Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4:Los Angeles County R eway ac 'M TO R S O C O S' .C C'Velvelouch G M oldenSlaleN ationa outhern Series) ls(S By Scott Hoffman . PALMDALE, CA, FEB. 19 ou nd fou r of CMC's Velveto u ch Gold en State Nationals sto pped at the high desert track of Los Angeles Co unty Raceway where in a display of excellen t riding, a fit-and-trim -look ing M ike Healey mo tore d h is Velveto uc h /Inl and Wh e el C e n ter-b a cke d H onda to an overall win in the 12Scc Pro class. With this being the fina l ro und of the series before the tw o-day finale at Sunrise Valley Raceway, racers jockeyed for posit ion s in the final point tally. At the sta r t of m ot o 'o n e, Tea m S p li t Fi re Kawa saki 's Da vid Pingree sho t ou t to an ea rjy lead w ith Brian Dee g an, Mik e Healey and Scott Sheak tra iling. Healey was first to make a move as he picked off Deegan durin g th e second lap and se t his sigh ts on Pingree. Sheak encountered probl ems ea rly w h ich le ft h im fig h ting for position back in the pack. Team Green /FMF rider Jeff Willo h pu t in an excellent rid e, but by the time he was ab le to work hi s wa y to the front and pas t Deegan , the leaders we re out of reach. Up frent, Healey an d Pingree wer e at each o the r's throat. Every time Healey wo uld try to put so me dis tan ce between hi msel f a nd Ping ee, the SplitFire rider w ould co u n te r a n d m irro r hi s eve ry move. As the race ca me d own to the w ire, Ping ree wa s d etermined to keep the pressure on, and that's what he did. With less than a half a lap remaining, Ping ree di v ed to the ins ide, s t o le Hea ley's line a n d put h im over the berm. " P in g re e wa s ri ght th e r e, I h a d now here to go bu t over the berm," said Healey. "There was a little contact, but it wa s a good pass." Pingree won themot o after a h ardfo u gh t rac e w it h Heal ey; Willoh fin ished a lonely third. In moto two, Willoh was ou t to prove he was no slacker, as he railed the firs t turn a nd passed Pin gree, Shea k a n d Heal ey. With Willoh out fron t, the early ra ce was fo r the second s pot. Heal ey w as determined not to let Pingree ge t th e best of him in th e se co n d m oto . H eal ey fi rst moved p a st Shea k, wh o made a sligh t mistake, 'and then set his sights on Pingr ee. In the blink of an eye Hea ley motored past Pingree an d began to reel in Willoh. Healey was soo n all over WiIIoh , and the two riders swa pped positi ons back and forth . Healey ju m ped pa st Will oh fo r th e lead, but WHloh ca me right back an d repassed Healey . Wh en th e two riders made it to the back secti on, an overzeal ous Willoh jumped too far on the tab leto p, and the subsequent im pact kn ocked h is car bu retor ou t of place. With a disappointed Willoh ou t of the race, Hea ley cruise d in to take th e w in. Sheak w as able to ma ke a last-lap pass to take second . Pingree fin ished third . In the Vet Beginner class, Kirk Chapman took hom e the victory over fellow com petitors Lee Saul and Mike O'D onnell , who won the first race by grabbing the ear ly lead and holding on until the finish. Sa u l was in seco nd during th e early part of th e rnot o, bu t en ded up s low ly slipping back to fo urth by the end . Chapman fou ght his wa y th rou gh the field during the first moto to finish s econ d behind O' Do n n ell. Cha p ma n took ove r second after a last-lap pass on Jim Blankenshop . Moto tw o featured a slugfest for the lead . Dann y Lawers had the early lead , b ut on th e secon d lap Chap man was righ t th ere to take over . At th a t point (Above) David Pingree (41), Jeff Willoh (216) and Mike Healey (61) did battle in the 125cc Pro class during round four of the CM CNelvetouch Golden State Nationals at LACR. After a first-moto sh unt with Pingree, Healey rebounded to score the class win via 2-1 moto scores. (Left) Team Nolee nlSlzzlerl Yamaha's Kyle Lewis (15) wrestled with Healey (partially hidden) in the 250Cc Pro class and came away with the overall victory. Healey sal vaged s econd overall. Cha p ma n led the race, as Saul moved past Lawers for second, and O'D onnell lurked in fou rth. At the ha lfway point , Saul squeezed past to take over the lead as O'Donnell moved into the third spot. Riders were swap p ing p ositions back and forth like trad ing cards, an d whe n it ca me d own to th e la st lap , Chapman emerged the victor followed by Sau l and Lowe rs. In other ra ce ac tio n, mi ghty mit e Chris Tocco ga thered a set of moto win s to take the overall in the 60 (9-11) class. Tocco ou t las ted fe llo w ra ce rs Joshua Hansen an d Se an Colli er. In th e fi r st rno to, Tocco beat o u t Han sen a nd a hard-chargi ng Daton Beavers. In moto tw o it was again Tocco with Han sen , but th is time Jesus Ca sillas held the third sp ot for the entire moto. l~ Los Angeles County Raceway Palmdale, California Results: February 19,1 995 (Round 4 of 4) PIW BEG: 1. Matt Con treras (KTM); 2 Ivan Shultz (Ya m ); 3. Ta ylor Gilmore (Yam ); 4. Edd ie Woodard ( KTM~ 5. Jose ph Herr' ... (KTM). . PIW JR. 1. Mid1ae1 Parker (KTM ); 2. Ryan Roybal (Y.m); 3. Chris Nihan (Y.m~ 4. Ricky Hemme (Y.m~ 5. Jared Tebo (Yam). P/w MOO: 1. Jake R...ga n (Yam); 2. Kyle Booth (Yam) . 60 (O ~ 8) : 1. [o sb u a Gran t (Kaw); 2 . C hris Ni ha n (K.1w); 3. Ryan Beat (K.1w); 4. 8il1 Bloom (!

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