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:M T C O S: . ' ยท OO R S : White Brothers East Coast VetJFo ur~ Championships Lake Sugar Tree MX Park Mensforth, Young finesse Lake Sugar Tree By Ba rba ra Williams Ph otos by Loren William s AXTON. VA.AUG. 27-28 on Mensforth drove 10 hours to Lake Suga r Tree wi th his coach John Lun d y to win the Vet 25-29 C di vision in the very first White Brothers East Coast Vet C hampionships, an d Team ATK's Mike Young flew in from Californ ia to top th e Open Pro Fou r-Stroke class in the very first White Brothers East Coas t Four-Strok e Championships held over tw o days at the Lake Sugar Tree MX Park. Althou gh Mensfor th won on ly one moto on Sat urday ' s Eas t C oa st Vet Championshi ps, it p ro ved to be th e important one . Off the line first in the firs t ro und of 25-29 C ac tio n, Mensforth battled for the first couple of laps wit h Steve Holbert. Meanwhile, Jeff Hooks gated next to last and wa s forced to w ork his wa y up through the pac k to ge t within strik ing distance of the front. By the halfway point, Hooks had pos itioned his Suz uki between Mensforth and Holbert. By the end of the next to las t lap, Hooks had the lead, and Mensforth was in se rious danger of losing second to Holbert. Soon after taking the white flag, Holbe rt fou nd his opening . Hooks ma in tained first to the chec kers, followed by Ho lbert, Mensfor th, Tom Jennings and Robe rt Talbott. In the early motos follow ing intermission, thunder rumbled over the pits, and a storm struck a few hours lat er, causing a delay of the race for an hour because of lightning. When the racing resumed , Mensforth again claimed th e 25-29 C class holeshot. Talbott took over briefly, but th e now slippery, rain-drenched clay wrenched his front tire and thr ew Talbott down, and Mensforth reclaimed the lead . Local racer Buddy Taylor challe nged briefly, s li p p in g to th e fro n t comi ng over the dam. But Taylo r als o fell victim to the slick red stu ff. Forthe res t of the mo to Mens forth sailed alo ne in fro n t an d too k the flag without fur ther incident. Hooks go t anothe r ba d sta rt, b ut '1 Lake Sugar Tree MX Park fourth was the best he could do the secAxton, Virginia ond time around. Results: August 27-28, 1994 "I'm just no t a mud rider," he sai d . Soturdoy " I feel good no t to ha ve fallen down in 2S-34 k I. Claude MitcheU (lCow); 2. Tim MomlOOth that mo to." .\ (Hon); 3. Donald Allord (Suz). 25-29 B: 1. Greg Lykens (Ya m); 2. Da vid Wilcox Mensforth, who has been riding for (Yam); 3. Tim Terrell (Ho n). less tha n a year, sewe d up the overall I 2S-2'J C: I. Ron Mens fort h (Hun ); 2. Steve Holbert (Hon); 3. J.ff Hooks (So2) , vic tory via h is 3-1 finish. Holbert wa s 35-50 A: 1. Sonny Mitchell (Ka w) ; 2. Mike LoPicolo second overall followed by Hoo ks, who I (Hun) ; 3. Poul Dawson (ATK). d id better in 30-34 C class, sweep ing 30-39 B: I. John Lu ndy (Ho n) ; 2. G r.g Lykens (Yam); 3. Tom Hawk (Yam). both motos . Jeff sa id, "If it hadn't been 30-34 C: I. Jeff Hooks (Suz) ; 2. Jam es MeGree nan for tha t do wn po ur, I really think I could (Hon) ; 3. Charles Hanson (Ha n). 35-39 C: 1. Dal e Umbe rger (Yam); 2. Wayn e Nix have made it fou r moto wins in a row (Ho n); 3. Tim j one (Ha n). s tod ay." VET P RO: I. So nny Mit ch el! (Kow); 2. Tim In Sunday's East Coast Four -Stroke I Mantoo th (Ho n); 3. Willis Crooms (H on). Sunday Championship Op en Pro class, Youn g 250 C: 1. Sean Tho mpso n (502); 2. Chad Thompson quickly yield edto the ackno wled ge d (Suz); 3. Darin Young (Ho n). 350 C: 1. Scott Almeid a (Han); 2. Les ter Cra gan king of Lake Sugar Tree, Kevin Walker. I (Ha n); 3. Paul Thist le (Han). Lap after lap, Young followed Walker, 0-400 PRO : 1. Larry Harrison (Suz ); 2. Ricky Joyce . (Ho n). learning Wa lker 's lin es fo r the ti me 0-4 00 AM : 1. Scott Alme ida (Ho n) ; 2. Pau l when he wo ul d use th e knowled ge to I Dziwanowski (A TK); 3. Slt.-phcn Tipton (Han ). take over the le a d . H ow ev er, t h ree OPEN PRO: I. Mik. Youn g (ATIC); 2. Jeff Mill.r (Hbg); 3. Larry Harrison (Suz ). turns before the finish, the rear brake on VET A (25-39): I. All en Alfo rd (Su z); 2. La rr y Walker's ATK loc ke d up , and Yo u ng Harrison (So2). was handed the win. 30+: 1. Jeff Miller (Hb g) ; 2. Paul Dziwanowski (ATIC); 3. Bobby Ousl ey (lCow). "The fra me broke th is morning in SU P VET 25+ C: 1. Jerry Robertson (Kaw); 2. David practice, an d we welded it back togethWilcox (KTM); 3. Thomas Jmrungs (So2). R (Above) Mike Young made the trip ea st and took the win In the Open Pro Four-Stroke divis ion. (Below) Local ace Kevin Walker was Impresalve, but broke his frame. er," Walker said . "This bike vibrates so mu ch, it ju s t s hoo k th e w eld loose . When I landed off a ju mp, the fra me woul d be force d b a ck together, a n d fina lly it pinched the brake line . Those seals were burnt to a crisp ." When Walke r ' s b ik e ca me to a screeching ha lt, Young stopped to make sure he wa s alright. Walker waved him on to the finish. After taking the check ers, Young returned to give Walker a ride back to his pi ts. "I ha te to win like that ," Young said . "He wa s do ing so good, and I was looking forw ard to making a for real move on him ." The second time off the line for open Pro , Young le d from sta rt to fi n ish. Spectator s held their collective breath as the field of Pros hurtled toward the first tum, neither Young nor Walker willing to give an inch . But Young owned the insi de line, and Walker was forced all the way to the outside at full speed. In the early laps, Walker was all over Young, an d those in attendance looked forward to a classic ba ttle. But the California im po rt gained a seco nd or mo re per lap on the loca l favori te, un til he w as 10 seco n d s ahead a t th e fin ish. Wa lk e r w as a victim of more racing bugs. "Well, that's the way it goes so metim es," Walker sa id . " It was fun racing with Mike an yway. Th e track was in gre at shape, too - the bes t I' ve ever seen it. I just wish I coul d ha ve made it mor e of a race. " . Young was all smiles at day's end. "It's a lot more humid here than I'm used to , but it was n ice of Kevin to show me around the track th e first moto," Young sa id . "I'd lik e to come [I back." Further, Young had some words for the East Coast riders. I "I think (the eastern) guys are really lucky to ha ve a facil ity like th is, and I great dirt like (they) ha ve here, too. The I four-s tro ke sport is growing, and yo u can definitely loo k for a rise in competition. With th e two-strokes completely gone in California in two years, you can I look for a n ex pl os io n in t h e fourstrokes." a 1 i I 22