ยท.MOTOCROSS
. WJ:Iite Brothers World Vet MX
C~ampionship.
Glen Helen Raceway
By Scott Hoffman
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, NOV. 3
he sky was clear, the track was
prepped to perfection and every
bottle of Geritol in a 50-mile
radius was stripped from the
shelves of local stores as the
fastest riders frOIl). aU over the world
flocked to Glen Helen Raceway to compete in White Brothers' annual World
Vet MX Championship.
In the premier Over 30 Vet Pro class,
"Earthquake" Erik Kehoe was rocking
more than his chair on this particular
Sunday. Kehoe, Honda of Troy team
manager, still has some serious speed
tucked under his manager's shirt.
Kehoe won back-to-back motos to
take his first World Vet title - and he
had some of the fastest Over 30 racers
breathing down his neck the entire day.
Keith Bowen, factory KTM rider and exfactory Yamaha rider, was the closest
rider to Kehoe in both races. Bowen
almost looked like he had a shot at taking the title in the second moto before
crashing and losing any chance.
One rider missing from the roster
this year was last year's winner, Doug
Dubach. Dubach was still recovering
from a shoulder injury 'sustained early
(Above) Vet Pro
winner Erik Kehoe
(center) Is flanked by
second-place
finisher Keith Bowen
(left) and Brian
Manley (right), who
got third.
(Left) Brian Manley
(51 X) grabs the
holeshot In the
second Vet Pro
moto, followed
closely by Jon
Nelson (59), Tom
Carson (13), Erik
Kehoe (9), John
Merwin (51), Terry
Fowler (57), Pete
Murray (7), Craig
Hoffmeister (21 Xl,
Martin Klossner (17)
and the rest of the
field.
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10
in the year. Dubach was on h~d not as
a racer, but as a mechanic for Mike Bier,
who finished 12th in the Vet Pro class
after running into problems.
As the gate dropped for the 35-rider
field, it was Northern California 'rider
Jon Nelson pulling the holeshot, followed by Honda '97 CR250-mounted
Willy Musgrave and Mike Ekerson. 'Nelson was able to hold off the field for the
opening lap, but Kehoe, Bowen and
SMP IFMF-backed Brian Manley were
recovering from poor starts and working through the field. Kehoe knew the
importance of moving to the front early
on and went from si~th to first during
the opening laps.
"I got a bad start and. tried to get
through the field as fast as possible,"
Kehoe said. "I got a little arm pump, but
kept pushing."
Nelson fell back to third as Kehoe
took the lead, f
