Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

back to 17th place, while C raig was assisted off the trac k by med ical personal. Up front, Varis led for almost a lap before crashing. "I came into this tu rn and I saw Johnson," Varis sa id . "I put the brakes on to let him by', but he just slid his ba ck wheel right into me. After that, I was on the ground ." johnson was the new leader, but that wouldn't last for long; both Lamson and Huffman powered by the Kawasaki rider, taking over th e first- and secondplace positions, respectively . 1 Lam son pulled o ut an eig ht-second lead ove r Huffman, who then began to ch ip away at Lamso n's ad va ntage. Hu ffman go t as close as five seconds, but that would be it, as Lamson pick ed up his pace and s ta rted to pu ll away once aga in. He motored on for the w in, taking the checkered flag some 13 seconds ahead of H uffma n. joh ns o n e nd ed up fi nis hing th ir d , followed by Suz uki rider jiri Dos tal an d Smail, who climbed his way through the field after a bad start. Kawas ak i rid e r Ty Davis was a n early threat in the race and was , at one ti me, mak ing a mo ve on Jo hn so n for third. " Yo u kn o w w hc n yo u ' re faste r," Davis said . " I was catching him (jo hnson); then it was over. " Davis ' machine seized. after two laps, d ue to loose head studs after they changed cylinders between the heat race and the main event. On Sunday, the 250cc Pro class too k to the. starting line, and it was the Fren chman, Roncada , g rabbi ng the holeshot. He led for the first 10 mi nutes befo re suffering an altercation with johnson, who ma de a ve ry aggressive pass on the Ho nda ridcr to take ever thc lead . L.. Johnson took control, and Roncada tried to hang on for a few laps, but just couldn't rna tch the pace being set by the new lead er. Johnson we nt o n to take the w in, while Roncada crossed the finish line all alone.in second place. Smail took thi rd, wh ile Davis got the best 9K=asey Lytle to nab fou rth. Smail had more success in the FourStroke and Open Pro classes, w inning bo th divisions. "I used a bike like Shane King's 380cc Wo rld Cha m pi o ns hip bike to w in th e 500cc class," Smail said. "My 620cc SX four-stroke National bike is wha t I used to pa.s Ty Dav is in th e four-stroke race for the win ." Rex Staten p owe red hi s bi g -b ore Kawasaki to the overall vic tory in the Senior Pro division , and he also dorninated the Over 40 class . "I ha ve bee n racing for 34 years, an d 1 know w hat to do here at Mam mo th " he said . Staten, 43, pulled the holeshot in bo th motos and led most of each race, with on ly Rick Woodson showing Staten his rear fender for a single lap. Justin Buckelew pocketed $300 cash for his Mini Pro victory in the BOec class . Buckelew rod e his R&D Yama ha to the win, top ping rising star Chris Gosselaar. "Every time 1 race Justin, 1 get closer," Gosselaa r said . "The first mo to, he had better lines tha n mc; an d the seco nd moto, his suspension was set up better bu t I'm learn ing a little mo re each time. " Gosselaar recorded a solid seco nd, in fron t of Michael Young, Chris Tocco and 12-year-old Shane Bess, w ho was the youngest BOec Expert to finish in the top five . The "Te xas Girls " s ho w ed up a nd dominated the Woman's Pro class, fea- (Above) More than 2000 riders turned out for the 30th running ollhe Mammoth MX. Here, Mall Armstrong (16) leads even tual winner Michael Sleeter (37) and Kenny Heess (71) at the start 01 the 125cc Junior class. (Right) Todd Gosselaar (9) and Tyson Lacey (7) light lor the lead In the eocc Intermediate class. Ryan Morais (6) went on to win. (Below) Ivan Tedesco (77) pulls away from Aaron Baker (91) and Chris Gosselaar (15) In the 125cc Intermed iate ranks. turing Dee Wood , w ho sco red the win ov er Kristy Shea ly. _ Wood won the first moto after Shealy crashed over th e ha nd leba r s. Shealy , however, returned for the moto win in the secon d round, but her p lace finis h in the first moto gave Wood 0-2) the overall win. "My -norma l race number is 7E," C hristi ne Russell said. "I knew when they gave me number sev en that it was goi ng to be a good day." And it was. Russell used a 2-1 finish for the ove rall win in the Woman's junior class. Her neares t rivals were Tammi Williamson and Tricia Young, who finished second and third , respectively. The 125cc Intermed ia te cl a ss was stocked full of future pro tale nt, as each of the three qualifiers saw intense racin g, wh il e th e m ai n even t pro vid ed so me of the week's closest racing. Ma y h em was the only w a y to d escribe the start of the first q ualifier, w hich saw mo re th an half th e field hit th e d eck just after th e firs t tu rn . Mini Pro runn er-up Chris Gosselaar was one of the un fortun ate victims of the start, and was taken off by stretcher with an 25

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