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NAS-TRACK Team Race #3
Rochester Hills, Michigan, July 9, 2004
Canadian-American combo wins Race 3
Taylor Martin became a marked man Friday night, when the 21-year-old Canadian sprinted over the field to win with his partner Pio Apostoli the third race in the series of NAS-TRACK Team Racing, held at 7 p.m. Friday, July 9 at the Velodrome at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Eight two-man teams lined up at the rail as special guest for the evening, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, rang the starting bell.
Martin and Apostoli, together as Team Blue, were one of three Canadian-American combines that included NAS-TRACK’s first woman team racer Julia Bradley of Toronto, teamed with Dave Koesel of Livonia as Team Neon and, as Team Black, Rob Good of Toronto, paired this week with Nick Laughton of Rochester Hills.
But it was the all-American Team Orange of Tony Bruley, Rochester Hills, and Cullen Watkins, Royal Oak, that put the hurt to the racers as Team Orange used their intimidating endurance to initiate jam after jam. Not only did Team Orange, with Bruley in charge, wear down the contenders they forced teams to re-evaluate their strategy as the race unfolded. For the winning Team Blue, Apostoli went to a man-on-man defense, chasing down Bruley’s wheel every time he tried to put distance between himself and the field. With Bruley under control, Martin would come in off relief fresh for the sprints when there were points on the line.
"Really, Pio did all the work," acknowledged Martin. "He did the long, hard pulls and I came in to sprint."
Twice Martin emerged from mid-pack to pass everyone on the 44 degree banked velodrome, picking up first place points in the midway sprint of the 100 lap Madison and then again, at the final sprint which also had bonus points on the line.
In that final effort, Martin jumped out of turn two, accelerating out of the saddle to overtake Team Black's Laughton in the back straight and then, in the middle of the final turn, Team Pink's Jim Houston for the win. It was Martin ’s second NAS-TRACK race and his power and speed astounded his competition and awed the spectators, more than 500 of them crowded on the velodrome’s tiered hillside.
The fans, growing in number each week, were also dazzled by the performance of NAS-TRACK’s youngest racer 16-year-old Luke Cavendar of Troy. Paired with the comparative veteran Andre Champoux of Ypsilanti, Cavendar showed his stuff on several occasions including the initiation of a jam at 15 laps to go in the 100 lap event. Cavendar’s move, on top of those by Team Orange, sealed the fate of teams who succumbed to the pressure of repeated efforts and found themselves being lapped by the leaders.
In the end, it was Team Blue winning it with 81 points; in second, Team Pink of Jim Houston and Ronnie Sink, with 68 points; Team Black in third with 60. Team Orange and Team Purple each earned 59 points but Team Orange won fourth by placing ahead of Team Purple in the final event.
NAS-TRACK’s Friday Night Race is an omnium, with two-rider teams earning points in five events -- including two 1-mile sprints, a miss and out, a 50 lap Madison Team Race and a 100 lap Madison Team Race. In the team race, the partners utilize a hand sling to exchange places with each other about every 40 second, while racing at speeds up to 42 mph. Madison Team Racing will be seen in the Olympics in Greece this August.
All the racers, re-paired with different team mates, are back on the track next Friday for the fourth in the NAS-TRACK Team Racing series that continues every Friday in July. Race action starts at 7 p.m. It can also be seen at 11 p.m. Saturdays on PBS-DPTV Ch. 56 in Detroit in a half hour show that includes race action and up close and personals with the NAS-TRACK Teams. Last week, more than 45,000 viewers tuned in.
NAS-TRACK Team Racing is run by its Chairman Dale Hughes and occurs exclusively at the Velodrome at Bloomer Park in Rochester Hills, the only bicycle track of its kind in North America. At the conclusion of the Friday Night series, the NAS-TRACK Team Racing season continues with the Detroit 6 Day from August 10-15th.
For more information, contact Hughes at 248-961-3705 or visit www.nas-track.com
Results
1 Team Blue, Pio Apostili, Toledo & Taylor Martin 81 pts 2 Team Pink , Ronnie SInk, Rochester & Jim Houston 68 3 Team Black, Nick Laughton, Rochester Hills & Rob Good 60 4 Team Orange,Tony Bruley, Rochester Hills & Cullen Watkins 59 5 Team Purple.Andre Champoux, Ypsilanti & Luke Cavendary 59 6 Team Red, Terry Palmer, Macomb Twp. & Ray Dybowski 39 7 Team Tan, Eric Chase, Royal Oak & Dave Teal 32 8 Team Neon, Dave Koesel, Livonia & Julia Bradley 31 Overall rider standings after 3 races 1 Pio Apostili 215 pts 2 Ronnie Sink 203 3 Andre Champoux 193 4 Tony Bruley 187 5 Dave Koesel 187 6 Rob Good 175 7 Ray Dybowski 166 8 Jim Houston 160 9 Dave Teal 142 10 Rob Akers 142 11 Nick Laughton 130 12 Cullen Watkins 119 13 Taylor Martin 110 14 Paul Jaqua 63 15 Steve Geerligs 35 16 Eric Chase 32 17 Julia Bradley 31 18 Luis Bernhart 28 19 Jon Hughes 24
