Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ LOCAL EVENTS ~ Georr Cesmat (I) ga ve up th e Race of the Rockies-G'I' O lead to Dan Turner, then held off Phillip Noyes (293) to finish second at Steamboat Springs. Bobby Schwartz tries to ride around the outside of Steve Lucero (18) and Mike Faria at Costa Mesa. Faria later won the Scratch main. . 10th Annual Steamboat Springs Road Race Dimick, Turner heat up Coloradostreets By David Lucas STIAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO, SEPT. 1 6 he Mountain Roadracin g Association (MRA) made its 10th annual trek to the resort town of Steamboat Sprin gs, Colorad o, where th e riders race through th e city streets at the base of the world-fam ou s ski area. Several MRA class championships were still undecided coming into th is weekend. Race of th e Rocki es-GTU has been a season -lo n g bailie for control of the points lead , and this ninth in stallment was no disappointment. The front row of th e gri d was occupied by Jon T erry, Kurt Dim ick and Bobby Mi os ek o n Ya m a h a FZR600s and Mark Schellinger on a lon e Honda CBR600. A fast start by Dim ick gave him th e edge into the first series of turns before the stra igh t. Terry was continually putting a tire inside of Dimick's bike. The tussl e lasted the entire race but Terry was unabl e to mak e a place ou t of it, event ua lly seuling for second. Schell in ger and Miosek also traded positions before Schellinger pu t distan ce on Miosek to gain third at the checkers. The finis hi ng positions only served to tig h ten th e poin ts standings, and T 2 the ou tcome will now be decided a t the last race of the season at Secon d Creek Raceway on Septemb er 23. Race of th e Rocki es-GT O bega n in typ ical fashion with the Suzuki of Geoff Cesmat in the lead, but he was challenged by the simi la r mount o f Dan Turner, wh o fin all y secu red first a fter a multi-lap struggl e. Ph ill ip Noy es had a career hi gh as well. hold ing off Dr. David Kei£f er' s Rough Stock Honda RC30 in the clos ing lap for third place. A modest finish at the last race will give Cesmat th e RO R-GTO Championsh ip. The 450cc Superbike Championship was signed and sealed with Aaron Merr iman in charge since Second Creek, but th e rest of the -positions are still being fought over. Merriman el ect ed not to ra ce on Su nday, but for the remainder of th e class it was a dive for th e first corn er between Mark Er ickson's Yamaha SRX 600 and Chip Killinen 's Yamaha FZR400. Erickson was ahea d on th e outside while Killinen was behind on an inside line. Kill in en overb raked and went down with th e remainder of th e fiel d looking for an esca pe route. Erickson mi ssed th e sliding bike but killed his motor as the rest : of th e field swept past. The race was red-flagged and Killinen made it back to the sta rt line for 'the restart . T he second time dow n the track Erickson decided to remo ve the possibility of ano ther inside move and moved insi de with authori ty. H e remained in cha rge 10 take th e win , h is first th is year. T h e 600cc Su pe rb ike ra ce was ano ther Dimick/Terry struggle, with Dimick gelli ng to the fini sh lin e ahead of Terry. However. Terry 's second p lace was eno ug h for him to clinch the class cha mpionship. T he 750cc Superbike contes t sho uld have been stopped on acco u nt of nocontest at the comp letio n of the first lap. Greg Curtis' Kawasaki ZX7 was gone at the green and never had a shado w until th e cool-do wn lap. H is win was a double treat with th e presence of Kawasaki as th e event spo nsor. The loss of Terry du e to transmission p roblems left Curtis in control of this class wi th a 15-point lead. At the fin al race, Terry has to win and Cu rtis wou ld have to place no better tha n 10th for Terry to claim _ the title. T he O pen Supe rbike race was under the cont rol of Geoff Cesrnat on his " older" GSXR, whi ch seems to get faster and faster with age. However, Greg Curtis is in the spoiler pos ition if Cesma t sho uld falt er in an y.way. T he Supersport classes saw Suzuki and Yamaha conti ngency mon ey up for gra bs. T he 600c9Tace was ano ther start-to-finis h dom ination by Bobb y Miosek on his Yamaha. Dimi ck was busy fending off th e Kawasaki ZX6 of T erry Harn ish. T he 750cc Supersport race saw Guy Clasen launch from th e second row to lead on the first lap. He was attacked a lmos t immediate ly by Cesmat and Rich Star k, all three rid ers on Suzukis. Ces rna t event ua lly pushed by an d Clasen was set upon by an eager Stark. The shuffle lasted until Clasen secured second p lace for good and left Stark to avo id th e clutches of a hard-ridi ng Brian Flan agan on yet ano ther Suzuki. T he finishing order rem ained the same. Ces rna t sec u re d th e class championsh ip. Ope n Su persp o rt remains th e domain of Dan Turner as h is maste ry of h is Suzuki GSX RI IOO a p pea rs decep tively easy. Phillip Noyes was breathtak ing on h is 750cc Suzuki; his last-second braking int o the first turn would succeed in taking the lead from _ T urne r, bu t -he could only hold the posit ion for a lap before Turner would take it back. This lasted until Noyes' front tire said "e no ugh" and low-sided him into the hay bal es in the clos ing laps of the race. Turner's fini sh gained him the class cha mpionsh ip. c¥ Results ROR GTO: I. Dan T urner (SU 2. Geoff Cesmat l); (Sw); 3. Phillip Noyes (SUl); 4. David Kieffer (Han): 5. Guy Clasen (SU ). l ROR GTU: I. Kurt Dimick (Yam); 2. Jon Terry (Yam): 3. Mark Schellinger (Ha n): 4. Bobby Miasek (Yam): s. Chip Killinm (Yam). OPL" Sill'" I. Danny Anderson (SUl): 2. Guy Clasen (SU 3. Pete Homan (Sw): 4. Dennie Burke l); (Sw): 5. Mike Hack (Sw). OPL"II s/SPIlT: I. Dan T urner (Sw ): 2. Guy Cl3S(' (Suz); 3. Pete H oman (Suz): 4. Dennie Burke n (SU 5. Mike Hack (Sw). l); 7loO SIIIK: I. Greg Curti, (Kaw); 2. David Kidla (Han); 3. Rich Stark (Sw): 4. Brian Flanagan (SU l); 5. Jim Ferrington (Suz). 7loO s/SPIlT: I. Geoll Ccsmat !Sul): 2. GuyClasen (Sw); 3. Rich Sza (Sw): 4. Bnan Flanagan (SU rk l); s. Terry Harnish (Kaw). 600 Sill'" I. Kurt Dimick (Yam): 2. j on Terry (Yam): 3. Chip Killinen (Yam): 4. Mark Schellinger (Han); 5. Bobby Odell (Yam). 600 S/SPIlT: I. Bobby Miasek (Yam): 2. Kurt Dimick (Yam);3. Terry Hamish (Kaw): 4. j oe Miner (Yam); 5. Scou MacArther (Yam). . 4loO S/R K : I. Mark Erickson (Yam); 2. Chip Kill inen (Yam); .5. Tony Baker (Yam); 4. Chns Dudley (Yam); 5. jim Marchbank (Yam). r-eo: I. Don Hough (Yam): 2. Bil Fisher (Yam): 3. Mike Reid (Rtx); 4. Mark Erickson (Yam): 5. jim Sc nn leitner (Yam). AM GTO: I. Richard Kimball (SU 2. Brad l): Bolcak (Kaw): 3. Brent Miller (Yam); 4. Doug Lyle (SU 5. David Gurtler (Yam). l): AM GTU : I. j oe Miner (Yam): 2. Yosuke Hasega wa (Yam); 3. Mark Erickso n (Yam): -4. Da nn y · Adamson (Yam);5. wes Hjelm (Han). NOV GTO: I. Bill Hausler (SU ): 2. Brad Bolack l (Kaw): 3. Doug Lyle (SU 4. Quinn Swilt (Sw): l); 5. Kurt Dires (SUI). NOV GTU : I. Wes Hjelm (Ha n); 2. Todd Alexander (Yam): 3. j ohn Beldock (Sw ): 4. Chris Ta ylor (Yam):5. Ron Hough (Yam). Venegas shines at Costa Mesa Speedway By SCOII Daloisio COSTA MESA, CA, AUG. 31 Charlie Venegas finally shook off h is Costa Mesa ji nx a nd won the eigh t lap H an dica p ma in a t th e O ran ge Co unty Fairgrounds KLSX Fox N ight. The victory was his firs t as a Division One rider at America's oldest speedway track. T wo Urnes pr ior to his victory, Ven ega s had been clo se to wins a t the venerable track in 1990. On one occasion he had near ly a half straight lead wh en his motor blew late in the race . O n the o ther, he led most of th e way o nly to be passed by Ala n Ch ristian in the race's fina l stag es. .. Venegas, o n hi s Blen d zalJ/WennZinkal Cyc le gea r- backed Wesl ak e, chased down initial lead er Mike Buff near the end of lap two . He rod e around Buff and p ulled it dow n o n h im to secure fi rs t. Vetera n Sh a w n McConnell dr opped Buff back to third o n lap four. Seco nds lat er th e red na!; came out. And y Northrup hit Buff's rear lire In turn four and highsided. No rthrup landed hard o n his shoulder, but he was able to get up and restart th e ra ce. Venegas sta rted a t th e front o n th e single file restart a nd ass umed th e lead , once again. Christian, went by Buff on lap four to move into th ird . but he go t no fart he r. The pas sin g amo ng th e top three ended and Ven ega s fin ally had the victory th a t eluded him all seaso n long. McConnell fended off Christian to earn th e second pl ace paych eck. The popular Speedway Sidecars were o n th e sho w and th e wm went to th e Ducati riding team of Dean Steele and Dwayne King from New Zealand. Randy Mcintyre and Robert Fox were a clos e second wi th Ken t Benander and Cary Pollard th ird. Jerry Black rook home top honors in th e disputed Divis ion Two main from th e 30 yardli ne. In Third Division. Car los " Cra shwall " Cardona beat Dennis Stepa nenk o and Mike Boyle. Results SCJlATOl : I. Mik t Faria (Wn): 2. Abn OuislWt (Wrs); .5 j oah Unn1 (W n ): i . Stf'W' Luctto (Cdn). . HDCP: l. Ow-lit v~. IWn); 2. Shawn McCon nrll (Gc!n ); 5. Alan Ou'istan (Wn); 4. JI.h Larsen (Cdn) . 0.2: l. Jt rry Blac::k (lYnl. ~3 : l.l:arlo. Cardo"" (Wn): 2. Dmnis Slrpranrn lo.o UoIW): 3. MilL Bayk U~wl: 4. Robbi~ SOIurr(j~w ). SOCAR: l. br- n SIrf'lt/Dwarllf' King (Ll w); 2. Rilndy .. Md m)'ttlRolwon Fox:( Kaw) ; 5. Ken t Rm~nder/Ca ry Pollard (Llw): 4. John Sim mon vRobnt MeG.lIth (MG ). Schwantz again at Glen Helen Speedway By Scott Daloisio SAt' BERNARDINO. CA. AUG. 2!J • Nationa l Champion Bobb y Sch wartz narrow ly defea ted Ala n " Cra zy" Chr istia n 10 win the thrill ing Mill er Genuine Dra ft Scratch ma in a t the G len Helen O HV Park's Inla nd Mo to r Speedway. Seconds la ter. Christian ca me back to win th e eigh t lap Han dicap main . . Co m ing from ga te two, Christian was th e first rid er to reach tum o ne at the start of th e four lap ma in . " F1yin' " Mike Faria was second off th e lin e foll o wed by Sco tt Brant, Sch wanu, ca ug h t rolli ng backwards after p ushi ng th e tapes was last. Faria , usin g ' he deep IMS cus hion in turn two, tri ed to ride aro und th e 34·yea r-o ld lead er. However, he parked in turn two and th at let Christ ian ge t away. Schwa m, on a rampage aft er his star t. tried to co me underneath Christian. The 1985 National Champion was equal to th e task and he fended off Schwartz' cha llenge. On the dirt line, Christian wh eelied in turn one o n lap two. Schw am was ready to pounce. but lik e Christian , he also got tra cti on and wh eelied, That a llowed Christian 10 maintain his sligh t adva ntage, Thin gs go t ro ugh o n lap th ree. Schwaru dro ve in to Christi an in his quest for th e lead . H e was even with th e race long leader in turn three. H e ga ve him a tap in turn four and look o ver Iirsi, However , Ch ristian did not giv e up. They went down 'he back ch u te elbow 10 elbow o n lap four and bumped before ent eri ng turn three. Schwartz left th e throttle o n longer and it was enough to give h im and h is P romotion Products/en Brace /Budweiser/Silkolene/STP-ba cked GM th e win. Christian, not th e happiest man in th e world with Schwartz' rid ing, pl aced second. Scali Brant fini shed third. Results SCRATCH: l. Bobby Sch wartz (G M); 2. Ahm Ch ristian (Wta): 5. Scot t Brant (Wo); 4. Mikt Far ia (Wo). H DCP: l. Abn Chriatia n (Wes); 2. Milt Far ia (w es): 5. Brent w erner (Cdn); 4. Rob Pfrtlins: \C M). 0.2: I. Will w h ueeide W n ); 2. J ~ f CaMin (WOo): 3. Lee Edwards (Wes): i . Bobby Ca mpbel l C Wo). SDCAR: I. Randy Md ntytt /R obttt Fox. ( K<1 w): 2. Cnig DnnplolM / PrtM lA-wi l ( K.aw): ~ . ROSI Milla rlThtlt Leeder (lU w); 4. J{(on OhrtlDoug \\'h iuon (H·D). J R 0. 1: I. Quu wemer: 2. Heath Hammonds; 5. Ran dy Evan s, JR [)"2: l. ~rk Nidw ; 2. Danny &ndfidd: 3. Amber Kouulh.

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