Jeff Pate leads a WERA C Superbike race at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway in March of 1990. Among those chasing Pate are Kevin Rentzell (running second) and Billy Eisenacher (No. 75), who both got around eventually finishing first and second. Pate took third. It was an outstanding performance for Pate, who was probably running one of his first races as an expert. The season before as a novice he won two AMA/CCS National road race titles at Daytona. A couple of months after this photo was taken Pate scored a top-10 AMA 600 Supersport finish at Road Atlanta.
Jeff Pate leads a WERA C Superbike race at Talladega Gran Prix Raceway in March of 1990. Among those chasing Pate are Kevin Rentzell (running second) and Billy Eisenacher (No. 75). This was heady stuff for Pate who was getting his first taste of racing in the expert class. (Larry Lawrence photo)
Rider Files 
I knew Jeff back in the day. He did a bit of motocross before trying roadracing. He won his novice championships after just a handful of novice races. As you say, Larry, he was quickly up to speed and running with the fast guys in the expert class. He had a lot of potential, but got screwed when trying to purchase a brand new TZ250. That took the wind out of his sails and he never raced again. He is successful and has a great family today, however.
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Scott, Thanks for filling in the story of Jeff. He sure did move up the road race ladder quickly.
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