CanCup Summer Sizzler Weekend Recap June 20-21
It doesn’t matter what you were doing or where you were this weekend, if you weren’t at Grand Bend Motorplex this weekend for the Hully Gully Summer Sizzler all bike weekend, you missed out.
This was the weekend of all weekends for motorcycle drag racing with several people smashing personal bests and a whole truck load of firsts for many of our riders. We also had the pleasure of seeing two ground shaking, face burning, tire shredding Nitro Harleys make a bunch of passes during the weekend and if you never seen those bikes run, you need to put it on your bucket list cause they are amazing to watch. Friday night seen Attila Bradley pull off another personal best on his old 93 swb zx-6 when he ran an 11.37@118mph, but in his typical space cadet fashion, he forgot to fuel his bike up for his backup run, ran it dry by the 1/8th and it gently stopped rolling by the ET shack. Needless to say after pushing that heavy old bike down the rest of the track in full leathers, he was done for the night. Greg Legge also had a personal best Friday night when he tore his zx-14 thru the top end and putting a 8.92 on the board, we’ve never seen someone so excited and happy.
Saturday seen an amazing turn out with over 130 bikes entered across all the classes including bikes built from the best shops in Ontario such as Rcc Turbos, Frankenstein, Motorcycles Inc. (Manovich) Champion Cycle and Lil’ Hope Racing. Saturday was also the running of the 17th annual Kevin Blackmore Memorial trophy. The CanCup is a huge supporter of the KBM trophy and made our Disciplined Tuning Pro ET riders compete in it. Don’t worry tho, we keep track of what our riders did so the Disciplined Tuning Tuning Pro ET members could still collect points for the points chase. The KBM Trophy seen a full field of 16 bikes and the competition was stiff. With the hot humid air it was definitely going to be a battle to have one of their names put on that trophy, especially with world known riders in the chase like 2 Time National Champion Dan Cryderman, Ape Raceparts Crazy 8’s defending Champion Randy Hope and Several Time World Champion Mike Konopacki. Josie Brooks made her presence known when she ran her bar bike to an astonishing 7.94 in the quarter mile with a mind blowing 1.0 60′, but sadly had to back out when she hurt the motor later in the day. Josie said she’ll have the motor fixed and be back out to dominate later in the season. Randy Hope lined up against Mike Konopacki half way through the day and it was an amazing race. Everyone’s money was on Mike cause, well… he’s Mike Konopacki, but Randy Hope wasn’t going to have any of that when he ended up hat tricking Mike by taking the light, pushing him under his dial and also crossing the line first. Just doing that alone is a huge victory but the day wasn’t over yet, Randy had to keep his head in the game if he was going to win the trophy that he has been chasing for 17 years. Randy ended up in the finals lined up against Mark Catenzaro who isn’t an easy rider to beat. Randy got the light on Mark but Mark ended up taking the win light with a 9.566 on his 9.56 dial and Randy fell a bit short of his 8.88 dial with a 8.91.
The No Bar Open seen epic battles all day and riders going wfo in qualifying to try and push the index down as far as they could. Hot humid air was a huge factor on Saturday causing the index for eliminations to be 8.69. It ended up being a Motorcycles Inc. vs. Lil Hope Racing final when Michael Barclay lined up against Dan Storms. Mike just barley got the tree on Dan with a .080 light to Dan’s .081 and never looked back to take the win with an 8.792@146.24mph to Dan’s 8.83@153.98mph.
APE Raceparts Crazy 8’s was no exception for excitement and with the best built bikes from all over Ontario, you didn’t know who was going to win till the win lights came on and most of them were won at the tree. Brant Rossi had a close call when his motor decided to let go during his race against Dan Storms. It was a hair raising moment when his bike disappeared in a cloud of smoke at the 1000′, but Brant being the extremely talented rider he is was able to keep the bike on it’s wheels and was able to get over to the side of the track safely. High 5 to Brant for keeping it up and we wish your bike a speedy recovery. The finals came down to two zx-14’s, a small block and a big block both built by Lil’ Hope Racing. It was a close race with Randy Hope winning on the tree with a 0.056 to Dan Storms 0.092. Dan made a valiant effort trying to chase Randy down running a 8.943 @149 mph to Randy’s 8.975 @ 150mph but it wasn’t enough to take the stripe first.
Two heavy weight Street Fighters squared off in the final round of Street Fighter 9.50 on Saturday with Rob Rock in the left lane and Tyler Priddle in the right. Rob got the tree on Tyler with a .090 light and was able to stay in front as Tyler wasn’t able to pull around him in the top end. When the race was over Rob got the win light running a 9.603@125.15mph to Tyler’s 9.58@137.67mph cause of his .229 light.
The 9.99 seen a returning winner Stuart Bell face off against new comer Landon Swain. Landon got the light on Stu with a .164 but Stu stayed right there with him cutting a .198 and chased him all the way down the track pushing Landon under with a 9.925@122.89mph. Stuart got the win light with a very hard to beat 10.044@129.18mph.
The 10.99 had returning winner Shane Yeoman who faced off against new comer Darlina Bell who was the number one qualifier for the day. Dar ended up going a bit faster with an 11.29@123.33mph but as usual, Shane chopped the tree down with an .183 compared to Dar’s .255 and took the win running a 11.35@120.61mph
Street ET seen one of it’s biggest turn outs ever with 24 bikes all shooting for that beloved trophy. After a long day of round after round Al Osborne and Karen Hope survived the longest. Once again this race was won at the tree when Karen Hope cut a .129 light and ran an 9.85@133.76mph on her 9.80 dial while Al Osborne ran a 10.20@133.29mph on his 10.15 dial with a .165 light.
Saturday was an amazing day and we want to thank everyone who came out and supported the CanCup. Without you, the riders, our series wouldn’t be as great as it is. We would also like to thank the CanCup girls for coming out Saturday and having their pictures taken with everyone and putting everyone in a great mood. A huge shout out to our sponsors A Better Plumbing Company., The Photoguys, Ape Raceparts, Disciplined Tuning, Fast Track Performance, Nerd Pickle, Lil Lil’ Hope Racing, Lil Hope Photos for the winner circle pics and Rev Grafix for making our stickers.
 We didn’t quite have the 130 bike turn out on Sunday as we did on Saturday but we had just as much, if not more excitement than Saturday. With light cloud cover and great air it was the perfect day for making power and going fast. Personal bests were set by some of our members again on Sunday when Karen Hope stole her husband’s zx-14 and ran a 9.19 in the quarter. Randy was jumping up and down with excitement at the starting line when her number came up on the board but he should be careful though, cause it won’t be long until Karen starts taking the APE Crazy 8’s trophy from him.
Our youngest member Hanna Storms, who is only 17 had an incredible day on Sunday as well, even though she was knocked out of The 9.99 earlier in the day. Later Sunday afternoon when things started to slow down, Hanna was making some test and tune passes and then pulled off an amazing personal best when she ran an 9.85 and was consistently running 150mph all afternoon. Congratulations Hanna! We’re all proud of you and your definitely following in your father’s footsteps, it won’t be much longer until you start taking trophies home with you at the end of the weekend.
Disciplined Tuning Pro ET was no exception for excitement when Todd Hope snagged the #1 qualifier spot as he ran his beautiful Napa GS drag bike through the top end with a time of 8.21. The Discipling Tuning Pro ET seen an all GS final when Todd Hope faced off against his toughest competitor Al Caron, but it was Todd’s day when he ended up winning himself another CanCup trophy. We look forward to our next event to see if Todd can win his third Disciplined Tuning Pro ET, or if he will get knocked off his podium by Al.
The No Bar Open seen Dan Storms pull off an amazing personal best in qualifying when he ran an astonishing 8.475 @160.94mph and when he stopped at the ET Shack and seen his time slip he jumped off his bike and was dancing all over the place. Thanks to Dan and his 8.475, the No Bar Open Index for the day was 8.65 which meant everyone was going to be running wfo. It was an all Kawi final with Dan Storms on his Lil Lil’ Hope Racing built zx-14 vs. Mike Michael Barclay on his Motorcycles Inc. built zx-14, both running big blocks and both more than capable of running the number. It was a close race but Dan took the win light from Mike and earned himself the beloved No Bar Open trophy to display on his mantle.
During a short intermission towards the end of the day there was a pit bike race to the 330′ which turned out to be quite the entertaining show with all the riders wearing full leathers on mini bikes. Randy Hope with his stunt bike background was trying to show off to the crowd when he did an endo on a mini bike that he borrowed from his friend Tyler Priddle and ended up bailing “I let go of the front brake but the rear end never came back down.” Being the guy he his, he got up and bowed to the cheering crowd, picked the bike up and rolled into the beams. Dan Storms was on a mini bike he borrowed from Michael Barclay and was doing doughnuts in the burnout box and ended up facing the wrong way. Laughing he picked the bike up, turned it around and lined up in the beams. Rob Rock was no exception to the mini bike shenanigans. While doing a full grudge style burn out, his tire suddenly hooked and launched the bike out from under him. Luckily he was able to hold on to the bars and kept complete control of the bike bringing both wheels safely back to the ground. Feeling that the rear tire had sufficient grip, he rolled into the beams. We don’t know who won the mini bike challenge and we really don’t care cause it was just too much fun to watch grown men fool around on bikes meant for 5 year olds. A huge thank you goes out to Grand Bend Motorplex for letting us have the mini bike challenge, it was good to feel like we were kids again.
The excitement continued with the Ape Raceparts Crazy 8’s when the final came down to Randy Hope on his small block zx-14 who was lining up against Mike Lalande on his big block zx-14, a true David and Goliath race. When the lights came down Randy got the hole shot but Mike and his big block were able to pull around him towards the top end making it look like the race was his to win. With Mike in the lead and pulling on Randy he chopped a little bit to much in fear of breaking out and Randy was able to clip him at the line with a 8.91 to Mike’s 8.95 making Randy a back to back APE Crazy 8’s winner for the weekend.
Street Fighter 9.50 seen epic races all day and as usual most of them being won at the tree. The closest race of the day was between Karen Hope and new comer to the series Landon Swain. Landon got the hole shot on Karen but she was able to catch him and pull by him only to end up breaking out of the 9.50 index earning Landon the win light. What was impressive about this race was the time slip, with Karen and Landon crossing the finish line at the exact same time, .0000. Yeah no shit, 4 zeros. We have never seen anything like that ever and we’ll post the slip to prove we’re not crazy. The final ended up being an all Suzuki final with new comer Landon Swane on his GSXR 1000 facing off against his friend Rob Rock on his Hayabusa. When the lights came down, Rob didn’t care that he was racing his friend and took off like a bat outta hell and never looked back. It was Rob Rock all the way and ended up taking the win light and scored himself the Street Fighter trophy for the day. Even though Landon didn’t win the Street Fighter trophy he still had an impressive day when he set a personal best running a 9.30 in the quarter, not bad for his first time out with the CanCup. Congrats Landon! We look forward to seeing you out again at our next event and hopefully you can go even faster.
The 9.99 final came down to Jeff Beerwort on his beautifully built zx-12 who faced off against Jason Brown and his leopard fur covered GSXR 1000, or the “furbusa” as we call it. Jason had quite the trying weekend when he ended up performing an engine swap in his trailer during the weekend when the new motor he put in only days before went south on him. “It sounded like it was full of quarters so I had to change it out.” said Jason. All that hard work payed off when Jason ended up taking the win light against Jeff in the final. With a big smile on his face and a trophy stuffed with cash in his hand, his weekend was worth all the hard late night work.
Street ET seen a large field ranging from new comers trying to figure out what their bike was running to veterans who were looking to shark other riders and get extra laps in on their bike. Battle after battle only two remained at the end of the day, Tyler Priddle with his Hayabusa and Shane Yeoman on his GSXR 750. Like every other Street ET final so far this year it ended with Shane taking the win light over Tyler and going home with yet another trophy. Shane Yeoman has been untouchable all year so far and has started running away with the points lead. We were joking with him that he’s going have to start driving his car to the races as opposed to riding his bike just so he can take all his trophies home with him at the end of the weekend. Just an amazing guy and incredible racer, definitely not someone to take lightly cause he will put you back on the trailer if you line up against him.
That’s all for the Weekend Recap. We apologize for making everyone wait so long, we have full time jobs just like everyone else and sometimes you just have one of those weeks at work like we did this week.
We want to send out a super huge thank you to our sponsors APE Raceparts for sponsoring the Crazy 8’s, Disciplined Tuning for sponsoring the Pro ET class. The ThePhotoGuys.ca for their amazing pictures and always making us look good. Nerd Pickle for making sure our website looks great and doesn’t crash. A Better Plumbing Company. for providing trophies to the winners and doing endless leg work, paper work and writing these weekend recaps. Fast Track Performance in Dorchester for providing us with the Kawasaki sign up tent. 5th Wheel Training Institute (www.5thwheeltraining.com) for the insulated lunch bag to keep our drinks cold during the hot days. Grandbend Grand Bend Motorplex for providing an excellent track and place for us to play, huge koodos to your staff for everything they do. The track prep was amazing and letting us race mini bikes down the track just proves how great you guys are. Karen Hope for managing sign up during the weekend, we don’t know how you keep track of everything but we love you for it. Randy Hope for starting CanCup and creating the greatest drag racing series around. And finally we want to send a huge huge thank you to you, the riders and spectators for coming out and making this series great. Without you, the CanCup wouldn’t be what it is.
We look forward to seeing everyone at our next event July 18-19 at Toronto Motorsports Park. Until then, go fast, take chances and don’t get caught.
