80 FfT: 1. KtmnG&h&n (Sw: ).
80 BEC: 1. Chris Ragen (Suz); 2. C o ry Wi11Wns (Yam); 3.
Torey Mund kowsky (y.. m ); 4. KyloP Jones (K,Iw).
80 NOV; 1. John Sanden (Suz); 2. R..andy CLuk ('roam).
125 BEG:. 1. We. u rey(H oo ); 2. [Man Shaw (Han); 3. Ky~
B.tird (Suz); 4. Erik C1rdel1l (Xaw ); 5. Jdf Whi~ (Y~).
125 NOV : 1. John NdJon (yoI ) ; 2. J
m
ohn Duffy (Suz); 3. We-
Itt5.
0-100: 1. Jason C rwr. 2. 8mn BoumA ; 3. DoNld Viers; 4.
JOlIhua8C'll; 5. Tony Bonanno.
Sisemore, Werner take Fast
Fridays Speedway opener
ByGen Moore
AUBURN, CA. APR. 29
Veteran speedway rider Jim Sisemore came
from the 5(}-yard line to best all the competition
and take top honors in the Handicap main
event, while visitin g Southern California rider
Brent Werner topped the Scratch main event
before packed grandstands on the opening night
of Fast Frida ys Speedway at the Gold Country
Fairgrounds.
Competing in the Handicap ma in even t
were Vance Pelicio on the lo-yard line, Tommy
Hedden on th e 30, while Werner and Robert
Curry were on the 40. Round ing out the field
were Sisemore and Bart Bast sharing tu rf on the
SO.
Wh en the tapes went up , Felicio wa s first
into the comer followed closely by Hed den and
Werner. Sisemo re came off the line like a man
possessed and caught Curry in the first comer.
They were side by side as they came out of the
comer fighting for fourth p lace. In the next tum,
Werner, working the outside groove, was trying
ha rd to get by Hedden, but Hed den was able to
keep We rner at bay and maintain his second
spot behind Felicio. At the same time, Sisemore
got by Curry to move into fourth place. At the
start of the second lap, Curry went wide in the
comer allowing Bast to move up. .
On lap three, Hed den passed Felicio on the
outside for the lead but lost control in the corner, and went down. As the white flag came out,
Werner, Felicia and Sisemore crossed the line
three abreast with Bast in thei r hip pockets. S~
more slid into the comer first, w ith Bast stay ing
on the pole and passing both Felicio and Werner
to take second. Werner, driving hard and hot,
dove into the last comer and barely snatched
second away from Bast at the finish, as Sisemore
took the win.
Werner lined up for the Scratch main on the
po le, with Sisemore in the second slot, Curry in
number three, and Bast on the outside. Werner
came off the line first with Bast coming from the
outside to take second place. Sisemore lost it in
the comer and took Curry down with him. Both
riders untangled and lined up for a restart
On the resta rt everyone ca me off the line
even ly, b ut Werner was first in to the comer.
Bast d idn't get off th e lin e as quickly on the
resta rt, but dropped down to the po le and came
out of the first tu m in second pla ce. Sisemore,
Bast and Curry then we nt three abreast into the
next comer, with Cu rry sliding high. d oing a 360
and continuing on. From that point on, Werner
led the race with Bast and Sisemore battling for
second . Sisemo re was able to get close to Bast
but not able to make the pass. At the finish it
was Werner w it h the win, followed by Bas t, .
Sisemo re, and Curry.
Results
HDCP: 1. JimSisemIm
(W es); 2.
Brent Wt!lTIrI' (Jaw); 3. Bart
But O·w).
SCKATOt 1. Brent Werner (J. w); 2. But But O.w); 3. Jim
SUemore(Wes); 4.. Robnt Cuny (Wes).
0-2: 1. Shi wn Md>orWd.; 2. Joe Td tgm.
().3: 1. Rick ScNmbeft.
JI< I. Billy J>nnin>.
Cook andcompany share
spotlight at Perris Motocross
By Tony Alessi
PERRIS, CA. APR. 28
What do Cliff Cook, jeff Willoh arid Michael
Alessi all have in common? All three racers took
home their first-e ver wins in their new , higher
clas sifications d uring the GFI Super Satu rd ay
Motocross held at Perris Raceway.
Cook, a recent tr an s fer fro m t he 125 cc
Novi ce class, did the deed in the 125ee in termediat e ranks, while Willoh smas hed the Pro class
with a double-mote punch for his first-ever Pro
victory. The youngest winner of the group was
the five -year-ol d Ale ssi , who posted his first
60cc Beginne r class win.
Cook stated before his first mot o tha t his pri mary competition would come from Kenn y
Miller, and tha t he could out-ride Miller on any
given day. Before the da y's end , Cook would ge t
a chance to prove it.
Dav id Hughes led much of the firs t 125ee
Int ermediate moto, but clutch problems blew
the wind out of his sails, dropping him from
first to third . Miller·picked up the lead but
couldn't hold off a charge by Cook, who con trolled the pace the remainder of the moto and
went on for a convincing win.
The second moto saw Miller and Cook once
again come out swinging. but like the first moto,
Cook was stronger at the finish and scored the
moto win and his first I25cc Intermediate class
victory . Miller settled for second, while Mike
Battista, Harlan Arnett and Dave Hugh es rounded ou t the top five. Cook gave credit for the victory to his dad, Mark Cook, who was a former
professional MX racer from the 70s.
Willoh got a taste of greenbacks ins tead of
gree n b u cks b y p o w erin g his Team
Green/O'N eal Kawasaki to an und isputed d ouble-moto sw eep of the I2Sec Pro class. Tad a tsune Kiyota was nmner·up in both races, while
Brent Wa1lingsford was third.
Al es si battled th roughout th e firs t 60cc
Beginner race with Erick Stanton, who led the
final laps an d posted the first-moto win . Alessi
ho leshot the all-important second moto and led
it wire to wire for the moto and overall victory.
Matthew Clark , w ho was riding h is first race
after a six-mo nth layoff due to injury, finished
second after sto mp ing out a last-ditch effort by
Stanton, who had charged up from dead last to
third at the finish.
Results
6OF/T,I. r........ ""(Kaw).
60 BEG: 1. Michael AI-.i (KAw); 2. Erick Suntan (X.Iw ); 3.
......... Carl< (Kawt .. Carlos Gonzalez (Kaw); 5. John 1.eIuNN>
(Kaw).
60 NOV: 1. Q'lriI Ragen (IUIw).; 2. Anthony
3. Brock BolIlng(Kaw).
60 INT: 1. Dustin W.ablOn (kaw).
B~11I
(J:.awl.;
CERRO PRlmJ, Be ME)(, APR. 30
,
In p reparation for th eir Baja 500 assa u lt, the
three-man Tea m IRC of james He nderson, j im
Loh a nd Matt Meierbachtol rode to the win in
the 25(}-mile Baja Promotions Gran Carrera de
Mexicali.. defeating, among others, the Buzza rds '
KXR200, a soloing Bob Surmon, Vet riders Rusty
Clarke and Ken Tapert, and the Tim Morton and
Tex Mitchell TNT / KX500.
Loh' s Maxima/KSOY I Va n Cor Co lors/
Acerbis/SCORE-sponsored race bike was fitted
w it h a se t of IRC development tires. Loh is
actively invo lved with the IRC factory in testing
to d evelop d ifferent compounds (natural vs .
synthetic rubber ratios), optional sidewall configurations and a variety of tread designs.
The experimental tires never posed a problem during the race, as the team averaged a fast
53 mph around the Cerra Prieto volcanic cone
south of Mexicali and west of the geothermal
power complex.
The Morton /Mitchell team appeared to be
Team IRe's toughest competitor, but hardware
problems pu t them out of the running. The Buzza rd s certain ly expected to be challenged by
their 2.5-10-1 engine size disadvantage, but with
Billy McClintock and john Alexander in concert
wi th the "hea d vulture," Steve Stevens, the team
po lished off the course in second place, averagin g SO mph. Running a trouble-free race, the
team finished in front of th ird -pla ce rid er Surmon by fourteen minutes.
Surman u sed the ra ce to test hi s n e w
end urance diet regimen and was pleased with his
eight-lap solo run. Faced with the prospect of five
hours of sand and rock, Surmon had dispensed
with his usual showmanship and kept the wheels
down, with the exception of a slow-speed get-off.
The Vet Pro winners, Rusty Cla rke and Ken
Tapert had a rough day, losing a ba se gasket
and eventua lly finishing fourth. SCORE class 21
leader Morton blew the base gasket out of his
KX500 and was un abl e to put h is sometimes
competitor, sometimes partner, Mitchell, on the
bike. The team was credited with fifth place.
Results
0 / A; 1. Jam es H end~n /J im Loh/ .,b tt Meierbachlol
(Kawt 2. seeve SteveNfBilIy McClintod fJohn ~ (Kaw);
3. Bob Sunnorr(Yam); 4. Rusty (]ark/Ken Tapm (Kaw); S. Tun
Mottnnnex MiteheU (kaw).
Leivan levels 'emat
Westphalia Hare Scrambles
By Arlene Hejlek
WESTPHALIA. M APR. 24
O,
Steve Leivan was the overall winner at the third
round of the Missouri Hare Scrambles Champi·
onship Series hosted by the Missouri Dirt Riders
Oub in Westphalia , Missouri.
Th e Surdyke Racing/Sprocket Specialists /
Camelba ck / Answer /Fredette Racing /M ike's
Mach in e / Scott /Bell/Jeff Cit y Cycl e /Sitkolene/ Endura/ Pro Circuit / Acerbis/RK Chainspo nso red LeiVarl had his Yamaha in sixth place
a t the start of the two-hour event on the 6.5 mile
cou rse. By the second lap, Leivan caught and
passed the leader, Chris Caplinger. By the end of
the lap, however, Caplinger was back out front
followed by Leivan , and then Chris Thiele .
At the end of the third lap, Cap linge r pi tted
for fuel , an d while he wrestled wi th problems
fro m h is quick-fill gas can , Leivan a nd Th iele
went by. Thiele took the lead for a while until
his rear bra kes went out. Leivan was in the driver's seat for two more laps, comi ng in to take
the overall win just a half-minute after the twohour cutoff.
Thiele finis hed second overall followed by
Chris Graber, who had worked his Yamaha back
up to the front from the back of the pack after a
crash at the start . Fourth overall was a tie in corrected lime between Caplinger and Neal Raggett,
the Intermediate class wi nn er. Terry Gilliland
did a face plant into a tree at the start, but managed to work his way up to finish fifth overall.
Intermedia te class winner Raggett battled
wi th Mike Stahl man early in the race, bu t put a
fo u r- mi nute cu sh io n be t w ee n them w he n
Stahl man ran into problems, and was ab le to
take the class win.
Jamie Jennings, Tom Summers and Ken
Youn t engaged their Yamahas in a battle for the
250cc B crown. jennings dropped back to third
when a banner caught in his rear wheel causing
his brakes to fail. A checkpoint worker removed
the banner and jennings bounced back to pass
Summers and Yount for the lead, with the trio
finishing in that order.
Tim Gilliland had his ATK out front in the
Open class from start to fin ish, and Yamahamo un ted Sam Gosnell did the same in the I25cc
class. The 200cc class winner, Keith Kibort, put
his Kawasaki in the lead on the first lap and was
the only one in the class to complete six laps .
Results
0 / A: 1. Steve Lcivan (Yam); 2. Chris Thiele (yam ); 3. Chris
c... er (Yam); < (tie) o.n.c.pUnge, (ATKlfNeal Roggett (Yom)
b
.
EX: 1. Chris 'Thiele (y am); 2. Ch ri, Craber (Y.lm); 3. Chris
Cap linger (ATK) ; 4. Terry GllliL d (KTM); 5. Leigh Letellier
m
(KTM) .
INT: 1. Neal Raggett (Yam); 2. Mw.Stahlm.vm (Yam); 3. Allen
Haynes (Yam); 4. jeff Schneider (Yam); S. Dave Wilfong (Yam).
O PEN : 1. Tim GilliLand (ATK ); 2. Mike Kcuger (xn.t:); 3.
Barry Craw fo rd (X T M ); 4. Tanner Eng lol d (H on) ; S. Bob
n
uplinger (ATI().
250 ll: 1. J.J.mie Jennings (Yam); 2. Tom Surnmen (Yam); 3.
Ken Youn t (Yam); 4. Jason Coun ts (YoIm);S . Dan Dohogne (Y.lm).
);
250 C: 1. Stev e tbrder (YoIm 2. 19 Bu..nbark (Yam); 3.
WillWn Strawn (Suz); 4. D.le ~ (Yam); S. Jdf Krieger
(KTM) .
200: 1. Ke;th Kibort (KoI w); 2. Jim Will1lm. (JC.Iw); 3. Ferd
l.iettU (l
