Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127391
GDIRT TRACK 199IAMAAmateur National Cham~_ion_sh-- ",-i_p D_irt_T_rack_F_in_al_s ~ R.J . Overholt (97) led Mark Kom ely (62) an d Brian Zum (61) thro ugh the first tum in the 250cc half mile at Peoria. N icky Hayd en wo n five even ts and captured tw o class championsh ips. Hayden on top at Dirt Track Amateur Nationals By Da ve Hoenig P h o tos by Fl a t T ra k Fo tos HENRY, IL,JULY 6-7; PEORIA, IL, JULY 9-10 &12·13 ix ty Nat ional Champions and 20 overall-Grand National Amat eur Ch ampions were crowned in one ac tio n -packed week o f racing a t the Peor ia M.C. and T o te Gray-hosted even ts, tha t dr ew over 700 entries. Nic ky H ayden ca me away th e big winne r, with two overa ll tit les a nd five ind ivid ua l wins. The Marlin & Reci l Hart/ Kim & Neil Keen /Hart Ra cing/ Kiwi H elmets/Bobb y Lewi s/Moto Liberty - Sam Yamashita/ Stum p Sho p p e/P r o In su r a n ce/ T -Shi rt Pl a tes- spons o r ed H a yd en Fa m i l y S 18 also fielded Tommy and J enny, who scored two overall -win s eac h. T om my took four individ ual wins, and J en n y three. In order to hav e am ple track time, each p hase of competi tion ; half mil e, short track and TT scra mb les was split in to two da ys. T he 51cc th rough 125cc mot orcycles com peted o n the first day, and 200cc th rough Open class machinery fill ed day two. T exa n Robby Sh in n ro de his Mot oMor ini to sh ort tra ck a nd TT wins to score th e 51cc o verall cham pio ns h ip. Roger Lee Hayden and Kati Ash pos ted consistent finishes to score seco nd a nd third overa ll, respectively. The half mi le win wen t to K.G Knodel on th e only other Mot o-Morini in th e field. J enny H ayden topped the 65cc DTX (7-1 1) class as h er co m pe ti tio n struggled to keep it on two whee ls. Bra ndo n Rose styled his way to the half mi le win, a nd was leading th e short track event whe n a sp ill left him two laps down. Je n ny held off Brody Miller for th e wi n. In th e TT event, J enny worked h er way around Nicho las Godfrey for th e win. Rose ca me back with a th ird on the TT, for second overa ll. Paul Lync h also had trouble on th e short track, fini shing eigh th after a fall , but wins o n the half m ile a nd TT earned h im the 85cc DTX (12-15) cro wn . Sco tt Stevens had bike p roblems on the half mil e a nd failed to start. However, Stevens won th e short tra ck even t and finished seco nd in the TT, for second overall. Nicky Hayden swept th e 85cc DTX (7- I I) clas s, but it was no walkover for th e Ken tucky speeds ter. At the half mi le, J oshua Kn ott shadowed H a yden . The short track fou nd J o h n Winsett, J r. exchanging the lead with Hayden , but on ce again, Nicky came out on top . Ni cky was ho ld in g a big lead in th e TT wh en the red flag cam e o u t on lap six. The restart enabled J R. Schna bel to cha llenge Hayden, b ut to no ava il. Nicky scored th e win. J aso n Sentell was a po wer in the 125cc DTX class, as he topped the half mile a nd TT even ts. U nfortu na tely, Sentell fell wh ile leading the short track, opening th e door for Brian Zurn. ZUTn scored the win o n th e short track, a nd held a five poi nt adva ntage in the overa ll sta nd ings. Jenny Hayden won he r second title in th e 65cc (7-11) class. After work ing her way a rou nd Brando n Rose for the half m ile win, two sol id, second place finishes gave her the overall. J ason Goodw in ca me from th e second row to win th e short track in a close race, ahead o f H ayden and JR. Schnabel. Sch nabel led the TT all the wa y, with Goodwin holding down th ird, behind Hayden . Ga rt h Bastian used two seconds , a nd a fou rt h , to win th e 85cc (12-15) cha m pionsh ip . After winning th e half mil e, Ricky Winsett Jr. took a hard fall o n the short track, resul ting in a tri p to th e' hospita l. With a broken _ finger, Ricky was able to return on Fri day to the TT, and ra n away with th e win. Matt Auxier edged Bastian for the short track win. T he l25cc class fea tured close rac ing and to ugh luck. Todd Winset t sco red wins o n th e short trac k a nd TT, bu t a broken chain on the starting line elimi na ted him from th e half mi le. Tom m y Hayden took full advantage of this, and led J aso n Sentell across the fin ish line. Wi nsett topped Sentell a nd H ayden i n a close race on the short track . Sentell , C had H eid eman, Hayd en and Winsett all battled in the TT event, until Sentell and H eid eman fell on lap six . Winsett passed Hayden on the las t lap for the win . The tigh t points race we nt to H ayd en , o ver Winsett and Sentell. The 85cc (7-Il) was another close class. Nicky H ayden lost th e half m ile to J R. Sch nabel by inches. The close ra ces on th e short tra ck and TT fell to H ayden. T he short tra ck went down to th e wire, with Hayden ahead o f J oh n Winsett , J r. a nd Sch na bel. H ayden a nd Schnabel hooked up again in th e TT, as they ran awa y from th e pack. The 125cc'Sch oolboy class found T ommy Hayden and Todd Winsett once again locked in a tigh t battle. T ommy edged Winsett on th e half m ile, but Winsett ran aw ay with th e short track wi n, whil e Mike H acker dropped Hayden to third. Hayden , Win sett and H a c ker battled a ll th rough the TT, with the win going to Hayden, a nd a o ne point vic tory in the overa ll. . Brian Zurn wo n th e first two legs in 250cc DTX com pe ti tion, a nd even a midpack fini sh on the TT left him with an 18 point win. J oe Bromley, wh o pl ans to retire after this yea r, captu red the TT victo ry. T he Mayers, Dallas and Clint, fin ishe d secon d and third, respectively, in the fina l points sta ndings. Da ve Kolenda ran a way with the Senior 30+ class cha mp io nship . Kolenda 's only setback cam e as he finished well behind Steve Wi lson o n th e short track. Rick Knuth's steady rides earned him a second o verall. The 200cc class came' down to the last race, as Scott Schnab el a nd Dennis Will iams duell ed for th e overall. Tom Wu rm linger won the half mile, but failed to compete in the remain ing races. Willi ams beat Schnabel on thl short tra ck, and was leading the 'IT when he tangl ed wit h a la pped r idei and fell. Willia ms was up quickl y, anr fini shed third, beh in d Schnabel a nr J ohn Lambrick. Schnab el and Will i ams tied with 49 points, wit h the tic break er going to Sch na bel. Chad Barth topped the 500cc clas s after winnin g two close races o n the half mile and short track. Barth held o ff th e de termined charges o f Paul Morgan to win th e half m ile, then slipped past Ph il Lash on the short track. J oe Brom ley ma de hi s on ly appeara nc e in the '500cc co u nt b y winning the TT over Mike Ti n kham. Barth fin ished third, to wi n th e overall by a la rge margi n . -Sco tt Sch nabel captured his seco nd overall in th e 400cc class. Sch nabel a nd Ch ris Links traded firs t and second o n the half m ile and short trac k. Links did n' t ride the TT, but Sch nabel fell a t th e sta rt a nd contin ued a lap down. Sco tt Freber came away with the wi n, but Sch nabel's seventh gave h im the overal l. Ken ·Coolbeth, Jr. top ped the large 250cc class. Using seconds on th e half mi le and TT, with a n easy win o n the short track, Coolbeth 's 52 points easily led Tommy Hayden , wh o won th e half mi le, and Randy Shank in overall sta ndings. Coolbeth easily beat Marc Wi lli ams on th e sh ort track, th en