Village Idiots Win CMRA 8 Hours Of Texas Endurance Race At Texas World Speedway
The Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association (CMRA) held its second event of the 2011 season at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas this past weekend. The 2.9 mile Super Speedway, which is located just a few miles away from Texas A&M University in central Texas, is a favorite venue for many of the CMRA racers because of its immense size and high speeds, and this past weekend proved that once again as 651 entries were on hand to turn some laps and enjoy the often cloudy and overcast skies but rain-free weather, complete with relatively mild temperatures at the historic Texas track.
Saturday’s race schedule featured Mini sprint races and the 8-Hours of Texas Big Bike Endurance race – the longest race on the CMRA’s 2011 schedule – sponsored by Shogun Motorsports / Brooks Gremmels, which paid a hefty $2500 cash purse. Although the race saw the usual number of crashes and mechanicals (and an unusually high number of thrown chains), it remained red flag-free for the duration, which allowed for some exciting battles between the 31 teams on the track. The top three teams
overall took turns leading the race at various times during the day, but when checkers flew it was the Yamaha YZF-R6 of perennial middleweight stalwarts, Village Idiots (John Orchard, Chris Headley, Brandon Cleland, Blake Cochran) who had logged over 730 race miles and bagged the win, taking home the biggest share of the prize money. While celebrating in the winner’s circle after the race, Village Idiot Chris Headley said, “A lot of people just don’t think a 600 can do well out here at Texas World because the track is so big and fast and tends to favor the faster 1000s, but I keep telling them that 600s really aren’t a disadvantage on this track; they’re easier to ride and easier on tires. I think we showed that today.” Rounding out the overall endurance podium was GMAN Racing (Harry Tomlinson, Garet Tomlinson, Michael Guillot) riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R, who finished one lap down on Village Idiots, and the KTM RC8 of Quadweath/SCRC (Ty Howard, Bryan West, Jeremy Louder, Derek Wagnon), who recovered from an earlier crash to take the last step on the podium, one lap down from GMAN Racing.
Sunday’s sprint racing took place in similar weather conditions as Saturday’s, but the events on the track couldn’t have been more opposite beyond that. Multiple crashes, red flags and transports for injured riders, and – you guessed it – even more tossed chains pushed the schedule far to the right. Eventually the 19 sprint races were completed and the fans and racers alike were treated to some hugely entertaining racing throughout the day. The biggest winner in the Expert division was Darrell “DJ” Ricks. Ricks, who calls Mandeville, Louisiana home, piloted his Suzuki SV650 to wins in the Formula 2 Expert, Lightweight Twins Expert and Superstock D Expert classes. Ricks saw his chance for a fourth sprint race win disappear when his rear shock broke before the start of the Superbike D Expert race. Ricks also claimed a win on Saturday, when his endurance team won their class. Of his stellar weekend, Ricks said, “It’s too bad about the broken shock, but, with some help, I was able to get it fixed and get back to racing. Other than that, the weekend went pretty good.”
In the Novice division, it was Rune Medhus who laid claim to the most glory. Medhus, a first year Novice with the CMRA, raced his Ducati 1198S to victories in four of his classes, OnRoad OffRoad Suspension – Superstock A Novice, Heavyweight Twins Novice, Formula 1 Novice and Formula 40 Heavyweight Novice.
The CMRA heads to Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas, on the weekend of April 29 – May 1 when the Mini endurance series will resume with their own Shogun Motorsports-sponsored 8-hour Endurance race. With a generous $2500 purse provided by Brooks Gremmels, the 8-Hour Mini Endurance should be a huge event with a great turnout. The Eagles Canyon weekend will also include a complete schedule of Mini and Big Bike sprint races. For more information about the CMRA, including detailed schedules and race results, visit: www.cmraracing.com.
