Championship Implications at MIR
By: Jack Korpela
This weekend September
13th-14th will be an action-packed final round of the
Fast by Gast Super Bike Showdown Series from beautiful
Maryland International Raceway and it's loaded with
several championship implications.
Retirement-bound Outlaw
Pro Street icon, "Fast" Joe Long will look
to build upon his 108 point lead over a fast charging
Star-motored Angie McBride. Positions three through
six are separated only by a mere 99 points as Rusty
Johnson, Brad McCoy, Barry Greene, and Dave Norris have
all shown they have the performance to win races. Hometown
standout Robert Hunnicutt is also eager to get back
inside the top-five and should be tough to outperform
on his Legion of Doom Suzuki.
Doug Witt maintains the
points lead in the 60-Inch category, but not by much.
Sizzling hot, Mike "anything but" Slowe has
closed the gap to 54 points after reestablishing the
elapsed-time record and collecting a pair of semi-final
finishes at the last two races. At the AMA/Prostar 60-Inch
exhibition race in Atco, NJ, Slowe remarkably ran two
8.26s an 8.29, and an 8.30. Also, Vincent Demito, Greg
Mullis, and defending champ Johnnie "Airtime"
Locklear are still within striking distance of the top-spot.
240-pound plus Heavyweight
Hitter, John Vermeulen came one step closer to capturing
the year-end championship title belt by seizing the
points lead from an absent Shane Ratliff at the last
race. The tour's most recent winner, Ehren Litten is
currently third and has the potential to leave Budds
Creek with the lead.
As far as bracket racing
goes, MIR offers three distinct ET classes including
Superbike, Quick 32, and Street ET, all with hefty payouts.
$1,500 will be paid out to the victors in the Superbike
and Quick 32 classes, with the runner-ups taking home
$500. Superbike and Quick 32 champions will run off
for an extra $1,500, awarding the grand champion a total
of $3,000. Keep an eye out for perpetual class winner
Ronnie Procopio, and established veteran Andy Baumbach,
as both attempt to rebound off disappointing weekends
in Atco.
There will be an optional
test session Saturday morning from 10 am-2 pm. Three
rounds of qualifying are scheduled for Saturday afternoon,
with MIR's usual $1,000 gamblers race on Saturday night.
Sunday is the official start of the race, and remember
bracket racers, if you can't make it out on Saturday,
new entries are accepted on Sunday.
Of course, by popular demand
MIR will once again host the $1,000 Hot Body Bikini
Contest and the Stunt/Wheelie Showdown.
Don't miss out on a great weekend of racing and fun,
motorcycle festival-type atmosphere this weekend in
Budds Creek. For more information go to www.mirdrag.com
