Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

By Clay Light MCCLEARY, WA, JUNE 7-8 rayson Hart batted a thousand at the Tacoma Me's 13th annual Dino Daze Vintage races at Thurston County ORV Park. On Saturday, Hart came up to' the plate four times and came away with four wins during the motocross segment of the Dina Daze Vintage festivities, while, on . Sunday, Jeff Hiatt and Troy Rose came away big winners during the dirt track events. Despite going four for four, Hart's stellar performances didn't come without several tough battles throughout his qualifiers and main events, as Dallas Nyblod gave Hart a run for his money on a couple of occasions. Hart posted wins in the 12S, 2S0cc and 30+ classes, adding his name to a small, yet stellar group of heavy-hitters after winning the Grand Prix finale, thus putting his name on the Dino Daze perpetual Trophy of Champions, right alongside those of some of the Northwest favorite's, such as Jim Pomeroy, Doug Grant, Buck Murphy and Tom Rapp. Grant, the popular AJS rider, competed in the 250cc Sportsman and 40+ classes. Grant would, though, only card one . win for the day, although his third-place showing in the 2S0cc A final behind Hart and Nyblod was somewhat of a victory for the former factory AJS and Bultaco rider. "1 battled bad startS and younger riders all day," Grant said. The first in a series of main events was the 125cc A main in which Nyblod got the jump on the field over Hart, Joe Casey, Tony McFarland, Jeff Pugh and Scott Tyler. Hart, however, was on the move, as he forged ahead of the early leader on lap three, giving Nyblod a small bump in the process, while, in third, ran Casey followed by Tyler. Nyblod kept.Hart in his sight, but Hart's lead would be secure to the finish. Casey ran a strong third, while Tyler's vintal,e racing debut earned him a fourth ahead of McFarland and Pugh. "Dallas is riding really fast today," Hart said. "1 didn't mean to tap him, but 1 knew if 1 didn't get by him right then he'd be tough." G (Right) Grayson Hart won four classes at the 13th annual Dino Daze Vintage weekend at Thurston County ORV Park in Washington. (Left) Troy Rose won the Vic Ebbutt MemoriaVOpen Twin A main. Nyblod put his Yamaha out front of the 2S0cc A main, followed by Gran.t, Mike Larson, Casey and Yamaha rider John Zigler. Hart, hampered by a poor start, quickly discarded all but Nyblod, setting up what many were anticipating to be a Hart/Nyblod showdown. Nyblod tried but could not hold off Hart's advances. Grant, meanwhile, was doing all he could on his AJS to hold back Larson's '1974 Yamaha 2S0:Grant held on and got the nod for third, edging Larson, while Casey collected fifth ahead of Husky rider Steve Row. Hart's impressive win streak didn't end there, as he outrode another impres.sive field in the 30+ class. Hart, once again, had Nyblod nipping at his rear wheel. Luckily for Hart, though, Nyblod did not know that Hart had developed transmission problems and was having a tough time holding his lead. Nyblod would again finish a close second (for the third time), while Casey, Mark Envolsen and Ron Fish rounded out the top five. "I lost second and third gear," Hart said. "I just left it in fourth and constantly. slipped the clutch. I got lucky that time." Grant's strongest performance came in the 40+ A final. After getting of to a slow start, Grant closed in and snatched the lead from Rowand held on to it for the duration to net the win. Row was trailed at the finish by Chris Castles, Wayne Grimm and Ted Abernathy. Hart's incredible four-class decimation was capped off by a victory in the day's finale, the Grand Prix, open exclu. sively to main-event winners. The 32year-old Honda rider ran off with the win, leaving Grant and Fish' to ba ttle over second, a spot in which Fish would flounder late in the race, netting Grant second to Hart. Modern-day AMA Expert dirt trackers Jeff Hiatt and Troy Rose may have looked a bit out of place sitting among the old dinosaurs - Triumphs, HarleyDavidsons and hand-shift Indians - but they scored impressive wins during the dirt track portion, nonetheless. wen over 200 riders were on hand on Sunday - nearly half of the weekend's' total SOO count. This year's event doubled as the Vic Ebbutt Memorial Race, which pays tribute to one of Washington's most published and respected motorsports photographers. Rose won the day's elite Open Twin A main event, while Hiatt <:ame from behind to win a thrilling Almost Vintage A main. But, Hiatt had to turn over the gold to Gary Moore, after it was announced that all AMA Expert cardholders were competing under the exhibition banner. Steve Kendig won the Open Twin C main for a move up to the B main, but things went from good to bad when he jumped the start of the B main and came from row three to trail BSA rider Mike Van Lienden in a battle for the final transfer, a position tha t would go Van Lienden's way. Troy Rose got a big jump on the Open Twin A main and was all but gone, as the rest of the field scrambled for positions. Rose checked out, but Mike Harritt, Randy Hart, Chuck Hodson and Don Montgomery were closeknit in a battle for podium spots. Barritt held the upper hand, while Rose steadily built up a lead that would be untouchable. Rose nabbed the day's biggest win in the Vic Ebbutt Memorial Open Twin A main, but it was Harritt, the secondplace finisher, who took the award since Rose is an AMA Expert; Hart, Hodson and Montgomery filled out the top five. The next-best race was the Open Almost Vintage A main. Despite all of the restarts, the race could not have gone much better for Honda rider Gary Moore. Moore played it cool during several restarts - all while leading- but when four riders went down on the dusty, dry-slick track, with only three laps left, Moore was then faced by the looming advances by Hiatt. On the single-file restart, Tim Mitchell and Hiatt dived underneath Moore. Chaos was prevalent throughout the final laps, as Mitchell and Hiatt battled back and forth, but the surprise of the race turned out to be IS-year-old Jesse Miller. Miller earlier had placed himself among a multitude of fast riders by a stellar heat-race ride, then showed his prowess by shoving past Mitchell to follow Hiatt and Moore across the finish line. t.~ Thurston County ORV Park McCleary, Washington Results: June 7-8, 1997 Saturday 125 A: 1. Grayson Hart (Hon); 2. DaUas Nyblod (Hon); 3. Joe Casey (Hon); 4. Scott Tyler (Suz); 5. Tony McFarland (Yam). ' 250 A: 1. Grayson Hart (Hon); 2. Dallas Nyblod (Yam); 3. Doug Grant (AJS); 4. Mike Larson (Yam); 5. Joe C.lsey (Hon). 30+ A: 1. Grayson Hart (Hon); 2. Dallas Nyblod (Yam); 3. Joe Casey (Hon); 4. Mark Envolsen., 5. Ron Fish (Yam). 40+ A, 1. Doug Grant (AJS); 2. Bill Row (Hon); 3. Chris Castles (BSA); 4. Wayne Grimm (6ul); 5. Ted Abernathy. OPEN 2~STRK: 1. Ron Fish (Yam); 2. Larry Saxton (Yam); 3. Doug Powell (CZ); 4. Neil Giertsen (CZ): 5. Wayne Grimm (BuD. OPEN 4-STRJ(; 1. Chris Castles (BSA)~ 2. Del Schnitzer (Ric-Mat); 3. Tom Street (Hon); 4. Mark Envolsen (BSA); 5. Aaron Hohman. OPEN TWIN A; 1. Terry Hyde (Ric); 2. Gene Boere (Tri); 3: Alan Moore (BSA). 50+ A: 1. Terry Hyde (Ric); 2. Richard Giboney (Ric); 3. Jim Keeton (CZ); 4. Rick Downing (BuI); 5. Woody Pierson. 60+ A: 1. Bob Smith (Yam); 2. Kenny Hatch (Bul); 3. Billy McClenden (Mai); 4. Rodger Bille (Suz); 5. Jim Watts (Yam). PRMR: 1. Kevin Hamilton; 2. Richard Giboney 3. Kevin Saxton; 4. Ron Predmore; 5. Alan Moore. OPEN 8M8K: 1. Jim PerrY (Yam); 2. Monty Price (Yam); 3. Tom Miller (Hon). AV 250, 1. Mike AI! (Yam); 2. Ed Gellenbeck (Hon); 3. Nick McBride (Han); 4. Tim Williams (Suz): 5. Billy Mauennan (Hon). AV OPEN: 1. Jim Perry (Han); 2. Monty Price (Yam); 3. Mike Alf (Yam); 4. Kieeve Hodson; 5, Tom Miller (Hon). UW 250: 1. Erik Giertsen (BuI); 2. Jack Callinsky (BSA); 3. Jim Keeton (CZ). WMN: 1. Kathy Guisness (Hon); 2. Lana Tngham (Suz); 3. Valerie Ulver CKaw); 4. Nicole Sprague (BuD; 5. Ava Glasser (Hon). 50+ 8: 1. Chuck Hodson; 2. Jim Watts; 3. Leland Loper. 40+ 8: 1. Craig Farnsworth (Han); 2. Dirk Murphy (Hus); 3. Steve Sprague (Bul). . 30+ 8: 1. Troy Rose (Hon); 2. Charlie Strayer (Man); 3. Tom Street (Hon). GP: I. Grayson Hart (Hon); 2. Doug Grant (AJS); 3. Ron Fish (yam). CHAMP: Grayson Hart (Hon). Sunday OPEN TWIN A: 1. Troy Rose (Tri); 2. Mike Harritt (Yam); 3. Randy Hmt.Hodson (Tri);5. Don Monl);omery (Tri). OPEN 4-STRK; 1. Don Montgomery (B;t;A); 2. Tom Street (Hon); 3. Tim Ricketts Hohman; 5. Jam.es Coppedge. OPEN 2-STRK: 1. Henry Nelson (Bu!); 2. Erik Gertsen (BuD; 3. Steve Sprague (BuO. SPTSMN 250 A:. 1. Jim Kiser (Yam); 2. Steve Olsen (Yam); 3. Tom Street (Hon); 4. Tim Ricketts (Hon); 5. Tim Williams (Yam). US A; 1. Dean Welsh (Ric); 2. Steve Sprague (Bul); 3. Erik Giertsen (Bul). PRMR: I. Greg Sheard; 2. Alan Moore; 3. Ron Predmore; 4. James Coppedge; 5. Tom S.heard. . 30+ A: 1. Tim Ricketts (Hon); 2. Steve Olsen (Yam); 3. Don Montgomery (Tn); 4. Andy James; 5. Kevin Hamilton. 40+ A:. 1. Tom Street (Hon); 2. Chuck Hodson (Tri); 3. Henry Nelson (Bu1); 4. Dan Kimbel (Yam); 5. Ross Poitras (H-D). 50+ A: 1. Chuck Hodson (Tn); 2. John. Kent (Tn); 3. Doug Phelps (Tri); 4. Ron Predmore (Mat); 5. Terry Hyde

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