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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127658
(Above) Andy Tresser (91) diced with Kevin Varnes and Will Davis before pulling away to the win at the Palatka Short Track. (Below) Jason Fletcher (65) topped Georgie Price (71) for top honors In the 883 class at the Barberville Half Mlle. Kevin Varnes sat on the pole in the 12-rider ma in, bu t Tr esser go t th e holesh ot with Varnes, Morehead an d Davis in tow. Kevin Varnes had the lead on lap two. "I was trying to square off the turns beca use I could get a drive down low, then I slipped and he (Tresser) got back around," Varnes said. When Tresser bounced back into the lead, he and Kevin Varnes started to pull awa y from th e ba ttle be tw een Morehead and Davis. Varnes once again to ok th e lead wi th three laps to go , while Davis was all over Tresser. But Tresser again got a d rive and regained the le ad, an d as th e whi te flag flew Davis blasted into second. "Man, I couldn' t see a thing the last five laps - my shield was all fogged up," Davis sai d . " Whe n I w as on th e stra ights 1 tried to flip it up and clear it, but that did n't work . 1 fi na lly just flipped it up . I'm glad I had my glasses on , but the d irt came in beh ind them and 1 didn't have an y tear-of fs on my glasses." "Once I got back into first, I thought 1 knew where Kevin (Varnes) would be. But then at the end, all of a su dden it was Will (Davis) right there," Tresser said. "I needed this. What does this pay anyway?" When he found ou t it tha t his winnings were $1000, Tresser smiled and said, "All right - this will just about pay for my wh ole trip." Moroney's Harley-Dav id son team mate s Jason Fletcher and Pric e had a great race in the 883 main, exchanging the lead several times as they left King and Aselt ine to battle for third p lace. Fletcher held on for the win over Price, a nd As eltin e to o k third w he n King d ropped ou t. Paul Morgan moved up to take fourth. CN Results EX: 1. Andy Tresse r (Rtx); 2. Will Davis (C· A); 3. Kev in Varnes (Rtx); 4. Steve Moreh ead (H-D); 5. Robert Lewis (Rtx); 6. Mike Varnes (Rtx); 7. Rich King (Rtx); 8. James Ha rt CR tx); 9. Bre tt Lande s [Rtx): 10. Roger Ou rkee (Rtx). PRO- AM: 1. Chris Ha rt (Rtx); 2. Dale Jones (Hon); 3. Stephan Oucha ine (H·D) ; 4. Tim Myers (Rtx); 5. Brian Tresser tops Palatka Short Track By Dave Hoenig SA1SUMA, FL, MARCH 8 amel Motorcycle Week's best kep t secret m ay just b e th e Putnam County Speedway'S Tuesday night sho rt track races, wh ere And y Tresser emerged the wi nner after a race-lon g battle with Kevin Varnes and Will Davis on the three-eighth mile dirt oval. "That was fun. 1 really worked up a sweat in that one. 1knew Kevin (Varnes) w as tr ying to co me ou t of th e turns lower, so 1 had to make sure 1 kept my momentum up to stay on the top," said th e Power Ba r /M ot ion Pro/ Ci rcl e Bell / Miller Tr uck ing/Joe Ca r rera / Rich ard Braquet /WD-40/ Fox Racing / Ts ubaki/ ATR Racing / Mike Taylo r / KG-sp on sored Tresser. "The cushio n was really deep . It was a lot of work." Along with nineteen 883s and 30 ProAm-class racers, 37 amateur riders were entered in the 250cc and Open classes. He ats moved everyone into semis, and the lin eup in the ma in would be established by virtue of semi finish ing positions. The rough track claimed a few riders early . Steve Morehead fell while leading his heat. "I was trying to rid e just above the C groove and did n't see a hole inthe shadows. It caught my .front wheel and put me down ," Morehead said. Hea t eight found Will Davis on the ground in turn th ree of the first lap . Dav is' s d owned b ike gathe red up Kenny Coolbeth and Dale Jen neman. Co olbeth's shifter was broken in th e cra sh, w hic h eli mina ted him fo r the remainder of the night. Onl y two riders would ad vance from ea ch of th e six exp ert se mis. Varnes made short work of the first semi, easily outdist ancing Roger Durkee. The second se mi we n t to Tresse r as 'Georgie Price held off Charley Orr for second. After early pressure from Geo Roeder, Brett Landes pulled away to win semi three. The fourth semi featu red a small war between Robert Lew is, Mike Hacker and James Hart. Lewis was able to hold the lead all the way but Hacker slipped in tum two on the last lap, giving Hart the room he needed to scoot by for the last transfer. Bobby Myers and Dan Stanley led the fifth semi, but Davis and Rich King soon moved into contention, with Davis assuming the lead at the halfway mark. King grab bed an easy second after Stan' ley fell. Mike Varnes led the las t semi over Kris Kiser and Mo rehead. More head sna tche d awa y the le ad, but Varnes reclaimed it as Steve Aseltine joined in the action. Mike Varnes and Morehea d filled the last two spots in the main. Thomas (Rtx); 6. Paul Morgan .(Rtx); 7. Brian Newman (Ho n); 8. Chad Heideman (Ho n); 9. Eric Brouhard (H- D); 10. Ryan Brown (Rtx). 883: 1. Jason Fletcher (H·D ); 2. Georgie Price (H·D); 3 . St eve A se l ti ne (H · D ); 4 . Paul Morgan ( H- O) ; 5 . Tommy Co lson (H · D); 6. Redl Hart (H ·D); 7. Don Kr usi ns ki (H -D); 8 . Sh awn McN ary (H· D); 9. Bill Hofmeister (H· D); 10. Rich King (H-D). 2SO AM: I. Perry Phillips (Mai); 2. Sha wn Mobley (Hon); 3. Paul Lynch (Ho n); 4. Gart h Bas tain (Hon ); 5. Anthony Herrera (H·D) . O PEN AM: I. Jeff Randolph (Rtx); 2. Kenny Par ker (Yam); 3. Shawn Mobley (Hon); 4. Paul Lynch (Rtx); 5. N icky Hayden (R!"). Morehead cashes in at Barberville By Dave Hoenig BARBERVILLE, FL, MARCH9 eteran Steve Morehead continued to ca sh in a t th e Vol usia Coun ty Speedway, bea ting everything but the rain on his way to th e win in the 750cc main, and was awarded the 600cc main by default. The twenty-three 750cc experts were divided into two heats, with the top six moving on to the final. Long-time adversaries Morehead and _fast qualifier Geo Roeder squared off in heat one. Mor ehea d led all th e way over Roed er and Chris Carr. Georgie Price, Kevin Varnes and Dav e Camlin round ed out the qua lifiers in what was a follow-the-leader race. The second heat saw Clint Vahsholtz jump out front on his new Honda ride, V but Scott Stump swiftly took over and pu t a lot of distance between himself and the field. Steve Beattie was putting on a grea t show as he slid thro ugh the field into secon d. Vahsholtz held on to third with Jim Sumner, Dave Hebb and Chance Darling also headed into the main. The 750cc main was the first final called to the line, and it was Stump first into tum one. ' Unlike in Saturday's race, Morehead made h is move earl y and after taking the lead moved well ahea d. The Stump /Carr race for second went down to the wire. Stump slipped just enough to let Carr, who was riding his new sing le-sho cked Harl ey Davidson, by late in the race. In a carbon cop y of Saturday's 750cc main , Morehead powere d h is KK/Shepherd /F&S HarleyDavidson-backed XR750 to the win with Carr finishin g second ah ead of Stump. Price got by Roed er late in the race to finish fourth. When the 883 main thundered off, it was led by Jason Fletcher, Rich King , Price and James Hart. King took a shortlived lead only to have Fletcher back in fro n t a t the h alfwa y p oint. Fletcher drove away, while King had his hands full holding off Price. King was successful unti l the last lap, when Price charged into second. Hart was alo ne in fourth over Matt Wait and Brian Tillson. Nearly 75 riders entered the 600cc class. Time trials were used to pare the field down to the fastest 48. Four 12man heats would set the line up for the main . Kris Kiser ran awa y with the first heat as a three-rider battle raged over second. Mike Varnes came out on top over Dave Hebb and fast qualifier James Hart. The second hea t was another runawa y with Morehead holding a big lead over Sumner. Will Davis topped Camlin, Tillson and Shawn Clark in the race for the last transfer. Rusty Rogers mad e his presence felt in the third hea t as he out -due led Pat Buch anan for the lead, then Bucha nan also fell victim to Roger Durkee. The last hea t was all Dou g O 'Boyl e' s, w ith Stump riding a lonely second . Kenton Longcor held off Mike Warner for the last trans fer. As the 600cc ma in was wheeled to the line, a heavy shower washed out the night's activities. Heat times established the pa y-off order, with Morehead, Rogers, O'Boyle and Kiser taking the top four places. C'l Results 750 EX: I. Steve Morehe ad (H·D); 2. Chris Carr (H. D); 3. Scott Stump (Hon ); 4. Georgie Price (H·D) ; 5. Geo Roed er (H· D); 6. Kevin Varn es (H· D); 7. Steve Beattie (H· D); 8. Chance Dar ling (H·D); 9. Dave Camlin (H·D); 10. Oint Vahsh ol tz (Hon). 883: 1. Jason Fletcher (H-D); 2. Geo rgie Price (H-D); 3. Rich King (H·D) ; 4. James Hart (H·D); 5. Matt Wait (H· D); 6. Brian Tillson (H·D ); 7. Paul Morgan (H· D); 8. Don Krusinski (H· D); 9. Sha wn McNary (H· D); 10. Recil Hart (H·D) . 600 EX: I. Steve Morehead (H·D); 2. Rusty Rogers (Rtx); 3. Doug O'Boyle (Rtx); 4. Kris Kiser (Rtx); 5. Jim Sumner (W-R); 6. Ro ge r Dur kee (Rtx); 7. Scott S tump (Hon ); 8. Mike Varnes (H· D); 9. Will Davis (Rtx); 10. Pat Buchanan (Rtx). 85: 1. Roger Hayden (Yam); 2. Je rem y Tho m pson (Suz) ; 3. Mike Mashewske (Yam) ; 4 . Ben Miller (Yam ); 5. Scott Morrison (Kaw) . 125: 1. Jeremy Thompson (Hon); 2. Matthew Miller (Ho n); 3. Keith Fitzgerald (Yam); 4. Krist in Edwards (Yam ). 250 A: 1. Bryan Big e lo w (Ya m ); 2. Pa ul Lynch (Hon); 3. Brian Tho mas (Hon) ; 4. Brian Newman (Hon); 5. John Nickens (Suz). 250 B: 1. Joe Deme nto (Yam); 2. Mic hael Gu rd a (Kaw); 3. Jason Fuller (Yam); 4. Richard Edwards (Suz); 5. Nick Daniels (Yam). SOD A: I. Jeff Randolph (H·D); 2. John N icken s (Hon ); 3. Ni cky Hayd en (Rtx); 4. (van Carl (Ho n); 5. Jim Strong (Hon ). 500 B: 1. Darren Bed for d (Ho n); 2. Kenny Parke r (Yam); 3. Ken Vol pe (Hon); 4. Joe Deme n to (Hon); 5. John Martine (Yam). SR 30+: I. Jimm y Myrick (Rtx); 2. Ken McCon nell (Rtx); 3. Babka (Rtx); 4. Mar k Davidson (Rtx); 5. Cu rt Snelling (Hon). SR 40+: I. Skip Wertz [rri); 2. Gene O'Boyle (Hon); 3. Bill Snyder (Hon); 4. Jim Bauer le (Rtx); 5. John Flesher (W·R). SOS·OPEN: I. Paul Lynch (Rtx); 2. Mike McKee (Rtx); 3. John Winsett Jr. (Rtx); 4. Nicky Ha yden (Rtx); S. Jimm y Myrick (Rtx).