roy Lee Designs / Red Bull / Honda Ready to Chase Supermoto Championships
December 8, 2009 - TLD/ Lucas Oil/ Honda Announces 2010 Race Team
Team Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda is proud to announce their 2010 Supercross / Motocross racing team roster. After making huge strides last year the team is again making big moves in their efforts to become one of the premier teams in the sport of motocross. Returning for their second year, Lucas Oil will remain the team’s title sponsor for both Supercross and Outdoor Nationals. Leading the squad for this year is former World Champion and 250 supercross champion Ben Townley. Backing him up are Wil Hahn, Cole Seely and Christian Craig.
“This is going to be a big year for us,” says team owner Troy Lee. “I feel like we had some good momentum last year; we have some great sponsors on board, and a new group of riders that I know will turn some heads. We can’t wait for Anaheim 1.”
“We are pleased with the selection of riders for the 2010 TLD/Lucas Oil Team,” said Bob Patison, Executive Vice-President of Lucas Oil Products. “The team continues to evolve and I believe that we could see some strong podium finishes in the upcoming season.”
Ben Townley is coming off a few seasons with injuries but he is finally 100% healthy and ready to get back to winning races. He’ll begin his comeback at home in New Zealand this winter and may follow that up with a few GP’s to prepare for the US motocross series. Ben’s first race here in the States will be the first national motocross in Sacramento, California in May.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” says Townley. “This team has surrounded themselves with really good sponsors and people that I trust. I think we are going to do great things together in 2010.”
For the West coast Supercross series the team has recruited two very talented young riders. Wil Hahn has been on the cusp of having a breakout season and he’s ready to make it happen in 2010. Wil won heat races last year and had a second place finish in Jacksonville after leading for much of the main event. His transition to the Honda has been a smooth one and heads will turn when they see the number 49 machine on the track this year.
“I’ve never felt this confident or this comfortable on a bike before,” says Hahn. “The transition was super-easy and I’m stoked with how hard everyone works over here. This is going to be a big year for me. I can’t wait to get to Anaheim and get after it.”
Christian Craig was the first rider signed to the team over a month ago. After getting off to a great start, Christian crashed during a practice session and suffered a serious injury to his back. Thankfully, he will make a full recovery and we hope to see him back on the bike some time this summer. Christian’s bike will wait for him under the team awning and he will be on hand to sign autographs at select events.
The team’s final rider is Cole Seely. Cole is entering his sophomore season way under the radar but with a lot to prove. His rookie season was filled with ups and downs but his flashes of speed were enough to catch our attention. With the support of the team we expect big things out of Cole and he is ready to deliver. He will be sporting the number 200 this year and he will undoubtedly shock people with his ability.
The Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/Honda team is ready to go racing. With the help of some really amazing sponsors we plan on making this the best year the team has ever had. It’s going to be a crazy ride. Be sure to come by the team hauler and say hello if you make it to any of the west coast supercross rounds or motocross nationals.
November 23, 2009 - Robie Peterson crowned 2009 NAHA Verticross Champion
The fastest motorcycle hillclimbers in the nation were in Las Vegas this past weekend for the 2009 N.A.H.A. Pro Hillclimb awards banquet.
After competing in the Malcolm Smith Motorsports and Racer X sponsored series, the top four champions were crowned.
Robie Peterson won the first-ever Verticross championship, Corey Erhardt topped the 450cc Pro Class, Harold Waddell claimed the 700cc title, while Travis Whitlock added yet another Open crown to his collection.
The banquet drew over 100 people from around the country who also attended the final round of the Endurocross series and raced karts at Pole Position Raceway, the site of the party.
“It’s great to see how the sport continues to improve every year despite the current challenges facing the economy,” said Whitlock. “We have had a lot of television coverage this past season and next year looks even better.”
“I’m really excited to win the first-ever Verticross championship,” said Peterson. “The side-by-side, drag-race-style hillclimbing is a lot of fun as a racer, and the fans absolutely love it. The change has really made the 450 class a great spectator sport, in fact, some of the amateur Verticross races now draw over 500 participants!”
November 1, 2009 - Race Report: Kasey Kahne uses Patience to Finish 2nd at Talladega
While Sunday’s race showed there are obvious disadvantages to having cars race in tight packs at Talladega Superspeedway, Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne tried to use that to his advantage.
Kahne finished second in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Amp Energy 500 at the 2.66-mile restrictor-plate track, his best finish since winning at Atlanta Sept. 6. Kahne said he did so by keeping in the pack to keep the draft in an effort to help his racing effort.
“At the end if we got back in the pack, we’d lose the draft,” he said. “So to have cars around us - we tried to keep cars around, behind me mainly. If we were able to do that, we could race pretty decent.
“The car handled good, which I think everybody’s cars handle good here, and we just kind of shot up through there and had great track position on that restart and ran second. So it was good for our team.”
Kahne said that everyone knows that racing at Talladega offers the chance for wrecks - such as the two major incidents in the final 10 laps of Sunday’s race. One saw Ryan Newman flip, slide on his roof, flip some more and have to be cut from his car. Newman said he was sore after the crash, but was not injured. Later, Mark Martin flipped as part of another major crash.
Kahne spent most of the day riding along in line, waiting for the chance to make his move.
He didn’t want that move to come at the wrong time, knowing that could be disastrous for his effort. So Kahne waited, lucked into avoiding the crashes and netted a top finish.
He did so by showing patience in picking the moment to make his move. And he gained two spots, to ninth, in the Chase For The Sprint Cup with three races remaining this season.
October 13, 2009 - Race Report: Flying Lizards Sweep 2009 ALMS GT2 Titles
Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long brought the Flying Lizard No. 45 Porsche in for a hard-fought win at Saturday’s Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The team swept the 2009 ALMS GT2 titles: Bergmeister and Long won the Drivers’ Championship, the Lizards won the Team Championship and the No. 44 Porsche, which finished fifth in GT2 in the race, won the Michelin GreenX Challenge Championship for the GT class.
Going into the four-hour race, Bergmeister and Long had a 19 point lead over Jamie Melo and Pierre Kaffer of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari; with 25 points at stake for the win, if they finished tenth or better, they would win the championship, regardless of the finishing position of the No. 62. If the No. 62 finished third or worse, the No. 45 would win, even if they did not finish the race.
By race start, the cold morning fog had lifted but temperatures remained cool and the track was still cold and slippery. Bergmeister started in the No. 45 fifth on the grid. In the No. 44 Porsche, Johannes van Overbeek started in thirteenth. The No. 3 Corvette was on the pole, and the No. 62 started second.
At race start, the No. 4 Corvette moved immediately to P2. The No. 62 was P3, the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche P4 and the No. 45 P5. Over the next hour, the GT2 lead pack stayed in that order, with the Corvettes gradually building a gap to the rest of the GT2 field. Nearing the one-hour mark, the second caution of the race was called to remove a Challenge Car from the gravel. Still in fifth, Lizard chief strategist Thomas Blam called Bergmeister immediately into the pits as soon as they opened under yellow. All of the GT2 leaders also pitted for driver changes, tires and fuel. The No. 62 and the No. 92 (which had been farther back in the field) did not change tires. After a fast pit stop, Patrick Long was now at the wheel and made it out of the pits ahead of the No. 87, moving him up a position. After the round of GT2 pit stops was complete, just after the restart, the No. 4 Corvette, which was in second, and the No. 92 BMW got together, sending them both back to the pits with damage. After a visit to the garage for repairs, the No. 4 Corvette returned to the race, but was several laps down.
The No. 62 was now in the lead, the No. 3 Corvette in P2 and the No. 45 in P3. In the No. 44, van Overbeek had moved up 4 positions from the start to P9. Just before the 90-minute mark of the four-hour race, an incident between the No. 62 and the No. 33 sent the No. 62 back to the pits with a damaged radiator, putting the No. 3 Corvette into the GT2 lead with the No. 45 in P2. With no chance of a podium finish, and facing a lengthy repair, Risi retired the No. 62.
The Lizards now had both the drivers’ and team championships secured. Blam notified Patrick Long that he could now race for the win. Long was now in P3 with the No. 21 PTG Panoz in P2. Shortly before the race halfway point, in the middle of a lengthy caution to remove several Challenge cars, the No. 45 pitted just after the pits opened. A lightning fast pit stop sent Patrick out again ahead of the No. 3 Corvette, which had pitted just before him. Once the rest of the GT2 field pitted, the No. 45 now had the lead - which they held for the rest of the race.
Long did a double stint, working to pace himself and the tires but still keep a gap between the No. 3 Corvette in second. Over the next 30 minutes, the No. 3 gradually closed the gap to seven seconds. With less than an hour to go in the race, the No. 45 pitted under green for its final stop for driver change, tires and fuel. After a third seamless pit stop, Bergmeister drove by the No. 3 Corvette, just one pit stall down, which had pitted at the same time but was still in the pits .
Once the field resorted after the pit stops, Bergmeister retained the lead in the No. 45 and the No. 3 Corvette was P2 - 14 seconds behind the No. 45. In the No. 44, Johannes van Overbeek, back in the car after Seth Neiman’s stint, was now P7.
Now it was a race against time for Bergmeister in the No. 45 as he battled traffic to stay ahead of the No. 3 Corvette. 20 minutes left to go and the No. 3 Corvette had halved the gap - now 7 seconds behind. Ten minutes later the gap was less than 4 seconds. Bergmeister narrowly avoided disaster when coming into Turn 11 when the No. 15 prototype got loose and braked hard, forcing Bergmeister to brake. Luckily he was able to keep from impacting the wall, but had flat spotted his tires. This allowed the No. 3 to close the rest of the gap and they were now bumper to bumper. Over the next seven minutes, the two cars drove nose to tail, making contact on nearly every corner and trading positions several times as the No. 3 Corvette tried unsuccessfully to get by.
With two laps to go, both cars were neck and neck on the front straight with the No. 3 on the inside when the No. 3 suddenly went off track, short cutting through pit lane to overtake Joerg, which is not allowed by IMSA rules. Race control notified the cars to switch positions and Joerg retook the lead.
Starting the final lap, it was clear that both drivers were giving it everything they had to cross the finish line first. It came down to the last hundred yards: the two cars flew through Turn 11, the No. 45 in the lead, when the No. 3 Corvette made contact with the rear of the No. 45, allowing him to get next to the No. 45 on the inside going down the front straight. As they neared the finish line, the No. 3, now nearly touching the inside wall, but still slightly behind the No. 45, pushed to overtake the No. 45 on the inside. The No. 3 moved to go past the No. 45, but without enough room to maneuver, the two cars made contact, sending the No. 3 spinning across the track in front of the No. 45, with a hard impact into the far concrete wall. The No. 45 took the win, with the No. 3 second. The No. 44 finished fifth in GT2.
Bergmeister said, “It definitely was not the way that I wanted to finish out the race. I hope that Jan (Magnussen) is OK and I am sorry that the race ended in contact. A huge thank you to the team: this race was won in the pits. I’m honored to be part of the 100th Porsche win and my second championship in a row with Flying Lizard.”
Patrick Long reflected on the season, “Our five wins in a row in the first half of the season built a foundation for the championship. To drive the way that we needed to over the season to win the title required flawless strategy, engineering and pit work, the 100 percent reliability provided by Porsche and the performance of the Michelin tires. And in the end we were able to race for the victory.”
Long added, “The sweetest feeling in racing is to win both a championship and to go out winning in the final race. A huge thanks to the team for the incredible number of hours they put into the program this year, and our partners and sponsors who made this possible. The pit work in the race today was incredible and in both pit stops we were out ahead of our competition, allowing us to first take and then extend our lead.”
October 11, 2009 - Dario Franchitti Scores Back-to-Back IndyCar Titles
Target Chip Ganassi Racing claimed their seventh open wheel crown Saturday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway as Dario Franchitti drove his No. 10 Target Honda Dallara to his fifth win of the season, locking up the 2009 IndyCar Series championship in the final race of the season.
It marks the second IndyCar championship for Franchitti (2007), who returned to Indy car racing this year after a season in NASCAR with Ganassi. Teammate Scott Dixon finished third in the race, locking up second in the championship standings for a Team Target one-two sweep.
Along the way, Franchitti (five) and Dixon (five) combined to win 10 of 17 races this season for Target, who celebrated their 20th year of partnership with TCGR in 2009. The 10-win season ties the team record from the 19-race 1998 CART season, where Alex Zanardi won seven races and Jimmy Vasser took three.
“Back-to-back championships are something very special that don’t happen that often in motorsports,” said Team Owner Chip Ganassi. “I am really proud of Dario and everything that he has accomplished again this year. It is nothing short of phenomenal. But Dario couldn’t do it by himself so I have to congratulate the whole team including his teammate Scott Dixon. It takes a complete team effort to win championships and this championship was exactly that. There are a number of people that work behind the scenes to make things happen and I would just like to thank them all because today they are all champions.”
October 5, 2009 - Russell Bobbitt Wins National Enduro Championship
Shock Doctor/KTM rider Russell Bobbitt took home his third National Enduro Championship title at the tenth and final round of the series against his toughest competitor and teammate, 8-time champion Mike Lafferty.
Both Shock Doctor/KTM riders rode a strong race in the final battle for the championship. Bobbitt had a great start winning the first special test. The weather was cold but the racing was hot as Lafferty took the win at the second test and the race tightened.
Lafferty continued to lead as they went on to the third, fourth and fifth test. “I knew I had to win the race to have any chance of winning the championship,” commented Lafferty. Bobbitt came back and took the win on the sixth test finishing just 25 seconds behind Lafferty for the overall.
“I won the race, which is what I needed to do, but the championship definitely went to the rider who performed consistently better this season and that is my teammate Russ,” stated Lafferty after the race.
“It was a nerve-racking day, but so is every race against Mike. It feels really good to win my third title,” remarked the newly crowned champion, Bobbitt. “I worked really hard this season and couldn’t be happier to win this championship. A championship is always the best way to end the season and it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my Shock Doctor/KTM team.”
Bobbitt left for Portugal Monday morning heading to the ISDE where he will compete as a member of the USA Junior Trophy Team.
September 27, 2009 - New TLD Masterpiece to Match Limited Edition AVI-BOLT II
Check out TriCoachJulie’s blog for pix of the new Troy Lee Designs painted race bike. The bike features the same flashy colors & artwork as the AVI-BOLT II- Limited Edition. A limited number of shoes will be available for pre-sale next week at the Ironman World Championships as well as being worn by AVIA Champions, including Eneko Llanos & Rebekah Keat.
September 20, 2009 - Race Report: BUD Racing at FIM Motocross Final Round
The following race report comes from BUD Racing in France, following the final round of the FIM World Motocross Series at Canelinha.
Gautier Paulin secured the final podium celebration during the fifteenth and last round of the season, and offered to Bud Racing Kawasaki its first main International result. David Vuillemin ended his racing career with an eighth position during the last heat of the campaign.
Due to heavy rain in the area of Santa Cataline, the traditional program had been changed, with all the racing, including qualifications, re-scheduled for Sunday. The traditional qualification heat was replaced by a brief timed practice period, that was successful for Gautier Paulin fifth in the same second as the poleman.
In the MX1 class position David Vuillemin snatched the eleventh position, and both were confident as the track was in perfect condition for the races despite all the previous rain.
Gautier Paulin was in the top ten of the first start, and after a couple of fast laps he reached the sixth position behind Goncalves; despite all his efforts it was his final ranking in this moto. Fifth at mid-race of the last heat of the year, Gautier had a technical problem on the bike and didn’t cross the finish line but the 19 years old Frenchman, who will be part of the national team during the Motocross of Nations in three weeks time, climbed on the third step of the final 2009 championship.
In the MX1 class David had a bad start in the opening race and was back in fifteenth position when he had to retire during the fifth lap with brake trouble. Then for the last race of his career David enjoyed the spectacular layout and finished in eighth position, for a thirteenth final rank in the series.
September 20, 2009 - Race Report: Bradshaw wins 2009 Redbull Pro National Championship
The following race report comes from Neville Bradshaw, the very first Red Bull Pro National Champion.
Hey everyone, we had the final round of the Red Bull Pro Nationals at Wakes Colne near Colchester today.
The track was good and well prepped for a good days racing. I went into the final round 12 points down on leader Wayne smith. So there was a chance of taking the title but it was going to be a long shot!
Qualifying went okay and I managed to post the 4th quickest time out of the mx2 class, and 11th overall.
The first race and I got a half decent start just outside the top 10. I made some good passes early on, and passed Wayne on the first lap. My arms pumped up pretty bad on the rutted track, however managed to get to 3rd by the finish. Wayne got 5th, so I managed to take 6 points out of him, which left me 6 points down going into the last race.
The second race I got a blinding start and put in some quick laps early on. I moved into 1st and managed to pull out a good gap. The race for second was on behind me between Wayne Smith and Scott Elderfield, with Scott eventually getting the better of him. So I got the 6 points I was looking for, and we tied on points for the championship. I had 4 moto wins in the season, and Wayne hadn’t had any, so I got the championship and 2nd overall on the day.
It was a great day, and an honour to win the first ever Red Bull Pro National Championship.
September 11, 2009 - Race Report: XTRM AMA Supermoto Championship Final
It was an amazing spectacle at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah this past weekend. The number-one plates in all three classes - 250, 450 and Unlimited - were left undecided until the final checkered flags flew during the double-header weekend. The finals at Miller also closed the book on the 2009 XTRM AMA Pro Racing Supermoto Championship.
Going into Sunday’s festivities, the bets were pretty solid that Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Honda rider Jeff Ward might take the 450 championship, KTM’s Kurt Nicoll had a good shot at the Unlimited title and the 250 crown was between Danny Casey and Matt Burton regardless of the fact that TLD’s Joey Pascarella was returning to the class after a suffering a broken wrist while riding motocross earlier in the year.
Most of the predictions held water unless you were talking about the always-volatile 450 class. Whatever could go wrong or right, depending on what side of the fence you were on, happened. Going into the final two rounds, Ward led CHM Pro Honda Oils rider Sylvain Bidart by a slight advantage of three points. And not to mention Monster Energy Burkhart HMC Racing rider Mark Burkhart only trailed Ward by six points.
450 CLASS - ROUND 5
At the start of the first of two final rounds, it looked like old dog Jeff Ward was on the road to scoring yet another AMA title in his long and lustrous career. Only a few laps into the race, Ward started to slip and his mighty CRF450R started to sputter and cough.This is where his chances at another title vanquished. Ward eventually pulled off realizing later that the fuel pump on his bike failed.
The second rider to falter would be Burkhart. Going down early on, Burkhart had to soldier on from twelfth place to salvage any chance at winning the title. Burkhart did race his way back to fourth at the finish. From there it was a three-way battle for the lead between Bidart, Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rider Brandon Currie and Monster/Carter Powersports Derek Costella.
After struggling with issues for much of the series, the finals turned out to be awesome for Currie. He was on the gas and ready to prove he was able to finish up front. Currie pulled into the lead fairly early and rode a flawless race. It wasn’t easy though. Costella would make him work for it. The round 3 winner started to reel in Currie as the laps wore on, making up time with his stellar dirt skills. With a few laps to go it was a dogfight but Currie was able to hold on. Costella took the second place position with Bidart finishing third.
At that point Currie pretty much needed a miracle to win the championship. Bidart held the point lead going into the final even with Costella and Burkhart tied and trailing by five points.
THE FINAL FINAL 450 RACE FOR THE TITLE
Going into the final race, three riders had a strong chance at taking the number-one plate. Bidart had his work cut out and the pressure was on. At the start it was Bidart taking the early lead followed by Costella and Currie. It didn’t take long for Costella to use his dirt skills to take over the pack and push Bidart back to second.
From there we did some math and realized that if Currie made his way into second, Bidart and Costella would end up tied in points with Costella taking the title because he had more wins. The same was true for Burkhart, if he could win and Bidart finished third, Burkhart would win the championship. But Burkhart again had to charge his way back through the pack.
Costella, for the moment, was in the driver’s seat to take the title, but only for a moment. A rider went down in the dirt and kicked gravel into the blue groove line and Costella tucked the front wheel and went down. That move cost him the championship. He got going fast until his clutch broke with one lap to go. It didn’t take more than a split second to lose the championship.
That move again put Bidart back into contention for the title, even though Currie was out front and hell-bent on winning the last two rounds of the series. The stars were aligned at that point of the race with Currie out front, Bidart in second and Burkhart working his way into third.
Currie won the battle that day but CHM’s Bidart won the war. This marked the second time in the series history where a foreign rider took a 450 championship.
250 CLASS - DOGFIGHT TO THE END
From the first round at Fontana, we knew the 250 championship was going to be a battle royal with young rookie Joey Pascarella, 2008 250 runner-up Matt Burton and the always competitive Nor Cal rider Danny Casey duking it out.But before the second round it went from a three way to a two way after Pascarella broke his wrist riding motocross.
The duel between the RJ Performance MDK KTM rider Burton and the Mach 1 Motorsports Honda rider Casey was on. Casey took the win during round two and Burton came back with the victory during round three. At the finals it was going to be head to head action. Pascarella was back for the finals but didn’t have a mathematical chance at taking the title after missing two rounds.
Pascarella was on fire and had everyone covered during the finals and took both race victories fairly uncontested. Local rider Gray Davenport, who had not ridden supermoto in almost a year, looked like a seasoned veteran taking runner-up spots in both rounds aboard a KX250F.
Burton and Casey didn’t pay much attention to anyone other than each other on the track. Burton bested Casey by one position and it left the two riders tied for points going into the final round of the year. It was a race inside a race, whoever won would earn the number-one plate.
At the start of the final race, the pressure was on. The light turned green and right there the duel began when Casey and Burton touched handlebars right off the start. Casey slid his way from the outside of the front row and put his CRF250R into the lead for a brief second. Burton on the other hand got pinched off and rounded the first turn in the middle of the pack.
Pascarella again took over the lead and Davenport raced his way into second. Burton was on a mission but got a little overzealous trying to ward off Casey early on and ended up crashing in the dirt. He quickly got going again and wasn’t ready to concede just yet. He made a valiant charge and eventually closed the gap, but time was not on his side and the white flag flew.
At the finish, Casey crossed the line in third, one spot ahead of Burton to take the well-deserved title.
UNLIMITED SWEEP
If KTM’s Kurt Nicoll were a baseball player he would have batted a thousand racing the Unlimited class. Nicoll posted a perfect season by winning every main event and taking his second career AMA Supermoto Championship. His first took place in 2004.
Defending champion Steve Drew was armed and ready to defend his title but bad luck and having to go up against Nicoll did not help his chances. He had to settle for second place.
At the finals, Nicoll rode two flawless races to cap off his perfect season. Drew on the other hand was dealt two bad hands. Drew was leading the first of the two main events when his bike started to lose power and Nicoll motored by with the win. Drew limped his bike over the starting line as his engine’s crankshaft seized up right on the spot.
He went to his backup bike for the second main with aspirations of halting Nicoll’s perfect season. His bike was all over the place and again he had to settle for second. After the race he realized an engine inspection cover had fallen off and his bike was spraying oil over his rear wheel.
Josh Chisum missed one round due to a shoulder injury but came back for the finals strong. Chiz was right there in both races taking third. In the final race of the season he had a heated battle with Highland rider Martin Lind with Chiz emerging the victor. As far as points, local Southern California privateer Justin Ross finished the year out third aboard a KTM 560.
September 6, 2009 - Kasey Kahne Wins Atlanta, Moves to 6th in Standings
Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser Team moved one step closer to solidifying their spot in the 2009 Chase for the Championship after leading 60 laps and scoring the win Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Kahne went from fourth to first on the final restart with 11 laps remaining to score his second victory of the 2009 season.
The win elevated Kahne five positions in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver point standings. With one race remaining until the Chase field is determined, Kahne is in the sixth position, nine points behind fifth-place driver Carl Edwards. He is 96 points ahead of 13th-place driver Brian Vickers.
After starting on the outside of the front row, Kahne quickly settled into a rapid race pace, calling for only minor adjustments to the Budweiser Dodge.
Crew chief Kenny Francis made a handful of chassis adjustments throughout the race to keep up with Kahne’s forever-changing handling balance that would teeter from tight at the beginning of the run to loose at the end.
Kahne remained a mainstay in the top-five for the majority of the 325-lap event, despite one bad run around midrace where he fell back to 19th due to an extremely loose-handling condition.
Kahne worked his way back into the top five around lap 205.
With 11 laps remaining, Kahne lined up in the fourth position and wasted no time flexing the power of the Budweiser Dodge. He took the lead with 10 laps to go and went on to beat Kevin Harvick to the checkered flag by 1.766 seconds.
The Budweiser pit crew turned in another strong performance on pit road. Twice awarding Kahne the top spot prior to the restart.
Four drivers are now locked in to the Chase as the NSCS heads into Richmond. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin are locked in. Only 122 points separate fifth through 14th in the standings.
The following is the finishing position of the other beverage-sponsored cars that participated in the Pep Boys Auto 500 at AMS
Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, finished 7th
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 National Guard/AMP Chevrolet, finished17th
Scott Speed, driver of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota, finished 24th
Casey Mears & the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet team finished 25th
Jamie McMurray & the No. 26 Crown Royal Ford Team finished 28th
Kurt Busch & the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team finished 38th
The following is the finishing order of the other Richard Petty Motorsports cars at AMS
AJ Allmendinger, driver No. 44 Hunt Brothers Pizza finished 20th
Elliott Sadler, driver No. 19 Stanley Tools Dodge finished 21st
Reed Sorenson, driver No. 43 Air Force Toyota finished 27th
September 1, 2009 - Flying Lizard 5th & 7th in Tough Race at Mosport
There was to be no podium for the Lizards after a tough race at Mosport which saw the No. 45 finish fifth and the No. 44 seventh in GT2. The No. 45 drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long still retain their GT2 drivers’ championship lead over Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer of the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, which finished second in the race. The team also keeps its championship points lead, although both margins have narrowed to 31 points, with 55 total points still possible in the final two races of the season.
The race started cleanly for the whole field. In the No. 45, Patrick Long started fifth on the GT2 grid. At the fifteen minute mark, he was still in fifth holding with the lead GT2 pack which had sorted out with the No. 4 Corvette in the lead, the No. 3 Corvette in P2, the No. 90 BMW (which had started 2nd) in P3 and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari (which had started ninth) in P4. Long was just settling into his stint when he narrowly avoided disaster after getting together with the No. 90 BMW on track when both cars were checked up by a prototype stopped on course. “We dodged a massive bullet today: I was going full speed and just about to try an overtaking maneuver on the No. 90 when he went hard on the brakes to avoid the car ahead of him and I went hard into the back of the No. 90. Even with a three-foot wide hole in the front of the car, I was able to continue at pace; it’s a testament to the Porsche and the redesign of the front radiators that we were able to continue at that pace with that much damage.”
Long was able to continue without pitting, and moved into fourth, with the No. 4 Corvette still in the lead, followed by the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari. Over the next 30 minutes, Patrick kept with the lead GT2 pack as they jockeyed for position, trading off between the Corvettes and the Ferrari. Meanwhile, the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche, which had started last on the grid, had moved up through the field, eventually reaching the lead group and overtaking Long to move into fourth. Now back in fifth, Patrick radioed to the crew that he was rapidly losing visibility because of the amount of liquid on the windshield. Unsure if it was water, dirt, or oil he waited as long as he could before using the windshield wipers in a last ditch effort to make some visibility, which only made the problem worse. Now unable to see, Patrick pitted under green for an early driver change, tires and fuel. He was in fifth at the time, with the No. 4 in P1, the No. 62 in P2, the No. 87 in P3, and the No. 3 in P4. Meanwhile, in the No. 44, Darren Law, who started ninth on the grid, had progressed through the field to P8, when he also lost visibility, and pitted just after the No 45, also still under green.
Luck was not with the Lizards: shortly after both cars rejoined the race, the first (and only) full course caution of the race was called to remove a Mazda prototype from the course after an accident. Most of the rest of the GT2 field had not yet pitted, so they took advantage of the yellow to do their pit stops. Once the field resettled after the wave by under yellow (in which the pace car waves the field by to catch the next class leader before the restart), the No. 45, now with Joerg Bergmeister in the cockpit, had lost a lap on the GT2 leaders. The No. 44, now with Johannes van Overbeek at the wheel, pitted again under yellow (after receiving a waveby) for a fuel top up, rejoining now one lap down on the GT2 leader.
Nearing the 90-minute mark of the 2 hour and 45 minute race, the No. 45 was P6 and the No. 44 now P8. The No. 4 Corvette retained the lead, with the No. 3 Corvette in P2, the No. 62 Risi Ferrari in P3, the No. 87 Porsche in P4, the No. 92 BMW in P5 and the No. 21 Panoz in P7. The No. 45 was one lap down on the GT2 leader and the No. 44 was nearly 2 laps down. On track, the GT2 field ran tightly together in a six-car freight train but out of sequence with their actual race positions. As the cars battled to pass one another while being passed by the faster prototypes, it made for some nailbiter moments.
Coming down to the end, it was a battle between the two Corvettes and the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, with the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche also on the lead lap. With 30 minutes to go, the No. 4 Corvette lost the lead to the No. 62 Risi Ferrari after going off course. Then, with the final round of pit stops, the No. 3 and No. 62 swapped positions, with the No. 3 taking the lead. Although he gave the No. 3 Corvette a run for his money, the No. 62 had to settle for second as the No. 3 Corvette took the GT2 win, the No. 4 finished third and the No. 87 fourth. The No. 45, which was too far back to make up any positions, finished fifth.
Bergmeister’s take, “We were unlucky with the timing of the yellow and losing a lap, but for the remainder of the race, it was pretty much just fighting for position with the lead cars. It was very enjoyable really - even though we couldn’t gain any more positions and finished fifth, it was some very exciting racing!”
The No. 44 finished seventh. Over his stint, van Overbeek had gained two positions to P6, and only to see the No. 21 Panoz overtake him at the end.
August 30, 2009 - Double Top Five Finish for Target Team in Chicagoland
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti combined to lead 95 of 200 laps at Chicagoland Speedway, but Dixon was edged out at the finish line by 0.0077-seconds by Ryan Briscoe in the fourth-closest finish in IRL history. Franchitti started third, finished fourth and led once for 34 laps, while Dixon led seven times for 61 laps from his sixth starting position to finish second for the fifth time at the 1.5-mile oval.
With the finishes, Dixon remains third in IndyCar points with 517 (-33 to leader Briscoe), while Franchitti remains second in the standings with 525 (-25 to leader Briscoe).
The top three drivers in points are the only drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2009 IndyCar Series championship with two races remaining (Japan, Homestead-Miami).
Results from Chicagoland
1.) Ryan Briscoe, No.6 Honda Dallara
2.) Scott Dixon, No.9 Target Honda Dallara
3.) Mario Moraes, No.5 Honda Dallara
4.) Dario Franchitti, No.10 LifeLock Honda Dallara
Race Notes
Dixon finished second, his eighth podium finish and his 10th top-five finish of the season. Dixon has finished second at Chicagoland Speedway five teams, including the last four races (2006-2009).
August 25, 2009 - Five Straight Victories for Henry Wiles at Peoria TT
There was at least a ray of hope for the rest of the AMA Grand National field at Peoria. Henry Wiles was coming off one of the toughest injuries for a motorcycle racer, two broken wrists.
But once the green flag dropped on the 2009 edition of the classic TT race there was no question, it was going to be Wiles again in a runaway. Wiles pulled away to take the checkered flag by a margin of 3.371 seconds over JR Schnabel, who won out in a riveting battle for second over Shaun Russell and a surprising Michael Kirkness.
It marked the fifth straight Peoria TT victory for Wiles.
Schnabel got the holeshot and led into turn one, but coming out of the turn Wiles took over on his Kawasaki USA/Jones Bros./DPC Racing No. 17 Kawasaki. That was all she wrote. Schnabel over rode turn one a couple of times trying to keep pace with Wiles and instead lost ground. Wiles pulled steadily away from the field and was never challenged.
The battle for second came down to the wire. Schnabel, who was the last rider other than Wiles to win Peoria back in 2003, held off a determined charge by Russell, who in turn finished just ahead of Aussie fast man Kirkness. It was the best finish in the TT for both Russell and Kirkness.
Wiles now holds a 14-point lead in the AMA Grand National Singles Championship over Schnabel going into the final event, the Springfield (Ill.) Short Track over Labor Day weekend.
August 14, 2009 - Tommy Weeck to make his PRO Debut at Unadilla MX
Temecula, CA - Longtime KTM amateur racer, Tommy Weeck, will make his pro debut this weekend at the infamous Unadilla track in New Berlin, NY. Weeck will be riding the number 603 on his KTM 250SX-F.
“I am absolutely ecstatic that KTM is going to give me this opportunity to race the last four nationals. I have been working my tail off to get ready for this,” Tommy stated excitedly. “I’m ready to make the move and be mixed up with the big boys. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this chance, and I’m going to go out there and give it everything that I have!”
August 9, 2009 - Dixon takes IRL Victory, Points Lead with Mid-Ohio Win
Scott Dixon regained the IndyCar Series points lead with a stout 29.7803-second margin of victory over Ryan Briscoe at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for his 20th IRL win, while Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti made up three spots from his sixth starting position to finish third.
Dixon, competing in his 109th IndyCar Series race (all with TCGR), overtook Sam Hornish Jr. for the series record. He also tied teammate Dario Franchitti for 19th on the all-time career list (sanctioning by AAA, USAC, CART, Champ Car World Series and the Indy Racing League) with 21 wins (he picked up one victory in CART). A.J. Foyt is the all-time Indy car victory leader with 67.
Dixon, who started third in the 85-lap race on the 2.258-mile circuit, took control between Laps 60-64 - the final round of service stops for the contenders - and went on to beat pole sitter Briscoe to the checkers.
With the finishes, Dixon moves from second to first in IndyCar points with 460, while Franchitti remains third in the standings with 440.
August 8, 2009 - Five in a Row: Flying Lizard No. 45 Wins GT2 at Mid-Ohio
The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche started from the pole at the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio and never looked back, leading GT2 for the entire 2 hour and 45 minute race. This makes five wins in a row for the duo of Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long and ties the ALMS record for most consecutive wins. The No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette, in their inaugural GT2 race, was second, and the No. 92 Rahal Letterman BMW was third: three manufacturers on the GT2 podium. With this finish, Bergmeister and Long extended their lead to 37 points over Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, which finished fifth. In the No. 44 Flying Lizard Porsche, Darren Law and Seth Neiman, who started from the back of the grid, had a clean race, moving through the Challenge class field to finish ninth in GT2.
August 3, 2009 - NEW Troy Lee Designs BIKE
Last week Troy finished up the hottest AVIA bike yet. It’s complete with flashy blue and green wheels guaranteed to make any rider pick it up a notch or two. Look for this bike on display at InterBike next month.
July 26, 2009 - Troy Lee Designs Invades Summer X Games in LA
This week kicks off the fifteenth annual ESPN Summer X Games in Los Angeles. The action sports event has become one of the single biggest weekends of competition in the motorcycle industry and Troy Lee Designs will be there in force. With fourteen different athletes wearing TLD gear and/or helmets there will be no shortage of riders to cheer for.
In the Moto X Super X Event the stars of the Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ PPG/ Honda Racing Team will be gunning for gold. Jake Moss (#42) has been shockingly fast at times throughout the season and the go-for-broke format of the X Games suits him well. If Jake Can get a good start and stay out of trouble you can bet he’ll be at the front. His wingman, Chris Blose (#63), is finishing out the best season of his young career. Chris finished fifth in the west coast 250 supercross series and he rides the 450 just as well. Don’t miss the Men’s Moto X Super X Final at Home Depot Center on Saturday, August 1 at 4:30pm.
The King of Supercross, Jeremy McGrath (#2), will also be competing in the Moto X Racing discipline. Jeremy wears TLD helmets and is fresh off a silver medal last year.
He may be retired but it’s hard to count out a guy with 72 supercross wins.
MC will also get his Step-Up on at the Staples Center. Can he take down Carmichael and Renner? Tune in to find out.
If you are a Supermoto fan you’ll have plenty of TLD riders to choose from. Two-time gold medalist and multi-time motocross and supercross champion Jeff Ward (#3x) will be trying to make it gold medal number three this year for the Troy Lee Designs/ Red Bull/ Honda Race Team. Wardy will be flanked by rookie Joey Pascarella (#25),Cassidy Anderson (#15) and team manager, David Pingree (#101), who is making a return to racing for this event. Other TLD Supermoto riders include Micky Dymond (#43), Josh Chisum (#10) and Gary Trachy #357). Supermoto Final takes place at Home Depot Center on Saturday, August 1 at 1:30pm.
Ronnie Renner has some gold medals under his belt and he’ll be a threat to win more in both of the disciplines he competes in. The Step-Up Event was all Renner in 2008, until when Ricky Carmichael came in and stole the show. This time Renner wants to hand the GOAT a silver medal and walk away with another win. You can also catch Ronnie in the Best Whip Event; he’ll be the guy upside down. Don’t miss the Best Whip & Step-Up Finals at Staples Center on Thursday night.
The Women’s Moto X Super X Event features a rider new to the Troy Lee Designs family, Tarah Gieger. Tarah is the reigning champion from last year and she wants to back it up in 2009. She is fresh off a broken wrist from a GP race in Portugal but she’s gritty. Watch for the #68 Yamaha in her all-new TLD ladies gear. Also set to compete in the Women’s Moto X Super X event are Sherri Cruse (#3) and X Games rookie Japanese rider Sayaka Kaneshiro (#678). Sayaka rides for Suzuki Japan, and is making her X Games debut.
July 16, 2009 - AVIA’s Troy Lee Limited Edition race shoes are lookin’ HOT!! August release date & locations to be announced soon.
July 1, 2009 -Rollercoaster weekend for TLD / Lucas Oil / PPG / Honda
The Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil/ PPG/ Honda team had a roller coaster weekend at the Thunder Valley National in Colorado last weekend. Jake Moss and Chris Blose made it clear that they intended to have breakout rides over the weekend by posting the first and fourth quickest times in the second practice session. Their young teammate, Sean Borkenhagen, logged his best qualifying time this season with a ninth in the 250 class.
In the first 450 moto Chris Blose rounded turn one in second place behind Red Bull/Honda’s Ivan Tedesco. Moss was close behind in fifth but it wouldn’t take him long to move up and eventually pass his teammate. By lap three Moss was in a solid third behind Tedesco and Short while Blose fell back to the eighth spot. And that’s where both riders stayed until the closing laps when Reed got by Moss with just a few laps to go. Moss would make a run at him on the final lap but still cross the flag in fourth position. Blose held onto eighth place for his best finish of the outdoor season. It was a banner moto for the Troy Lee Designs/ Lucas Oil team with both riders well inside the top ten and Moss fighting for a coveted podium spot.
The second moto wouldn’t be as kind to either rider. Moss was again inside the top five rounding the first turn but it wouldn’t take long for things to go sideways. Jake hit a bump on the face of a jump and it sent him flying over the handlebars. He was knocked unconscious briefly and then attended to by the Asterisk Medical team. He suffered a concussion and a small contusion around his right eye in the crash that ended his night. Chris Blose suffered a terrible start (38th position) and worked his way up to tenth after the opening laps. It looked like Chris was set to post another solid finish until a crash shot him off the track and out of the top twenty. It was not the way either rider hoped to finish off an otherwise spectacular weekend.
After qualifying well, Sean Borkenhagen struggled in the 250 class with a 15-DNF result. Sean will look to improve that score as he heads to Red Bud this weekend in his own van.
X Games 15
The following weekend the team will prepare to add to it’s medal count in the Summer X Games in Los Angeles on August 1st.
Jake Moss and Chris Blose will compete in the Moto X event and Jeff Ward, Joey Pascarella, David Pingree and Cassidy Anderson will fight for the gold in the Supermoto discipline.
June 29, 2009 - AVIA’s Troy Lee Limited Edition race shoes are looking hot! Shoes are in their second round of testing to hit the August release date. Stay tuned.
June 22, 2009 - AVIA is working with Troy Lee to put the final touches on the Troy Lee Limited Edition race shoes. To be released in late summer 2009.
June 15, 2009 - Neville Bradshaw 2nd overall at Round 4 of British Champs
June 6, 2009 -Troy Lee Designs / Lucas Oil / Honda team QUICK in TEXAS
Freestone County Raceway was the site of round three in the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championships last weekend. The Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/Honda team was coming off a great set of second motos in Sacramento and looking to show that those results were no fluke. In Texas, Jake Moss qualified seventh quickest, besting many factory riders and setting himself up for a good result.
In the first 450 moto, both Moss and his teammate Chris Blose were inside the top ten and it looked like they were going to back up their top ten rides from the prior weekend. But a crash for Moss and arm pump for Blose would sabotage the moto.
The second moto went much better as both riders once again pulled great starts. This time, however, they intended top hold onto the positions. In the grueling Texas heat and humidity Jake and Chris finished eighth and twelfth after running as high as fifth for much of the moto.
Chris Blose had this to say about his race:
“My starts are good and my speed is getting better at each race. I’ve been dealing with some health issues, including an ear infection this weekend and it will be good to have a couple weekends off now. I’m going to be ready when the next round comes up.”
“I just need to put two motos together,” said Moss of his weekend. Adding, “I have the speed to run in the top ten and my fitness is there. I just need to stay out of trouble on the opening laps and keep it on two wheels. I keep getting closer each weekend so it will happen soon.”
Blose and Moss ended the day in thirteenth and fifteenth overall. It was another strong end to the weekend and both riders are confident that they will only get better as the season goes on.
In the 250 class, Sean Borkenhagen put in two consistent motos to end the day in fifteenth position. While it was not the breakthrough ride that Sean was hoping for, the young Huntington Beach, CA rider continues to improve his craft and will find himself in the top ten soon.
Troy Lee Designs/ Chris Fillmore contends for Podium at Road America/ June 9, 2009
The race weekend at Road America for Chris Fillmore was one that gave the AMA Pro Racing industry a reason to keep an eye on him throughout the remainder of the 2009 season. Fillmore came to Elkhart Lake, WI now having two race weekends under his belt. The confidence that Fillmore is getting in the Goeff Cesmat prepared Yamaha R6 Daytona Sportbike is beginning to show in qualifying and racing situations.
Fillmore came into qualifying on Friday and was able to make good use of the Yamaha on the series spec Dunlop tires to make his first Superpole session in his career.
As the rain filled race moved to conclusion, the lead riders began to encounter lapped riders. With less than a lap to go in the event, Fillmore and Knapp moved past a lapped rider. However, after concluding the pass to lap the rider he low sided the bike. The bike gained speed and ran directly into the back of Fillmore’s no. 55 Yamaha R6. Instead of second or third, Fillmore would have to settle for the knowledge that he has the ability to run at the front in addition to the 24th place finish.
The second race of the weekend on Sunday was a more standard dry weather race. The conditions meant that Fillmore would have more company at the front as the dry weather kept all of the top riders near the front throughout the race. Fillmore rode a consistent pace and the end result was a well-earned top 10 in 10th position. In addition to finishing 10th, Fillmore was also the top finishing Yamaha R6.
Troy Lee Designs / Seaspan / PPG / Honda team finishes season strong in Vegas
The final round of the 2009 AMA supercross series in Las Vegas didn’t offer any points to the lites riders. It was simply a chance for the east and west regions to go head-to-head to determine which riders are quickest. And the Troy Lee Designs team wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. All four team riders including Chris Blose, Jake Moss, Sean Borkenhagen and Jimmy Albertson put their Hondas in the main event. Considering that this final event featured the very best 250 riders in the country that was no small feat. And it showed just how competitive the Troy Lee Designs/Seaspan/PPG/Honda team has become.
Chris Blose fought his way past his teammates and ended the night in thirteenth place. It was not the finish he was hoping for but he has had an incredible season in 2009. Jimmy Albertson and Sean Borkenhagen closed the season in fifteenth and seventeenth, respectively.
The team now turns its focus to winning Supermoto championships and testing the waters in outdoor motocross. Along with the rest of the XTRM Supermoto championship, the Troy Lee Designs Honda team will be competing in five rounds of the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship. Jake Moss, Chris Blose and Sean Borkenhagen will fly our colors at the Glen Helen, Hangtown, Freestone, Colorado and Washougal rounds of the series.
