Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.MOTOCROSS . '.'::. .. 23rd A nnual Florida Winter National O lympics . Gatorback Cycle Park By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVJLLE, FL. NOV. 20-26 ontroversy or no, the record will show tha t Jim Neese, the flying Honda rider from North Carolina, was awarded the Expert Champ ion ship trophy from the 23rd Annual Florid a Winter N ati on al O lympics at Ca to rbac k Cycle Park over Thanksgiving weekend . But all the accolades and adulation of the crowd , th e banner-wav in g of th e sponsors w ho were prou d th at th eir man wo n, and all of the genuinely "positive" things tha t take place at the victory cere mo ny followi ng the wid ely recogni zed event went to Jeff Willoh due to an unfortunate misca lculation. Willoh was firs t p resen ted with the honor, but it was late r discovered that Neese ha d indeed to pped Willoh 's score in the TT, su pe rcross, m otocross a nd Gran d Prix eve n ts. "When they called my name for the ove rall I was tru ly surp rised ," said Willo h . "I d id n ' t th ink I was goi ng to w in in the first place. I was hoping for s eco nd o r third. When I heard that I w on, it was like, 'OK.' But it's really no big dea l. ('II win it next year." No netheless, Willoh accep ted th e D u n lo p Sil ver Tire Award, th e $500 Worldsports bonus and the Du nlop Tire contract. But tw o days after the event, officials d iscover e d th e scor in g error w h ich gave Neese the overa ll victo ry . Despite the oversight, Neese wa s glad to be named the winner. "I was very pleased with my results here this we ek," Nee se said . "Especially now the scoring has been corrected. " Th is wa s my first race for Jim ' s Cycle on a Ho nda, " sa id Neese, who also receives backing fro m Pro Circuit, 0 ' neal, Dunlop, Arai, Scott, Sunstar, 100 %, Hammerhea d, Br a k i n g a nd . Balzee. Thou gh h is e ff ort s pa id off bi g, Neese was not the only rid er to have a good week at the Mini Olympics. Scott USA's Gold en Gog gles Award for high es t score in the yo u th di visi on went to Team Gr ee n Ka w as aki /Pro Ci rc u it/ Fo x / Ts u b a ki / Sho ei / CT i / Renthal / Scott / Hammerhead / Wiseco / Boule va r d Cycl e) Bel Ray / Trick / Dunlo p_ _ backed Brock Sellards. The Oh io-based rid er dominated both 125cc Band 250cc . - B cla sses and w as a p opu la r winner. t:." Scott USA' s Be vo Forte awa rd ed th e tro phy and a Scott mountain bike to Sellard s. A no ther top amate u r, Ricky Carmichae l, h a d an ot h er s uc cess fu l Mini Olympics ru n, w inn ing the Axo Bronze Boot Awa rd. Wh en presen tin g 0\ th e p rize, Axo ' s Sco tt Taylor gave the rl h ot Team Gr een rider so me food for -:::1" thoug ht. rl " Ricky ca n retir e thi s trophy with l-< one more win ," Taylor said. . The onl y former riders to retire the ] S award w ere Dam on Bradsh a w a n d ill Kevin Windham . The ta len ted yo u ng ~ Carmichael wo n every heat and final for Cl a perfect record during the six-day progra m. "My dad had to wo rk the first thr ee da ys of the event," Carmichael said . "He ' ~ ~ ct. 6 dro ve all the wa y over here from Talahassee every night to prep my bike. I' m glad tha t h e won th e Top Mec hanics awa rd . He deserves it " Nick Ada ms wo n the combined 50cc division an d was awarde d a new minicycle by Italjet USA. Upon receivi ng the new machin e, the Miller Cycle-supported Adams an no u nced what he in tends to do wit h it. "I plan to give this bik e to my little brother," Adams said. Four class cha m pions ha d w in s in ev ery even t: Dave Mils aps (50cc 4-6). Nick Adams (50cc 7-8), Tra vis Pastrana (85cc 7-11) and Kevin Foley (30+). _ A record 3200 class en tries from 41 sta tes and eigh t coun tries were tallied in the Worldsports-promoted event. Wee k-long off -track activities were h igh light ed with the 25-turkey, 20-ham Thanks givi ng dinn er s p o nso re d .b y Honda. "We cooked the turkeys an d h am s, and families brought a va riety of deliciou s side di shes," said promoter Jerry West . "Ever yon e pitched in to carv e and serv e, and we all had a grea t time." TT Th e openi ng TT is al ways the ice breaker for the event. Riders hoping to excel at th e eve nt need ed a lightning start and precise rid ing ability, as there was no time to make up for an error. Three d iffe rent rid ers won Ex pe r t finals; there wo uld be no ru naw ay in the d iv is io n . Neese , Ad rian Rob er t a nd Kevin Walker swa pped the 125cc Stock fina l lead, bu t Neese slid out and Walker collected the win . "It's rea lly hard and slick ou t there tod ay," Walker said . "Yo u ha ve to be really careful like yo u wo uld in a mud race." Casey Johnson, in hi s fir st ap pearance at the Mini Oly mp ics, led every lap in the 125cc Expe rt Modi fied and 250cc Stock mains. "I'm n ot used to th e IT," Johnson said . "I d iscove red th e sta r t is every th ing and you can not mak e any mi s takes." Nee se stormed to victory in the 250cc Modified class. The 50cc Autom ati c d ivision featured wa rs in fou r classes. Dave Milsaps led Mike Alessi. Michael Patte rson an d Jake Griffis in the Stock (4-6) fin al. Mil saps fell and had to catch Alessi to ea rn the win . Griffis countered with a victory in the Modi fied (4-6) class. The (7-8) due l wa s between N ick Ad am s, And rew Ma tusek and Ma thew Go eke . Adams s co re d wins in b o th classes. "I am glad to be here," Ada ms said . "It's 30 degrees back in Mich igan, and we will be snowmobiling soon." The 65cc cro wn would be con tes ted by tw o Ame ricans , Jame s Stewart an d Josh Summey, an d tw o Co sta Ricans, Ed gard o Roja s and Ra pha el G uille n. Guillen and Rojas scored the TT wins. In his first race since su ffering a broke n knee, Tr avi s Pas tr ana swe p t both 85cc (7-11) even ts, while Matt Walker, Ju st in Buckelew and Ern es to Fonseca battled all week for the 85cc (12-13) title beginnin g with the TT. Bucke lew scored fir st in th e Stock fin al, followed by a Fonseca win in the Mod ified s. Englishman Ryan Voase opene d the 125cc (12-15) class with a w in. Voase attended th e e vent w it h b acki n g b y Suz u ki UK. . Bogard won the mod ified main. The 125 and 250cc B classes were a sho otou t between Voase, Bogard, Sellard s, Chris tain Leon, Eddie Ray, Tyler Kin g, Don Hard y, Case y Lytle, Ma t Bateman and Robbie Horton. Voase and Bateman sha re d the Stock w in s, w it h Sella rds d om in at in g th e Modifi ed action. In the Senior classes, Brian McElroy, Kevin Fo ley, Gene H od ge , Pau l Dzi wanos ki a nd Dick Robbins took th eir respective class wins . Jim Neese (45) Jeff Willoh (216) and Kevin Walker (859) clashed all week long for the Expert overall championship . Willoh was named the winner at the event but Neese was the official champion two days later after officials adjusted a scoring error. SUPERCROSS Wa rm su n ny wea ther con tinue d on Tuesday as the much-anticip ated su percro ss form at w as ru n. Willo h led Ju an Morol ey, Pa ul Currie, Robbie Skaggs and Jim Chester home for the victory in the 125cc A Stock main. Cu rrie actua lly passed WilIo h, but slid out. Skaggs took an u nsuccessfu l last-lap sho t at Willoh, to no avail. Willo h led the Mod ified main briefly, but Ad rian Rober t an d Nee se moved by to con tr ol th e pace. La ti n Ame rican champion Robert took the win. "This track is like ours in Costa Rica; hard and fast with only sm all jum ps," Robert sa id . " I clip pe d a hay bale and wa s ner vou s for several laps." Neese paced the 250cc stock main but erred late in the race, allow ing Pau l Currie to lead Robbie Skagg s to the checkered flag. "Neese bl ew the w h oops," Curry said . "I took the lead, bu t at the halfway point (I) tired an d Skaggs pushed me hard." Neese red eemed himself wi th a solid 250cc Mod ified win. Marisa Hamp shire led mu ch of the race in the 50cc (7-8) division, bu t Nick Adams recover ed from an early spill to cla im the w in. Hampshire h ad a good lead bu t end oe d hard eno ugh to sp lit her helmet. The 65cc (7-11) contests saw Summey and Stewart clai m thei r firs t wins and move into class conten tion. After d ominating th e 85cc (7-11 ) cla ss, Pastrana sa id tha t he owed his swee p to the Costa Rican team doctor.

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