Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:'MAnnual C O S': '.:::' Thurston County ORV Park O OinosaurS Vintage MX. T D R Daze 10th R digs up Din osau r Daze wins ;;PP By Clay Light I Ml.CLEARY, WA,jUNE4 alifo rn ian Tom Rapp relived the glory days of motocross after overcoming the muddiest elemen ts of nature and some pretty tough competition to win two classes at the 10th Annual Dino Daze Vintage motocross ~t Thurston County ORV Park, near Olympia. Rapp, rid ing a 1974 Bultaco Pursang, won the 40+ and. Open E~pert classes, desp ite the muddiest conditions thus far in the event's history. Rapp's 360 Bul was unb eatab le in both main e~ents, bu~ he d id have a stellar ~attle WIth Wash ington's Buck Murphy In the second of three Open-class qua lifiers, in which Murphy beat Rapp. Other notables on hand besides Tacoma's Murphy, were former AjS/Bultaco teamster Doug Grant, from nearby Seattle, and the Pomeroy clan, Jim and Ron, both of whom made the trek from Yakima. Ron rode quite well, winning one of the Open class qualifiers, but fell victim to one of the many mud holes around ~ course in the final . Jim, though, ~as lust a spectator, electing to cheer Ronrue on. . . Qualifying kicked ~ff the day's acnvtties for the nearly 200 nders and hoards of spec tators tha t came from Washingto~, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Cal ifomia and Canada for the ev en t. Most we re in disbelief when a coast al storm hamm ered inlan d and made the track a mud dy mess. Luckily, the event also showcased a swap meet and bike show inside the confines of the exposition center, featunng dozens of show machines, such as R~ Dengler's [awa banana-frame !SOT bike, beautiful Triumphs, BS~, Matchlesses, CZs and many other relics from yes teryear. . .. . Yamaha rider Dirk M~hy, nd,:,g In.a similar manner to that w~ch carried his cousin, Buck, to many WInS here at the facilities , took a win in the first of two 12Se qualifiers for a direct transfer to the c fin al , as d id Honda-mounted Dallas Nyblod. . Four qualifiers were needed to ~ the huge field of contestants to 12 to ~acili"?te the staging of th~ final motos. Taking WInS in the class qualifiers were Jesse Buckley, Nyblod, Rickman rider Shawn Brown and Can-Am pilot Jeremiah McCa~y. Ron Pomeroy and CZ rid er Tony Mcfarlane battled in the ~t.Open q~lifier, with Pomeroy's mud-nding expertise netting him a win. . The best qualifier of the day came In the second Open moto prelimina ry, with Rapp and Maico-mo unted Murphy ba tlling throughout the race. Murphy got by Rapp in the muddiest po rtion of ~he course, driving the crowd crazy and picking up the win. Dirk Murphy sailed his Yamaha in~o the lead during the first of the 17 main events, the 12Sec A main , and wit ho u t Nyblod on hand, things were much easier for the YZ rider. He netted the win ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Richard Sipp and Honda jockey Tommy Sheard. Two rows of riders lined up for the elite 250cc A final. Nyblod and his 1973 Honda CR 250 exploded off the line with the velocity of the space shuttle, but the race was red-flagged when half the field went down in tum two. At the wave of for mer AMA National vet er an s tarter " ' Bou ndn' Bob" Malley's flag on the resta rt, Nyb lod aga in le d McCarthy, Brown, Maic o rider Neil Gie rtsen and Buckley. I C (Abov e) Tom Rapp and his 1974 Bultaco Pursang topped both the 4G+ and Open Expert classes at the 1Oth .Annual Dinosaur Daze. (Right) Ron Pomeroy, also aboard a Bulta co , won a qualifier but stalled out In a mud hole In the Open class final. (Below) Dallas Nyblod leads Joe Casey In the 30+ fi nal. Casey scored the win over Bill Ripley. c:rrr Nyblod, a multi-time AHRM;\ N.ational winner, opened up the d ay s biggest lead while Brown, Joe Ca sey and Kaw~ rider Scott Adolpshson battled for second. Nyblod continued to stretch it out until the Seattle-area rider collected what would be his only win of the day in a three-class quest. Chasing the Honda rider was ~rown, who put his Montesa-powered Rickman ahead of Casey' s CR to net second, and fourth-place finishe r Buckley, aboard a 1974Yamaha YZ 2.50. Ex-Bultaco te amsters Rapp a nd Pomeroy sat at opposite ends of the 12 rider, two-row staging of the Open A final. One disappointing note was that, to the dismay of the local fans , Murphy' s Maico refused to start and the pack roared off without him. The former Can-Am factory rider summed it up by saying, "I've won this race a lot, so I'll give someone else a chance." Earlier in the day, Grant's AJShad suecumbed to mechanical woes, and he had to call it a day. Pomeroy was next to suffer problems. When the pack of riders hit the mud hole coming out of tum !W0 ' Pomeroy's Bultaco, full of water, wouldn't start, thus ending the anticipated Rapp /Pomeroy confrontation. Rapp broke away from early traffic and, desp ite late challenges from CZ rider Mcfarlane, had a relatively easy win. Maico rider Larry Saxton was the third-place finisher. Rapp 's double win was finalized after picking up an easy win ahead of local CZ rider Kenn y Brynn and Matchl ess rider Ross Poitras. "1 had such a good time here last year," said Rapp. "1 just had .to come back and try it again. It's such ruce country and nice people. It all m~kes it worth it even with all of the rain and mud." Fellow Californian Gary Bishop shared Rapp's jubilation, even after getting passed by Jerry Kennedy in the Open Twin A main. Kennedy got around Bishop on the second lap and held on for a narrow win, much to the delight of the spectators who obviously enjoyed watching the old thumpers . Even Mike Lightfoot had an ear-to-ear grin after manhandling hi s b ig Rick m an-Triumph to a sixth-place finish in the Open Four-Stroke A main behind winner Bill Ripley _ yet another faithful Californian who regularly makes the tr ip u p each ye a r. Mark En vol sen , Saxton , Lar ry Logsdon and Mit ch Vernon placed second throu gh fifth, respectively. The Premiere Four-Stroke A main saw Kevin Saxton p ut his Matchless into the lead and would maintain that position to the finish. L'" Thurston County ORV Park McCleary, Washington Results: June 4, 1994 125 A: 1. Dirk Murphy (Yam); 2. R;chard Sipp (yam> ; 3. Tommy Shean:! (Han). 250 lJW A: I. Casey Callinsky (Oss); 2. Jild< Callinsky (IlSA); 3. EriIcGiensen(Bul~ . 250 A: I. Da1Lls Nyblod (Hon); 2. Sha wn Brown (Ric); 3. Joe Casey (Hen). . OPEN 1WN A: 1.)erTyKennedy(Tri); 2. G.uy Bishop (Tri); 3. Mitch Vemen (Tri). . 3G+A: 1. Joe Casey (Hoo); 2. Bill Ripley (Hen); 3. NIck Smith (Gre) . . OPEN 4-STK A : I. Bill Rip ley (Hon); 2. M a r k Envolsen (llSA): 3. Larry Saxton (Due) . PREM 4·STK A: 1. Kevi n Sax to n (Ma t); 2. Ron Predmo re (Ma t); 3.Ross Poitras (M.t). 40. A: 1. To m Rapp (Bu l); 2. Kenny Brynn (CZ) ; 3. Ross Poi tras (Ma l). 5ll<- A: I. Dick Stidham (Yam); 2. Rick McMaken (Gre ): 3. Bob Undscy ( BSA~ 125 BMBR: 1. La Faye McCarv er (Ho n); 2. Shane KclIev (H on ); 3.Tom Miller (Ho n). OPEN B: I. Neil Gier1>en (CZ); 2. lewis Pugh (Suz): 3. Doug Eckelman (CZ). PREM B: I . Bob Lindsey (IlSA): 2. OmarJensen (Mat); 3. Marlin Jensen (Mat ). s-srx

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