Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS GFI North/South Showdown Series: Round 1 ~ Jason McCormick (184) battled with Chris Young (2) in a 125cc Pro class mota. By Tom Pritchard Photos by Mark Hawkins HANFORD, CA, MAR &-7 he first of two GFI North/South Showdown races was held at the Hanford Fairgrounds, and riders from both northern and southern California faced off against each other on the supercross-style track. Southern Californians Chris Young and Brian Manley overcame any home-track advantage that their northern counterparts may have enjoyed, and blasted to the overall wins in the 125 and 250cc Pro classes, respectively. The Showdown was held over two days, with the majority of the amateur classes being run on Saturday. The Pro classes, along with a few amateur races, filled Sunday's program. Nearly 500 rider entries filled the weekend's program. Rick Ryan grabbed the holeshot at the start of the first 125cc Pro moto, with . Spud Walters and Young in hot pursuit. The order remained the same for the first two laps, but on the third lap Young hammered to the inside of Walters, forcing the Suzuki rider off the line and back to third. While Young made the pass, something let go in Walters' bike and he ground to a stop. Walter's mechanic ran to his aid and was eventually able to get the motor running again, but by this time Walters was out of contention. After moving into second, Young started putting tremendous pressure on Ryan, probing for an opening to pass in almost every turn. The leaders' duel pulled them away from the rest of the pack and they opened up a huge gap on third-place rider Rusty Holland. Just past the halfway point, Young found the opening he was waiting for and dove into the lead with a clean pass. "! didn't want to take Ricky out," said Young. "He's my brother-in-law T 16 and we always race very careful together." The pass seemed to take the steam out of Ryan, as he began to drop off the pace by the new leader. By lap eight, Young had established a six-second lead that he would take to the checkered flag. The action further back in the pack was far from over, however, as Suzuki riders Jason McCormick and Mike Metzger were making tracks through the pack after terrible starts. They battled each other as they passed riders on every lap, eventually moving into the top five. As the checkered flag came out for Young, the next four riders came in several seconds behind. Second went to Ryan with third going to Holland, followed by McCormick and Metzger. The start of moto two saw Holland grab the holeshot, only to lose it in the first tum to Metzger after stuffing his front wheel in a soft berm. Metzger was followed out of tum one by Young, who immediately tried to make a pass for the lead. The move backfired however, as McCormick stuffed his way underneath both Metzger and Young to take over first. Young managed to take second a few turns la ter and soon was right on the rear tire of McCormick. After getting off to a terrible start, Ryan moved into sixth as they completed lap one. Young pressured McCormick in every turn, hoping for a mistake that would allow him to get by. That mistake came on lap four as they came out of a tight left-hand tum before the rockers. McCormick gave it a little too much throttle and turned it sideways, allowing Young to move to the outside and into the lead. McCormick was right back on Young's fender, but the first-moto win- ner had the turn after the rockers wired and opened up a gap, Metzger saw what had happened to McCormick from third, and wicked it up to try and take second. It appeared that McCormick lost his concentration after the pass by Young, and Metzger was by within half a lap. Young now began to open it up, and was soon several bike lengths ahead of Metzger. The only position change in the top five after the halfway point was Ryan managing to finally move himself into fourth after battling practically every rider on the race track. The checkered flag went out to Young, five seconds ahead of Metzger, who was in turn several seconds ahead of McCormick. Finishing fourth was good enough for Ryan to take second overall. Holland timed the gate perfectly at the start of the first 250cc Pro moto. Following in Holland's tracks were Manley and Donald Upton. Manley wasted no time in taking the lead as he out-jumped Holland going onto the front straight and flew into first. From that point on, the battle for first was over as Manley pulled further away with every lap. Holland was passed by Ryan on lap three and a few laps later Metzger was able to get past. Young left the starting line in last place and was taken out in the third turn while trying to move up. "I got the last pick on the line and there was no good spots left," said Young. "Then, this guy took my front wheel out and I fell even farther back." Young would eventually work his way into 10th at the finish after going down one more time. When the checkered flag came out, Manley easily took the win, followed by Ryan, Metzger, Holland and Upton. Young got the spot on the line he wanted for the start of moto two and grabbed the holeshot. Young was followed by Walters in second, and firstmoto winner Manley in third. Walters and Manley were battling hard over second before Manley took control over the mid-section tabletop. With a clear field ahead of him, Manley soon reeled in the leader Young. Manley closed onto Young's rear fender and soon started to probe for the lead. Then, coming out of the turn heading onto the back straight, Manley laid it down and allowed Walters and Metzger to get by. Walters tried to close in on Young and in turn pull away from Metzger, but was hounded in every turn by the southern Californian. Manley was back in fourth and closing on the leaders once again. Walters managed to hold onto second until the white flag lap when he laid it down coming.off a tabletop jump. Metzger now had second but was too far behind Young to challenge for the lead. The checkered flag waved for Young, followed by Metzger who finished second overall for the day. Third was good enough for Manley to take the overall win. Walters' fourthplace finish secured third overall. Casey Johnson continued his domination in the 12Sec Intermediate class taking back-to-back moto wins. Johnson battled for a while in moto one with Shawn Highland before establishing a commanding lead for the win. Moto two saw Highland have better luck, but still not enough to catch Johnsort. Johnson scored the moto win ahead of Highland who, after going down in moto one finished back in 13th. Second overall went to a consistent Shay Fritwell, who br~lUght his Suzuki home in fourth place in both motos. In the 250cc Intermediate class, it was Johnson who would experience the bad luck after he tasted the turf in both motos while either leading or moving towards the front. Lex Malan was the rider to beat in this class, as he finished second in moto two to back up a firstmoto win for the overall victory. Second moto winner Greg Yearsley finished 15th in the first moto after laying it down. A pair of thirds was good enough to give 14-year-old Chris Wheeler second overall in his first Intermediate race. (l{ Results SATURDAY 50 STK BEG 0-8: I. Bastian McDamel (Yam); 2. Francisco Cobo Jr. (Yam); 3. Michael Brock; 4. Wesley Patterson (Hon); S. Nielt Davis (Yam). 50 STK NOV 0-8: I.Chad Guamer (Yam); 2. Ryan IGng (Yam); 3. Tyler Foclt (Yam); 4. NicI: Alvarez (Yam); S. Robert Harold (Eelg). 50 STK BEG 9011: 1. Michael Smith (Hon). 50 MOD BEG 0-8: 1. FrancillCO Cobo Jr. (Yarn); 2. Anthony Houser (Yam); 3. Joel Nelson; 4. Tyson Talkington (Yarn); S. Cole Lambert (Yam). 50 MOD NOV Q.& I. Robert Harold CEdJt); 2. Tyler Fick (Yam); 3. Cale Wallace (Yam); 4.. Nick Alvarez (Yam); S. Jason Oarle"a (pax). SO MOD NOV 9-11: I. Justin Guzman (Yarn). 80 P/W: 1. Travis Patterson (Yam); 2. Dereck Johnson (Yarn): 3. Joel Lopez (Yarn). 125 BEG 0-1: I. Carl Baker (!

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