advantage of the road block the fallen Rand created to blast into the lead and he quickly opened
up a three-second lead.
Chuck Reed couldn't match Eckel's pace but
he too pulled away from the field. After the first
lap the action was back in the pack as Rand,
who had gotten back into the race, carved his
way through the field. Even though Rand
moved into third qukIon (Yamt. 3.
Bill K.n.rnark (Y&m~ -I. JoUlua C.rbon (Yam).
P/W: l. bndy Palmer (JCaw); 2. Zach D.!:rry (K.lw); 3.
Nathan Broush- (JCaw); 4. A.ndrew Miller (lCaw).
MINI I'" 1. Courtney Sompoon (Hant. 2. Eri<
(Su%~ 3.
Zach Deny (Yam);" Randy P....... (Han).
M1N1 51< I. Shawn WhoIas< (Yamt. 2 . _ ......". (Hant,
3. Aaron Huppert (yam); 4. Lance CunninJham ~w).
125 YrH: I. Craig CUMinghun (Suz); 2. AaIOn Pape (Yam);
3. Ccwky Smoluch (Han);" Shelly Kann (yam).
17·2. C: 1. BiU TIlford (l<.aw); 2. MAtt Ludacher (K.Iw); 3. Pal
R...ty (IC.ow~ ~)Mon JohNon (yam).
17-24 A:. 1. Kyle l.ove (Yam); 2. l.ee Etidalon {Yam);:5. Robbie
McDow.U (Han);', Marly Qa,k (Han).
2S+ A:. 1. Bryan Hunt (Hon); 2. Robert Bergstrom (Yam); 3.
Oana Hunt (Hon); 4. Ken Mabon (Yam).
2S+ C: I. John T~ (Yam); 2. Paul Ebner (Hon); 3. Tun
Rood (yam);'. C",'! StIddori (Han~
VET C: L Mitch Wolff (Yam); 2. Perry Wolff (Yam); 3. Mark
c..m
DuI(Yam);"_Will(Hon~
VIIT 8: t. Brian Otte (Yam); 2. }f!try Schul7Jt (Yam); 3. Dan
Zelony (IC.owt. •• Joimny DoOtis (Han~
VET '" 1. ffiU EnS'''''''' (Han); 2. Dona Hunt (Han~ 3. Alan
......... (Yam);~ Ka> Ma_(Yam~
SR: 1. John Tteden (Yam); 2. Michael Seuuer (yam); 3. Pat
Coy (!d _
Culoon (! 1. Coth (Yam~ 2. DmielIo DuI (Yam); 3. T"""1
Alt:unde!' (lCAw); 4. Tuna tlIU (Yam).
Sdc"""
eo-.
ems
Bast, Christian slide to Fast
Fridays Speedway wins
By Scott Rousseau
AUBURN, CA, MAY 21
Bart Bast and Alan Christian found the fast lines
around Auburn's slippery Fast Fridays
Speedway, as Bast won the Scratch m,!in, and
Christian the Handicap main.
Christian came off the 50 yard line in the
Handicap main but got a terrible start. Will
Whiteside grabbed the lead off the 20, with Bob
Collier in tow. Christian was dead last, mired in
a dogfight with Bast, Bobby Hedden and Jim
Sisemore. As lap two went into the books,
Whiteside and Collier were swallowed up by
the pack. and it was clear that the race would
belong to whoever was hooking up. Christian
kept his cool and stayed tight on the pole, picking up position. as the other riders slid wide on
the tricky surface. Bast chased Christian through
the pack. but he couldn't get a drive that would
allow him to challenge for the lead. When the
checkered flag fell, Christian was in front followed closely by Bast, Sisemore and Whiteside.
"I think the key to winning was that I had a
good setup and I stayed on the pole," said
Christian said. 1 knew where I wanted to go OIl
the track and it worked. I just let the race come
tome.'"
Bast knew that the start of the Scratch main
would be critical because the night's rac:mg had
turned the track into a blue groove that would
make passing extr"mely difficult. He took
advantage of his pole starting position to get an
excellent start and grabbed the lead. Christian
came from gate three and pulled it down on
Sisemore, who promptly did a face plant and
was out of the race. Hedden came from gate
four and immediately went to the outside in
search of a drive. Hedden prefers to ride the dirt
line, but there wasn't any dirt left, and he was
quickly, for all intent and purpose, out of the
chase. Christian pressured Bast for all four laps,
pullin$ closer in turns one and two, and losing
ground in three and four. Bast took the win,
making it look easier than it really was, with
Christian about a half-length behind.
"He (Christian) goes real fast on a blu"
groove, and I knew it would be hard to hold him
off," said Bast. "I knew it wouldn't be over until
the checkered flag.
Results
SCRATCH MAlN: 1. Oart Bast (Wet); 2. Alan Christian
""'m
r- .........
(W..); 3. Bobby
craw);"
(Su%).
HOCP MAIN: 1. AlAn Chrilltlln; 2. Bart But (W8); 3. Jim
........ (We); •. Will WhI...... (W..); 5. Bob CoIIJe, (W..~ 6.
Bobby Hedden (Jaw).
~2: 1. CIftd L.ehr Oaw); 1. Jdf Norton Oaw); 3. Bill Newby
(W..~
0-3: 1. Kim DarwU2ll!h (Wes); 2. Oris Trapp (Wes); 3. KevIn
Cullm (Gdn).
JR: 1. Matt 8ec:ker (Wes).
Bast again at Auburn Spdwy
By Genevieve Moore
AUBURN, CA, MAY I4
Bart Bast bested Jim Sisemore and Jess Ochoa to
take home the gold in the Scratch main at
Auburn's Fast Friday's Speedway.
Bast sat on the pole next to Ochoa, with
Hedden in the third spot and Sisemore OIl the
outside. When the tapes new, it was Ochoa
jumping out in front, but Bast went diving to the
inside, passing Ochoa in the second turn.
Sisemore then powered by Ochoa in tum three
to move into second place. Once in second,
Sisemore jetted after Bast and made a valiant
attempt to pass the leader but came up short.
Bast hung on to score the narrow win over
Sisemore and Ochoa.
Alan Christian, Sisemore and Bast lined up
. side by side OIl the 50 yard line for the start of
the Handicap main. Ahead of them were Ted
Scruggs on the 10, Tommy Hedden on the 30
and Bob Hicks on the 40.
Throughout the course of the race, the five
riders were tightly bunched, with Scruggs leading the way. On the last lap, Scruggs hit a rut,
sending him end over end. Sisemore and
Christian were neck and neck until the last tum
when Sisemore took the lead and won the sprint
race to the checkered flag. Christian settled for
'l."COnd, just ahead of Bast.
Results
""'*
HOCI' MAJN: L Tim SiIemorc 2. Alan Christian; 3. But Best.
SCAlOI
I. ..., _
2. Jim _ _ 3.)aa 0d>0L
~2: t Qmn Moott.
l » I. John Gnoy.
Shipley blazes at Birch
Creek Motocross
By Jay and Sharon Hauser
DANVILLE, VA, MAY 23
Scott Shipley turned up the fire and smoked the
competition in the Plu. 30 A and Plus 25 A divisions at Birch Creek MX. Shipley rode his Mark
IV /Hank Thomas Racing Products/Dasco
Transport/ Andrews Motorsports-backed
Suzuki RM250 to wins in four straight motos.
Shipley took the advantage over Peter
Shincuilt and High Point Honda's Donnie Foster
for the Plus 30 class win, while he held off
Gaude Mitchell and Chudy Hicks to score the
Plus 25 victory. Shipley had his hands full in
moto one of the latter division with challenges
from Danny Mathis, but Mathis had problems
and was unable to make the second moto.
Suzuki of Winston-Salemi Answer/Silkolene/
WD-4O/Maier Mfg./Scott USAlNo""'n Racingsupported Jay Hauser put his bid in for the win
in mota two but fell short of Shipley and finished second.
Mike Eastwood took top honors in the I25cc
A and 250cc A classes. That continued
Eastwood's win streak as he was the top A rider
at Birch Creek's opening race in April. Eastwood
beat the likes of Ian Fortune and Kevin Mustain
to top the 125cc A class after two strong battles
with both riders in both motos. Eastwood
allowed Fortune to shut down his chances of a
moto sweep as Fortune took the first mota win
in the 250cc A class, but EastwOod came back in
moto two for the win and the overall. Hau5<'r
was third in both motos for third overall ahead
of a charging Donnie Foster and Matt Welk.
A fantastic battle took place in the Plus 30 B
division. In moto one, Scott Wood grabbed the
holeshot ahead of Jerry Cifers and Clayton
Leach, with Jerry Robertson and Mark Smith hot
in pursuit. Robertson started making moves
toward the front fast and soon found himself in
second. Robertson cut into Wood's lead and by
lap four was knocking on the leader's door. The
two stayed neck and neck till the checkered flag
with Wood just squeezing out the mota win.
Leach put in a strong ride and took third, ahead
of CifeIs and Richard Williams.
Mota two again saw a good battle, only this
time with new players. Wood took the lead at
the start but was followed this time by Nick
Allen. Allen was no threat for the overall due to
a first mota crash but he was out to 5<'t the
record straight as to who was the man to beat in
the Plus 30 class. By the halfway point Allen had
taken the lead and put to rest what could have
been as he went on for the mota win uncontested. John Junne then started to put the pressure
on Wood for second but Junne'. charge fell short
and he had to settle for third. Leach carne on
strong for fourth ahead of Williams which
helped him to earn second overall for the day.
Results
SO: 1. Dean o.y (Y.m); 2. Owe Shumate (Yam); 3. Will
Drioa>Ie (Su%);" Billy""'" (Yamt. 5. Randy J..... (Yam)
65: L IaN Wood (XIw); 2. Briut CIdnhun (Kaw); 3. Matt
8oym(!
