CHAMPIONSHIP CUP SERIES

[singlepic id=616 w=320 h=240 mode=web20 float=left]The Championship cup series, known as CCS, kicked off the 2007 Southwest Region Series January 20-21. The CCS Southwest Region is under new ownership from Randy and Heidi Stem of Phoenix who did a fantastic job running the events over the previous years. The CCS Southwest region was bought by Jack Frost. It’s no joke, just a striking coincidence and that would include the snow flurries received Sunday after the race. Just another coincidence. Mr. Frost has kept Randy and Heidi on board to assist in running the events for the 2007 season; we are all looking for great things in the local Road Racing community.

The weekend was looking great for the racers and fans for Saturday’s practice complete with decent weather. The CCS opening event brought out some recognizable locals that play on the AMA main stage; Scott Jensen (Phoenix) of JQ Motto, GPR Stabilizer’s & West Valley Machine, Johnny Rock Page (Scottsdale) riding for CGI Direct ATM, Rory Palmer of Evio Motor Sports & Triumph of Scottsdale, Kris Gilbert riding for Fast Lance Performance and a few others.

There were more nerves than usual coming out of Scott Jensen’s JQ Motto, GPR Stabilizer & West Valley Machine pit as he was tuning and testing a traction control device. Yes, traction control; you need it on a 200 HP motorcycle. Scott’s riding style proved to be a little trickier for the engineer than the device itself. Once they worked out some bugs and let Scott out of a choke hold, things went a little smoother in Sunday morning practice with Scott showing about .5 of a second off of race pace.

Sunday – Race Day

The day started out great for Lockhart Phillips, Cycle Gear sponsored rider Matthew Hepler as he won the Amateur Middleweight GP, followed by Kevin Nelson of Adrenalin Performance and Miguel Pacheco of EMR Performance rounding out the top three. Two of the top three, Nelson and Pacheco seemed to chase the front runner, Hepler most of the day. Hepler won 3 of the 5 races he entered for the day. The spot light was stolen from Hepler by Jace Wilhelmi in the Amateur Unlimited Super Sport race.

Later in the day, the “seasoned” racers take the track for the Formula 40 race (you need to be over 40 to enter this class). These guys may be climbing the hill but they do it at a fast pace dragging body parts and the motorcycle itself. The win went to Lenny Beckman of J6racing.com & AJ’s Performance with a 1:14.436 and a very close second was Kris Gilbert of Fast lance Performance with a 1:14.347 and rounding out the top three was the Gary King bike sponsored by Lockhart Phillips and AZ Track day

It came time for the Big Boys to have their playtime during the Expert Unlimited GP. It was time for the amateur road racers of CCS to get out a note book and take a seat. This is a class full of local talents that also race a difficult AMA season. The race win went to the JQ Motto, GPR Stabilizer, West Valley Machine sponsored rider, Scott Jensen running a best lap of 1:06.4 followed by Johnny Rock Page, CGI Direct ATM rider with a 1:07.6 and rounding out third place was Chad Rolland of 944 magazine and CGI ATM.

In Expert Unlimited Super Bike, there was no surprise on the winner of that race as the JQ Motto, GPR Stabilizer & West Valley machine team of Scott Jensen worked out most of the bugs on the traction control system. Scott Jensen then went on to win his second race of the day with a 1:08.7 which would be almost two seconds faster than the second place finisher, M. Ivan Garza of E.S.P. Dunlop & Hot bodies with a 1:10.45. Third place was rounded out by the Lockhart Phillips & Cycle Gear sponsored rider, Raymond Thibedeau with a 1:10.43

It was a great day full of fast bikes, cool people and new beginnings. With the help of Randy and Heidi Stem, Jack Frost will make this region very successful. Check the race schedule at www.roadracesw.com for great upcoming races and plan to be there! I want to give a huge ‘Thank You’ to Randy and Heidi Stem and Jack Frost for the wonderful hospitality. I also want to thank Joe Oli for fun times and letting me hang around his corner and get some great photos!

Special thanks goes out to Brian Gray of Wickedmag.com Extreme Motorsports for the opportunity to cover this event and get some recognition to the local sport!

Photo and Story
Michael Houp
www.houpphotography.com