Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

M ike Kiedrowski (16) passes Brian Ca lhoun in the first 125cc Pro moto. Kiedrowski fin ished second, then won moto two for the overall victory. Mike Hea ley (37) ran int o a tree at the start of the fi rst 500cc Pro moto, but came back to win the moto. He also won moto two . CMC/Dodge Trucks Golden State Nationals: Round 1 Kiedrowski, Matson, Healey score at Castaic By Don Maeda CASTAIC, CA, JAN . 5-7 Mike Kiedrowski, Dean Matson and Mike Healey were the big winners at the opening round of the CMC/ Dodge T ru ck Golden State Nationals held-on a specially-prepared track in Castaic California. Honda facto~y pil ot Kied.. d h 2 rowskl. score t. e. I Scc Pro class Win, Suzuki nder Matson 8 ca me away with the overall victory in th e 250cc Pro class a nd KTM 's .H ea ley walked off with th e 500cc Pro win. . More th an 1100 en tra n ts from across th e U.S. an d from as far as Sw itzerla nd turned o u t to co m pe te. Both ama teurs a nd pros were eager to co mpe te on th e track which was specia lly built for th e event . Man y' Nati o nal- caliber p ro rid ers use th e G olden Sta te races as a warm-up for th e season, a n d th e u p -and-com ing riders o ften & a.in expos ure. So me familiar faces were spoiled o n unfamiliar machiner y. Ex-S uzu ki rid ers T y Davi s a nd Erik Keh oe were aboa rd H onda s, Kyl e Lewis was aboard a Kawasaki , Ste ve Lamson rode a pair o f Suzukis, and Mike Young traded in hi s Ca gi va for a new Yam aha . Whil e all o f th ese rid er s look ed quite co m fo rta b le a board th eir new machinery. they co u ld n' t sto p th e Kied ro wski /Mat son/H eal ey freight tra in tha t do mi nated th e weekend 's raci ng. Mor e th an 60 entra nts i n th e 125cc Pro class required two qual ifiers LO Dean Matson easily won the f irst 250cc Pro class moto, then rod~ a conservative second moto beh ind Erik Kehoe to capture t he overall Win. thin th e field. Steve Lamson stole the ho lesh ot in th e first qualifier a nd never looked ba ck , whil e qualifier two was a Kied rowski ben efit. T h irty-six' rid ers lined th e sta rt ing ga te for th e start o f th e fir st mota . and it was Lamson who h ad th e qu ickest clutch hand. Close behind La mson we re Matson , H eal ey and Brian Ca lhou n. As th e field entered th e w hoops, H eal ey j umped ,p ast Mar son a n d se t h is s ig hts o n Lamson. Meanwhil e, T y Davis and Kied ro wsk i worked th eir .way p ast a stub born Calh oun a n d se t th eir sigh ts on th e leaders. Kied ow ski swooped past Davi s in a sweeper and began to st udy Mat son 's lines. At th e halfwa y po int Kied ro wsk i found a weak ness in Mat son 's tech n iq ue a nd bounced past in the wh oop sectio n. Exactly o ne lap lat er. H eal ey used th e sa me portion o f th e tra ck to hi s adva ntage a nd sto le th e lead from La mson. Th is mad e th e orde r H ea ley. L am son " Ki edrowski a n d Mat son. H eal ey loo ked 10 be pu lling aw ay but Kied rowski found hi s way pa st Lamson on a stra ig h ta way an d set h is sig h ts o n th e leader. Kiedrowski turned u p th e wi ck, a nd was soon breathi ng down H eal ey's jersey. As they began to work th rough lappers Kiedro wski pull ed a lo ngs ide H eal ey a nd LOok th e lead in the wh oop sect ion. On th e whi te fl a g lap Kied ro wski began LO bu ild a lead th at wou ld on ly la st half a lap as he co ll ided with a lapped rid er in a turn and we nt down. H eal ey mo tored past and crossed th e fini sh line fir st . while Kiedro wsk i remou nted in time to sa lvage' seco nd a hea d of Lamson, Mat son a nd Davis. Duane Benner smoked O UI of th e gate in mota two, leading Craig Canoy, H eal ey a n d Ki ed rowski . H eal ey an d Kied row ski pi cked up their Iirs t-rno to d ice where th ey left o ff, q uic kly d ispa tch ed Ca noy a nd Benner as th ey set a blaz in g pace. Ka wasaki Team Green rid er J erem y McGrath worked into third just a head of Mik e Young . wh ile Mat son follow ed in fifth. At th e halfway point, Kiedrowski began to appl y heav y pressure to H ea ley and o nce aga in overtook th e KTM p ilot in th e wh oops. Once in fro m with a clean track a hea d of him" Kiedrowski began to build a lead that he wou ld m ainta in until th e mo LO'S end . H eal ey was seco nd a hea d of McG ra th. Young a nd Mat son. Th e, 250cc P ro fi eld wa s a lso overcrowde d an dreq u ired two qua- lifi ers LO determin e who would ra ce, a n d wh o would spectate. ' Kehoe bl asted ahead in qualifier one and fini sh ed well ahea d o f Mike Fish er a nd H eal ey. The seco nd qualifier sa w Willie Surratt crash and hand fir st LO Mike Young, who ra n away wi th th e win. Kenny Zahrt timed th e gate pe rfectly a n d led Matson , Kehoe and J eff Pestana th rough th e first few turns a t th e sta rt of th e first mo ta. Matson quickl y took th e lead , th ough , and began to bu ild a cus h ion th a t would be quite sizeable. by th e maLO 'S end. Young eme rged o u t of th e pa ck a nd b egan 10' h ound Keh o e for th e runner-up spot a nd a t th e halfway p oint dove to th e inside of Keh oe a nd took ove r seco nd. But Young co ul d do lillie LO decrease Mat son 's lead. Nex t LO sta lk Keh oe was Fish er. wh o a t th e sa me tim e was fighting o ff the advances of McGrath , a nd he LOok over third nea r th e en d. Matson LOok a n easy win over Young, Fisher a nd Keh oe. Zahrt dupl icat ed h is fir st -m o to holesh ot in moto two just a h ead of Keh oe, H eal ey and Surratt. Zahrt's lead wa s short -lived, how ever, as the ve te ra n we nt d own o n th e fi rst u phi ll. Keh oe pulled a sma ll lead over H eal ey, Surratt a nd Matson. On lap three, Matson pulled ou t th e sto ps a nd swe p t past both Surratt a nd H eal ey in th e back sectio n o f the co urse, th en se t a fte r Keh o e. Although he ca me within a-few bike len gths o f Keh oe, Mat son seemed LO back o ff a nd ride a co nse rva tive race, kno wing th at he would ca p ture the o vera ll wi n. H eal ey p ressured Surratt for third a nd jumped p ast th e Suzuki rid er in th e whoop section . Keh oe crossed th e fini sh line ahead of Mat son , H eal ey, Yamaha pilot Don Patton a nd Fish er, who had su ffered a poor sta n . Mat son 's 1-2 secu red the overa ll win, while Keh oe's second mota win ga ve h im a 4- 1 score th at ea rned seco n d overa ll. Fisher was thi r d wi t h h is co ns is te n t 3-5 performance. H eal ey pl ow ed hi s way o u t of th e 'g ate fir st in th e o pe n ing 500cc Pro class m ot a but was pushed OUI of his line a n d found himself in a pine tree that was adjacent to the fir st turn. H eal ey sa t fo r a m oment, a bit shaken, whi le Cra ig Davis. led G reg Pi erce a nd Mervyn An stie through th e fir st few turns. Crai g H offmei ster ca me o u t of nowhere a nd LOok the lead on lap two , w h i le H eal ey remou nted a nd set a bl ister ing p ace (Con tin ue d to page 12)

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