Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Gatorback CyclePark :··AtA~~L~cn:2£~§!':: - - -- - - - -- - - - - - ----,-- - - - - - - - - -- - - -- - ti.... • "". ,...,. By Davey Coo mbs GAINESVILLE, FL, MAR 5 n the eve o f the 18th Ann ua l Gatorb ack N a tiona ls, Tea m Green's amateur motocross juggernaut sen t several of its best prosp ects to Gainesville's Amateu r Day activities, and mult i-time na tiona l m otocr oss champs Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Foley and Kevin Windham led th e Kawasaki a rmy to victori es in a majority of the classes. Unlike last year, w hen the amateu rs were forced to compe te on an abbrevia ted co urse after heavy rain, the entire Gatorback track was used for the da y's event. The dynamic cou rse, carved from an old limestone qua rry, contained several new jump combinations along with the usu al fast turns and straights. "The track is pr etty good today but maybe a little bit on the slick side," said Windham of the harder-packed-thanusual course. "It's really hard and you kind o f ha ve to flat-track around the inside of so m e of these comers, but overall I think it's pretty good ." Baton Rouge , Louisiana's Windham , who just recently turned 16, limited his efforts to th e 12Scc A class in order to concentrate on Sunday's race, his first ever 12Scc Pro Na tiona l. Windham won both motos going away for one last confidence-builder. " I go t good starts a nd rode p retty smooth all day, so I'm happy with how things went," said Windham . "I'm pretty nervou s abo ut riding wi th those pro guys tomorrow, and I don't want to let the pressu re get to me." A pair of Honda riders from Georgia - Dwayn e Bon e a nd Tom my Martin finished second and third overall in the final 125cc A class resu lts. Another Kawasaki pilot - New Mexico's Tra vis Hodges - also scored a 1-1 s wee p in th e 250cc /Open A cl ass at Gatorback. Hodges led Ray Mitchell, the 250cc Intermediate class AMA Nati onal Champion, across the checkered flag in the first moto, then came from beh ind to top Suzuki-mounted Mike McDonald in th e second. Because Mit chell faded to fourth in race two and McDonald cra sh ed hard in th e fi rs t race, Bone earned himse lf another runner-up prize in expe rt-level racing. Mitchell finished third overa ll, w ith John Kidd Jr. taking home fourth. "I'm riding three clas se s today : Schoolboy, Supermini and the 14- 15 class," said Carmichael, who has been at the top of the Florida minicycle motocross scene for se veral years. " It will be a long day, but I hope everything comes out okay and I win them all." Indeed, Carmichael's day turned out just fine with the tiny terror whipping the field convincingly in his two mini classes and finishing second to 125cc rider Robbie Horton in the Schoolboy divisions for young 85 and 125cc riders. "1 thought that I might be able to beat Robbie, but he was just faster tha n me today," said Ca rm ichael. "We raced together here two weeks ago and I beat him in one moto, but today he beat me both times. Maybe if I hadn't fallen , I might have been able to ho ld him off." Ca r m ich ae l was co mpeting on a p u m ped- u p KX80, while H or ton was using his KXl25 in this class. Florida's own James Stewart, the '93 51cc National Champ, fell just after the D s tart of the second m oto in the 65cc class, but was able to recover from the fall in time to pass his way back into the lead. Stewart claimed the overall win, a nd was followed by another pair of Floridians - Joshua Faustino and Jeremy McDow. The 51cc Autom a tic clas s was won by Yam aha ri der Ba rre tt Smith, also fr om Florid a, a n d Ro be r t Holstein . Ad am Barnett, th e son of th ree-ti me 125cc Nati onal Champion Mark Barnett, completed the top thr ee in the 11-bike class. One b ri ght s p o t fo r Suzuki was Travis Pa s trana . Th e Ma ryland-born rider has been spending his win ter racing in Florida and taking home stu dy to keep up with his school back home. On Saturday Pastrana raced to a pa ir of 8Scc (7-11) wins for the overall in that class, but he faltered in the firs t moto of the Supermini class, finishing eighth. In the fin ale, he battled early with the older Ca rmichael before settling for second. "1 guess I kept Ricky honest for the firs t two laps, but th at was abou t it," sai d Pa stra na . " Aft er that he so rt of pulled awa y from me. I'm happy to beat everyone else." Still, Pas trana could onl y manage fourth in the overall tally, as up-and-coming Yamaha pilot Randy Valade and Kawasaki-mounted Jon Simmons finished second and third overall, resp ectively. After qu alifiers na rrowed the la rge 125cc B field to 43 riders for the final, a bunch of Team Green riders bu rst into the lead when the combi ned final moto left th e Gatorback startin g line. J.D . Collins, Cha rles Dunaway, Robbie Horton, Ja son Syb er t and Edward Ra y erup ted from the gate toge ther to start this battle for ea rly-season bragging rights. The leaders were tu rning in lap times jus t a blink slower th an those of A-class winner Windham, and when the race finally settled down it was Hort on who pulled off the win over Collins and (Above) Ju st-turned 16-year-old Kevin Windham (511) easily won both 125cc A mot es. The . foll owing day he co mpeted In his fi rst Pro race at the Gainesville AMA 125cc Nationa l MX, where he post ed 12-33 moto fin ishes. (Below) Min i sensation Ricky Carmic hael (167) won the Superm ini class and fi ni shed second In t he 125cc (12-15) divis ion. Ray. In the 32-rider 250cc B class, Sybert posted 1-1 finishes for the w in, ma king up for his fifth-p lace result in the 125cc B d iv ision. Syb ert bes ted J.D. Collins and Dunaway to earn the overall victory. Foley, a seven-time AMA Ama teu r Nati ona l champ, w as the obvi o us favorite going into the day's 25+ and 30+ competitions, and the veteran d id not d isappoint. Foley, now 31, won his first qualifier in the 55-rid er 25+ class, then backed it up with a win in the main event. Chris Craft won the other qualifying heat, but cou ld only m uster a seventh-place showing in the main. Second ov erall honors went to Kevin Knight. Tommy Martin, Rob ert Ha n dy and Craft rounded out the top five overall. "This is the first really hot motocross race of the year, and my first one in several weeks," said Foley, who inju red his wrist about a month ago. "1 was curious how I would feel out there, but everyth ing worked out alright. The wrist is about 80%, so 1 wasn't really p ushing it. I tried to get good starts, ride calm and pick the righ t lines." In th e 30+ class, Fo le y came out ahead in a field of 62 riders, in both his heat and the final moto . Fellow Floridian John Lundy was the runner-up, with second-place rides both times ou t. Canada's David Beatty and Wyndell Kern claimed third and fourth in the results. ~ Gatorback Cycle Park Gainesville , Rorlda Results: March 5, 1994 125 Ie 1. Kevin Windham (Kaw); 2. Dw ayne Bone (Hon); 3. Tomm~ Martin (Hon); 4. Michael York (H on); S. John Kidd Jr. (Suz ). 125 8 : 1. Robbi e H orton (Ka w); 2. J.D. Collins (Kaw) ; 3. Edward Ray (Kaw); 4. Jaso n Sybert (Kaw); 5. Ia rrett TIpping (Suz). 125 C 1. Ronnie Renner (Yam) ; 2. Jo hnny Barfield (Hon); 3. )acqu es Kauley (Hon); 4. Jason W. odin (H on) ; s . Chad Murph y (Suz ). 2501500 A.:1. Travis Hodges (Kaw): 2. Dw ayne Bone (Ho n); 3. Ray Mitch ell (KTM); 4. John Kidd Jr. (Suz); S. Davi d Beatty (H on). 250 B: 1. Jason Sybert (Kaw); 2. J.D. Co llins (Kaw) ; 3. Charies Dunaway (Kaw); 4. John Lundy (Hon); S. Jarrell Tipping (Suz) . %SO C: 1. Derrick Jonusz yk (Hon) ; 2. Jason Wasdin (Han): 3. Tom Weat or (Kaw): 4. Jeff Cri safulli (Han ); 5. Do ug Ville mi n (H on). OPEN B/C: 1. Dav id G o r d on (Hon ); 2. Pa ig e H illi a rd (KT M); 3. Jim Gooch (H on); 4. John Lob u r (Kaw); S. TImo thy Rose (Ho n). 25+: 1. Kevi n Foley (Kaw); 2. Kevin Knight (Hon); 3. Tommy Martin (Hon); 4. Robert Handy (Hon); 5. Ouis Craft (Yam). 30. : 1. Kevin Poley (Kaw); 2. John Lw1dy (Hon); 3. David Beatty (Hon); 4. Wyndell Kern (Kaw); 5. Robert Handy (Hon). 35+: Mark Ga rrison (Yam); 2. Keith Wadd.1I (Hon); 3. Ken Pranken berry (Han); 4. Steve Dixon (Yam) ; 5. Tom McShane (Kaw) . 4()+, 1. Gary Peak (Suz) ; 2. Woody Strickland (Yam); 3. Oav~ C urry (Kaw); 4. Kenneth Wheel., (Hon); S. Dennis Ha rlan (Yam) . 50+: 1. Buzz Pova ll (Yam ); 2. Eugene Good. (Suz ); 3. Georg. Sin gh" (H on); 4. Henry G ref (Hon); S. Robert Darden (Yam). 51 AUTO : 1. Barrett Sm ith (Ya m) ; 2. Rob ert Holstei n (Ya m ); 3. Ad am Barnett (Ya m); 4. Michael Lozaw (Yam ); S. Zackary Lundy (yam) . 6S (7-11): 1. Jam es Stewart (Kaw); 2. Joshua Fa us tino (Kaw) ; 3. Je remy McDow (Kaw); 4. Jason Bell (Kaw); S. Chaz Northey (Kaw ). 8S (7-11): 1. Travis Pas trana (Suz); 2. Robe rt Farnell (Ya m); 3. Joshu a Faustino (Yam ): 4. Ben Ridd le (l<.aw 5. ); Kurt Jennison (502) . as (12-13): 1. Mall Wal kor (Kaw); 2. Aaron Undsey (Kaw ); 3. Randy Valade (Yam ); 4. Clinton She aly (Kaw ); 5. Tim othy Bantle (Ka w) . S/M INl: 1. Rick y Carmi ch ael (Ka w); 2. Rand y Valade (Yam); 3. Jon Simmons (Kaw); 4. Travis Pastrana (Suz); S. Aaron Undsey (Kaw). 125 (12-15): 1. Robbie Horton (Ka w) ; 2. Rick y Carmich ael (Ka w); 3. Kenneth jones (H a n); 4. Ouistopher Bailey(Kaw );5. Darren McElhattan (Suz ).

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