Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

M ike Kiedrowski (4 ) and Shaun Kalos battle for second in the first 250cc Pro moto . Kied rowski stayed ahead and ended the day second overall. r Broc Glover f in ished t hi rd overa ll in t he 250cc Pro class. Kyle Lewis was the overall winner in the 250cc Pro class and m issed w inning the 125cc division when he crashed in the f irs t moto. Lewis, Naughton top Pros at Kyle Fleming Memorial MX By'Troy Scott BLYTHE, CA, NOV. 15 Kyle L ewis and Robert Naughton were the 250 and l 25cc P ro class winners, respective ly, at the 5th Annual Kyle Flem ing Memorial motocross race at Blyth e Raceway. Lewis nearly swept both classes when he won both 250cc P ro motos and finis hed first in the second 125cc P ro 24 mota , but a crash while running third in th e fir st l25cc rac e knocked him out of th e mota. Naughton won that moto and finished third in the second round to take the overall win. Over 6'00 riders descended on Blythe, a small community near; the Californ ia-Arizona border , to co mpete for cas h and awards o ffered by over 100 sp o ns ors of th e even t. Each year th e race is he ld in memory of Bruce Bunch, Kyle Fleming and Ri ck . Hemm e, three promisin g young mini ra cers who were killed in an a u to a cc iden t se vera l ye a rs ago during th e Grand National Championships at Ponca City, Oklahoma. The large numb er of entri es required severa l classes to be split into divisions . with a race format much like a Nati onal co m pe ti tio n with qu alifi ers a n d la st cha nce qualifier s used with no points ca rried to th e main. So me riders had to race as i man v as fou r tim es just to make it in to th e.main event. while o thers in sma ller classes we re mo re fo rt una te an d were sco red o n the tw omot o sys tem . Am ong th e many loca l 250cc Pro r ide rs was Yamaha' s multi-tim e Nat io na l MX cha m p io n Bro c Glover who co mpeted in hi s fir st race since breaking h is lower leg la st March a t th e H angtown Na tional. Gl over rode co nsiste n tly a n d fin ish ed third overa ll w ith a 7-5 tall y. When th e ga te dropped for th e fir st 125cc P ro m ota Silkol en e/ Ara i! Gea r-s po ns o red Naugh ton surged into th e lead a nd was closely fo llo wed by Sha u n Kal a s, Lewis, Kerry Mulli gan a nd Chris Young. The order staye d th e sa me for three laps un til Lew is bailed. Lewis had ca ug h t Kal a s a n d h ounded th e Yamaha pilot unt il a sa ndy berm go i th e best o f Lewi s a nd sen t hi mend o ver end in four spectac tu la r flips. L ewis took his time getting up but was un hurt, but retired a fter th e third lap. This bumped everyo ne up a no tch, a nd a fter th e fourth lap everyo ne but Bad er Manneh, who was running fifth , see med co ntent with th eir po sition. By lap five Manneh wa s ab le to move into fourth a nd was sti ll cha rg in g , whi le Mike Kiedrowski was also on th e move and had just bro ken into the top five. By the sixth la p Mann eh had moved into thir b y-getti ng by Mull igan , bu t he d id n't have eno ug h tim e to ca tch Kal a s. On the last lap Kied ro wski was a lso ab le to slip past Mull igan , making the fini shin g o rder Na ughton , Kal a . ,' Manneh , Kied ro wski a nd Mull igan . Lewis was simply gone when the ga te fell for th e second mot a. Young was in for seco nd whi le Kied ro wski; ' Nau ghton a nd Manneh gave chase." With Lewi s ge tt ing way o u t fro nt earl y, th e o n ly changes that came ab out d idn 't occur unti l th e sixth lap wh en a hard-charging Kied ro wski finally nipped Young a nd moved into seco nd . Young see me d to j ust keep fading as Naughton a nd Ma n " neh a lso moved bv. At the end Lew is took the win wi th' a n in e-second lead ' ov er Kied ro wski a nd Na ughto n . Manneh en ded up d roppin g o ut of th e moto, giving fourth pl ace to Young. Naughton took -th e o vera ll viCtory via hi s 1-3 tall y 'wh ile Kied rowski en ded as" th e runner-tip. Young's 6-. 4 sco re was good for third overa ll , whil e Kal os fini sh ed ninth i n the'! seco n d m ot o for fourth o vera ll. 1 At th e sta rt o f th e fir st 250cc P ro I m ot o Bill y Frank g ra bbed th e hol esho t a head o f Bri an P ryo r, Kalos.! Lewi s and Yamaha-mounted Scou t Brown. Pryo r wa s havin g problem s I keepin g th e p ace up front and beg an to fall back . Frank was riding stro ng ' o u t in th e lead as was Lew is, who was movin g in o n both Kal as and Fr ank. A few mo ments lat er Lewis was in fo r seco nd, making th e to p five Fran k, Lew is, Kal a s. Pryo r and Kied rowski . I I , Lewi s sta rted charging hard on Frank a nd th e two m oved ahead o f th e field. Going a t an inc red ible pa ce Fr ank sudde n ly bobb led th en began , to d rasticall y fall o ff th e pace. " I wa s tr yin g rea l hard to hold him I (Lewis) o ff and my kn ee p o p ped and I th at was i t," sa id Frank. I L ewis th us wen t into th e lead and cru ised o u t front. Kal as a nd Kiedro wski th en we nt into a battle that la sted three laps and both riders were never more than a few inch es a part . ~ Kiedrowski fin a lly got by and fro m th en on th e race was about over. Lewis fin ish ed wa y ou t front fol- I lowed by Kiedrowski and Kalas. Pryor was in a so lid fourth while Naughton took fifth . , At th e .sta rt of moto tw o Kiedrowski nailed th e holeshot but Lewis got under him through tlie first tum and took command from that point I

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