Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ULTRACRaSS MickeyThompson Off-Road Championship GP Series: Round 2 ~ ........ ........ After sta rting' on ro w one, Kawa saki Team Green's Tommy Clowers finished third. Kyle Lewis won hi s hea t ra ce and finished fou rth in th e main event . Brooks scores big in San Diego thriller By Ken Fa ught SAN DIEGO, CA FEB 22 . arry Broo ks fen ded off charges from defending Ultracross Champion Mik e Craig to win the 10lap Ultracross ma in event in front of 43,3 74 spec ta to rs a t J ack Murph y Stadium. . Brooks, from nearby EI Cajon, carne L 24 from th e middle of the pack to narrowly collect th e win, wh ich moved him from third to seco nd in the series point sta ndi ngs. " It feels really good to win in fron t o f th e hometown crowd," sai d 25-yea r· old Brooks. "There 's a lot o f local Larry Brooks (4) fended off th e charges of :\fichael Craig (I) th ro ughou t the feature. rid ers who live in this area, and I kn ew that it would be a tough one to win ." Earlier in th e day, the riders rode qualifying races to determine their starting pos ition in one of two heat races. For the start of those races, the riders were in verted wi th the faster rid ers starting on th e sixth of 10 rows . The inverted sta rt was used in a n effort to make the racing mo re excit ing for th e spectators, who also watch ed ATVs, buggies and trucks compete. Another feature unique to U ltracross is that the rid ers ea rn passing po ints "toward the overa ll cham pio nship for eac h positi on they ga in from their origi na l sta rt ing spo t. But the sta rt di sad vantage didn 't seem to a ffect Brooks and Craig in th e first heat , bo th o f wh om came o rr th e six th of 10, two-m an sta rti ng ro ws to overtake early race lead er Gen e Naumec . Craig was th e fir st to force h is way past Na u rnec, doing so o n th e th ird la p before openi ng up a foursecond lead. Th en , a fte r battling han dlebar-to -handl ebar for th ree laps, . . Brooks push ed hi s way into seco nd a t th e end o f the fifth lap and set after Craig, a tas k th a t proved unsu cessful in the seven -lap race. Naumec fin ished third. Fro m -row s ta rter . Dann y Nel son mai ntained fourth th rough out most o f the race u ntil Sh awn Wynne overtook the spot wh ile fightin g o rr ch arges from Tommy Cl o wers. Both riders go t by Nelson, wh o fin ished sixth. T he seco nd heat ra ce start ed with Rya n Ca r lis le rock eting to a co m ma ndi ng ea rly lead o ver Kyle Lewis , th e overall winner o f the Anaheim U lLracross even t. Lewi s, however , slowly at e away at Carlisle's six-second cushion and made his move on the las t lap, a move th at enabled him to greet th e chec kere d £lag first. Carlis le fin ished seco nd ahead of Lowell Thomson, Lance Smail a nd R uss Wageman. The fin al saw J ames Ch amber lain blast orr th e first row and lead Clowers durin g th e first three laps. Brooks and Crai g, wh o started on the seventh a nd eig h th rows, respectively, simu ltaniously charged into the top five a nd conti nued to pi ck up positions. The race became a th ree-wa y battle for the lead as Broo ks, Clowers a nd Craig tried to sort out positions. Chamberlain dropped to fourth before bei ng passed by Lew is, Naumec a nd Carlis le. Broo ks and Craig q u ickly esta blish ed a faster pace a nd o ut distanced Clo wers by la p six . The fi na l four laps sa w Craig p u t o n a valia nt effort to overtake Broo ks for th e lead , but th e best he co u ld do was p u ll u p a longs ide of Brooks withou t ever assu mi ng the po int posi tion. " It was a tou gh one to win," said Brooks. " H a lfway th rou gh th e race I sta rted havin g p roblem s -with lapped rid ers and I kn ew Cra ig was on my ta il. Luck il y I found so me good lines and was able to hold my po sition." " Severa l times I was able to get a longs ide o f him , b ut I co u ldn't find a ny room to pass," sai d Cra ig. " These trac ks ar e rea lly fas t, a nd it 's hard to force a move. " Clowers h ung o n to th ird to the chec kered flag wh il e Lewis a nd Naumec rounded o u t th e top five. CII Resu lts HEAT t: I. Mike Criag (Kaw ); 2. Larry Broo k, (Yam ); 3. Gene Na umec (Ka w) ; .... Shawn Wyn ne (Suz); 5. T o mmy Clowers (Ka w) 6. Dan ny Nelson (Kaw); 7. Shan. Trittler (SUI); 8. James Chamberlain (Ho n); 9. Steven Kotajarvi (Ka w) ; 10. Chris Ridgwa y (SUI); I I. Du"in Eva", (SUI); 12. Ray Mclntosh (Ka w): 13. Jdl Moo re (Ho n); 14. K= y Cory (Kaw); IS. Brett Stubbs (Kawl; 16. Michad 80< (H on); 17. jeffrey Nordstrom ( K.aw); 18. Brett Comer (Yam) . HEAT 2: I. Kyle Lewis (Ya m); 2. Ryan Carlisle (Ka w) ; 3. Lo well Thomson (Yam); 4. Lana Smail (Yam); 5. Russ wageman (SUI); 6. J im Ho lley (Yam); 7. Brian Deega n (Kaw); 8. John Roberg (Yam ); 9. Robert I'ab~r (SUI); 10. J dl Arga nda (Kaw); II. T odd Leh ma nn (Ho n); 12. J d l fi n. (Hon); 13. Dan U lven (Kaw); 14. 5,... Drew (Hon); 15. Tony f ull .. (SUI); 16. J d l.-y Nelson (Kaw); 17. Igna cio Rivera , Jr . (Ho n). MAIN : I. Larry Broo k, (Ya m); 2. Mike Cra ig (Ka w ): 3. Tom my Clowers [Kaw): 4. Kyle Lewis (Ya m ); 5. Ge ne Nau mec (Kaw); 6. Ryan Carlisle {Kaw) : 7. J am es Cha mberla in (Hon); 8. Lo well Thom son : 9. Sha wn Wynn e (SU1): 10. J im H olley (Yam ); 11. La nce Sma il (Yam): 12. Ru ss Wag- an em (SUI); 13. Chris Ri dgw ay (SUI); 14. Shan . Trittler (SUI); IS. Dann y Nelson (Kaw); 16. J ohn Roberg (Yam): 17. Steven Kotajarvi (Kaw ): 18. Jeff Arga nda (Kaw): 19. Robver t naber (Suz); 20. Brian Deegan (Ka w ). U L T R AC R O SS CHAM P IONS H IP SERIES PO tNT ST ANDINGS; I. Micha el Craig (156); 2. (TI E ) La rry Brooka/Kyle Lewis (138); 4. Gene Naumec (88); 5. Lo w.1I Thom sen (84); 6. Sha wn Wynn. (46); 7. (TIE) Ryan Ca rli,Ie/J im Holl ey (40); 9. T ommy Clowers (36); 10. La nce Sma il (32); II. Sco u Myers (28); 12. Ru n Wageman (20); 13. Pal Go mm (17); 14. Brian Wah= (14); 15. Shan. 'Trinler (13); 16. Brian Roth (12); 17. J am es Chamb.rlain ( II ); 18. And y Gri der ( 10); 19. Danny Nelson (9); 20. Brian Deega n (7).

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