Round #8 – Barber Motorsports Park in the Books!

Report courtesy of wera.com

Photos by MSA Staff

The Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance and the Michelin/WERA National Sprints had a great weekend at picturesque Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama over the September 19th through 21st weekend.

Friday saw the make-up races for the six classes canceled at Round #7 in West Virginia. The action got everyone looking forward to Sunday’s Michelin/WERA National Sprint races. Winners for the make-up races included Opie Caylor on his Suzuki 750 take the win over Dane Westby and Robert Jensen in the 750 Superstock Class Lightweight Twins Expert went to Ghetto Custom’s Chirs Parrish, Novice winner was Heath Cope. The 600 Superbike Expert was Dane Westby, Novice win to Jevaughn Simons, Formula Two Expert winner was Parrish’s second win and Garrett Gerloff took the Formula Two Novice win. In 750 Superbike Expert Payton Sassaman came out on top of a great battle with his brother Brett and Novice Jimmy Merck took the win in 750 Superbike. The final make-up race was the Formula 1 race and the top three were only seconds apart at the finish with the win going to Jeff Wood with Robert Jensen taking second and Tray Batey rounding out the podium.

On Saturday the Bridgestone/WERA National Endurance took the grid and with two red flags and a little rain during the final hour, Vesrah Suzuki took the top of the podium with 105 laps followed by Brand X with 104 laps and Zyvax Racing with 103 laps taking the final podium spot. In class Vesrah took the Heavyweight Superbike win with Chris Ulrich, Tray Batey and John Jacobi doing the work, Heavyweight Superstock saw TVR 131 take top honors with guest rider Jamie James helping them out by sharing riding duties. Mediumweight Superbike saw an epic battle to the line at the end of the four hours between Zyvax Racing and Wikle Racing – this is one of the Class Championships coming down to the final at the GNF next month. Mediumweight Superstock saw a new winner in Willow Motorsports on their Yamaha 600. The Lightweight Superbike Class saw the Class Championship close up and making Round #9 the place that will determine the final outcome. Point’s leader Cycle Specialties had a crash on the 1st lap of the re-start for the last red-flag with enough damage to the machine they could not continue and Ghetto Customs who had maintained a lead throughout the race took the class win and gained some valuable points on Cycle Specialties who had to settle for 4th in Class.

On Sunday the riders in the Michelin/WERA National Challenge did not let anyone down. The stage had been set on Friday and proved to be even better on Sunday. The mini races started the day’s racing with Aaron Harned taking the 50cc win and young phenom Michael Scott winning the 80cc Class. Open Superstock saw a come from behind win by Jeff Wood on his Suzuki 1000 and Novice multiple winner, Jimmy Merck on his 750 Suzuki taking the win. Jay Scott Quick took his Kawasaki 600 took victory in the 600 Superstock Novice race and Taylor Knapp too the Expert win in the 600 Superstock. 750 Superstock Novice was Merck’s second win and Opie Calyor did not disappoint on Sunday taking a 6.446 second win over Jeff Wood in the 750 Superstock Expert Class. Chris Parrish won the Lightweight Superstock Expert and Tryg Westby took the Novice win. In 600 Superbike Payton Sassaman won over his brother Brett by only 0.875 seconds with Roadracing World.com’s Kris Lee Turner taking third only 0.933 seconds behind Payton. Quick took his second win in 600 Superbike Novice. The Formula 2 Race gave Parrish his second first on Sunday and young Garrett Gerloff took his little Honda 125 to victory for the Formula 2 Novice race.

750 Superbike Expert saw Brett Sassaman take the win from his brother Payton with only a 0.559 second gap. Merck took another Novice win in the 750 Superbike Class. The final race of the day was the Formula 1 race and the top 4 riders ran close for the entire race with Jeff Wood coming out on top of the box with Taylor Knapp second and Robert Jensen rounding out the top three. It was good safe close racing all weekend.

Round #9 will run in conjunction with the prestigious WERA Grand National Finals and Suzuki Sup Series Finals at Road Atlanta over the October 8th through 12th weekend. This will be the most action packed weekend for the racers of WERA Motorcycle Roadracing.