Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DIRT TRACK BURGER KING/APPLEBEE'S SPRING CLASSIC SHORT TRACK Andy Tresser (91) cleaned house during the Chris carrpromoted Burger King/Applebee's Spring Classic Short Track weekend at the Lodl Cycle Bowl, winning the Pro Expert main on Saturday night and following It up with Open A and Pro-Am Expert wins on Sunday. By Mike Law Photo by Bubba Do Rush LODL CA, APR 26 7wenty-nine Pro Experts and 13 Pio-Am racers from three states entered the Burger King/ Applebee's Spring Classic at the Lodi Cycle Bowl, but when all was said and done, "local boy" Andy Tresser was the man to beat. Tresser, from nearby Redwood Gty, claimed victory in the Open Pro Expertclass feature before some 1200 spectators, while Bob Casey won the 600cc Pro Novice main event. After a series of scra tch hea ts, the Experts lined up for the four heat races. Race co-promoter Steve Mayfield scored the holeshot and led every lap in the first heat race. Apparently riding with a fair amount of pain, Mayfield demonstrated that the throttle could be twisted with three fingers and a thumb. "I hit my finger with a hammer while driving in a stake here at the track," Mayfield said. "I split it open pretty good and shattered the bone:' Washington'S Mickey Fay returned to Lodi after a several-year hiatus and proved that he still knew his way around the track. Fay and local hotshoe Mark Corsetti did battle together in heat two, with Fay taking the win. Tresser served notice of his intentions for the main event during heat three. He fired off the line, passing several riders around the outside through turns one and two. Accelerating down the back straight, Tresser never looked back as he took the victory over Shaun Russell and Rex Fisher. "My strategy was to get a good start at the beginning, establish a sizable lead, and try not to make any mistakes," Tresser said. "We have 25 .laps to go in the main, and I feel we can go all the way to the podium:' Hea t four was contested by local favorites Billy Martin and Rob Damron. At the finish it was Martin over Damron, followed by Jeremy Rackley. Two semis were run following the four heat races with Paul Iwanaga nipping Jesse Sanchez in the first semi, and then Jeremy Rackley besting Kevin Bricker in semi number two. A five-lap, $750 dash for cash brought the crowd to its feet with Tresser grabbing the holeshot only to get passed by Mark Corsetti. At the checkered flag it was Corsetti, Tresser and third-place finisher Johnny Murphree. When they lined up for the 25-lap main event, Tresser was in the pole position. At the green flag, he powered his BSM Manufacturing/Harry Hoffman/Bob Wirth Racing Engines WoodRotax into the lead. For the first half of the race; Tresser increased his lead with . each lap but seemed to be tiring in the middle laps. The second-placed Mur-' phree began to close, and at one point he tagged Tresser's rear wheel. "When the halfway flags came out, I found myself trying to settle in too early," Tresser said. "Johnny came up and gave me a tap. Fortunately it wasn't enough to take us both down." Once Tresser received his wake-up call from Murphree, he cranked on the throttle and increased his lead once again. With about five laps to go, the blue flag came out as the front-runners were about to lap the pack. Murphree made one last pass attempt on the final lap but came up short as Tresser· outaccelerated him to the checkered flag. "After Johnny and 1 touched, I knew it was time to pick up the pace," Tresser said while on the podium. "I was a little concerned when the blue flag came out, but we had set the bike up the same as we did in the heat race.. We felt the track was getting faster, so we worked in that direction." Holeshot artist Bob Casey lived up to his reputation in the Pro-Am main event and rocketed into the lead with Oregon's Beau Brown and Matt Gomez Sr. in hot pursuit. After about five laps, Gomez drove around Brown on the outside of the fourth turn and set his sights on Casey. Gomez closed in on Casey, then made his move around the outside. Gomez powered his Rotax around Casey but got a little too loose and dropped back to the third position as a sliding Sean Raggio slipped undereath him. The order remained Casey, Raggio and Gomez until Raggio went into the first turn too hot and slid out, causing a red flag with just five laps to go. The single-file restart was almost a carbon. copy of the first lap, with Casey winning the race to the first tum and then to the checkered flag, followed by a a determined Gomez. Robert Grant got past Brown for third place. Grant's brother John Grant claimed the fifth spot. "He always gets the holes hot it seems," Gomez said of Casey. "Once he gets it, he stays on the bottom and doesn't move. Bob's good off the comers and has a real fast bike. The only way that you're going to beat him is with a holeshot or to go around him, because you're not going to get undem~ath him. This is a fast track, and Casey is real hard to get around." "I know the way Gomez rides," winner Casey said. "If I can get the holeshot and hold my groove, 1 probably can win. 1 was a little worried at the restart that he might go underneath me, but I figured with a good holeshot I could hold him off for the last five laps. I changed my tires around and did a little modification to the .gearing after the heat race, and apparently it paid off. Racer / promoter Chris Carr appeared tired after the race, but was beaming with a widescreen smile as the event turned out to be a success. "This race was bigger and better than I ever had imagined," Carr said. "Steve Mayfield, my business partner, and I have been wanting to promote a race here for quite some time now," Carr said before the race. "Burger King and Applebee's have been absolutely wonderful sponsors. 1'd like to mention, too, that their sponsorship came from the local area rather than corporate. We're coming back next year with a race. Hey, maybe even two:' CN Lodl Cycle Bowl Lodl, California Results: April 26, 1997 PRO EX: J. Andy Tresser (W·R); 2. Johnny Murphree (Rtx); 3. Mark Corsetti (W-R); 4. Steve Mar~eld (Rbc); 5. Rob Damron (Rtx); 6. Micl

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