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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127250
Garth Brow (15) had a commanding day at Syracuse, w inning t hree match races and the ma in event. Bryan Villella (2 4) finished second . Don Estep, plagued ' in the f irst three rounds of the series with an ear in f ection. was the top performer in the fourth round at Troy. . . Syracuse w inner Bro w (1 5) is j oined by third place f inisher Tim Mertens (5 3 ) an d ru nn er-up Villella (2 4) . . , AMA Invitational Pro Indoor Ice Race Series: Rounds 4-5 - Estep tops Troy, Brow ices Syracuse By John Dumas an d Staton Lorenz Photos by John Dumas/The .Shootists TROY, NY, FEB. 3 SYRAC USE , NY, FEB. 4 Don Estep dom in a ted Saturday night 's racing at T roy, garnering the m ost points in match races and then winning the, main , a feat duplica ted by Gar th Brow the follow - 14 ing after noon in Syracu se. In Troy's RPI F ieldh ouse . ' / C· Ma sters/ S mr tty ~ H-D u.s to m Cycle Supp l v/Sh o ei." Answer/ Betty Bley-sponsored Estep ' rode his H ond a to wi ns in t~e first f?u.r match.races he co mpeted m , and flllls hedthl rd - behmdwmnerTom . Mai tla n d a nd runn er- up Brya n Ville lla in his fift h and fina l go , to total 13 poin ts . Br ya n Hardi n departed for Syracuse wi th II more points, ea rn ed via three wins an d two third pl ace fin ish es. Tim Merten s a nd Larry Pegra m also ea rn ed II points, each posting two wins, two runner-up performances a nd a third . And as if that weren 't enough to give th e scorers ' nigh tmares, Brya n Villella also logged I I points with one win a nd four seco nd p lace finishes. The non-point paying main event saw Estep continue his charge as he took th e wi n over ru n ner-up Mertens and third p lace finis her Pegram . The action shi fted to Syracuse's War Memorial Audi torium on Sunda y aftern oo n and despite a heavy snowfall , everyone completed the trip from Troy. Bad luck struck Tom Mai tland as he suffered a broken leg, elim ina ting h im from the program at the star t, Si x -t i me se r ies cha m p Garth Brow, ri di ng the ' Bel-Ray/ Ara i( Megacycle/ Paul Steverso n / Wisec o/ Fo x /S teve rso n Mfg .- sponsored Honda, turned in th e afternoon's s trongest performan ce, win nin g three of h is match races and finishing second in hi s o ther two o utings for a to tal of 13 points. The number II po pped u p just as it had the ni ght before, with both Vill ell a ~ via a 2-2-2-3-2 da y - a nd Mark Wyskiel - 2-3-1-2-3 - scoring th at many points. Villella's lIon the day gave h im a total of 52 and a tie for the series poin t standirigs lea d with Mertens, who earned 10 points b way of three wi ns, a second, and a d isa ppo intin g non-points pa yin g fourth . " Bro w was charged u p after the ma tch races and went o n to win th e main event, although afte r pulling th e holesh ot , h e fo und hi m self runnin g second to Villella on th e third lap. A red flag on th e next lap caused a restart a nd Brow took the lead a t th e start and held off strong challe nges fro m Ville lla to score .th e victory by half a bike length. Mertens and former series champ Dave H ebb crossed the finish line in third arid fou rt h, respectively. Dan In gram ' a nd Mar k Wyskiel; who started the weekend tied for the ' poin ts lead , dropped back in th standi ngs as a result of non-points paying fourth p lace fin ishes i n ma tch races. In gra m gr imaced af ter tu rn ing i ri- a n on -p oint p a yin g fourt h a t Troy and two non-point performa nces a t Syracuse, while Wyskiel was p lagued with three fourth p lace finish es in Troy. r. Going into the final ro und in Erie , Bell eville H onda/ Shoei/M&M Racing/Bart O 'Brien / Stump R acing/ Wiseco/Mega cycle/Chris Kaesburg/ Margaret Mertens/Rick Cowode backed Merten s a nd Don Sch o pieray / Shoe i/ Co ugar & Hu n ter / T subaki -spo nsored Villella share th e points lead, bu t th ey ha ve to look over their shoul ders at form er series . champ Dan Ingram a nd Ed Morr is who each have only two poin ts less'' 49. If that's not enough pressure, Brow and Wyski el headed fo r Eriewi th 48 po ints each. Even Pegra m , with 43 points , can't be co unted out, alt hough he'll have to count on th e riders a hea d of him having disastrous ou ti ngs in Pennsylvania if he's to walk a way with the $1200 series winner 's share of the $5000 series point fund p osted by Am erican Honda. • R~ul~ 2£ TROY •• MAIN: 1. Don Est ep (Hon); 2. Tim Mert ens (Hon); 3. Larry Pegram (Honl; 4. Bryan Villell a (Hon); 5: Scott Stump (Han); 6. Dan Ingram (Han); 7. Bryan Hard in (Han); B. Ed Morr is (Hon). • SYRACUSE MAIN : 1. Gart h ' Brow (Hon); 2. Bryan Vill ella (Hon); 3. Tim M ertens (Hont 4 . Don Estep (Hon); 5."Dave Hebb (Han); 6. Scan Stu mp (Han); 7. Ed Morr is (Han); 8. Mark Wysk iel (Hanl. SERIES POIN T STANDIN GS: 1. (TIEl Tim Mertens/Bryan Villella (52); 3. (TIE) Dan Ingram / Ed Mo rr is (49t 5. (TIE) Garth Brow/Mark Wysk iel (48); 7. Larry Pegram (43); 8. (TIE) Bryan Hardin/. Scon Stump (39); 10. Don Estep (37).