Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Walters, riding a nearly bo x-stock Honda XR400 for White Brothers, wa s also moving up, gaining fifth place by lap five. Attri tion set in about the halfway mark, as seve ral front-runners began to experience difficulty. KTM rider Drey Dircks and Ward were both ou t of the race by the I5-minute mark. Dircks and Ward had been fou rth and eighth, respectively, in th e ser ies point standings co m ing into Hangtown. Scott Myers, piloting the sole ATK in the race, stalled an d had trouble restarting, eventu all y crossing the fini sh line in 23rd position. Lapped riders were already making their presence felt earl y in the race, with ultimately significant results. By the I2-minute mark, Smail had closed to within three seconds of Young and he ld a I3-second advantage over Dymond. Davis was another eight seconds back in fourth. . Smail continued to close on Young, but Young see med able to pick u p the pace when necessary to stay in front. Fate would enter into the contest, however, as Young was held up by a lap per and was u nable to attempt the d ou ble ' on the long downhill. Smail, in perfect position to capitalize on Young's misfortu ne, cleared the jump easil y and took the inside line away from Young in the next turn. "I went right and doubled for the pass when Young got caught behind a lapper, and after that I didn't have too much trouble staying in front," said Smail. Young tri ed to stay close to Smail, but had nothing to throw at the leading rider. Smail was able to pull out to a small but comfortable five-second lead by the last lap. The finishing order was set. Sm ail took the victory, followed closely b y Young. Dymond and Davis were each all a lone in their respective third a nd fourth positions. Walters, who h ad steadily mo ved up on Davis, rounded out the top five. Coupe managed a ninth-place finish . The ever-upbeat Young was philosophical in defeat, saying, "I was find ing new lines to avoid the lappers and ended up getting caught behind one, but I'll settle for second this moto. Me and Lance are pushing the edge for these bikes , and it might be hard for the others to match this pace." Commenting on his uneventful thirdplace finish, Dymond said: "I just tried to stay smooth and hold my position . I haven't raced regu larly since '93 and th is is a lo t of fun. We' ll ma ke so me changes for the second rnoto, and I'll try to get up there and run with Lance and Mik e." Davis was less than satisfied with his fou rth-place finish, though, vowing to improve in the second moto. "I lost my clutch early in the race and had to ride like a geek to keep from (Abo ve left) Team Green 's Ty Davis competed aboard th is Larry Roese lerprepped Kawasaki KLX250 and came away with second overall via 4-2 mota fi ni shes. (Abo ve) Spud Walters competed In both the 250cc National and the 4Stroke National. Walters, rid ing a Honda XR400, took third overall In the ' thumper class. (Left) Lance Small chases down Mike Young. Small rode his KTM to victory In the second mota. A crash relegated Small to seventh In the first mota. sta lling," said the Southern Californian. "We' ll get it fixed and I'll do better In the second rnoto." Moto two started with an apparen t Dymond hole shot, bu t it was not to be as Dymond lost the front end and we nt down and was nearly run over b y 25 thunderous machines. The Southern Ca lifornian w as up quickl y but h ad tr ouble fi ring up the bi g en gine. H e d idn't re-enter the fray for several lap s and was never a fact o r in the fi na l results. Northern California rider M yers emerged with the lead after Dymond's mishap, followed by Liles, Young, WaIters and a rejuvenated Coupe. Davis w as mired in midpack and Smail was nowhere to be seen. The racing was much closer among the front-runners in moto two, with barely a second separating the top five for most of the race. Ward and Davis were able to move up in to third and fifth during lap two , as Young slip ped back to sixth . By lap three, Myers had what would pass for a sizable lead in the moto, holding a one-second adva ntage over Wa lters, War d, Davis an d Young. On lap four, mu sical chairs erupted with a flurry, with passing occurring all at once . When the passing s topped, Davis had the lead, followed b y Walters, Myers , Young and Ward. By now, the front five riders had checked out from the rest of the field. Smail rejoined the battle on lap five of wh at would be a 13 -lap race and a m inor controversy ensued . Smail entered the track right behind the lead pack and began to dice with the frontrunners, yet was ne ver shown the blu e and yellow flag. Wh ile being careful to avoid d isrupting th e race for the w in, Sm ail proceeded to pass each o f the lead ing rid ers to circu late the track in front of Davis. "I crashed on the start and got a rock stuck in m y cha in and had trouble restarting," Smail said. "I wasn't going to mess with those guys, I was just trying to unlap myself and get as many poi nts as possible. Mike and I are close and every point counts." At the halfway point, Walters and Young were both able to get by Dav is, with Young closing in on and pa ssing Wa lt ers fo r lead. Young was able to m o ve away a little, but Walters and Davis remained close. Walters and Da vis beat up on each othe r for several laps, with Davis gaining the upper hand on the last lap . "I had my pass planned out for one or two places arid it worked out," said Davis. "There was no way I was going to let him beat me ." Young rode on to the victory, fol lowed in close orde r by Dav is, Wa lters and Myers. Cou pe sneaked into fifth place at the finish . "I was a little confused when I first saw Lance, but my pit board told me he was down a few laps, so I didn't worry about it," said Young. "Lance was cool, he left plenty of room and didn't mess w ith me . I don't kn ow where he finished, but I think I' ve taken over the points lead." In fact , You ng assumed the points lead by 13 over Smail. Davis was happy w ith second, say ing, "Th e track roughed up in the second m oto and th at kind of eve ne d out th e horsepower advantage those guys had . I came here looking for a top five finish, so I'm happy with a second overall ." Walters was al so pleased with his finish, especially consid ering he a lso competed in the 250cc Nati onal. " It's only my second week on the bike, so I hope to improve even more," Walters said. " I' m riding a basically stock 400. Next we ek I hope to get on the tricked-out White Brothers 440." Young took th e ove rall for the d ay and with it the series points lead. Davis finished second overall with Walters in third. Coupe landed in fourth with 9-5 moto scores, followed by CCM-moun ted Jimmy Lewis, Gary Dircks, on a Hu saberg, and Don Franklin, on a Husqvarna . Sm ail ended up in eighth overall, followed by Husaberg-mounted Gary Boyer with Dymond rounding ou t the top ten with 3-18 moto scores . 0 Hangtown Sacramento, California Results: May 5,.1996 (Round 3 of BI MOTa 1: I. Lance Sm ail (KTM ); 2. Mike Young (Hbg); 3. Mick Dymond (Hbg» ; 4. Ty Davis (Kaw); 5. y Spud Wal ters (Hon); 6. Ga ry Dir cks (H bg); 7. Terry Fow ler (e e M); 8. Billy Liles (e CM ); 9. Dave Coupe (KTM); 10. Don Franklin (Hus); II. Jim Levas (CCM); 12. Cary Beye r (Hbgj: 13. Des lry Abbott (KTM) ; 14. Carter Gurnee (l-Ibg ); 15. Eric Wright (Hon ); 16. Britt Wo odring (H us); 17. Cu rt Wilcox (Ho n) ; 18. Cole' Marshall (CCM); 19. Pa rry Klassen (Hbg ); 20. Dane Bray (Hen), MOTa 2: 1. Mike Young (Hbg); 2. Ty Davis (Kaw); 3. Spud Walters (Hon~ 4. Scott Myers (ATK); S. Dave Co upe (KTM); 6. Drey Dircks (KTM); 7. Eric Wrigh t (Hon ); 8. Jim Lev as (CCM) ; 9. Cary Beyer ( Hbg ~ 10. Don Franklin (Hus ); 11. Britt Woodring (Hus~ 12. Cole Marshall (CCM ); 13 . Cary Dircks (Hb g ); 14. St e ve Rawson (H us ); IS. Curt Wilcox (Hon); 16. Cliff Coo k (Hbg); 17. Dana Bray (Hen); 18. Micky Dymond (Hbg); 19. Lance Smail (k-rM~ 20. Bill LiIes (CCM ~ co: 1. Mike Young (Hbg); 2. Ty Da vis (Ka w~ 3. Sp ud Wa lters (H on ); 4. Dave Co upe (KTM ); 5. Jim Lewis (CCM) ; 6. Gary Dircks (Hbg); 7. Don Franklin (Hus); 8. Lance Smail (KTM); 9. Gary Boyer (Hbg ~ 10. Micky Dymond (Hbg); 11. Eric Wrigh t ( Hon~ 12. Britt Woodring (H us ); 13. Scott Myers (ATK); 14. BUI Liles (CC M); IS . Terry Fow ler (CCM); 16. Co le Ma rshall (CCM); 17. Curt Wilcox (Hon); 18. Drey Dircks (KTM); 19. Steve Raw son (Hus); 20. Ca rter Gurnee (Hu s). AMA WEST ER N NATIONAL 4·STROK E M X SERIES POI NT STANDING S (After 3 of 8 rounds): 1. Mik e Youn g (137/1 win); 2. Lance Smail (123 /2); 3. Da ve Coupe (8 1 ); 4 . Mick y Dy mon d (73) ; S. Spud Waite ", (72); 6. Cary Dircks (68); 7. Drey Dircks (66); 8. Eric Wright (S7); 9. Terry Fowler (55); 10. Scott Myers (54); 11. Jim Lewis (49); 12. Ty Davis (40); 13. Gordon Ward (39); 14. Billy U1es (36); IS. Steve Ra wson (35 ~ 16. Des try Abbott (34); 17. Britt Woodring (33); 18. Dan a Bray (29); 19. Darren Olive r (28); 20. Robert Naughton (26). . Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - San Bernardino, Calffomia, May 12 Round 5 - Ogden, Utah, June B ctl ~ 23

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