eOFF·ROAD
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Mickey Thomeson Off·Road Cham~ionshi~_G_PSe_n_' R_ou_od
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Noleen Racing's Kyle Lewis blasted through the pack to score the main event win.
Larry Brooks won the second qualifier , but finished fourth in th e main event,
Lewis edges Craig
in Anaheim opener
Ul tracross Champion Mike Craig started on th e seventh row and fmished second.
By Ken Fa u ght .
ANAHEIM, CA JAN. 1
9
yle Lewis kicked off the Mickey
Thompson Off-Road Championship Gran Prix Series a t Anaheim
Stadium wi th a n a lmo st flaw less
performance in the 250cc Ultracross
class.
After finis h ing second behind Larry
Brooks in the second qual ifier, Lewis
rode a hard-fought ma in event to
collect the checkers first in front of
60,105 spectators, who also saw offroad trucks, bu ggies and fou r-wheel
ATVs compete in the openi ng round
of the 10-race series.
The raci ng began with defending
Ultracross Cha m p ion Mik e Cra ig
coming off the six th of 10 two -ma n
starting rows to pass ear ly race leader
Ray McIntosh for the point pos ition
in the first quali fier. Craig qu ickl y
opened up a five-second cus hion over
Mcl nt osh, who eventually fell back to
ni n th.
Andy Grider held second place for
one lap before 1989 series cha mp J im
H oll ey snuck by to trail EI Cajon ,
California's Crai g. H oll ey's stay in
second, however, only lasted three laps
before he gave in to the pressur e of
Lowell Thomson on the fin al lap. The"
K
26
three riders held th eir positions to the
fin ish with Craig earning th e win over
Thomson and Holley. Shawn Wynne
slipped past Grider on the second-tolast lap to earn fourth.
In th e seco nd qual ifier, Bro oks
sliced his way thro ugh th e 20-rider
field to overta ke Brian Walters o n lap
two of th e seven- la p ra ce. Walters
maintained second until th e halfway
point whe n both Scott Myers and
Lewis forced thei r way aro u n d h im.
Lewis the n tried to find a good line
aro un d Myers o n th e slic k stadiu m
su rface. Lewi s found it on th e final
lap wh en bo th he and Gene Naumec
dropped Myers to fourth , but Brooks
wa s gone with the win. Walters
rounded ou t the top five.
For th e start of the main event, th e
20 finalists were inverted with th e
faster competitors starting at the rear
and the slower riders starting at the
front of th e two-man starting rows. An
MTEG official put heat-winners Craig
and Brooks on row seven. The special
gridding is design ed to make th e racing
more competitive and more spectacu lar for spectator s, not allowing any one
rider to steal th e show.
