Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS ' AMA 1251250cc National ChampionshipMotocross Series Round 1:Gatorback Cycle Park Lew is' (Yam ); 11. Den gler (5 uz ); 37. Jeff Yen tzer (Ka w) : 38. Sha w n Ronn ie Tichen or (Suz); 12. Guy Cooper (Suz); 13, Rotcs tein (Horn ; 39. Lance Smail (KTM); 40. Bill Schlag y {Ka w) . 250 MOTO 2: 1. Jeremy McGrath (Hon); 2. Jeff Em ig .. Jeff D em en t ( H e n) : 14 . Kevin Cri ne (KTM); 15. Doug Hen ry (Yam); 16. Gene Na u me c (Ya m); 17. Sha u n Kala s (Yam); lB. Roy Schell enberger (Ka w): 19. Rich Taylor (He n): 20. Larry Ward (He n): 21. Doug Stone (Kaw): 22. Mar co Dube (5U7 ; 23. Trav is Blackb urn (Ka w ): 24. Matt Shu t' (Yam ); ..) 25. Travi s Hod ges (Kaw): 26. Jim Neese (Hen): 27. John Fesler (Yam); 28. Bruce Stratton (Suz); 29. Ty Walla ce (KTM ); 30. Tim Pu stclak (Suz): 31. Ricky Pa lme r (Ho n); 32. Davi d Paquette (Yilm ); 33. Mich ael Bear (Yam ); 34. Chris Pomeroy (Hen): 35. David Ga ylord (Kaw): 36. Joel Briefly_i ....._ Gr eat We stern Bank' s Phil Lawrence and Suzuki Sports' Scott Sheak'w ere the win~ers of the Camel Racing/ Skoal Racing Pro Privateer Challenge , For being the top-finishing privateers 'in t he 250 and 125cc cl as ses, re spectively , Lawrence and Sheak each 'earned $500,' At the -year's end , thetop privateer in the final standings of each class will be awarded $5000" (Kaw): 3. Ryan Hu gh es (Kaw) : 4. Damon Bradshaw (Yam); 5. Ronnie,TIchenor (Suz); 6. larry Ward (H en): 7. Kyle Lew is (Yam) ; 8. Ph il La wren ce {Kaw) : 9. Jimmy Butto n (Yam ); 10. Greg Albertyn (Suz): 11. Mike laRocco (Su z): 12. Guy Coo per (Suz ); 13. Dou g Henry (Yam) ; 14. Bria n Sw ink (Hen): 15. Shawn Kalas (Yam); 16. Jeff Dem e nt (Hen) , 17. Kev in Crine (KTM); 18. Ro y Sche lle nbe rge r (Kaw): 19. Jim Neese (Hen): 20. La nce Smail (J crM); 21. Rich Taylor (Hen): 22. Matt Shue (Ya m); 23. Travis Blackburn (Ka w ): 24. Bruce Stra tton (Suz ); 25. about tw o weeks'ago , but t henl heard a few days ago that it wasn't ," lamented team manager W es McC o y . "I figure that we 'll take delive ry o f it in abo ut S ept em b er or so ," W hen , asked w hat he th ou ght o f the t ract o r-t railer trend, M cCoy had mixed feelings, "The way the schedule is now, it doe sn't allow for any personal time for the ride rs or mechanics," he said . "The se mi will allow the mechanic s to fly home for a day or so: but' my concern. Is that it might , cheapen up our race bike preparation, Skip NorTeam Yamaha's Kevin Wi;'dham was on hand' folk put it bes t when he told me that being a , race mechanic isn' t a.job; it' s a lifes tyle. Sure, as a spectator only, as he is' still rec uperat ing the semi will give , t hem one day at home , bu t,' from a broken co llarbone, ,"It feels pretty ,good ," that's one day away from tbemotorcycles . We Win dham reporte d, " I should be able to race by Hous ton . It' s we ird to miss a race and still not . need to figure out how to keep our bike prepara-.' los e the point s lead: Before t he start of the tion as goo d as it is. Think about it - w hen was N ational, Wind ham and the rest of the Yamaha . the last time yo u saw a meehanical failure in our team enjoyed a cake ce lebrating his 1Bth birth: pit s ? The w hee l t hin g la st ye ar wa s a pa rts day, ' .' depa rtme nt1ailure - it was not a mechanical. " . sco res for 15th overall in his first 250cc 'Nation al since breaking his back in late '95. " I was hoping ' to finish ,in the lo p 10 and I w as up there in the second mota unt il I cra shed at t he ' end: bu t I guess I' m happy with my performance. It was a lot of fun. but it' s weird not being able to run up " fron t with the fast g uy s. " One of Henry 's personal sponsors, Bent Racewear, debut ed a new , T-shirt that read" " He's, ba ckl Bent : but not bro' ken: ' New Yorker Scott Sheak was extre m ei y gratef ul to his sponsors followin g his spectacular fin ish . " Really , thi s fi nish is all be cau se' of them : he said. "T his is t he best finish of my life , and I couldn't have done it if I didn't have ' theni all," ,Sheak and his mechanic Ke nny Olson list th eir spo nsors as : Suzuki , Peak Performance, Pro Cir cuit. An swer, ' Pro Taper, .Srnith. 'Kawasaki' s D amon HuRma n co mpeted wi th MXA Bell, Goat Ey ew ear, Dunlap, Braking, Pro an FMF p ipe and a Pro Circuit silenc er fitted to ' Art Works, .Renthel. Bel Ray " W ork s C on nec, his factory KXI25, "We tried about every pipe" ti on , Appli ed Racing , Van s , V P. TwinAi r and silencer and cylinder combination possible ," said Gush Cloth ing. Huffma n's mechanic Brian Lunniss . "This is what we came up with. Damon likes a motor wi th a . Followin g the numerous wheel "related f ail, broad spread of powe r," " ures at last year's ' Gatorb ack N ational. many rid ers ,C includ ing tho se a ffec te d last y ea r .. Team Chaparral manager Larry Brooks opte d . show ed up w ith ext ra-strong w heel set -ups to to compete in the 125cc c las s in 1996. "W e figdeal w ith the brutal Gainesville co nditions, Greg ured that ;' wou ld be bett er 'if the who le team t 'Alberty n's mechanic Ian Harrison fitted Albee's was in one class together," said the bespectaSuzuki w heels with heavy duty spokes and stee; cled rider. " We :re mo re notic eabl e w he n all " nipples. J eremy Albrecht did 'the same with J eff three ,of us flood the class ," Gatorback marked Emig's factory Kawasaki w heels, but the former the flrsttlme that Br ooks has raced a 125 c c " 125cc National 'Champion'still menaqed to break National since 19B9, when he did so as a Honda s pokesI n the firs t m ot a and duri ng practice , ' s upportrider. "I,ke ep' forgetting to dow ns hift. ' I' m usually , real easy o n st uff ," joked Emig , befo re I land from jumps ,", he [oked. " I have only " M ost ofthe time it 's Ryno. who ' s out the re put in thr ee' or fo ur day s, max, on this bike , I busting st uff up!- , ' haveto learn to ride 1255 again," Brooks bestIn the Honda camp , how ever, Mike G osselaar opte d to , fit Steve Lamson '.s Hond a w it h t he same wheels, hubs and spokes that they normally run. Acco rding to Honda Team M anager Wes McCoy, the front -wheel failure suffered by Lamso n in last year'sseco nd moto was not , due to poor preparation or faulty parts, " W e had th e w rong spok es laced up o n S teve ' s fro nt wheel , - said M cC oy: ..Lasi year at t his time we didn't have a full-time parts guy, and the wr ong , spo kes got sent off to the wheel builder, Jeremy narrow fro nt wh ee l M cGrat h likes to r un beca use it tum s quicker ,' and those take diff erent spo kes ..Lamson 's wide wheel had Jeremy's narrow spokes on, and there was t oo' much ,of a load on them and they broke ," ,Natu rally, it was a mistake .that t he team wa sn 't awa re of unt il after last year' s race over . . Ty WallaCt" O

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