redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted July 21, 2005 10:14 PM
CMRA kicks butt at AMA RRGC in Mid Ohio
Just a few years ago, CMRA was under the umbrella of CCS/Formula USA. When the BoD of CMRA chose to break away from CCS and a year later, drop Pace Trailers as their main underwriting sponsor, folks said that they would never make it. Most figured that CMRA and their four lil' ole tracks would either be absorbed by WERA or come begging back to CCS to take CMRA back under their wing.
Well, it appears that all those nay sayers were wrong. In the past two years, CMRA membership has probably doubled and has been producing some of the fastest club level riders in the country. Not that this is really something new. CMRA and earlier versions of it can lay claim to riders such as Doug Polen, Colin Edwards, John Kocinski, The Hayden boys, Ben Spies and a host of others. CMRA can also claim to be the home of the current USGPRU 125cc class national points leader with Will Gury. This is his first full season in the USGPRU and his points lead is almost double of the nearest rider.
Each year, AMA holds the Sports Road Race Grand Championships at Mid Ohio. Over 600 riders come from WERA, CCS/Formula USA, CRA, AFM, CMRA and a host of other regional racing organizations to determine who really is the "Best of the Best" in 27 classes of motorcycle racing. In 2003, AMA introduced the Sports Club Challenge. in the Challenge, each club chooses three expert-level riders who will be competing in the six premier classes. WERA won it the first year and CMRA took it in 2004. WERA won it back this year, but they had to have a CMRA rider on their team to do it. CMRA finished a close second, just 4 points back. CCS finish a distant third, 27 points behind the CMRA team.
In a article on the AMA website, they said of this year's event... "If racing motorcycles talked with an accent, they'd be singing with a southern twang at the AMA Road Race Grand Championships.". Over the course of the event, CMRA riders were on the podium 16 time, with 11 of them were first place. Overall, CMRA riders were in the top 10 for a total of 38 times. Not too shabby seeing how CMRA only had 17 riders there. Still, the "boy to beat" was not multi track record holder, Ty Howard, but an unknown from Harrison, Arkansas who just started racing two years ago. The 24 year old Arkansas native entered nine novice races and won every one of them by margins ranging from two seconds to a whooping THIRTY SEVEN SECONDS! He also walked away with the first annual Top Novice Award by setting a standard that will be very hard to duplicate anytime soon.
So when guys in WERA, CCS or AFM think they are fast, they need to come on down and pay a visit to us rednecks in CMRA. The normally humble Cory said of his wins in a interview that it's no surprise, given the level of competition at CMRA events down in Texas and Oklahoma. "It's very tough," says Burleson. "If you come down there, you'd better bring a lunch. Those guys are tough." I can't speak for Cory, but I know the BMR boys prefer roast beef in their lunches. I can say this for the majority of novice riders in CMRA and probably the majority of the novices that were at Mid Ohio.... we're just glad as Hell that Cory will be moving up to Expert next year.
WAY TO KICK ASS CMRA!
   
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