Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·.EdiledbvScott Rousseau ... EET V N S.. .. ' , . , ' ,' .' . race d ay. In the Open Amateur clas s, fast qualifier Mickey Alzola ran away from the competition from beginning to end during his run. Alzola, a 54-year-old stuntman from Newhall, California, was riding an ATK 500 set up by former TT trip le-crown winner Edd ie Mu ld er, who lowered Alzola's ATK suspension in a move used by a number of other competitors who have no ticed the success of f1attrack riders here. Third-fastest 250cc Amateur qualifier Mark Erickson, on a KDX250, beat Don Bruner by 14 seconds for the class win with a time of 13:50.10. The 250cc Pro class fea tu re d Col orado rid ers in the top-three finishing positions with an exciting race for second. Chu ck Hopper pulled st eadily away from Chuck Lee and Wayne Intermill at the picnic ground, about a third of the way up , en route to the class win, leaving the other two riders to battle for second place . Lee, who had a cast removed last Monday after recovering from a se rious ly fractured low er leg, pulled In termill on all the straights, while Int ermill would pass Lee in the tums. After two of the switchbacks near the top of the mountain, Intermill closed in on Lee go ing in to th e left-hand swee per at the finish, and kept the gas on long enough to pass him a few feet beyond the finish. Bu t the laser timer broke for Lee first, just 17 hund redths of a second ahead of Intermill. £N ResuUs OPEN PRO, 1. Clint Vahsholtz (W-R); 2. Davey Durelle (W-R); 3. Brian Anderson (W-R); 4. Paul Zinke (W-R) 5. Randy Triplett (W-R). ; . 250 PRO: 1. Chuck Hopper (Suz); 2. Chuck Lee (Ho n); 3. Way ne ln te rmill (Yam); 4. Michael Jone s (Yam); 5. Robert Faust (Y am). OPENAM, 1. Mick AlzQla (ATK); 2. Tracy Smith ey (Hon); 3. Scott Dun lavey (Yam); 4. Tim Lee (Hon ); 5. Paul Johnson(Tri) . 2SO A M: 1. Mark Eri c kso n (Ka w ); 2. Don Br uner (Y am); 3. John McClelland (Y am); 4. Larry Kleinschmidt (Yam); 5. David Wolleston (Yam). (Top) Billy Hoffmlester handily topped the Open Pro main event at the Cambridge Short Track. (Above) Clint Vahsholtz was the fastest rider at the Pikes Peak Hlllcllmb, sco ring the Open Pro class wi n and setting a record time for the second· straight year. Pikes Peak Hillclimb Vahsholtz breaks record at Pikes Peak By Bruce Taylor Photo by Mark Kariya COLORAOO SPRINGS,CO, JULY 4 li n t Va hsholtz apparently has a handle on what it takes to win the Pikes Peak Hillclirnb, as the WoodRotax rider again posted the win in the Open Pro class with a time of 12:21.13, whi ch set an o ther new record and duplicated his victory / record combination of last year. Motorcycles have been racing up Pikes Peak since 1936, and on the Fourth of July they again joined stock cars, open whee l cars, trucks and others for a dash to the summit. The th ree-day event saw the bikes practice on the upper half of the course on Saturday from daylight till 9 a.m , On .Sunday, they practiced and qualified on the lower half of the 12.4-mile road. C 26 Th e race, itself, started wh er e th e pavement ended at 9402feet, with riders' in waves of five climbing 4708 feet to the 14,410-fo ot summit. Road conditions varied from blue-groove traction laid down by the cars that went earlier in the program to thin, loose granite gra vel on top of hard-packed dirt. Open Pro rider Vahsholtz described the loose parts as something like dirt on top of asphalt. The Op en Pro race looked to be an even match between five favored riders , wi th former ch amp io ns Vahsholtz, Bri an And erson and Arlo Englun d b eing ch a ll en ged by h ard -ch a rgin g DaveyDurelle and second-fas test qualifier Paul Zinke. The start and first two miles we re a scramble among the five, wit h Englund un characteristically getting out of sha pe before settling down into a ty pically smooth and fast pace. And erson was not a threat after the picnic ground, and just tri ed to keep Durell e, Vahsholtz and Englund in sight. But when Englund's motor went away, Anderson passed him. Mea nwhile, Durelle had a big lead, but was evidently feeling pressured by former ch ampion and record ho lder Vahsholtz, and went off the road in a fast turn near the top. A charging Vahsholtz was treated to the sight of Durelle rolling down the road towards him while trying to restart a stalled engine. Du relle had enough road left to make a run for first, but Vahs holtz had the know-how and was able to convert the mistake into a win, powering through the lasers 13 seconds ahead of Durelle. Most of the fast qualifiers did well on Hoffmiester handles Cambridge Short Track By Tim McBride CAMBRIDGE, MN, JUNE 18 Winning the Open Pro ma in event seemed jus t like another day a t the office for Faribault HD / Reyno lds Printing-sponsored Billy Hoffmiester. Th e lon gt im e AMA di rt track Expert no tched hi s second wi n in a row of the Dirt Track Riders Association's Cha mpionship Short Track Series, held at the Isanti Co unty Fairgrounds. . Two heats set the grid for the O pen P ro main. At the start, heat-one winner H offmiester got righ t down to busin ess and g rab be d th e hol eshot. Mike Hoh, hea t-two winner Tony Kohner, Dan Zitur, Kurt Boehlke , Eric Brouha rd and the res t of the pack all gave 'c hase as they thundered down th e ba ck ch ut e. By lap two, Hoffmiester had opened up a sizable lead, whil e the res t of the field continued to sort itself out . At the midway point, two separate battles were taking pl ace . Kohner was hol ding off a ha rdcharging Boehlke for second, while Hoh had his hands full with Brouhard challenging hi m for fourth . Zitur had faded. Hoffmiester cruised home the winner, while Boeh lke continued to pressure Kohn er for second place, the Pro-Am dirt tracker remaining unflappabl e. Hoh a n d Bro u hard finis he d a strong fourth a n d fifth . Verdeen Langland, Rand y Triplett, Zitur, Norb Gregory and wi ldcard entrant Marcus Bauer completed the finishingorder. The only doub le-class winner of the evening was Paul Kerkes from Larson's Cycle Supply in Ca mbridge. Aft er top pi n g th e Novice class, Kerk es went on to win the Open MX class by a comfortable margi n. Crowd favorite Elizabeth "Bit sy" Kantor showe d her ma le counterparts in the 250cc B class the fast way around the track from start to fini sh. Her closest compet itor, Marcus Bauer , crashed out of contention on lap three, allowing he r to bree ze to th e checkers . One of the most eventful races of the night was the Open B final. Buzz Amdtled every lap wi th Tim G re gory and Lee Feal ey hot on h is heels . At th e exi t to tu m four of th e last lap, Arndt' s machine sputtered momentarily, allowing Greg ory to slip by for the win just ahead of Fealey. Arndt recovered in time to finish third. , Res ults OPEN A: 1. Billy Hofhni estcr (H-D); 2. Ton y KohncT (Rtx); 3. Kurt Boehlkl" (W-R); 4. Mike Hoh (Rtx); S. Eric Brouhard (H -D). OPEN B: 1. TIm Gregory Oion ); 2. LeePealey (Yam); 3. Buzz Arnd t (Y<1m); 4. Marcus Bauer (Hon); 5. Tim Zemanovic (Hon ). NO V: 1. Pa ul Kerkes (Hon); 2. Quentin Blomberg (Hon); 3. Marty Ma taya (Yam) ; 4. Tim Bcbma n (Han); 5. Arnold Meyer (Hoo ). SR: 1. Buzz Arndt (Yam); 2. Phil Lambrecht (Yam ); 3. Joe l Gu lbranson (Yam); 4. Frank R.tdloff (BSA); S. Joe Blackw ell (y am). 30+: 1. Lee Feal e y (Yam ); 2. Dav e J,.. killS (Yam); 3. Ma rty n Ma to1lya (Yam); 4. ~ve Koch (Hon);5. John P(."te1"5On (Yam ). .50: 1. Jarob Mata ya (ltj); 2. Josh Koch (Yam); 3. Trollvis Henrich9 (Yam); 4. Luke Barthold (Suz) ; 5. Kevin Anderson (Yam). 80: 1. Jerem y Rine nlOR (Ya m ); 2. Ada m H"""richs (Hon ); 3. Keegan Iverson (Suz). 250 A: 1. Verdecn Langland (Hon); 2. Tim Gregory (Hon); 3. Tim Zemanovk (Han). 150 B: 1. Bils y Kantor (yam); 2. G n- g Lun de (Yam ); 3. Joel o; Gulbranso n (Yam); 4. Rand y Thi. )e (Kaw); 5. Marcu s BaUC!1"(lion). . OPEN MX: t. Pa ul lU!rkes (Han); 2. Tim Bohman (Hun) . -rg 250 MX: t. Qu """tin BlombL (Ha n); 2. Amo ld Mercer (Han) . TWIN : 1. Buzz Arnd t (Kaw ); 2. Creg Lun de (yam); 3. Frank Rad loff (BSA); 4. Joe Blackwell (Yam). STK FRM: I. Dave Koch (Hon ); 2. Dav e J"""kins (Yam); 3. Phil Lambn.'Cht (Yam) . "Ironman" Kieffer wins three at Firebird Road Race By Naomi Bou rne OlANDLER, AZ. JUNE 18- 9 1 Dale Kieffer d idn 't baili e his rival road racers at Fireb ird International Raceway nearly as mu ch as he battled his own limitations on a weekend when tem pera tures exceeded 105 degrees . Kief- . fer d ispl ayed a will and consti tu tion of iron by entering 10 events. and winning three of them. The hea t kept th e AMA /CCS Southwest Region grids small. and sprint races were shortened by two laps, but Kieffer was runni ng backto-back even ts, for the most part. on Sund ay. After winn ing the morning's Middleweight G P, he cruised a few laps (to accumulate po ints ) and pulled off the track in the Unlimited Supersport. In the next race, Kieffer was back, taking secon d p lace in the l.ightweight Superbike class on a 1988 Yamaha FZR400, desp ite the fact tha t he rode the race on under-infla ted tires. In Heavy we ight Superspo rt, Kieffer passed Kye Gunn in the chicane on the last lap, an d motored on to win. Tucso n's Fast Unlimited team mad e a lastm inute d ecision to load a bo rrowed CBR600 before heading to Fireb ird. Tha t fortuitous decision enabled Gunn, the team's top rider, to snag Honda's $300 first -p lace contingency purse in the Middlew eig ht Supersport class. The shock and brake lines on th e bike were s tock, bu t Gunn still managed to log a 1:13.90 on it during one clea r lap around the track. Gunn took the lead from Stu Morrison on lap seven, but Morrison stayed on his tail. Then the riders encountered lapped traffic, whi ch gave Gunn an advanta ge . He crossed the fi nis h line three bi ke lengths ahead of Morrison. John Burgoyne made it two for two when he won the Unlimited GP for the secon d consecutive time this year. Burgoyne took the holeshot and held off seco nd-placed Kieffer for the firs t thr ee laps. Kieffer took over the lead in the back esses, but his CBR600 was no mat ch for Burgoyne's CBR900RR down the straight, and Burgoyne was soon in fro nt agai n. .K ieffer ke pt, within two bike lengths of Burgoyne un til lap 12, whe n his sh ift leve r came loose. Bu rgoyne took the checkered flag, while Kieffer cruised to a distant second place. Results M/W GP EX: 1. Dale Kieffer (Han); 2. Tom Hul l (Due) ; 3: Roger Heemsbc rgen CHon); 4. Michael Noschese (Kaw ); 5. Marcus Hubbard (Suz). M/WGP AM: 1. Chris Taylor (Yam); 2. Joseph Demk o (Hon ); 3. Tod d Fennell (Hon ); 4. Tod d Bushey (Suz ); 5. J ohnJewett (Hon). U/L 55: 1. M. Ben Welch (Yam ); 2. Craig Arcu ri (Yam ); 3. Lenny fkockman (Suz); 4. Chuck Dillon (Hon ); 5. Sha wn Bush ey (Suz). L/ W S/ BK EX: t. Joseph She lto n (Ya m); 2. Da l.. Kleff..r (Yam ); 3. JeffL.-onard (Yam); 4. Craig Arcuri (Yam), L/ W S/ BK AM: 1. John Brook!> (lion). M/W S/ BK EX: 1. Stu Morrison (Hon ): 2. To m Hun (Du e); 3. Dal e Kieffe r (Hon); 4. Marcus Hubbard (Suz); 5. Dale W~lan (lion). M /W S/BK AM: 1. Marti n Eden (Hon);2. Ch ri s Ta yl or (Yam); 3. Terry Wadkins (H on); 4. Michael Snyder (Hon); S. joseph Dem ko (Hon) . H / W S /BI::; EX: 1. Cra ig Arcuri (Yam ); 2. M. Ben We lch (yam ); 3. Unny Beckman (Suz) ; 4. Dale Whelan (Hon); S. fun COJo: CHo n). . . ' H /W S/ BK AM: 1. Martin Ede n (Ha n); 2. Ma rk Ledesma (Kaw); 3. Ja:lO Collins (Kaw); 4. Andrew Lutz (Suz); 5. Fred ScheU n (!

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