TOOELE — Few competitors could match the disappointment that Salt Lake City racer Dylon Husband felt at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend.
As one of five racers to earn a wild-card selection into the undercard World Supersport Championship race in the seventh round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship, Husband envisioned using a good performance on his home track as a launching pad for bigger and better things.
Those visions faded before an unpleasant reality where a mechanical failure on his Kawasaki motorcycle doomed Husband before he could take a single lap. After discovering there was a problem on Saturday morning, Husband and his team worked feverishly through the weekend trying to figure out how to get his vehicle in working condition in time to qualify for Monday's race.
But they could not discover what was causing the bike to fail and, as a result, Husband did not qualify for a spot in the final race.
"We didn't get to turn one lap on the track all weekend," Husband said.
With a chance to run on his home track now gone, Husband plans to start fresh by building a brand new motorcycle and using the current one as a backup once the mechanical problem within it is resolved.
The way things played out left Husband devastated.
"I don't have words to really express how I feel at this point," Husband said. "I had a lot of high hopes and I really think I could have opened a lot of doors and a lot of eyes for myself and our team."
TURKISH DOMINATION: After coming from behind to take the lead in the final lap for a victory at Miller Motorsports Park a year ago, Turkish racer Kenan Sofuoglu once again claimed the top spot on the podium in the World Supersport Championship.
Sofuoglu, who earned pole position in qualifying a day earlier, beat out Irish racer Eugene Laverty by just 1.028 seconds to win in Utah for a second consecutive year. Ironically, it was Laverty who Sofuoglu edged out on the final lap a year ago when he won by a 0.368 second margin.
Laverty used a quick start to claim the initial lead and stayed in front for the first four laps before Sofuoglu overtook him in the fifth lap.
A quicker rally this time around became possible because of a motorcycle upgrade for Sofuoglu.
"My bike is even better than last year," Sofuoglu said. "My team (works) very hard. They know what to do exactly when we have a problem."
Sofuoglu extended his points lead in the World Supersport Championship standings. He now has 142 points, and Laverty is a close second with 136.
KNAPP TAKES GTO CROWN: Taylor Knapp capped off a fruitful weekend in the Lucas Oil Superbike Challenge by winning the GTO class race on Monday afternoon.
Knapp, who finished second in the GTU class race a day earlier, completed the 10-lap race in 19:56.539 minutes and came in 7.030 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Chris Peris.
The GTO race endured an hourlong delay and a restart when a full-course red flag came down late in the race.
e-mail: jcoon@desnews.com