and yes it is not ‘normally’ an impact zone but obviously sometimes it can be.

As written the statement might be suggestive that he did not hit any walls, only cornerworking equipment and that is completely inaccurate.

While some action against the junior rider seems appropriate, he was only the first 1/2 of the equation that day, the wall was the other 1/2.

I hope that this clarifies the situation and might give you enough information to amend the earlier post on your site.

Kindest regards,
Pat Salonis
LRRS #62

Copyright 2001, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

During testing at Virginia International Raceway on Monday, August 6 and Tuesday, August 7, Scott Russell lapped just two seconds off of the pace set by Honda’s Nicky Hayden, Kawasaki’s Eric Bostrom, and Russell’s HMC Ducati teammate Andreas Meklau on the 2.26-mile North course at Virginia International Raceway near Danville, Virginia.

The session marked Russell’s first ride on a racetrack since being involved in a horrific starting-grid crash at the Daytona 200 last March.

According to HMC owner Mitch Hansen, Russell, in his first visit to VIR, turned low 1:29s compared to the high 1:26s turned by Hayden, Bostrom and Meklau. Hayden and Bostrom tested at the facility in 2000.

“If you can imagine, he’s very weak, but he wanted to ride,” Hansen said in a cell-phone interview from the track. “(Scott) was doing low 1:29s. Yeah, incredible. It just blew us all away. His expectations were that he just wanted to go out there and ride a little. He didn’t even want us taking times, but obviously we couldn’t resist and he was just about two seconds off the pace, really.

“We grabbed one of his bikes, which Andy is using, we had it all set-up and ready to go for him (with his last set-up) when he got here. We were hoping that he could do maybe five or 10 laps, and that’s all we thought he would be capable of doing. I’d say he put in a good 40-50 laps.

“He rode both days. I didn’t think he’d ride today. He came out walking like a soldier, all stiff. But he took a couple of aspirin and he was fine and ready to go.”

What makes Russell’s feat more amazing is that temperatures were in the high 90s with equally high humidity.

“He’s very weak and gets fatigued,” explained Hansen. “He can do two strong laps and that’s about it. He’s got a long way to go yet, but my God! We’re so impressed. I mean, it’s incredible. I don’t think anybody else could do what he’s doing.

“Actually, the hand was fine,” said Hansen when asked about the nerve damage in Russell’s recovering left arm. “The arm’s a little weak because he hasn’t been able to work out. But the biggest obstacle right now is his ankle is so swollen yet that he doesn’t have a lot of motion. So shifting was the biggest problem. Of course getting off the seat, he was using just the leg muscles in the right leg.”

When asked about a possible return to racing for Russell at Pike’s Peak, Hansen said, “No, I think Scott is basically riding to get his confidence back and see where he’s at physically. But I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Scott Russell, that’s for sure.”

What about Russell making a racing appearance before the end of the 2001 season? “That hasn’t been brought up because we just don’t know,” said Hansen. “Obviously, if he can only do two laps strong, he’s a long way from returning to racing. He’s going to do a lot of riding. Ducati gave him a streetbike, and he’s gonna go out and ride that. He’s gonna start riding his dirt bike again, and that will get him back into shape.

“But overall, the test actually went very well,” said Hansen of the real business matter at hand. “Everybody was grouped together: The Kawasaki, the Honda, and our Ducati team. Everybody had very, very similar and close track times. I think there were three guys that got into the 1:26s. I believe they were Hayden, Bostrom, and Andy Meklau. Andy was really going well here today and did a 1:26.92. And Steve (Rapp) just missed getting in the 1:26s. He had a 1:27.01.

“The guys loved the track. The facility is second to none. It’s a marvelous facility. The people are just fantastic. I wish we had 10 more places like this on the schedule. They really thought of ways to help the motorcycle crowd. Usually, we’re the second-class citizens when it comes to going to a racetrack because everyone seems to cater to the car people. But these people here have been unbelievable.”

Hansen said that he didn’t see anyone have any crashes or mechanical troubles during the two-day tests, but Meklau had a problem. “Andy hit a bird, and wouldn’t you know, he hit it with his left shoulder. And it was a big bird,” said Hansen. Meklau has been riding with a broken left collarbone since before the Mid-Ohio race.

In a separate phone interview, Virginia International Raceway General Manager Jack Abbott said that the changes made to the North course, based on rider suggestions following an AMA test in 2000, were received well by AMA riders. Run-off areas were leveled, barriers removed or relocated, trees moved, but the most notable change was the creation of another passing zone by opening up the entrance to the “Roller Coaster.”

“The guys say that they have four places that they can pass now,” said Abbott. “And even with the extreme heat that we have right now, the track surface is holding up well. The guys say that the grip is good. We’re gonna have a great race here in September.”

Virginia International Raceway is the host of the 2001 AMA Superbike series finale, scheduled for September 28-30. Tickets are available at dealerships near VIR, or can be ordered by phone at (804) 822-7700, or online at www.virclub.com.