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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127781
Engine-prepared Yam ah a ou t front and
flying. But what Buckelew was not p repared for was the spee d of Pastrana, wh o
was d eterm ined to make up for a poor
first mota.
Pastrana almost took out Buckelew as
he passed him near the end of the race. "I
ju mped and lan d ed on his fron t tire,"
Pastrana said.
"I saw his front tire and 1 just let him
have it," Buckelew said. "I'm here to win
the war, not the battle."
.
When the dust settled, Buckelew ha d
indeed wo n th e war with a 2-2 fin ish,
which topped Payne s' 3-3, Pastrana 's 6-1,
McG a v ran' s 5-7, Rod ge r s' 9-8 a nd
Elliott's 1-16.
Arguably so me of th e most in tense
Mini rac ing took p lace 'du ring the 80cc
(12-13) Stock ra ce. Oklah om a's Johnny
Marley and California 's Jonathan Shimp
each dominated th eir resp ective qualifiers, wi th Mar ley's lap time an average
of abou t one second a lap faster.
Whe n the m ain runo ff arrived , all
eyes were on Shimp 's Honda and Marley' s Yamaha. Wh en the ga te dropped
neithe r ri d er gave an inch, an d the y
p ulled a d ual holesh ot. Marley gained
the advantage by jumping to the bottom
of a 7-foot tabletop, but Simp resp onded
by jumping a 60-foot double tha t Marley
did not. "I saw Marley hit the bra kes,"
Shimp said. "So 1jumped over his head."
"I didn't ju mp because I was afraid of
breaking wheels," Marley said.
Marley charged passed Shim p a few
tu rns later and gradually pulled away.
Last year's cham pi on Sean Hamblin
was cha rging an d closed on Shim p at a
rate of about tw o seconds per lap. "I have
been sick all week," Shimp said.
"I just got tired at the end," Hamb lin
said .
Hamblin saw his chance just after the
tabletop and stuck it to Shimp . "I kind of
stuffed him," Hamblin said.
Hamblin moved into second an d set
after Mar ley, but it was too little too late
for Hamblin who finished second in the
race. "I just got my cast off my ann a few
weeks ago," Hamblin said. 1 am happy I
did this well."
Shimp settled for third, while Ryan
Morais, Chase Reed and an inju red
Daniel Blair rounded out the top six. "I
spraine d my ankle pretty bad on the first
da y," Blair sai d. "I can run their pace
injured. Just wait until I'm not."
Marley also returned to win the Modi fied race on his Clark Jon es' N oleenmodified bike. "This kid reminds me of
Bradshaw when he was on 80s," said
Jones. "He's really confident when he' s
out front"
Marley topped H amblin, South
African Grant Langston, Daniel Blair and
Ryan Morais.
Team Green 's Bobby Bonds and Team
Suzuki's Shane Bess kept the Yam aha 's
from sweeping all the Minicycle classes
with their split victories in the Stock and
Modified 80cc (0-11) age bracket.
.
Bonds crashed out of his Stock mo to
and there was word of a possible broken
shoulder. After a trip to the hospi tal the
verdict was just a bad brui se.
Bess took his cue and ran off and hid
in both the 80cc (0-11) Stock motos to the
deli ght of Team Su zuki's ama te ur ra ce
director Pat Alexander.
Bess, however, was' d efeated b y
Bonds after he removed his sling in the
80 (0-11)Modified race later in the day. .
Bess finished second overall, while 9year-old Kyle Part rid ge from Las Vegas
finished third.
. James Stewart, Dylan Lord and Jesus
Casillas battled for the fourth spo t w ith
Stewart getting the nod. .
Stewart re tu rned to d om in ate th e
/iOcc Stock (9-11) d ivisi on w he re he
(Left) Maxwell Pope (74) and Tanner
Langham (51) got together In the 50cc Sto ck
(4-6) class.
(Below left ) Justin Buckelew was the big
Mlnl cycle winner at the World Min i GP,
capturing three class titles.
(Below) Shane Bess rode to victory In the
80cc Stock (9-11) div ision.
defeated up-and-coming Mini racer Kyle
Harris, who has been training up in the
Northwest.
In the end, it was not clear wh o was
more pl ea sed with Stewart' s championship - he or his father.
Seven-yea r-old KTM su p port rac er
Mike Alessi scored his ninth-career
National 50cc Championship by winnin g
the 50cc (7-8) Stock division,
Alessi did not win either mota, but a
consistent 3-2 finish was enough to earn
the title in a field of 42 racers.
Alessi also competed in his first Super
Pee Wee (6-9) event and finished second
aboard the new KTM SX3. He finish ed
behind the week's most successful'Micro
racers, Florida's Davi Millsap.
On his Cobra, Millsap posted an awesome four-m ota sweep of both Super Pee
Wee (6-8) and th e Modified (7-8) division.
Millsap also showed impressive speed
in the 60cc (6-8) d ivisio n, w here he
to p ped Georgia' s Andrew Matusek,
. Chris Blose, Ju st in Keeney a nd Mike
. Alessi.
Jonathon McCarthy surprised the 50cc
(4-6) Sto ck cl ass w ith a victo ry over
heavy favorite Cole Seely.
Though Seely put forth a determined
effort by challenging McCarth y throughout every inch of each race, in the end a
stubborn McCarthy refu sed to give up
the lead and posted a double-mote victory. "We w ould' ve been happy wi th a
10th-place finish here," said Jonathon's
d ad, Greg, wh o compete d in th e 30+
Non-Pro class, finishing sixth.
McCarth y returned in th e Mod ified
divi sion later in the da y and back ed up
hi s Stock-class win with an impressi ve
fourth overal l. Georgia's Daniel Lyautey
recorded th e overaIl victory after he and
Cole Seely collided . Seely retired to the
p its with a broken thr ottle wh ile
Lyautey charged home for the champio nship in fr ont of Buddi Bruner,
Maxwell Pope, McCarthy and "Chocolate" Chad Graves.
rN
Las Vegas Speedw ay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Results: Ap ril 12-14, 1996
50 PIW STK (0-6): I. Jonathan McCarthy (LEM); 2.
Col. Seely (KTM); 3. Justin Whal.r (KTM ); 4. Bry ce
Terzian (KTM); 5. Tanner Langham (KTM).
50 PIW STK (7-8), I . Mi k. Ales si (KTM ); 2. Rya n
~~b~l (KTM ); 3. Dennis Ionon (KTM); 4. Chris Blose
(KTM ~ 5. Ricky Hem me (y am).
50 PIW MOD (0-6): I. Daniel Lya u tey (LEM) ; 2.
Bud d i Br une r (KTM ); 3. Ma xw ell Pope (LEM ); 4 .
Jonathan McCarthy (LEM); 5. Cha d Gores (KTM).
50 PIW MOD (7-8), 1. Davi Millsaps (Cob); 2. Mike
Aless i (KTM) ; 3. Andre w Ma tu sek (LEM ); 4. Ricky
Hemme (LEM); 5. Vincent Blair (Yam).
JR CYCLE STK (6-8), I. Dav i Millsaps (Kaw); 2.
Andrew Matuse k (Ka w ), 3. Ch ris Blose (Kaw ); 4. Justin
Keeney (Kaw); 5. Mike Alessi (Kaw).
JR CYCLE STK (9-11), 1. james Stew art (Kaw); 2.
Ky le H a rri s (Ka w) ; 3. N a th an Da ven port (Kaw); 4.
Gare th Sw anepool (Kaw); S. Daryl Ecklund (Ka w) .
JR CYCL E MOD (6-11): 1. Jesus C as.il1 a~ {Kaw ); 2.
Brandon Layton (Kaw); 3. Jimmy Nelson (Kaw); 4. Sean
Collier (Kaw ); S. Tyler Fick (Kaw) .
80 ST K (12-13 ), I. Johnny Ma rley (Yam); 2. Se an
Ham blin (Yam) ; 3. Jonath a n Sh imp (Ho n ); 4. Ry a n
Morais (Yam); 5. Chase Reed (Kaw ).
80 STI< (0-11): 1. Sha ne Bess (Suz ); 2. Cole Sieble r
(Suz ); 3. Jesus Casillas (Yam); 4. Garth Swanepool (Kaw);
5. Kyle Partri d ge (Suz~
.
80 STK BEG (12-16), 1. Eric Willis (Yam); 2. Sh awn
Sch wanbeck (Yam); 3. Nick Gibson (Suz); 4. Steven Price
(Kaw ); 5. Jon Ra gers (5=).
80 STK (14ยท16): 1. Just in Buckelew (yam); 2. Ivan
Ted esco (Kaw ); 3. Micha el Young (Ho n), 4. Tra vis Elliott
(Kaw); 5. Bryan M