Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Charlie Brown (2) stuffs underneath Over 30 class winner Bob Stopler I (418) as they enter the first turn. Brown finished seventh. • Kawaski-mounted Eric Vallejo (47) led Suzuki rider Coby Sharp to the finish line for the Mini Junior class win. AMA Amateur Supercross Championship Series: Round 1 . Edwards, Huffman haul in the Astrodome By Tony Alessi HOUSTON, T X, FE B. 3 Kawasaki Team Green rider Jason Edwards and privateer"Honda-mounted Ryan Huffman were the big winners at the 15th Annual GNC Amateur Supercross in the Houston Astrodome. Edwards aced th e 125cc Intermedi at e class and b a u.Ied to a h ar d -earned ~econ d behind Shawn Morga 10 th e 34 250cc division. H uffman wo n th e Schoolboy class and gave Edward s a run in the I25cc Intermediate class, fin ish in g a close seco n d. The event kicked off the AMA Amateur Supercross Championship Se ries. WorldS p orts P romotions, prom oters o f severa l ro u nds of th e Camel Su pe rcro ss Series, saw th e n eed fo r a n amateur super cross program to develop th e skills of futu re p rofessional stars on th e same su percross tr ac ks the p ro s use. WorldSports worked with two other supercross p romoters, th e Mickey T h o m pson Entertainment Group and SRO/Pace, a nd th e AMA to crea te the series. Riders will have th e opportunity to co m pe te in anyone o f th e 12-event series held a t si tes across th e co u ntry. As long as a rider makes th e main even t in anyone o f th e ro u n ds h e qualifies for th e June cha m pi ons hip event in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma. There is no point system forthe ser ies so th e fin als will be a winner-takeall. The top riders from th e final event 'will be awarded a Nationa l amate~r supercross ranking for the following year. "We don't expect ama teur race rs to follow the entire series - it's just too costly, so we designed the series so that rid ers can q ua lify in their own particula r region," said H u gh Flern ing, AMA director of member activ ities, "Those top riders can the n face o ff for th e titl e in Oklahoma. "The tracks will be slightl y to ned down. but featuri n g the same obstac1es an d ju m ps th e p ro s race o n." Fleming added. Whi le th e maj ority o f riders ca me fro m T exas a nd su rrou ndi ng sta tes, th ere were so me entrants fro m as far away as Virginia , Iowa , O regon a nd Ca li forn ia, as we ll as a few from Mexi co. Edwards, from Cleburne, T exas , bla sted ahead of th e 20 o the r 125cc Intermediates as th ey packed into th e first turn. Jody North, Peter Braswell a nd T od d Bates foll o wed Edwards th rough th e long set of deep wh oops wh ile Huffman got a bad start an d was runn ing eigh th. Edwards an d Huffm a n were the o n ly riders a tte m p ting th e triple jum ps, and soon Huffman emerged from back in the p ack to become a fa ctor in th e rac e. Huffman, a former m inicycle cham p from Roseburg, O reg on , then b egan clea ri ng a double that no o the r rider a tte m p ted th e entire day. H e came through a tig h t co rner with th e th rottle p inned, la unch ed over th e first jump a nd cleared the followi ng tab letop. Th is became Huffm an 's favo ri te place to pass other riders, starting with Monterrey, Mexico 's Ma rco Sa laza r 'and James Mitchell. On th e nex t lap he picked off Braswell and Bates. North tri ed his best to h old back th e cha rgin g Huffm an. bu t h is best wa sn' t enough as Huffman 's Honda tore through th e whoops a nd into seco n d. Huffman the n closed on Edwards, but there wasn't enough ti me to co m p letely close th e gap. Edwards ga ve th e cro wd a victory cross-up as he took the wi n. H u ffma n followed in seco n d , Bates put on a last-la p ch a rge th a t prope lled h im p ast North for third a nd Shawn Morga ro u nded o u t the top five. Huffman was back in th e Schoolboy class and used p len ty o f flash as he dominated th e 12-13 year-olds from start to fin ish. " I've been riding minis for a long time, this is actua lly m y first big ra ce on a 125," Huffman sai d. " I h aven 't ri d den fo r th e la st tw o m onths because I broke my wr is t, so I' m glad I di d this well. " Finish ing seco n d wa s Bra dl ey Strunk from Hamilton. Ohio. " I d id n' t get a very good start, but I passed all the riders except H uffman, " said Str u n k. " I closed o n h im th en we stayed a bo u t the sa me dista nce apart. I think if I was behind . h im from the sta rt we would 've had a good di ce and ma ybe I would've been ab le to beat h im." H ea th Wallis. Kevin Migura an d Mi ke P eacon filled the top fi ve posi tions . New Mexi co ' s Morga was u n ha p py with his fini sh in th e 125cc Intermediate main, so he decided to go for it in th e 250 cc divis ion. Ed wards got the holeshot in th e main with Morga a nd Chris Smith in tight fo r m a ti o n . Morga a p p lied h eav y pressure to Ed wards, a nd on th e third lap both riders came side by sid e th rough th e triples. Morga had th e inside lin e, doubled th e final two jumps before th e horseshoe turn an d made an inside pass on Edwards. Edwards diligently tri ed for th e rem ainder of the lap to regain his posi tio n , b u t Morga wasn 't making any mi stakes and went o n to in creas his lead by one second per lap. Morga wo n, Ed wards was seco nd, Bates recovered from a poor sta rt to claim thi rd , a nd Chris Smith a n d J eff Talley co mp leted the top five. The Open class featured a face-off . between Charlie Brown and Jeff Foster . Brown led th e race with Foster 's Kawas aki in ch es behind. Foster exa m ined Brown's lines a n d on th e fin al lap went for it in th e' doubles, landing even with Bro wn: As th ey accelerated even ly u p th e face of the tri p le jump, Brown backed down an d Foster went for it. Fo ster soared past Bro wn , b u t he ca me up short and flipped wi ldly out of control as h e crashed. Bro wn looked over to avoid the mayhem', then cruised to the finis h line and the mai n eve nt win. Bi ll y DePriest claime d seco nd over Craig H elmore, Greg G arrigan an d Lee .]ackso n. Twenty- th ree riders cram med th e sta rti ng ga te in th e 250cc Novice class, the la rgest of the day. J oe Spencer, Rob Floyd a nd H al H ollo wa y all entered the first turn to~ether. Spencer, from Starkville, Mi ssissip p i. squeaked into the lead while H ollowa y and Floyd went at it for second. The riders jumped over th e fin ish lin e together a t th e en d of la p o ne with Flo yd going farth er a nd securing seco nd pl ace. From th en o n it was foll ow th e leader. Spen cer, to the finish line. • Results MINI BEG: 1. Boot Phillips (Kaw); 2. l\IIan Day (Suz); 3. Joe Hammons (Kaw ); 4. Man Feil; 5. Chris Day (Suz). MINI JR : 1. Erick Vallejo (Kaw); 2. Coby Sharp ' (Suz); 3. Charley Bogard (Kaw); 4 . Carter Schn eide r~ (KX); 5. Antonio Coello (Kaw ). MINI SR 12· 13; 1. Robbie Skaggs (Kaw ); 2. Kenny ' Yoho (Kaw ); 3. Daniel Orr; 4. Jerry Mullen (Kaw~ 5. John Haner (Kaw). . . M INI SR 14-15 : 1. Cody Green (Hon); 2. Fredd ie Mitchell (Hon); 3. Edward Thornton (Kaw); 4 . Joe Hammons (Kaw); 5. Chri s Daub itz (Kaw) . MINI MINI 6-B: 1. J usti n Buckel ew (Kaw); 2. Jared Murphy (Kaw~ 3. Robby McQ uary (Kawt, 4 . Randall Williams (Kaw); 5. Alea Shinn (Kaw). MINI MINI9-1 1: 1. Erick Vallejo(Kaw); 2. Antonio. Coello (Kaw); 3. Aaron Selden (Kaw ); 4. carter Schneider (Kaw t, 5. Charley Bogard (Kaw) . TEENY MINI STK: 1. Justin Buckelew (Yam); 2. Robby McQuary (Yam); 3. Randall Williams (Yam); 4 . Alea Shinn (Yam); 5. Trey Franks (Yam). TEENY M INI MOD : 1. Justin Buckelew (Yam 2. Johnny Marley (Yam); 3. Randall Williams (Yamr, 4 . Robby McQuary (Yam); 5. Alea Shinn (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. M ike Johnson (Kaw ); 2. Robert Hodde (SOlr, 3. Barry Johnson (Hon); 4. Wes ley Kucera (Kawt, 5. Freeman Kirby (Kaw). 125 NOV: 1. Kyle Parks (Hon); 2. Aaron Justus; 3. Randy Denby (Kaw t, 4. Kevin Migura (SOl); 5. Ron Parks (Hon). 125 INT: 1. Jason Edwards (Kaw ); 2. Ryan Huffman (Hon); 3. Todd Bates (Suz~ 4. Jody Nort h (Hon); 5. Shawn Morga (Yam). 125 EX: 1. Man Chapa (Kaw); 2. Gary Goine . (Hon). 125 YTH 12·15: 1. Ryan Huffman (Hon); 2. Bradley Strunk (KTM); 3. Heath Wallis (Kaw); 4 . Kevin Migura (Suz~ 5. Michael Peacock (Kaw ). 250 BEG: 1. Mark Risha (Kaw~ 2. Bub Moore (Kaw~ 3. David McGo_n (Hon); 4. Rob Kimbrough; 5. Andy East (Hon). 250 NOV: 1. Joe Spancer (Hon); 2. Robbie Floyd (Hon); 3. Hal Holloway (Kaw); 4. Buddy Fitch (Kaw); 5. Mark Eachus (Yam). C' 250 INT: 1. Shawn Morga (Yam); 2. Jason Edwards (Kaw); 3. Todd Bate. (Suz); 4 . Chris Sm ith (Suz); 5. Jeff Talley (Kaw). 250 EX: 1. Man Chapa (Kaw); 2. Javier Coso (Hon); 3. Jamey Mooney (Hon); 4. Kent Elliff (Kaw~ 5. Thoma s Escamilla (Yam). OPEN: 1. Charlie Brown (Hon); 2. Billy Depriest (Kaw t, 3. Craig Helmore (Hon); 4. Greg Garr igan (Kaw); 5. Lee Jackson (Kaw ). OVER 25 : 1. Richard Lee (Cag); 2. Man Tallon (Hon); 3. Hal Holloway (Kaw); 4 . Tom Grantham ' • (Suz); 5. Mark Eachos. OVER 30: 1. Bob Stolpar (Yam); 2. Buddy Fitch (Kaw); 3. Edward Hays (Kawt, 4 . Ben Carter (Kaw ); 5. Ron Nelson (Kaw). OVER 40: 1. Billy Click (Yam); 2. Tom Conner; 3. Ferdinand Hroch (Kawt 4 . Larry Carson (Yam).

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