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Top Novice goes undefeatedThere could be no doubt about who earned the inaugural Top Novice Award at the 2005 AMA Road Race Grand Championships. Any wisp of doubt was been blown into the gravel traps at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by the wind off of Cory Burleson's Suzukis. For a guy who just took up road racing a little more than a year ago, Burleson swept through the field in dominating fashion. Number 909 went nine-for-nine: He entered nine novice-class races and won all of them, by margins ranging from a couple of seconds to more than 37 seconds. What made the Harrison, Arkansas racer's first visit to the Grand Championships even more special was that it represented a return to the site where his roadracing ambitions were born. A motocross racer as a boy, Burleson attended a round of the AMA Superbike Championships as a fan with his wife a few years ago, and left saying to himself, "I could do that. I know I could." For the past year, Burleson has been traveling to Texas to race in the competitive Central Motorcycle Roadracing Association events. This year, he returned to Mid-Ohio to race, not spectate. "When I showed up here this week, I had no idea I would do this good," he said. "But this is what I came for," he added, pointing to his small forest of trophies. As the first-ever winner of the Top Novice award, Burleson set a record that will be hard to beat. But other newcomers can not only be inspired by Burleson's example, but can also take solace in knowing that he'll have to race the Expert classes at next year's AMA Road Race Grand Championships.
© 2005, American Motorcyclist Association |
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July 18-20, 2005
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