Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·MKTMIDirt SR S of Troy FallClassicMX Series R O O hirtSlHonda .. T C OS . ound 2: R ew ac ayPark .AMA (Left) TIm Ferry (23) made his Team Suzuki debut a pos itive one by winning the premier 25010pen class via consistent 2-2 moto finishes. He also nabbed second overall In the 125cc Expert class. (Below) Brock sellards won both the 250cc Amateur and Schoolboy classes and was heading for the 125cc class win before crashing and finish ing second. By Nate Rauba 'g, 0\ ...-i 0\ ...-i 'OJ' " E o 20 ENGLISHTOWN, NJ, OCT. 1-2 he third time was a charm for im Ferry, but it turned out to be somewhat of a curse for Brock Sellards at Raceway Park. Over the last two years Ferry has taken home the 125c c Expert cl as s title in the two-d ay Kawasaki Race of Champions event. But this yea r the newly acquired Tea m Suzuki rider captured the prem ier 250cc/Open Championship in his firs t ride aboa rd the yello w bikes. Alth ough he d idn't win either of the 25-minu tepl us-two- lap feature rnotos, his consiste nt r u n ne r-up fi nishes w e re good enough for the overall victory. Ferry faced some tough competition along the way. Boyesen-backed John Dowd, wi nner of two 250cc National events this year and who earlier in the week signed a letter of intent to join the Yamaha factory team next yea r, dropped out of moto one w ith igni tion trouble. He came back to win the second round and also topped both 125cc Expert Support class motos. Dowd 's future Yamaha teammate, Kev in Windham,"was there trying to give Kawasaki a victory in his farewell ride for Team Green. Series co-sponsor Honda of Tro y was present with defending series champ Todd DeHoop and Fall Classic Series opening-round winner Mike Brown. Plus, there was a contingent of tough locals, led by Barry Cars ten, who knows every bump on the rough Jay Irw in-d esign ed course laid out in a field adjacent to Raceway Park's famous drag strip. Promoters Irwin and Ken Land erman actually tried to tame down the bumps on the sandy and loam y course but rain s howers during Saturday' s a ma te u r event soaked the track. And it was one of tho se harder showers that cost Sellards a chance to sweep the three classes he entered. Sellards had already tied up the 250cc Am at eur and Schoolboy classes when he lined u p fo r the final 125cc Am a teur class moto. But a fall at th e beginning of the race left him to pla y catch-up, and he cou ld n' t quite catch winner Jason Sybert and had to settle for taking home two giant-s ized first-place trop hies ins tead of three. Although Saturday was d amp a nd gloomy, the first 250cc/ Open class featur e moto left the line in perfect su nny racing we ather. At the head of the 40rider pack were Honda of Troy tea mmates Brown and DeH oop, but they didn't sta y there. DeHoop was the first to drop back when he crashed on th e fourth of 16 laps while chasing Brown for the lead. "I drifted wide in a turn, the back wheel hit a hay bale and it threw me over the bars," said Del-loop, who remounted in fifth place. A couple of laps later Bro wn, who was being chased hard b y Carst en, eased his pace when he wrenched his back. Brown slipped to third behind a hard-charging Dowd , who took the lead fro m Ca rs ten near the ha lfway point. But afte r charging to a five-seco nd advantage , Dow d was left p ushing his bike back to the pits. "It was running great and then just sh ut off," he said. After resumin g firs t, Carsten never backed off until the checkered flag fell, giving th e Bayview , New Jer sey, residen t a ve ry popular w in . Ferry never backed off the enti re moto either. After star ting near the back of th e field he charged all the way to second, passing Brown in the waning moments. DeHoop 'finished fourth behind his teammat e after repelling a ttacks by fifth-place Windham, who never could make up for a poor start . Windham started much better in mo to two , passing Carsten and Brown to take the lead on the first lap. But just as Windham was pulling awa y, he crashed on lap three of what would be a 17-lap race. . "I was getting over the front of the bike through the far tu m when I hit a bump and was rebound ed off the bike," said Windham. "After that I charged for a few laps, then I got tired . I d idn't want to ride over my head and crash again ."

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