Toyota Cup Willow Springs race summary 2003-06-15

ROSAMOND, CA -- Jeremy Toye faced one of the most significant challenges to his reign atop the point standings at Willow Springs Raceway this weekend as North Hollywood's Stoney Landers demonstrated his keen skills and a bike that finally seemed to have found its groove in a race that marked the midway point in the Toyota Cup Formula One series.

Edging out an early lead, Landers and Toye fought head-to-head throughout the first third of the race. According to Landers his bike was performing better than ever, having resolved a headshake that had plagued the rider in early outings.

"We were turning solid 22's, and the bike still had more to give," says Landers. "My problems began in the 4th lap when I ran wide in turn three and Jeremy opened up a lead. Then in turn 5, I was riding low, trying to make up lost time and scraped some hard parts, the rear spun out and I lost it."

Landers held on and was able to keep the bike from flipping, avoiding serious injury to himself or significant damage to the bike.

"My knee's a little banged up, but I'm OK," noted Landers philosophically. "If it weren't for my titanium wedding band that took the brunt of scraping as I held on, my hand would have been pretty messed up."

Stoney pledges that he and his bike will be back in the thick of things, once again challenging Toye at their next outing July 20th.

With Landers out of the running by mid-race, Toye avoided further conflicts and managed to achieve his 6th consecutive win in the yearlong series.

"If he keeps this up, we may have to rename the series the 'Toye-ota Cup'" claims Willow Springs track manager Stephanie Huth.

Both Las Vegas based Jeff Stern and rising star Corey Eaton of Placerville managed to improve their standings with second and third place respective finishes in this double-point event.

Rounding out the top ten finishers in order were John Pearson of Chula Vista, Dale Kieffer of Las Vegas, Chris Ulrich of Lake Elsinore, Clinton Whitehouse of Bakersfield, Tyler Paulson of Silverado, local favorite Skye Girard from Palmdale and Curtis Adams of Whittier.

Nine out of the ten top riders rode Suzuki cycles. The three top finishers, as well as Landers were on Dunlop tires.

The Toyota Cup Unlimited Series is a yearlong calendar of events sanctioned by the Willow Springs Motorcycle Club. These high-charged, unlimited Formula 1 races lead up to the grueling Toyota 200 race to be held October 19th. Here top riders will compete for a $150,000 purse with the winner taking home $50,000, one of the richest rewards in motorcycle road racing.

This world-class event is timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the famed Willow Springs International Raceway. Founded in the fall of 1953, the track has been under the ownership of Bill Huth for over 40 years and has hosted many legendary racers.

The next round of the Toyota Cup will be held July 18-20th and will include a special 50-mile Solo Race on Saturday July 19th. Testing and tuning day for both street riders and club certified racers will be held Friday, July 18th. Admission to the weekend-long event including pit passes and camping privileges is only $10/person. For more information, please call (661) 256-2471.

-wsmc-