Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4: Cycleland Speedway MOTOCROSS ' CMC Golden State Nationals· North F1gin' (Left) Rick Ryan topped the 250, 500cc and 25+ Pro classes at theCMClMSR Golden State . Nationals at Cycleland Speedway. (Below) Tyler Evans (89)gets the jump on Jeff Northrop (15) and the rest 01 the 125cc Intermediate class. Evans went on to win. By John Sliva CHICO, CA. FEB. 24 MF/ FO Racing' s Rick Ryan conX tinued his march to w ard s the Gold en Stat e Nationals Championship b y b agging wins in the 250 , 500cc and 25+ Pro classes, as well as finishing second in the 125cc Pro class. Only Pro-Circuit I Alpinest a rs-backed Dean Matson kept Ryan fr om a Pro swee p by topping the 125cc class at the final round of the CMC /MSR Golden State Nati onals North Series. Ryan held the series points lead in several Pro classes going into Saturday' s "makeu p day" event. Since this was the Gold en State Nationals first-eve r visit to the long-standing Cycleland Speedway motorcycle park, the track would be a new and "level" playing field for San Jose-based Ryan as well as for most of the rest of the series regul ars. Frequen t rains in the week preceding the event had bo th th e ra cer s and the promoter planning for muddy conditions. Such wa s not the case, as the welldrained track was in near-perfect condition for the morning's first set of motos. "I left most of the tra ck undisced on purpose, so if it rained again we'd be all right," said Cycleland's Lowell Moural Sr. "It's our traditional ' na tu ral style' outdoor track ." F Out fro nt, Ryan see me d content to pace Matson for the early going of the 10-lap moto, with Scott Myer s a few bike lengths back, battling for third wi th Justin Tieamey, Birdwell and Hummel. Ryan loo ke d m ost confid e nt o n t he high-sp eed sweepe rs and straigh ts, in co n trast to Matson. Ryan even tua lly fou nd his way around to take the lead and roost on to the win. "I rea lly wasn't comfo rt able. The track was pretty much smooth and wide open, a nd I like the more technical , rougher stu ff better," said Matson, who, non ethel ess, rac ed to an easy second over Myers, Tieamey, Birdwell, Travis P r eston, Jake Windham , and Shane Esp osito. Matson and Ryan resumed their battle for first as the second 125cc Pro mota go t und e r w ay, join ed b y Su zukimounted Travis Preston and Spud Wal- The sunny, dry and cold conditions sent many rid ers scrambling to change tires after practice. The mud tires many had chosen beforehand couldn't find traction o n th e hard, rock-peppered tra ck, which was d escribed as smooth, fast, and reminiscent of the "scrambles" tra cks of d ays past, at least until th e pounding of the bikes mad e for a more demanding and so mew hat dusty sec ond -ha lf. Matson got the da y' s first race sta rted as he holeshot the first 12Sec Pro mota, while Ryan, Ty Birdwell, Scott Myers, Tyler Hummel and the rest of th e 15rider field jockeyed for po sition. Track favorite and resident Pro Lowell Moural Jr. suffered a ben t shifter soon after the start and had to pull off at the finish to a ttemp t som e hasty repairs . A d ozen frantic but we ll-p laced kicks later , the Honda was ag ain ridabl e and Moural rejoined the race at the back of the pack. Moural was in good company though, as he linked up with Spud Walters, wh o was also trying to play catch-up after he slid out in a ha irpin comer. Moural and Walters traded pla ces, th en qu ick ly overtoo k Hummel, who had previously crashed and was then unable to get back up to speed . Walters and Moural continu ed to cha r ge to ni nth and l Oth, respectively, before Scott Da vis ha lted their ad vance. ters . Preston, like Walters, had a disappointing first mota, but came out strong in the second mota. Tieamey, Hummel, Mye r s and Esposito battl ed for th e re m a ini ng top positions o n a mu ch more demanding track. At midrace, Ryan ap peared to ha ve the race in the bag. leading Matson and the pa ck by a comfortable margin. On the next lap, the win slipped away from Ryan. "The transmission went out. This is bull," sai d a disappointed Ryan as he pushed his crippled machine across the line to score a last-place finish . Matson suddenly got a second wind. "I put a charge on in the last few laps; I go t a li ttle bit of ener gy from somewhere, maybe the fresh air," he said. With Ryan ou t, and a rougher, more rutted tr ack bel ow hi s Su zuki. Matson su rged ahead of the pa ck, then motored on easy for the win over Preston, Waite rs, Tiearney and a re su rg ent Hummel. In the first 250cc Pro moto, Walters led the early laps before Ryan methodica lly e rased Spud's lead, o u tb raki ng Walters in spectacular fashion to mak e a clean pass, take the lead and race on for an easy win. Walters held on for second over Mats on, Preston and Myers. Myer s hi t his st ride in th e second 250cc Pro mota and roosted to the win , w h il e Ryan a nd Matson diced fo r second. ' Matson held on to take second, both in the mota an d overaU score, bu t Ryan's third-pl ace wa s all he need ed for the overall win . Prest on ' s co nsistent 4-4 score notched fourth. while a sixth-place mota finish behin d Tieamey gave Walters fifth overall. In the always-exciting 12Sec interm ed iat e class, th e ba ttl e for class d ominance con ti n ued betw een Ka wasakimounted Jeff No rthrop and Suzuki pilot Tyler Evans. These two talent ed ride rs are blessed with nearly id entical skills, and their bar-to-bar dicing continued at Cycl eland, with Northrop coming ou t on top in th e fir st mot a. Evans p revailed in the second mota to take the big prize over Northrop, Josh Chisum, [er rad Fisher and Craig Humphrey. (~ Cycleland Speedway Chico, California Results : Feburary 24, 1996 2SOPRO, I. Rick Ryan (Suz) ; 2. Dean Ma tson (Sl,z); 3. Scott Myers (Kaw); 4. Travis Preston (Suz); 5. Spud Wa lters (Suz ~ 125 PRO: 1. Dean Matson (Suz); 2. Tr avis Preston (Suz~ 3. Ius tin Tieamey (Yam~ 4. Scott Mye rs (!<.aw~ 5. Spud Walt ers (Suz) . 250 tNT: 1. Antti Iso make (Ya m) ; 2. Don o van Mitchell (Yam ); 3. Jon Za hrt (Yam); 4. Brett Racine (!<.aw~ 5. Crai g Humphrey (Suz~ 125 l NT : l.Tyler Eva ns (Suz); 2. )t"H North ro p (!<.aw); 3. Hawk Whi te (Yam) ; 4. J06h 0Usum (Hon~ 5. Craig Humphrey (Suz~ !SO JR: 1. John Man tevfel (Ka w); 2. Cory Morais (Yam ); 3. John Zinda (Hen), 2SO BEG : 1. Rick Crenshaw (Suz); 2. Iamey Parker (Suz) 3. Neil Allan (!

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