Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GMOTOCROSS Top~G_un_Sho_wd_ow_n _ e ... ....... -.::t' ~ Q.) ...0 a Q.) ;> o Z Eri k Kehoe (8) passed Dennis H awthorne (32) to win the 125cc Pro class, then finished second in the 250cc division. Rob by Neeley (III), Jeff Eads (48), Mike Howard (386)'and David Eller (913) fight for po sition at the start of the 25+ class. Kehoe collects top cash at Muddy Creek By Barbara and Loren Williams B LOUIIT VJLLE, rx,ocr. 27·28 ace fans at Mud dy Creek Ra ceway have waited a ll year to watch ano ther rider provide some close competitio n for Mik e Brown, and they fin all y go t it wh en Erik Kehoe flew in from Ca liforn ia for the H onda Top Gun Showdown, the fin al ro und of the 1990 Pizza Plus Mega Series. Kaw asaki Team Gr een 's Brown has dom in ated A-class racing in the region all year and had wrapped up the 125 and 250cc A Class series cha mpionsh ips long before th e Showdown. Keh oe sto p ped Brown in the 125ccA class and made Brown work hard for the 250cc A cla ss win. Kehoe walked away with the most morie y from the $5500 Pr o purse as he pocketed $1100. Brown's payoff was $840. R 18 T he top 15 riders in each class in the Mega Series - were au toma tica lly seeded into the Sunday's fin al Showdown motos. All ot her riders had to qua lify for the rema ining positions, with ama teur qualifiers held o n Sa turday to determine the final field that would compete for five-foo t trophies and cont ingencie s down to fifth pla ce. Pro riders not in the top 15 in th e series also had q ualifiers o n Su nday. Onl y th e final Showdown paid a sha re of th e $5500 purse, which drew man y top Nationa l-caliber privateers. Yamaha 's Dam on Bradsh aw was sched u led to defend his 1989 Top Gun titl es, but was called to Japan to do testing. When the 125cc Pro Showdown left the line, Dennis Hawthorne grabbed th e h ol esh ot wh il e Brown was sq ueezed back to "12th in the first turn. Keh oe started second and matched Hawth orne's moves for the first half of the n ine-lap race as the two put nearl y 10 seconds o n the rest of the pack. On lap five, Kehoe took advan tage of a sligh t hesitati on by Hawthorne and slipped by on the o u tside of an off-ca mber turn. H awthorne stayed right wit h Kehoe th o ugh , hoping to force a mistake. It a lmos t happened when Kehoe got loose down a stai rstep hi ll, but Kehoe stayed uprig ht and put on a bur st of speed to pull away from his challenger. At the checkered flag Kehoe had a five-second adva ntage on Hawth orne. Tony Paggio rode alo ne in third until lap seven when Steve Ch ildress, who had wor ked up from a ninth place start , pa ssed him. Paggio tried to stay with Childress until he nearl y crashed, then backed off to fini sh fourth over T odd DeH oop. Brown fell early in the race, but rega ined hi s co m po?ure to cha rge th ro ugh the pack. At the white flag he too k sevent h when H ank Moree bo bbl ed, then cha sed down and pass ed Kevin Walk er to fini sh sixth. Lee Walston wrested th e early lead from Keh oe in the 250cc Pro final , but Walk er blew by them both on the first lap. As Walston dropped back, Brown u sed hi s trac k kn owledge to ge t around Keh oe and threat en Walk er. J im Neese also passed Wal ston an d pulled in beh in d Keh oe , but soo n Keh oe mo ved away as he tried to stay with Bro wn a nd Wal ker. As Wal ker ti ptoed th rough the ruts o n th e bo ttom section of the trac k, Bro wn stayed o n th e gas a tick longer to ta ke the lead. Walker gassed it to stay wi th Bro wn , but stall ed in one of the ru ts. Keh oe bl ew by a nd Wal ker restarted just in time to sta y ahead o f Neese, whe re he rem ained to th e finish . Kehoe cou ldn' t ca tch Bro wn and fini sh ed seco nd, while DeH oop o nce again ro unded ou t th e top five. Wh en the 250cc Non-Current final lined up , defending class cha m p Bobby G ilb ert and H arv ey Wiggins were sepa ra ted by seven points. G ilbert powered hi s way to second behind Kevin Au stin wh en th e gate dropped with Wiggins right behind. Austin, who had won th e qualifying heat , led every lap as Wiggins lurked behind Gilbert waiting for an opportunity to pass. But Gilbert never allowed the slightest mi stake to offer Wiggins such a cha nce and he finished second to wrap up his second consecutive Mega Seri es titl e. Senior Mini class riders Jordan Moneymaker a nd Ryan Reed were separa ted by five points coming into th e Sh owdo wn , with Moneymaker on to p . Both youngsters were battl ing illness o n race day and J esse Thunser leaped into th e lead a t the start of th e fin al with Greg Rand o n hi s fender. By turn two Rand had tak en th e lead , which he held for the rest of the ra ce. Th unser held o n to seco nd followed by Ryan Pau ley, wh ile Reed started fourt h and stayed th ere to th e end. Moneym ak er sta rte d ninth and was o n ly able to work up o ne po siti on. Wi th Jimm y Briggs, Sh awn Schu ltz an d Bill y Charles finis h ing between the two ri val s, Reed sna tched the class title by three po ints. Reed a nd Mon eymaker also finish ed 1-2 for th e season in th e Sch ool- bo y class, despite sitting out the Sh owdown for health reasons. Patrick Greer, wh o ha s been sidelined due to injury since April, gathered enough points early in th e season to hold o n to third in th e fin al standings. For th e fir st half of th e season Brad Clark, defending doub le champion in th e 125 and 250cc C classes, looked to repeat his twin victory. But then Chad Pitt and Johnny Cox started sho wing up , and by th e time the Sh owdo wn ro lled aro u nd Clark was four points behind in third. Nathan Ramsey hopped in front at the start of th e final , wi th Clark seco nd, Pitt fourth and Co x sixth . On lap one Cox was elim inate d whe n he fell and was i nj ured , w hil e P itt h ad reached seco nd and Clark dropp ed back to fift h behin d lacy H od ges a nd Edw ard Ray. Ramsey led every lap for the win , with Pi tt sec o nd to cement th e series victory. Tam Topha n jumped into th e lead a t th e sta rt of th e 25+ B class fina l a nd stayed th ere for th e entire race. Ph ilip Sarver and Kirk Jeffries tu ssled over second, swa p p ing th e position a co u p le o f tim es before J effri es claimed it for good. Five-tim e Women 's National cha m p Mercedes Gonza lez had started eig h th and fell back to 13th after having troubl e with a rut. Two, lap s lat er sh e had climbed ba ck to fourth behind Sarv er , wh ere she stayed to the finish . . "J just told myself to quit messing around and ride the track ," said Gonzalez, adding, " it' s such a great track , too." CN

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