Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

winn ers and 23 overall class Gra nd Nati on al Ch am pi on s. Mor e than 800 en tra n ts s igne d up to ri de th e Marsha ll -P utn a m Cou nty Fa i rgro unds half mile, Peoria Speedway sho rt track and th e Peoria Motor cycle Club' s famo us 'TT track. New this year was a sp li t p rogram with classes ran ging up to th e 200cc Modi fied run ning th e first day wit h the big bikes sched uled for day two. Also new th is year were six DTX classes. J ohnny Murp hree was ano the r twoclass GNG. Murph ree brought h is Concil la Racing Engines/ Chris Carr / Grayboy Kawasa ki/Dublin Kawasa ki! Walt Shaffer Cycle Supply/Tsubaki/ PJ- lISh oei-sponsor ed Kawasakis fro m T em pl eton, Ca liforn ia. to take the 85cc DTX and Modifi ed (i - I I ) G ran d Na tiona l tit les: Schnabel Electr ic/Suburban H -D/ Mom & Dad- sponsored Gl en Sch na bel, Jr. , powered his Kawasaki s to th ree Nati on a l titl es and the 65cc Modi fied (7-11) GNG. Robert Mill er was a very busy rid er as he was ente red in a t least o ne clas s each day and was the o n ly rider to win a n overa ll each da y. Miller ended the week wi th th e 125cc DTX a nd 250cc Mo d ifie d Grand Na tio na l Cham pio nshi ps. Benj a min M ill er topped the controversy-ripped 51cc Stoc k class on his Moto Marin a. A 'TT win propelled West Bend, Wisconsin 's Scott Sch na bel to th e 200cc Mod ified G NG. Ken McCo nn ell to pped th e Open Amateur Senior 30+ Yea rs class on h is Zip py K Hon da . whi le J oh n Lo we wo n three Nati onals and too k home the 250 DTX and Open class GNCs. J am es Dunlavey became the new 500cc DTX G NC a nd also topped the new Open Expert/ Pro Senior 30+ class. T he Over 40 Expert/Pro Open fell to Clackam us, O regon 's Sonny Burr es as he brought hi s Elmer's Pan cake House Trium ph back fro m a DNF on the ha lf mi le to two wins. Scott Freber was ano ther overa ll 'win ner without a Na tion al win as he coup led a second with two fifths o n hi s Can-Am to take the com pe titive 400cc Mod ified class G NC. . Bill Snyder eas ily won th e Open Supe r Senior GNC o n hi s Sny der H onda-s ponsored Honda , whi le local rider Sco tt H uff to pped th e 500cc Modified class without a wi n o n his Gray boy/ Ga rdner-sponsor ed- HarleyDavidso n. J ohn Hl ebo dominated th e 0-500cc Vintage class on hi s Yam ah a , and the 501-0 pen Vintage cla ss went down to a coin toss. Ray Carroll out on top of Sonny Burres as th e rains washed out the final rounds of th e T'T. Half Mile Jul y heat left the half m ile hard and dry. T he sma ll bor e ma chines developed a low groove wit h a deep cus hion fro m mid -track up. Todd Win sett and Tommy Hayden locked up in a fierce battle for the 85cc Modifi ed (12-15) titl e. Kurt Kromro y held a so lid th ird unti l Steve Hl ebo, wh o was recoveri ng from a poor start , caug h t up on lap eigh t. Kromro y fell o n the last lap and Win sett held off the rep ea ted charges of Hayden as Hl ebo, Ben Bell man and J ason Sentell followed. . T he 200cc Modified class featured a no th er exc elle n t race as Denn is Will iams and Kevin Meyer exchange d the lead severa l tim es. Meyer ga in ed control j ust past the half way point and pulled to a small lead as th ey worked throug h lap ped riders. Nor m Gruber rode a stead y race to take thi rd. T he l25cc Schoolboy was be ing Michael Warner (31) and Greg Crow (50) lead 250cc Modified class winner Kenny Coolbeth (32) in the half mile event. Chad Barth (55) topped Scott Huff (49) for th e 500cc Modified class victory at the short track event. dominated by T ommy H ayden when Ben Bellman fell in turn four in heavy traffic. Bellm an was h it by Noah Kirkland and the red flag flew as bo th riders lay in turn four. The race was called com p lete with scoring reverting back to lap six . Hayden was declared th e winner over Ryan Anderson. Paul Mor gan and Kenny Coolbeth. Bellman went to the hospi tal. Four riders battled over th e 85cc DTX (i - I I) National. Paul Lync h, N icky Hayden , J. R. Sch nabel a nd Ricky Winsett p ut on a race that wou ld have made the Camel Pros p roud. Lynch led unti l lap five wh en H ayden clipped Lynch 's rear whee l in tu rn two. Both riders saved it but Sch na bel took th e lead . Winsett moved int o seco nd o n lap seven then too k th e lead on lap eight. Schnabel held o n to second over Lync h and Hayden . T he 250cc Mod ified class was the largest all week and i t too k five heat s and four semis to set the l -l-ri der Na tio na l. Kenn y Coo lbe th pu lled away from Phil Palmer 's cha lle nge and ran away wi th the race. Pal mer held a solid second until the last lap whe n mechanical problems ended his race. Randy Shank moved through the field to gai n second . Robert Mill er led Chad Bar th and Perry L ang hom e in third. Chri s L inks came off a five-year retireme nt to lead the 400cc Mod ified Nat ion al all the way. Scott Freber and Dan Dien er ca ug ht up a t the halfway po int but couldn ' t force Links off th e groove and settl ed for second a nd third. Links was a double winner as h is Honda pa ssed a post-race teardown and he gained th e pro testor's $100. J ohn Lowe domi na ted the 500cl: Modified class as an excelle n t race fo r secon d too k place. J oel Barro w, Pau l Morgan , P hil Pal mer and Scott Huff ran in tig ht for ma tio n. H uff worked hi s way into third but couldn ' t get by Barrow. Barr ow. H uff and Mor gan finis hed nose to tai l for second th rough fifth . Short Track Heavy rains hit the Peor ia Speedway the ni ght befor e the race. Even with the constant th rea t of mor e rai n, a determ ined T ote Gray got the track in shape and the races were a ll run. T he 5 Icc Stock class was the site of co n tr o versy. O n th e track Rob i n Bryant moved from th ird to first wh ile Roger Lee H ayden dropped to th ird behi nd Robb y Shi n n. After th e race th e top three bikes were protested. Byram's !tal-Jet and Ha yden 's Yamaha were found to be oversized and both rid ers were disqu al if ied a n d sus p en de d . Shi n n was awar ded first over Benj am in Mill er and Michael Oehler. T ommy Hayden led the 85cc modified (12-15) Nati on al for all but one la p , th e la st , wh en T odd Winsett slipped by for the win. Brian Zurn finished third ahead of Kurt Kro mro y a nd Steve H lebo. The 125cc Sch oolboy class o n ce again look ed to belo ng to Tommy Hayden , but Ken ny Coo lbeth d rove by o n lap seven . Coo lbeth held on to edge H ayden at th e line. Ra ndy Sh an k fin ished thi rd over Brian Zurn . N icky H ayden led the 65cc Modi fied (7-11) class unt il lap six wh en J.R. Sch na bel too k over. Tony Souza rode a stead y race fo r th ird over J ohn Win sett. It sta rted to rai n as the last tro phies were given o u t to the sma ll-bore riders and there was a stea dy rain most of the nigh t. As usu al, Tote Gray's hard work go t the trac k in shape for another successful evening of races for th e larger bikes. J a mes Fis k domi nated the 250cc Mod if ied class, toppi ng 3i o the r

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