Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ M orDeROSS Grand National ChamEionshiE_In_tema_tio..,.- na---,-M _ 1_X_Fi_na_1 m ' The Teeny Mini Stock class leaves the gate a t the start of the second moto. into third. Finishing righ t o n Schellenberger 's rear fender wa s another loca l fav orite, Denn is Hawthorne, wh o was l l th o ff th e start ing line. In Sunday's deciding second m oto, it was T in ney g ra bb in g th e holeshot ah ea d of H awthorne a nd first-m ote winner Edwa rds. On th e third lap , Edwards motored aro u nd th e o u tside of Hawthorne and took over seco nd. H e th en slo wly reeled in Tinney, sell ing the stage for a dramatic lastlap pass for th e lead. Just a fter ta king th e whi te flag a nd T in ney h aving to change h is line to ge t aro u nd a lapped rider , th e d uo went side -b y-s ide into a fa st , left-h and sweep ing turn , a n d th e two rid ers bum p ed h andlebars. Edwards ca me o ut o f th e tu rn in th e lead. " I think I'm go ing 10 h ave a talk with th a t la p p ed rider," sai d T inney a fterwards. " H e mov ed over on me and I had no place to go, a nd Jason too k advantage o f th a t. That's racing, I gu ess." Edwards roosted his T eam Gr een / Be II I Co II I A n s w e r I P r o - Ci r cu i t l Dunlop-backed Ka wasaki across the finish li ne for th e win a head Ti n ney , H aw th orne a nd Tommy Clo wers. "Terry mad e no mi stak es today," said Edwards. " Bu t he did make a m istake yesterday by tell in g me tha t h e go t tired af ter eigh t la p s in th e firs t m o to, I th ough t a bo u t th at the who le race (seco nd moto) and wai ted. H e ro de real good, th ough." H awthorne sai d , " I have no exp la nation , th ey (Edwards a nd Tinn ey) wer e go in g awfull y good. I didn 't fight 100 hard with Edw ards because I knew he wa s go in g for th e overa ll and I was o u t o f it." · . , H a wthorne ca me back a n d bl ew every bod y away in th e first l 25cc Expert mota on h is Sammy White's Ka wasaki City/LCS/Race T ech/CT i/ Sun sta r /RK / Sh o ei / An sw erv' Scotr/ Dun lop -sponsored KX 125. T he 28· yea r-o ld Texa n blew into th e lea d as soo n as th e ga te dr opped a nd went unch all en ged th ro ugh ou t th e nine-lap mota . T he o n ly rid er who kept wi th in eyeshot of H a wt horne was Tinney, wh o ran seco nd the whole way, whi le H ond a ri de r Ti m H od es passed Ka wa sa ki-mounted Cory Keen ey on the last lap for th ird. Rounding o ut th e to p five was Cr um b. , , Edwards en ded up sixt h after a bad sta rt . " I starte d off 32n d af ter I got stuc k in th e ga te, " sa id Edwards. " It was tough to ca tch up." H ow ever, Ed wards redeem ed h im self on ' Sunda y by imi ta ting Ha wth ome's Saturdav -winu iu g pe rformance, Edwa rds grabbed th e hol esh ot a nd never loo ked back, scori ng an easy 'win , H awtho rn e gat ed in seco nd but kn ew he didn't need to pass Edwa rds to clinch th e overall, so h e let Ed wa rds go a nd sewed up th e cla ss cha m p io n shi p with a di stant seco nd. Crum b fini shed thi rd and, combined wi th hi s first-m ot e fourth , ne tted thi rd o vera ll. " I go t th e start th at 1 needed to run wi th th ose g u ys," said Crumb, " You need to get a good start to have a cha nce ." Fo u rt h in th e mot a was yet a nother Texan , Bill y Whitl ey, U nfort u na tely for Whitley, p roblem s in th e first rnot o relegated th e ',H on da ri de r to 10th overa ll. ' 'I'm pretty h a p p y," sa id H a wthorne. "I h urt my kn ee a whi le back go -kart racing a nd m y a rm a t a n arena cross, so I' m g lad I did as well as I did. " In th e 125 a nd 2,ljOcc Open classes, Reyn ard was u ns to ppab le, al though both Prall a nd Decker ga ve it their best shots, Pr all was th e ea rly lea der in bo th 125cc mo tos. On Sa turday, th e Su zu ki rider led until he cra shed o n the th ir d lap a nd dro pped 10 four'th behind Reyn ard , Decker a nd Clint Latham . Reynard we nt on 10 win th e mota, j us t a few yards a head of Decker. Latham finish ed a close th ird , fo llowed by Pra ll a nd G reg Sch ne ll. ' " I just hun g back a nd waited for J oey to mak e a mi stak e; he , makes a lot of mistakes," sai d Reyn ard . "But m y arms pumped up a nd I started 10 mak e so me mi stak es, too ." The seco nd mota, aga in, saw Pr a tt lead for tw o lap s until he oversho t a berm , letting Reynard sli p by agai n. As Prall tri ed to rega in momentum down th e next stra ig ht Decker a lso got by. Reynard went on to fini sh co m fortab ly a head o f th e ru n ner- u p , Decker a n d th ird -pl a ce Pr atl. Fo ur th wa s Metzger, while La tham ro un ded a lit th e top five. Overa ll it went; Reynard (I- I), Decker (2-2), Pra ll (4-3), La tha m (3-4) and Sch nell (5-6). The ou tco me o f th e 250cc Open class was n ' t decid ed unti l th e last lap of th e la s t m o to . R eyn ard , Dec ker a n d Metzger finish ed 1-2-3 in the first mor o with Reyn ar d leading a ll the way . But in the seco nd mow , it was Decker gra b bing th e hol esh ot a head o f Reynard ; Metzger ga ted six th but was th ird i Jason Edwards scored th e 250cc Expert class win and was the run ner-u p to Denn is H awthorne in th e 125cc class, ' by th e seco n d lap. H ow ever , Decker and Reyn ard were a lready lo ng go ne , at th a t poi nt, involved in a dogfight for the lead th at wou ld u ltimatel y decide th e class ch am p io ns h ip , Decker led Reyn ard past th e white flag bu t co u ldn 't do the same a t th e checkered flag , as Reynard emerged ou t o f th e bac k side of th e track leading th e wa y. " I got a bad sta rt a nd I was prett y tired, " sa id Reyn ard a fter wh at wa s hi s 12th and last rnoto of th e weekend. "I wasn 't sure 1 was go ing 10 ca tch him ." " I tried a different lin e a nd went insid e in a turn , but h e went ou tside a nd got by me," said Decker. " He had a good pa ce a nd fought back." Met zg er fin ished third fo r thi rd overa ll, wh ile J erem y Meulman (1-5), Dane H ill er y (8-4) a nd H omer Wool sla yer (5-7) rounded o u t th e top six o vera ll. Kevin Windham , li ke Reyn ar d . a lso ca me withi n o ne mot a of a per fect record. Ou t o f th e three classes tha t he entered a nd won - the Min ib ike Stock ( 12-13), Senior ( 12-13) a nd Open (7· 16) - th e Team G reen / Maxi ma l AXO/ Dun lop/ Rent h a liSco 11- backed rider led every la p in every mo w , exce p t o ne. The o n ly moto tha t h e di dn' t wi n, or a t least lead at one time. was in th e Open class, wher e Robb ie Sk aggs fin ish ed a hea d o f th e 13-year-ol d speeds ter. But Windham ca me back in round two to score th e seco nd-mote victory a n d the Open class overa ll. " T he O pen class is to ug h ; it 's so co m pe titive," said Windham . " Everybodv ca n race in in , it doesn 't mailer h O\~ o ld yo u are, " In the o the r two cla sses - Minib ike Stock ( 12- 13) an d Sen io r (12-13) Windha m was never h eaded , leading every la p in every moto. S kagg s en ded up go i ng 1-2 for seco nd overa ll in the O pen division , while Brad Woolsey (1-3) a nd R ick y Carmicha el (3·6), who had injured hi s ' h ip in a fa ll whi le leading a no the r race ea rl ier in th e day on Sunda y, ro u nded o u t th e top five. In th e Minibike Sen ior class, th e on ly ride r able 10 keep' with in sig h t of Win dha m was Kaw asaki rider J ason Pa rtri dge, who fi ni shed seco nd in both mot es for seco nd o vera ll. Third overa ll wi th a ' 4-4 rally wa s Erick Vell ejo. Shaun I' erol io (4-7) a nd Dustin Nelson (7-6) filled o u t th e to p five overa ll, respectivel y. O nce aga i n , W in dh am was u n to ucha b le in th e Minibike Stock (1213) class. H e co mfo rta bly won bo th _ mot o s ov er ru n ner-u p , Partridge, who went 2-2. Suzuki rider Ch arl ey Bogard : kept Partridge h on est in th e first moto by finishing a close third, a n d a fifth , on Sunda y nett ed him third over a ll. Vallej o wa s fourth ove ra ll, ahead of Du stin Nelson a nd Ryan Clark. Skaggs, th e only rid er o the r th an Windham to win m ore th an o n e Min ibike class, dom in at ed th e Sen ior ( 14-16) a nd Stoc k ( 11- 16) d ivi sions. T he Tea m Green / ScottiI'J I / Tsu - , b ak ilAXO/Sun star-spon sored ri der never saw th e back of a nyo ne's jersey, -as he led from start to fin ish in a ll four m oto s, An dy Bow yer foll ow ed Skaggs across th e fini sh line in both Stock (1116) motos for seco nd overall. In the Senior (14-16) clas s, Bowyer , aga in, was seco nd to Skaggs in th e first moto bu t lo st o u t to ru nner -up Brad Wool sey in the second mOIO. Woolsey (3·2) bumped Bowyer (2-3) back to third overa ll. But it was still Skaggs the cham p wi th a I-I. Ri ck y Carm ich ael o ut classed hi s Minibike Stoc k (7-11) co m pe titors, as h e eas i ly wa lked a wa y with 'bo t h mot os. H e a lso loo ked 10 be a sure win ne r in th e Minibike J u n ior (7-11) class a lter sm ok in g everyone in th e first m oto . But while leading th e seco nd , race , Carm ichael landed sideways o ff a jump , cras hed, injured hi s hip and wa s u nab le to fini sh th e mot o. Dago Racing 's Suzuki-mounted Jacob Martin , wh o fini shed seco nd in the fir st Junior m ot o, ended up winning th e sec o nd rn o to as well a s th e cl ass cham p io ns h ip. An other Suzuki rider J err y Alem an (3-2) was th e Junior runner-up. He a lso fini shed secon d to Ca rm ichael in the Stock (7- 11) class. Martin 's good fortune wouldn ' t hold ou t much longer , h ow ever. A few motos a fter cl inc hi ng th e Minibike Junior (7· 11) class cha m p io nsh ip, he cras h ed h ard o ve r a jump while co mpeti ng in th e Min ibike Open clas s. He su ffered a co ncussio n in the fall hut was otherwise o kay . T h ere wa s pl enty o f act io n in the two T een y. Mi n i 50cc classes. In th e Stock divisio n , Dusty Fountain scored the overa ll victory wi th a perfect I-I score. Fountain led a ll but one la p in the first mot o , but had to co me back fro m a fifth -pl ace sta rt in th e seco nd moto , passi ng Ross Garcia o n th e last la p . Cha d Co o k ended ' u p seco nd o vera ll wit h a 2-3, and Garcia was thi rd with a 5·2 . Rounding o ut th e top five w e re R obb y S h in n a nd L o gan Will ia ms. In th e Modi fied di visio n J ohner Faulkner we n t ho me w ith the firs tp lace trophy wi th a 2-1 showing. The runner- u p was Ga rcia, foll ow ed b y Sh in n, Williams a nd Aaron J ohnson , in th at or der. Dee Wood was undeniabl y th e fastest in th e La d ies class. T he T eam Green / LCS /Sh o ei / An sw er / FM FI Mo t u 1/ RK /Scolt-backed rid er eas ily won th e first m oto on Sa tu rday, but cras hed lat er in th e day while co m pe ting in a co nsola tio n race in th e I 25cc Novi ce cla ss. Wo od suffered a n elbo w inj u ry a nd co u ld not fini sh th e race. " T wo riders cras hed in front o f me and 1 pl ow ed right into th em ," sa id Wood, " I got m y arm stuc k in th e rea r wheel o f m y bike. It was pretty scary." Despite th e badly swo lle n elbo w, Wo od ca m e ba ck o n Sunda y a n d fini sh ed o u t th e seco nd rnot o o f th e La d ies cla ss with a nother win, clinchin g th e overall, Ci nd y Co le a nd N'adine H olbert swa p ped 2-3 mot o scores a fter a close seco nd -mote bailie, with Co le com ing o u t o n top o f tha t battle. Kristy Shea ly (5-4) a nd Tam my Slay (4-5) rounded o ut th e top five. Fred d ie Mit ch ell d om in at ed th e p opul ar 125cc No vi ce cl a ss. After winning Sa tu rda y' s fi r st moto in

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