Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eULTRACROSS e MickeyThompson Off·Road Championsbip_GPSeri_es:_RoUD_d8 __ _ _ Voh land (2) led a ll but two la ps in the 10-lap final and collected $668 o u t of th e $5000 p u rse . It was only his secon d UItracross rac e of th e year. Vohland lights up Las Vegas By Ken Faught LAS VEGAS, NV, SEPT. 15 ighteen- year-old Tallon Vohland repeated last year's 250cc Ultracross win at the Sam Boyd Silverbo wl, leading all but two laps of the IO-lap final to collect th e $668 win ner's sha re of th e $5000 purse. For Vohland, it was the first time since th e seaso n opener in Anaheim, California, that he's raced an MTEG Ch ampionship Gran Prix event , wh ich features off-road car s, trucks, buggies, ATVs and motorcycles. J eremy McGrath and Kyle Lewis chas ed Vohland across the finish line but were later disqualifed for missing the post-race tech inspectio n shortly after the final. That opened th e door for Lo well Thomson and Mike Craig to co m p lete the top' three, bu t more importantly ga ve Craig eno ug h points to wra p up the seri es champ io nshi p with two ro unds remaining. Instead of a usu al tim ed q uali fying session, the 31 entrants were spli t int o a pair of two-row heat races. Riders drew numbers as to which. row of whi ch heat they were to start on . The top 10 riders from each of the two heat races would transfer to the main: Riders woul d the n start the main event in inverted order with the heat race winners starting on the sixth of 10, two-man rows , making the high - E 26 paced raci ng excmng for th e 24,863 spectators. Doub le passing points would also be awarded in the main. Las Vegas ' , own Kerry Mull igan started the heat race ac tio n by coming off the front row to lead Ra y Crumb, Voh land, Jim Holley, Tiger Garcia and McGrath. Mulli ga n 's lead , however, was cut short wh en Vohland sho t into the point position. Vohland and Mulligan diced for two laps while McGrath cut hi s wa y through the field. By th e end of the second lap McGrath was third ah ead of H oll ey, an d pressuring the lead pair. On lap four McG ra th found himsel£ in the lead wi th Mulligan and Holley traili ng as Voh land slipped back to fourth ahea d of Crumb. " I made a few mistakes and was usi ng bad lines," Vohland said. "I let a guy by to chec k h is lin es an d then ano ther guy go t me . Then 1 fell." . Wh ile Vohland restarted in fifth, McGrath cruised to the easy win over Mulligan , Holley and Cru mb . Cra ig came off ro w one at the start of the secon d hea t race to lead Mi ke Young, Thomson, Lewi s and Rand y Moo dy. . Thomson dropped 9f f the pace, allowing Lewis to chas~ the lead pair before dr opping Young to second . Mean whi le Larry Broo ks worked his way up from a mediocre second- ro w sta rt to fini sh fourth. " I ran into lappers and wasn 't ridin g well," Brooks said. " I sho uld have ' ridden more ag gressively." As Craig easi ly collected th e checkers ahead of Lewis and .Yo ung, Moody ma naged to hold off a challe nge fro m Tho mson. . It wasn't much of a su prise whe n Tho mson led th e main event after starting from the front ro w. H e shot out front and remained there for two la ps unti l Vohland displaced him and stretched out a comfortable lead. Mea nwhile, defending U lt racross champ H olley was in the back of th e pack trying to make up for his poor start. As Thomson slow ly faded, Lewis and McGrath pou nd ed th eir wa y toward the front and they moved into the second and third spots as Thomson he ld off cha rges fro m Brooks an d Craig at the finish to fourth. " I wasn 't doin g the tr iples and they ' (Lewis an d McGrath) got by," T hornson said . " It wa s my first time on the '9 1 (Yamaha ) and 1 wasn 't used to it." Shortl y after the race bo th Lewis and McGrath were disqualified for mi ssing th e pos t-race tech in spec tion. " Whoever got fourth, go t lucky," Lewis sai d. " I came off the trac k and there was no one to direct us to tech, " McG rath said. " My m ind was raci ng and 1 wanted to go bac k into the sta dium and watch th e sport truck main." With Lewis and McGra th kn ocked to 19th and 20th in the finis hi ng o rder, Thom son was handed second in fro nt of Cra ig. " I th ink it' s great," said Thomson, who was bumped up to second thanks to th e di squalificati ons. "They (MTEG) did it to me last year when 1 for go t to take my bike (to po st-tech )." "There were o nly a coup le of good guys, bu t th ey go t to start up front," Craig said. " There's just not enough ti me in these short races to work you r wa y through th e field. What's most importa nt, though, is 1 cli nched th e title. Even with th e way that they (MTEG) hand out passing points , it's im po ssib le for Holley to catch me right now." CN Resul ts H EAT I:J erem y McGrath (K..w); 2. Kerry Mul liga n (SUl); 3. Jim Holley (Yam); 4. Ra y Cru mb {Ka w ): 5. Tallon Vob land (Kaw): 6. Shane Trittler (Kaw); 7. Richard Sa xto n (Kaw); 8. Tracy Mon tercne (Yam) ; 9. Damon Kemp (SUl); 10. 'Tiger Gar cia (H o n) II. J ef[rey Nordstro m (Ka w]: 12. Dan Fresh (Yam); IS. Joey Lane (Kaw); 14. Curtis Caparrella . (Ha n ); 15. Don Ri~ (H a n). . H EAT :!: Mike Craig (Kaw); 2. Kyle Lewi s (Kaw); 3. Mi ke Young (Ya m); 4. Larry Broo k> (Kaw); 5. Randy MDDd {Kaw ]: 6. Derek Na tvig (Kaw); 7. y Lo well Thomso n (Ya m ); 8. BUlCh Smith (Yarn); 9. Duane Ilc:nna- (yam); 10. Mike Ulri ch (H o n); II. Ja y Athey (SUl); 12. T odd Cunningham (SUl); 13. John Arn ot t (Yam); 14. Mark Lange (Yam); 15. Jellc:ryNl son (K..w); 16. Ignacio Ri vera Jr. {H en). MAIN: Tallo n Vohla nd (Kaw]: 2. Low ell Thorn · son (Yam); 3. Mike Cra ig (Kaw); 4. Larry Broo ks (KawJ.; 5. Ran dy MDDdy (Kaw); 6. Ra y Crumb (Kaw); 7. Mik e Young (Ya m ); 8. Derek Natv ig (Ka w): 9. Tracy Mcnterone (Yarn ); 10. Kerry Mulligan (SUl ); II. Richard Sax ton (Kaw); 12. Bu tch Smit h (Yam); 15. Sha ne T rilt ler (Ka w); 14. Dua ne Benner (Yam ); 15. Damo n Demp (SUl); 16. Mike Ulrich (Ha n); 17. 'Tiger Garcia (Han); 18. J im Holley (Ya m); 19. Jeremy McGrath (Kaw): 20. Kyle Lewis (Ka w). SEllIES POfNTS STAN DI NGS : Mike Craig (447); 2. J im H olley (325); 3. Lo well Thomson (284); 4. Jeremy McG ra th (244); 5. Ch ris Young (167); 6. Mike You ng (120); 7. Larry Broo k> (108); 8. Ryan Hugh es (107); 9. Micky Dymond (89); 10. Scott My.,.. (79).

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