Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS Round 3: Carlsbad Raceway District 3 7GrandP Series rix __--p ell Conquers Carlsb a d J By Matt Freeman CARl SBAD, CA, APR. 20-21 ohn ny Campbell went a per fect four for fou r a t the 22nd annual Hilltoppers M.e. U.S. Gra nd Prix at Carlsbad Racewa y. The XR600 pilot won every race he was eligible to enter on the we ekend' s nine-race sche d ule, takin g the checkered flag in Saturday' s Unclassified and Four-Stroke races and Sunday's Unclassified and Open races. Close to 500 en tra nts turned out to race in round three of th e District 37 Grand Prix Series at the legendary raceway. Once home of th e fam ed World Gr, Ca rlsba d Raceway has host ed the Hilltoppers since 1991. With a his tory of promotin g th e Rosarito Beach Grand Prix in Mexico, it was only fitting that th e Hilltop per s named the even t the U.s . Gra nd Pri x w he n they came to Carlsbad. Saturda y's Unclassified race was just foreshadowi ng things to co me . Team Green s' G reg Zitterk opf pulled th e holesh ot aboard his KX500 wi th KLX650 moun ted Paul Krause an d Campbell in tow. Howeve r, Zitt erk op f's lead d own the pav ement sta rting ar ea was sho rtlived. "1 go t the holesh ot all the way," Zitterkopf said. "But righ t after that my throttle cable came out of the slide." With Zi tterkopf ou t of the picture Krau se was able to pu ll the lead down the rest of the pavement with Campbell sneaking up from behind. "Krause was in fro nt, 1 jus t passed him a t th e fir s t tu rn:' Campbell said. "From there I d id one fast lap to gain a lead and then just cruised. I had a flawless race." No more th an 20 minutes after th e finish of the Unclassified race, Campbell, Krause, and a new batch of rid ers were ge tting se t on the starting line for th e Fou r-Stro ke /Du al Sport / Vin tag e / Classic race. As the green flag dropped and the thu nd er rolled, Krause and his Tea m Green KXL650 got the jump off th e li ne ahead of Campbell, Jimmy Lewis, and Jami e Campbell. Bu t before the ri de rs reached th e firs t motocro ss section after the pavement, the lead had chan ged . "Krause holeshot but I passed him in the same turn as the Unclassified race," sa id C ampbell , un aware th at Krau se' s KLX had blown a.hea d gas ket. While Johnny Campbell cruised his w a y around the cou rse in the lead che cking for good lines for Su nday's races, Lew is wa s ab le to lose Jamie Campbe ll and close in on Johnny. When the checkered flag dr op ped , however, it was still Johnny by 40 second s. Su nd ay's Unclassified -race holesh ot went to Krau se w ho d itched his KLX650 for his usu al KX500 mount. Cam pbell and CR500 pilot Drey Dirks were not far behind . Slipper y co ndi tio ns o n t he fresh ly watered track mad e things interesting as the riders turned left off of the pavem ent on to the mu d . " It was a big slime fes t for th ree or fou r laps," said Krause. "Jo hn ny an d I went back a nd forth ." Ca mpb ell ha d troubl es ea rl y on. "Krause hoIesh otted and then I passed him, then I fell:' Campbell explai ned . "When I got back up I was in third and I had to pick off Paul and Drey Dirks." Dirk s was unfamiliar with the course and Ca mp bell had no problem getti ng around him. And by the fou rth lap he wa s able to reel in Krau se to tak e th e lead and his third checkered flag of the weekend. The Vet race saw a once-again d riedou t track and the return of Zi tterko pf. The Team Green rider wa sted no time takin g the lead by the first minute of the race. Whil e Zitterkopf ap proached the checkered flag by putting a minut e-and a-half lead on second -placed Dirks, John Rudd er was fighting his way to the top (Above) Johnny Campbell sailed to victory In all four races that he entered at the 22nd annual Hilltoppers MC U.S. 0-37 Grand Prix . (Left) The rac ing acti on was th is close for much of the 1251250 Expert race . Jon Parks (58) leads fellow 250 Experts Oakley Lehman (57) and TIm Stabb (hidden), followed by 125 Experts Dana Van ' Stee (81) and John . Braasch (82). Lehman and Van Stee took the respective class wins 4-STRK NOV: 1. jim Co nnolly (Ho n ); 2. Dcrrt k lytle (ATK); 3. Don Huddles ton (Yam ). a.s5C EX: 1. Th oma Engelhardt (Yam); 2. George Pennington IH on ). cissc INT: 1. Todd Ai les (H on); 2. Doug Jillene . VIN EX: t . joel Bik>tta (CZ). S R O PE EX: 1. Rex Staten (Kaw ); 2. Richard Castner (Hon); 3. Mike McCt--e (Ka w ). S R 250 EX: 1. Brian Sm chuc kle (Ho n); 2. Mike Sixberry

• Cover