Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126995
.. ~ .. ,- .~ J'eff Murphy scored the victory in the 250cc Stock finished second Qverall in the Modified divi.sion. Murphy scores win at lCyleFleming Memorial Amateur Motocross Jeff Griffin (418) and Chip Young battle in the 125cc Modified Novice class. Young finished second overall and' Griffin was third. ,By Michael Ross fBL YTHE, CA, NOV. 14 Jeff Murphy rode a year-old Honda CR250 to the overall victory in' the 250cc Stock Novice class during ~he Beginner and Novice day of the 5th Annual Kyle Fleming Memorial at Blythe Raceway. Murphy also rode in three other classes bue failed to ... ' . . fImsh In the top posIttons due to numerous problems.. The event drew 645 entrIes from .11 states and was dedicated to promoting the sport of motocross, rewarding the participants and lendin~ a hlind to the less fortunate (a portl?n of eac~ entry went t~ the. Specral OlympIcs) while paymg tnbute. t() Bruce Bunch, Ky~e Flemmgand RICk Hemme! threeIDlnIcycle expert~ who were kIlled In an auto aCCldent several years ago durH~g the Grand N?1tlOnal ChampIOnshIps at Ponca CIty, Oklahoma. The first 250cc Stock Novi€e molO saw Murphy's Honda fjnd-the perfect combination of clutch and· throttle to lead the 26-rider pack to the first turn. TJ Frost, Charlie Flippin, Damon Burg and David Crabs followed in hot pursuit. Murphy led the next lap as Flippin' put Frost back to third with a daring outside pass. Burg then pressured Frost for a lap as Andy Brown moved through the pack after an eighth place start. Lap three saw Murphy still in the lead while Flipping moved to within striking distance. Berg held third but Dan Tistle moved in behind him. Brown was already up 10 fifth and sJill charging, while Frost faded back t. sixth. Murphy started 10 ease away from Flippin with perfectly executed leaps oyer the 45-foot-long double jump on the back side of the track, and continued to ease away and took the first moto win. Flippin had second I and backed down with a lap to go, endmg up second at the checkered. Tlstle trIed to pass Burg for tblrd, place and fell. He qUickly remounted but lost two positions. The checkered flag caught Burg charging in fourth ahead of Daryl Hawkins and Tistle. Tistle took the second moto holeshot but crashed before the end of the first lap, handing first to Burg. Burg had Murphy a.1I over him as the pair pulled away from the rest of the class. Flippin held third on lap three but was coming under series pressure from Brown and later Tistle, who was back on the gas after falling. With one lap 10 go" Burg looked secure in first and Murphy played it smart in second. "1 knew I had the overall wrapped up sol concentrated on finishing and not making any mistakes," said Murphy' after the moto. Flippin took the checkered flag in third to finish with third overall but Brown and Tistle continued to fight for fourth until the finish line. Brown led Tistle for most of the last lap but Tistle nailed the doubles to sail past the Yamaha rider and then held off his determined attempts 10 pass to score fourth at the flag for fifth overall. Brown took fifth at the finish for a 4-5 tally and u'ophied in fourth overall. The biggest and most competitive class was the ]25cc Stock Novice class. Race director Gaye Wineland broke up the class into two divisions with the top 12 from each moto transferring to the main event. A last chance qualifier race took the top three finishers. Division one ",inner Louie Romo, Tod Smith (692) leads 125cc Beginner winner ·Chris'Kefalas (33) and the rest of the pack through the first turn. Smith was second overall. on his Suri West and White Bro.therssponsored Yamaha, holeshot thestart and led every lap pulling away from second place finisher Jeff Griffin. Third and fourth went to' Jimmy Dyer from Yamaha of Tucson and Bryan Honden. Cole Gress took the Division Two holeshot hutfell back -to second when Gary Hedding romped past to take the lead and the win. Gress finished a close second with Earl Goudreau and Murphy in tow for third and fourth. Darren Donaldson led every Iap of the LCQ to make the main event with Steve Goslan and John Williams capturing the remaining transfer postions. Griffin sq ueezed off a perfect holeshot in the main event' to lead . lap one but Romo blasted past to lead lap two. Mike Lord took second from Griffin on that lap with Steve Goslan falling back to fourth after a second. place stan. The clutch on Murphy's KX slipped badly on the starting line, leaving him with a last place start. Murphy was up to ]5th by lap two and had 12th on the next lap but the clutch continued to act up. On lap four Murphy crashed hard off the doubles when his clutch refused to hook up for the launch. Up front Romo had the track wired and was easily pulling away. He had a four-second advantage by lap four over Lord. Hedding was nine seconds behind Lord and Griffin was within striking distance in ~ fourth. Jim Hale had his Suzuki in fifth after a lOth place start. When the checkered flag was thrown on lap five Romo took iJ. first with Lord, Heq.ding, Griffin, and Hale firiishing in that order. The 125cc Modified Novice class was another exciting race with Griffin taking the lead after a huge pile-up in the first turn in moto one. Drew Olivia paced the field for the next three laps but feJI on the last lap, handing first to Romo. Griffin took second with Cbip Young and .Murphy rounding out the top five. Moto two was a Romo benefit when he took the lead on the second lap and pulled away to win by ]0 hike lengths over Hedding. Young fought .his way 10 third. Romo's outstanding performance netted him the overall win, Young took second overall with his 3-3 finish and Griffin was third overall with a 26 tally. Murphy missed the start when he failed to hear the announcement that the second molO was moved up. Visibly disappointed, Murphy took it all with a grain of salt. "I won one class; I had' a good time, and I'll be back next year." • Results JR CYC: 1. Robbie Reynard (Kaw); 2. Mike Metzger (Kaw); 3. Jeff Wilbah (Kaw). 80 8EG: ,. Greg Schnell (Kaw); 2. Man Engsller (Han); 3. Steve Haxton (Kaw). 809-11: 1. Craig Decker (Yam); '2, Mike Metzger (Suz); 3. Ty King (Yam). 80 STK 'NOV: ,. Sean Pagel (Suz); 2. Dustin Monger (Kaw); 3. Chuck Kinne (Kaw). 80 MOD NOV: ,. Sean Pagel (Suz); 2. Billy Felts (Kaw); 3. Dustin Monger (Kaw) 125 BEG: 1. Chris Kefalas; 2. Tad Smith (Yam); 3. Jeff Moore (Han). 125 STK NOV: ,. Louie Ramo (Yam); 2. Mike Lord (Han); 3. Gary Hedding (Kaw). 125 MOD STK: 1. Scott Hoffman (Han); 2.. Chip Young (HarT); 3. Jeff Griffin (Han). 250 STK NOV: ,. Jeff Murphy (Han); 2. Dannon Burg (Yam); 3. Charlie Flippin (Yam). 250 MOD NOV: ,. Don Tistle (Han); 2. Jeff Murphy (Han); 3. Charlie Flippin (Kaw). 9