·G AN
R DPRIX · Viewfinders Grand Prix
By Chris Jonnum
Photos by Van Isaacson
"
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CASTAIC, CA, NOV. 5-6
,,~ was riding sacred this weekend!"
Those were the words of Jimmy
Lewis, after he won two classes at
th e View find ers Grand Prix, and he
wasn't just bragging. The Cycle World
magazine editor was simply on fire at
the historic event, held in the scenic
Lake Castaic State Park .
The popular GP was making its
return after a seven-year hiatus, and
while the venue was different from the
traditional Riverside International Racewa y, no one was complaining. The 10mile course included such sections as a
grass-lined bike path through the park,
a sandy jaunt down the lake's beach, a
lap around the Castaic Motocross Track
and a high- speed run along an off-camber, cement waterbreak. As with the
Riverside races, the Castaic event Iea-
Malcolm Smith (0) showed up lor the
historic return 01 the Viewfinders GP, and
turned In a win in the Magnum class.
lured startin g waves of four riders each
on an asphalt road . Competitors were
timed separately and sorted by computer to determine results.
"We'd been looking for a location
that was exciting enough to hold this
race," said event coordinator Ken Boyd.
"One of our members is into mountain
biking, and when he attended an event
at Castaic, he asked the Park Service if
the y would be interested in hav ing us
hold an event. They said they would."
Each of the approximately 600 entriesalong with spectators and pit crews - paid
an eight-dollar gate fee, all of which went
to the Park. In addition, the club members
quelled environmental concerns by helping to rehabilitate the course immediately
following the last race.
"We had to ensure the Park Servi ce
that we we re very serious about d oing
this, " said Boyd . "We had to ens ure
them tha t we could bring people in who
would behave themselves and no t d irty
up the pa rk. Everything was pu t back to
orig inal condition and we got a lot of
compliments about how well everything
went. I just can't say enough about what
a fantastic job the club members did."
"It's pretty nea t to be able to have a
motorcycle even t in th is kind of a
pl ace," said Lewis. "Th e spec ta tors
co u ld ha ng o u t on th e beach or th e
g rass, and check ou t all the ac tio n . I
never got to race in a ny of t he o ld
Viewfinders GPs, but I wish I d id."
Lewis' feelings were verified by most
of the rid er s present, d espite a slow
sign- u p line and an ex treme ly dusty
up hill.
Th e wee kend didn't get off to such
a n ausp iciou s start for Lewis, as h e
missed out on the Unclassified win by a
mere two seconds . The winner was none
other than Mike "M ou se" McCoy, th e
former m in i sens a tio n who u sed th e
eve n t to ma ke his comeback. Mounted
on an older Honda CR and dressed in
an old se t of red JT appa re l, McCoy
looked imp ressive on his way to the
w in . Case y Ly tle, KeithO'Neal and
Mike Shoemaker followed .
Lewis returned in the Du al Sport
division, in which he rode a KTM LC-4
400. "1 was riding a stock bike, so I started three or four rows back," said Lewis.
" The re w ere two guys that I ne ver
ca ugh t, bu t I knew I wa s putting time'
on them ."
Putting time on th em he was, as
Lewis co llected the w in over Robb
Mesecher with nearly a minute to spare.
Robert Baeh r was th ird overall in th e
race , which incl uded Vintage, Classic
and Mod ified Du al Sp ort divis ions.
Dua l Sport er magazine honcho Damon
Powell and Mark Mangold completed
the top five.
With the Pr o ra ce be ing ca nce lle d
due to a lack of en tries, the fans would
ha ve to be sa tis fi ed w it h Sunda y ' s
125/250 /0pen race , which would featu re th e mu ch an ticipa te d sho wdow n
between Lewis and McCoy.
Lewis started off a co u ple of rows
from the front, and struggled wi th dust
fo r the early pa rt o f the first lap . " 1
caught mos t of the peo ple before the silt,
but there were a couple of guys ahead of
me, and the dust was incredible," sai d
Lewis. " 1 caught Tod d Hoy on the beac h
and yelled at him; he go t out of sha pe
and rode off into the bushes. After that I
just picked my way through the dust for
the rest of the race."
McCoy was handicap ped by a starting position that was further back, but
he still completed the sev en laps in one
hour and 45 minutes - 48 seconds-off the
pace of Lewis. Oarkley Lehman, supercrosser Shane Trittler and Casey Lytle
completed the top five.
A much appreciated appearance was
m ade b y off-road legend Malcolm
Smith, who won the Magnum ca tegory
desp ite a "freezing up " on the
motocross section. "1 can do the same
ju mps off-road, but there's something
about be ing on a motocross course,"
said Smith afterwards. "This is a great
facility, because the family can come
along and watch in a pleasant atmosphere. I just want to encourage the
Viewfinders to keep doing this, and
that's why I came out. I never rod e at
Riverside, but I rode Grands Prix at Elsinore and Soboba, and I really like the
format. It would be nice if they could
have it a little bit later in the year, so
they might get some moisture on the
ground."
Man y of the riders were wondering if
th e ev en t would make a return ne xt
year, and club p res ident Van Isaacson
says that things are looking positive. ex
Viewfinders Grand Prix
Castaic, Call1ornia
Results: November !H;, 1994
U/C: 1. Mou se McC o y (Hon) ; 2. I tmmy Lewis
(Yam); 3. Casey Lytle (H o n); 4. Keith O'Neal (H a n); 5.
Mike Shoemaker (Kaw ).
UW SIH: I. Ed Hall /Brady Budd (H on); 2. Mike
Bums /Bob Morgan (Hon) ; 3. Jell Anders (Hon); 4.
Damon Doheny (KTM); S. Don Hartr/Rkh Stiff (Han ).
HJW SlH, 1. Scott Gregory / G le n L'Heu (BSE); 2.
James Porcaro (Tri); 3. Ron Whi taker (Han).
DIP STK: 1. Jimmy Lewis (KTM); 2. Damon Powell
(Hon); 3. Erik Mattson (Hon); 4. ).0 . Lava ncil (Hon) ; 5.
Jere my Hoeming (Han).
D IP MOD: 1. Ro bb Mese ch e r (Hon); 2. Robert
Baehr (Hon); 3. Mark "Stick Figure" Mangold (Hon); 4.
la mes Frys lie (Ho n); 5. John Ossenkop (Hon).
CLSQ 1. George Penni ngton (H on ); 2. Jim Borden
(Hus); 3. James Ditson (Yam); 4. Brian Wenzel (Hus) .
V1NT, 1. Allen Wenzel (BSA); 2. Rud y Abel e (CZ);
3. J.R. Bilotta (Pen ); 4. Larry Emge (Hus); 5. Chris Frei
(Yam) .
250 EX VET, I. Mike Sh oemaker (Ka w ); 2. John
Ferro (Ho n) ; 3. John Rudd e r (Ya m); 4. John Braa sch
(! (Ho n).
250 AM: 1. Mat Bate ma n (Ya m) ; 2 . Dustin
Ho useho lder (Ya m ); 3. Rick Monio t (Ya m); 4. Ja mes
Merrick (Hon); 5. Do n Barker (Yam).
125 AM: 1. Dave Wentz (Yam) ; 2. Jerry Jacob sen
(Hon); 3. John Flores (Han).
OPEN BEG , I. Jami e Lew is (Hon); 2. Duane Katz ·
(Ho n).
%SO BEC: 1. Mike Johnson (Ho n ); 2. Brian Pinard
(Yam); 3. Robert Barbour (Suz); 4. Dan Ho ltz (Hon) ; S.
Chris Prokodow (Yam ).
125 BEC : 1. Je ff No lan (Ka w); 2. Cli nt Van Eps
(Ka w ); 3. Bria n Whitt!' (H on ); 4. Scott " In s p ecto r "
Rousseau (5uz); 5. Jeremy Ferro (Suz ).
.
OPEN NOV, I . Nick Athans (Kaw ); 2. Tom Petrus
(Han); 3. MKhaeI Ragan (KTM); 4. Andy Ward (Hon ); 5.
Chuek Meals
~
2SO NOV: 1. Mike Johnson (H an); 2. Brian Pina rd
(Yam) ; 3. Robert Barbour (Suz); 4. Dan H oltz (Han); 5 _
Chris Prokodow (Yam) .
125 NOV, 1. Tun Rufi (Han); 2. Lanee White (Yam).
MAG EX: I. Malcolm Smith (KTM); 2. Ra y
Bandfield (Kaw); 3. Te rry McDona ld (ldu); 4. Albert
Hull (Yam); 5. Da vid Atkinso n (Suz) .
'
MAC AM : 1. Ja ck Sa bine (Hon) ; 2. Jo h n Full er
(Yam); 3. Larry Maso n (Yam) ; 4. Herb FIsh (Kaw ); 5. Art
Whitney (Hus).
•
MAG NOV: 1. Fred Weedma n (Hus); 2. Peewee.
Th omas (H us); 3. Don a ld Morrison (KT M) ; 4. Ron '
Kelley (Han).
S/SR EX: 1. Bill Sta ley (Yam); 2. Willie Evelan d
(Kaw ); 3. Art Bence (Hon); 4. Norm Stua rt (Hon).
OPEN SR EX: I. Bill Maxim (Kaw) ; 2. Scoll 5mith
(Han); 3. Mike Martin (Kaw ); 4. Greg Winkel (Ha n); S.
Randy Martin (!
