Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ . MOTOCROSS 5th Amiual Eastern Continental Motocross Championship --,~ _ ~ Stacey Hodges (711) got th e holeshot in the seco nd 125cc C moto but bobbled on the last la p a nd William W ilson (8) got by to cla im th e over all win. Mike Bro wn (483) led Kenny Kizzar to th e fi nish line in bot h 250cc A mot os, hut in th e 125cc division Kizzar turned th e tables and was th e overa ll winner. Brown returns in style at Muddy Creek By Barbara and L o ren Williams 'M 34 BLOUNTVILLE, rx APR. 28-29 ike Brown's ra cing gav e no hint that he's be en side lined for nearl y three month s wi th a co llarbo ne in jury as he returned to the tra ck and trounced a field of 28 riders in 250cc A co m pe titio n at th e 5th Annual S uzuki-sponsored Eastern Continental Mo to cro ss Cha m pi on sh ip a t Mu dd y Creek Raceway. Kawasak i Team G reen/Gear/ Barr's Comp.lScott/ PJ-I -back ed Bro w n g ra bbed the hol esh ot in th ree of th e four A-class motos a nd won back- tobac k 250cc A mot os, Brown d id n 't fare as well in the 125cc A class wh ere a pair o f th irds left him the runner-up overall to Kenny Kizzar. Bro wn earned $850 of th e $5000 p ro p urse, wh ile Kizzar too k home $750. T he two -da y event dr ew 440 ent ries and fea tu red a ma teur s racing th eir first m ot o o n Sa t urday w it h th e pro s battlin g in between th e second mo tos on Su nday . Intermittent rain du ring Sa turday's p rogram, follow ed by a downpour la te in th e da y, mad e th e Mud dy Creek track live up to its name. Brown refused to give Kizzar an in ch in the first l25cc A moto as he grabbed the holeshot a nd made no m istakes until the fourt h la p. Tha t's wh en Brown rai led th e wrong rut in a horseshoe tu rn a nd sudden ly fo und h im self on the grou nd . Kizzar blasted by a nd before Brown cou ld remou nt J im Ch ester also got past. . Brown repassed Ch ester a nd too k off after Kizzar, and two la ps later Kizzar and Brown soared over a ta bletop jump side by side. A deep rut in the following co r n er ca u g h t Brown ' s bo ot a n d st ri pped him o ff th e back o f th e bike, send ing his Ka wasa ki o ff into th e woo ds . Bro wn retrieved h is ma ch in e, b u t Chester had alrea dy ga lloped by. Kizza r won the mot o, while Brown d idn 't have time to ca tch Ch ester and fini sh ed third. . Kizzar go t th e j u mp o n th e pack for moto two b ut lost time wea ving back a nd forth over th e muddy sta rt a rea a nd came o ut o f th e first tu rn sevent h behi nd J im Neese, Larry Andrews, Ma rk Kane, Mik e Andrews, Ma rk . Neiderhiser a nd Chad Lou gh. Neese rod e a sco rc h ing p a ce a n d nev er rel in quished h is adv a nt age as Kizzar moved back u p to seco nd to claim the overa ll victory. Brown exited th e first turn 10th , worked h is way to third by . la p four a nd remai ned th ere to the chec kered £lag. Bro wn has sa id in the past that h is KX250 is more to hi s liking than the 125 , a n d th e first 250 cc A m oto p ro vided further proof as Brown took the hol eshot and held the lead for th e enti re race. Neese grabbed seco nd o ff th e sta rt a nd on ly a llowed Kizzar to pass until he crashed a nd dr opped from th ird to 14th . Kizza r - fini sh ed second a nd was a n ever-presen t threa t to Brown 's lead , while Neiderhiser topped Mike Andrews a nd Ch ester in a clo se battle for thi rd. In moto two Brown and Kizzar once aga in ran first and second, leavin g all the dicing to take p lace behi nd them. . Mik e Pad gett yielded th ird to Mik e Andrews on lap two, then held o ff Neese until halfw ay throug h lap six. By then bo th Pad gett and Neese were passed by Bria n McElroy and Steve Childress. T he last moto o f Sa turda y's a ma teur p rogram saw the Senio r A a nd B cla sses go o ff in a downpour. Robby Neeley ran third for half of the su bmari ne race, but w he n leader J eff Eads go t in trouble a nd held up Larry H arri son, Nee ley ca refu lly passed them both a nd rod e on to victory. "It was ro ugh ou t there," said Neeley. " O ne time , go ing over a ju mp, th e win d blew me sideways abo u t three feet." Earlier in the day Neeley grabbed the holeshot a nd wo n the End uro class, then chased Mich ael Du ncan from sta rt to finish in the 25 Plus class. Su nday's co nd it io ns were co nsiderabl y be tter, aside from th e occa sional deep ru t or mudhole, a nd Nee ley came up the winner in all three classes. Brad Cla rk ho lesh ot th e first 250cc C rn oto a nd won by 16 seco nds o ver Darrell Bailey, wh o had nipped Mik e Edwards near th e end of th e fin al la p. Bailey go t reven ge in m oto two as he surprised Cl ark on th e last lap a nd took a ~ay the moto as well as th e overall wm , Robert Sm ith domina ted both Pee Wee class mot os with Du sty T inde ll ta king the runner-u p slot on both da ys. Smi th gai ned the adva ntage in th e first moto wh en R usty Dockery's dim inutive machine tried to jump out of a rut and dumped him on the track. By the time .Dockery dragged his bike to a smoothe r pa th and rem ounted , three ot her riders had bu zzed by to lea ve him fifth . T ho ugh R ob ert Stock a llowed Na tha n Ramsey to lead th e first Sen ior Min i class mot o a nd And rew Wil son take h is chance in th e second, by the end o f the first la p in each ra ce Stock had esta blis hed himself as the u ndisp u ted leader. Ra m sey was the runnerup in each moto. Joh n McCl ure ret urned to racing af ter a two -yea r layoff a nd made his pre sence felt in th e 250-500cc No nCu rre nt clas s with a hol esh o t in the firs t moto. McClure soon yielded to Bobby Gi lbert , who went o n to tak e the moto win , H arvey Wiggins, Mike Edwards and Allen Bach ma n. McClure grabbed a nother holesh ot in mo to two a nd u nerri ngly pi cked ou t the firmer lines to £ling m ud on his £Ioundering followers on his way to victory. The win wasn 't good eno ugh for-the overall, th ough, as he fini shed third behind o vera ll winner Wiggins a nd ru nner-up' Gi lbert. (;l\' Resu lts 50:1. Robert Smith (Yam); 2. Dusty T indell (Yam); 3. N icky Hoback (Yam ): 4. Patr ick Ha ynes (Yam); 5. Jerem y Sh elt on (Hen ). 65 (7· 11): 1. Brian Tho rnburg (Ka w); 2. Robbie Horton ( Ka w) : 3. Jake Morris ( Ka w ); 4. David Willia ms (Ra w ); 5. Paul ] W, lU S ( Ka w). JR MINI (7-11): I. Allen Bow ma n (Kaw); 2. Jon Boruff (Suz); 3. j ak e Morri s (Kaw); 4. Co rey Cra ne (Hon); 5. David Will ia ms (S uz). . J R MINI (7· 13): I. Jo rdan Mo neyma ker (SUI) ; 2. Andrew Wilson (Kaw); 3. Robbie Ho rton ( Kaw); 1. Bryan Stevens (Suz); 5. Rh eu Wi lson (Ka w). SR MIN I: I. Robert Stock (S UI); 2. Na tha n Ra msey (Han ); 3. Rob bie Fel ls III (Su z); 4. R ich ie Horton r (Kaw); 5. G ag e Fortso n (SU1 .). SC H RY: I. Patr ick Slat e (Yam); 2. Matt Shue (H a n) ; 3. Rya n Reynol d s (Han ); 4. Ti lden Styro n (Yam) ; 5. Pa tr ick G reer (Han ). £NDR: I. Robby Neeley ( Ka w): 2. Philli p Clark (Yam) ; 3. Kir k Hayes (Suz); 4. John ny Rasor (Suz); 5. Britt Arms tro n g (Ya m ). 125 A: I. Kenny Kiuar (5 uz); 2. Mike Brown (Kaw); 3. J im Ch ester (Sua): 4. Mike And rews (Suz); 5. Jim Neese (Kaw). 125 B: I. Rya n Reyn o lds (Ho n ); 2. Man Sh ue (Hon ); 3. Steve Hyan (Yam ); 1. J acob Cave (Ho n); 5. Eddie Addair (S UI) . 125 C: I. William Wilson (Hon); 2. Brad Clar k (Kaw); 3. Sta cey Hod ges (Hon ); 1. P hill ip And erson (K.aw ); 5. Eri c Pinson (Ho n ). . 250 A: I. Mike Brown (Ka w); 2. Kenn y Kiuar (Suz); 3. Mike And rews (Suz); 4. Brian McE lroy (Suz): 5. Steve Chi ldress (S UI ). 250 B: I. Billy Adk in s (Ho n ); 2. Micha el Dun can (Kaw ): 3. David Reynold s (S w); 4. Kevin Crine (Ho n); 5. Eddi e Addair (S UI ). 250 C: I. Darrell Bailey (Hon ): 2. Brad Clark {Ka w ): 3. Mike Edwards { Ka w): 4. Ronald Pa terno (Yam ); 5. Harv ey Wigg in s (Hon ). O PEN AM: I. Chris Sh ortridge (Ka w]: 2. Jimmy Leach (Ka w]: 3. Gary Osborne (Ha n) ; 4. SIeve Slames ( Ka w): 5. R icky Gardner (Hon). 25+ A: I. Rob by Nee ley (Kaw); 2. Mich ael Dun can (Kaw); 3. David Albert Jr. (SUI ); 1. Edd ie Branch (S UI ); 5. J ell Eads (Kaw). 25+ B: I. Tam Tophan (Suz); 2. S teve Starnes ( Ka w): 3. Larry w hite (Hon ); 4. Kevin Aus tin (Suz); 5. R icky Gard ner (Hon). SR A: l. Rob by Nee ley (Kaw); 2. Eddi e Branch (S UI); 3. J ell Eads ( Kaw); 1. La rry Harri son (SUI); 5. Micha el Taylor (Han ). SR B: I. Tam Tophan (S UI ); 2. Ri ck T erry (Yam); 3. Kenn eth Co ffey; 4. Rick Ca tuccio (Han); 5. Gary " O sborne (Han ). S /S R : I. Joh n T ho mpson (SUI ); 2. William Hagar (H on ); 3. Ro na ld Reed (Hen): 4. Denni s Sipe (Ya m); 5. Marc Min or J r. (Suz). 4-STR K: 1. Kirk Ha yes (Suz): 2. Keith Hensley (SUI) ; 3. J ell H ensley (Hon ); 4. R ichard Shipley (Ho n ); 5. J ell La ne (S UI). NON-C UR 125: l. Darrell STa lla rd (Hon ); 2. Jeff Ra y (Su z); 3. Jd r H en sley (S u z); 4. William Montgomery {He n); 5. Tom Hodack (Kaw). NON..c UR 250- MtO: I. Har vey Wigg ins (Ka w ); 2. Bobb y Gi lbert (Ho n ); 3. Coo ter McCl ure (Kaw); 4. Mike Ed wards (Hon); 5. Jell H ensl ey (Ya m ). VINT : I. Allen Buchana n (Mai); 2. Fran k Strom an (Ma i); 3. J ell Hensley (C-A); 1. Dennis Erwin (Yam); 5. Bobb y R icha rds (Bul).

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