Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GMOTOCROSS Pizza Plus AMA Southeastern Regional MX Championship MegaSeries:Round 1 e Jim Chester (91) handed Steve Childress (711) his only loss of th e day in th e first 250cc A class moto, Childress chews up Muddy Creek By Ba rba ra and L oren W illiams BLOUNTVILLE, TN, M 8 AR. teve Chi ldress wo n three ou t o f four mot os to sweep the 125 an d 250cc A cla ss victories at Muddy .Creek R aceway. In add ition 10 earning a set of tires from the da y's sponsor Du n lo p , Childress pocketed $455 in purse m oney p lus ' 600 in Su zu ki cont ing ency a wa rds. "T his is great," said Childress. " It was worth the six-ho u r drive from West Virginia." Ch ildress' triumph is all th e more a ma zing co nsi dering hi s sta te o f health last year. In May, the week after he won th e Suzuki East ern Continen tal Ch ampion ship a t Muddy Creek , Chil dress broke hi s back. T hr ee months la ter he ti ll wasn 't fullv healed wh en he cra she d in to a large boulder, bruised his liver and ended u p in th e hosp ital for a week. A record 628 entrants fro m I4 sta tes, so me who ca me from as fa r as Pen nsylvani a, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabam a a nd Florida, were o n hand for th e o pe n ing round of th e Pizza P lu s AMA South ea st ern Region al MX Cha m pions hip Series. This year th e series has been expanded 10 16 races a t tracks in T ennessee, Georgia, North Caro lina, Virginia a nd Kentucky. The four J apan ese factories have posted 454,000 in co nti ngencies for the series, a nd at th e opening ro u nd Dun lop tires were awa rded 10 a ll class wi n ners . S 14 In th e first 125cc A rnot o Chad Lo ug h, mo unted o n a Bare Bros .backed S uzuk i, grabb ed th e ho lesh ot with Pen nsylvan ia n Da m ien Plotts, Ch ild ress and Mik e Padgett closel y foll owin g. At th e en d of la p one, Bill y Co x had mu scled h is Mark IV Yam ah a int o thi rd behind Lou g h and Plotts, who were du el in g ou t front, Abo ut th e tim e that P lous got around Lo ug h 10 ta ke th e lead, Ch ildress started h is march towa rd th e fro n t and passed Co x, laking Padgett along for the ride. Chi ld ress th en su rp rised Lough to mak e th e running order Plo tts, Ch ildr ess, Lough , Padgett a nd Cox . As lap three began, o ne o f th e 125cc B class riders running sim u lta neously with the 125cc A class, dropped h is machi ne at the to p o f th e sta irs iep ju m ps. Lou gh had no pl ace to go a nd went do wn himself, smas h ing h is han d a nd retiring for th e rest of th e moto. Lou gh lat er op ted to pac k u p a nd hit th e road, hopin g to recu pera te in ti me for th e Cha rlo tte Su percro ss. . With Lou gh 's elimi nation, Ch ildress was able to easi ly move in front , lea vin g Pl otts, Cox, Padgett a nd Bar e . Bros.-backed Jim Ch ester to fig h t it ou t for th e remai ning positio ns. At the flag the scoreca rd show ed Chi ldr ess wi th the wi n over Pl otts, Chester, Pad gett and Cox . T he second moto saw Childress lead from start to finish. P lotts hung o n second u nt il la te in the race whe n a har d-ch argi ng Chester a nd Cox bot h d ro p ped him to fo urt h . Virginian Shane Templeton als o worked hi s way a rou nd Plotts to secure fourth pl ace a t th e fin ish. In th e opening 250cc A cla ss mot a, first -year A rider J ay H ayes, wh o was moved up from the B class because of hi s 1991 Meg a er ies secon d -p lace finish , ri pped off th e start 10 gra b th e ho leshot a nd he ld off Ch ildr ess a nd Ch este r until -the woods sectio n threefourths o f a lap lat er. Sh or tly alt er wa rd, H a yes hit th e di rt a nd was un abl e to co nti n ue. Chi ldress dumped hi s Suzu ki o n la p tw o , all owin g Ches ter to blas t into the lead. Child ress resum ed the race in sixth , a nd from the n o n, rode nard to get hack 10 his finishing positon o f seco nd behind Ches ter. " When I cras hed, I ended up with no brakes," sa id Chi ld ress. " I cou ldn' t have sto p ped if I'd had to." T he fin ishing order was Ch ester , C h i ld ress , P enn sy lvani an G a ylon Dix on , Co x, and 199 1 MegaSeri es 25+ A cha mp Rock Wood. The seco nd rnot o saw Childress o ut front fro m th e s ta rt hound ed b y Ch ester and Cox. Chester pressured Chi ldress u nt il th e hallwa y point o f the race, whe n he muscled tei th e fro nt. 10 Bu t Chi ld ress was u p to th e cha llenge , a nd on th e last lap saw hi s cha nce 10 re turn the favor, recla im ing th e point a nd th e win . " I got passed o n th e' last lap o f the last mo to of th e da v," said Ch ester, sh ak ing his head . "T ili s winter I did n 't rid e at a ll, and my arms a ren 't read y. I j ust co uld n't hang on ." . Co x fini sh ed th ird for the same pos itio n o vera ll, and Tem p leton's fourth-pl ace fin ish earned h im fifth overa ll. Ro n Jones, backed by ALias H onda/ Yam ah a of Bristo l, T ennessee, walk ed away with three Dunlop tires for his wins in the Open Amat eur, 25+ A and 30+ A class e . Las t year Jones emerged fro m a seven-year racing hi a tus necessita ted by marriage a nd ch ildre n to fin ish fifth in th e 30+ A class for th e Mega Seri es. T h is yea r J on es is ser ious. H e's dro p ped 30 po u nds a nd, accordin g to gu ys wh o raced ag a ins t him in th e early 80s, is faster th an ever. H e certai nly su rp rised Open class favorite Chris Sho rt ridge, wh o had th e pow er to keep up with J ones on the straights but was clearly o u tclas sed through th e co rne rs. During hi s earl ier days, J on es was known for his corne rin g ability, a nd he hasn 't lost th e tou ch. J ones' brother , Kerr y, cla imed the hol esh ot in th e first 30+ A mot a desp ite cla ims th at he wou ld " ride easy" 10 save th e ribs he brok e in Florida in a n effort 10 ga ther MegaSeries po ints. " I figu red if I co u ld stay o u t front, I wouldn 't ge t hu rt ," exp la ined Kerr y. "T he n Ron tried to pass o n th e first lap a nd turned himsell into a berm. I realized it cou ld have been me, so I backed o ff. When he wo rked hi s wav back up th rou gh th e pack and wa nte d to pass me aga in, I let him." Ron too k th e ha rd-won rnoto victory a nd paired it wi th a seco nd -mo te br eeze 10 th e chec kered fla g, for th e overa ll win. Kerry ende d u p seventh overall, brok en rib s a nd a ll. In th e first 25+ A class mota, Ron J on es led from start to fini sh . Gerald Wood , David Mack o f Flint, Michigan , Rock Wood and J eff Dod gen fill ed o u t th e top five spots-. Gera ld Wood got th e ho leshot in the second mo ta, takin g along 1991 MegaSeries 25+ B cha m pi on Dou g Mohr for interferen ce as Ron J on es breathed down hi s neck. As th e laps wound down , so did Moh r as he faded well back in the pack. J on es d ispa tched Wood in a co rne r and mo tor ed on lo r his six th moro win o f the day . Mall Maximoff devastat ed th e 29rid er Sen ior Mini cla ss, pow erin g int o the lead ea rly in bo th mo tos a nd distan cin g h imself fro m the field by u p to 10 seconds. The 15-yea r-old from Brigh ton , Mich igan , also bedeviled th e Sch oolboy class , pushi ng th e same Suzuki RM80 ridde n in th e Senior Mini class to two fourth -p lace fin ish es, good for third overa ll. " We p rob a bly won 't get back here until T op Gun in th e fa ll ," said Ma ximoff. " I hat e 10 mi ss th e MegaSer ies, but it's j us t too lo ng a drive. " Dozen s of you ng riders wi ll no dou b t be reiieved. J im my Briggs, sponsored by Jim 's Mot orcycles Sa les, Gea r and Power Mi st, a nd Faveuevil le Cycle- bac ked Sha ne Berryhill battl ed for th e LOp spot in eac h Sch oo lbo y mo to. It a ll boil ed down to technique, since th eir new H ondas seemed so evenly ma tch ed. Briggs scoo ted past the chec kers first to win mot o on e, foll ow ed half a blink la ter by' Berr yhill. Berryhill bl asted in to th e lead a t th e sta rt of mo ta two wh ile Briggs a nd Maximoff qu ickl y hook ed up behind him . Fo r half the mo to, Max im off nipped a t Briggs' heels, worry ing him

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