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MOTOCROSS 30T HANNUALM AMMOTHMOUNTAIN M TOC O O R SS Mammoth Lakes, California (Left) Dee Wood (15) and Crlsty Shealy battle lt oul in t he Women 's Expert cl ass ; Wood sc ored the win. (Bel ow) Naomi Willi. (1), here leading Tamm i Will iamson, won the Wo men 's . Interme diate division . 26 i njured knee w hile the o thers pi cked . them selve s up and either headed back to the pits or co ntinue d on with the race. Team Green's Brett Racine w ent on for an unconte sted mot o win, a n d . w ou ld later be joi ned by Br yan McGa vran and Oklahoma', Jacob Martin, who won di visions two and three, resp ectively. . N ew Me xi co ' s Iv a n Ted es co a n d Keith Johnson led the wa y up the startline hill in the all-important 125cc Intermediate main event. During the op ening lap, bot h Tedes co and Jo hns on had p robl ems opening th e door for Jacob Martin , wh o took over th e lead for the nex t se ver a l la p s. Racine was o n th e mov e and w as argu ably the fast est rid er on th e track, a nd ca ug ht Martin with about three laps left to go . The two future stars battled side by side on almos t every in ch of the race track; then, to the dismay of many, they tang led at the bottom of the Mammoth downhill and wound up in a heap. "I, never saw,anyone come int o that turn as hot as Ma rt in," Racin e said . •"1 had the pa ss made, but that's ra cing." "There was nothing d ir ty about the m ov e," Martin said. ·"We ju st tangl ed together and we nt down." Martin rem ou nted to finish eighth, w h ile Racin e r etired with a broken thrott le. In the end, Ted esco inherited the lead and we nt on for the victory, while Johnso n, Billy Payne, Mike Consta ntinou and Arizona's Scott Conley rounded out the top live . N early 200 125cc Jun iors we re i n attenda nce, a nd all of th em were attemp ting to qualify for 35 spo ts on the starting line for th e m ain eve n t: O nly four riders wo uld transfer from their heat races, while three rid ers in each of lastchance qualiliers would make the cu t. Nic k McBrid e led m ost of the 125cc main eve nt, but jus t w hen it appeared th at vict ory wa s im mi nent, a se ries of crashes set him back outside the top 30, whil e Michael Sleet er inh erit ed the lead a n d wen t on fo r the even tu a l w in , in front of Joey Alla n, Joey Cirocco , Mike Mason and Ryan McCarthy. Joel Harriott wo n the Over 40 Senio r Intermediate division in his first race as a Senior, "I turned 40 y~ars old on Jun e 3rd," said Harriott , w ho has been competing at Mammoth for th e past 18 yea rs and finally got his first win . "I have bee n try- was arguably the best race of Sunday's 250cc races. After skirting around another first-turn pileup, Hanzo, Jeremy Santoro and Joey Cirocco emerged as th e top th ree fini sh ers in the 250cc Ju ni or class six different times . "I w atch ed th os e g uys go in g off," third-place finisher Cirocco said. " I figured the y would take each other out or something." But they never d id. In th e ma in , th e battle for th e lead ca m e down to th e wire, w it h San to r o making a last-ditch attempt to pass tn th e fin al turn. Hanzo held hi s ground and captu red the win, with Santoro finishing second . Cir occo, Wad e and Akira Sunada rounded out the top live. Will y Musgra ve put his hol es hot in the first mota to goo d us e in the Vet Pro class, as h e held on to w in ov er Tim Telf ord and Honda of Tro y ra ce-team manager Erik Keh oe . While Musgrave shot to the front , Kehoe was battling in th e back of th e pace a fter a bad s ta rt. Both Kehoe and Rex Staten worked their way to the front. "Me and Kehoe got bad starts," Staten sa id . "M y b oots w ere ne w , a n d I could n' t shift comin g out of the ga te." Mu sgrav e soared to vic to ry over Tellord and Ke hoe, Drey Dircks, Jim Holle y and Sta ten. In the second moto, Kehoe took contro l early and wen t on for the mota win, but his 3-1 score could not beat th e 1-2 .., tu rn ed in by Musgrave.. Mammot h Mountain Motocross Mammoth Lakes , California Res ults : J une 26, 1997 Thursday SR J R: 1. Joseph Crip pen (Hon): 2. John Ca pe r (Yam ); 3. Steve Dalt on (H e n): 1. Russ Cra cknell (Hon): 5. Brad Mered ith (Hen ). SR INT: 1. Joel Harr iott (Ya m); 2. Elliot t Braina [d (He n), 3. Bob Maxw ell (Hon); 4. Scott Berry (Yam ); 5 Joe Root (Ka w). ing to win her e for a long time. This is, w it ho u t a d oubt, th e hi ghlig ht of my racing caree r." Harriott earn ed his victory by pl acing second to Bob Maxw ell in the first moto des pite starting ou tside the top 10, then motoring away to a seemingly easy wi n in the second mo to. However, righ t at the en d of the moto, Del Ocheltree go t a little clo se to the even tua l w in ner, keep ing things interesting. . Minicycle en tries w ere up th is year, especi ally in the Mini Juni or ranks, after th e promo ters worked thin gs o ut to lower the age of the com petitors from 12 to five years of age. Previously , mini rid ers-under 12 were not permitted to race, due to insurance reasons. Ni ne-yea r-old Mik e Aless i was the youngest Mini Juni or to linish in the top 10. Alessi led more than half of the race, bu t was passed by both Scott Simon and overall w inner Jed Herring just after the halfway p oin t, and ended up third. Herring also co m pe ted in th e 125cc Junior di vision, but failed to quali fy for the ma in . Turbo Reif was the "Iron Boy" of the week after competin g in fou r d ifferent cla sses an d bi ke s izes. Reif ra ile d his aging 500cc Ho nda to the overall win in th e 500e( Jun i or division, over Pa t Wade, Ken Merki n and Donn Mae da. Reif also posted an eye-opening third in the M ini Inte rm ediate divisio n, behind Todd Gosselaar an d champ Ryan Morais. Reif tried but failed to qualify in the 250cc division, but he d id man age a top-30 linish in the .l25cc Juniors. Jeff Hanzo came out on top of what . SR PRO: 1. Rex Staten (KdW); 2. Rick WoodsOn (H un): 3. Jim Do m ann (Hon); 4. Shawn Smith (Y.u n); 5'. Cliff COSSt' Bath (Han); 3. Lance johnson (Kaw); 4. Andy Ana ya (K,lw); 5. I).·nni " S ta ple to n [H e m}. OP EN PRO: 1. La n ce Smai l ( KT M) ; 2 . S h a ne E.. pos ito (Su z): 3. R.1Y Somm o (Han); 4. Justi n Tieam ey s (H on);5. Scott Myers ( Ka w ). 4-STRK JR: I. Don Franklin (Hb g); 2. Andy Anay a (Hon); 3. Beau Baron (H en): 4. Jeremy Sa ntori (ATK); 5. Trav is Marks (ATK). 4-STRK PRO : 1. Lance Smai l (KTM); 2. Scott Mye rs (A TK); 3. Ty Dav is (Ka w ): 4. Mi ke H eal ey (Ho n ), 5. Robert Na ughton (Hbg). Saturda y 125 JR: 1. Mkhil P\ Sl...-ter (Yitm); 2. Jot-y Alliin (5117.); 3. [cey Ciroc co (Han ); 4. Mi ke Mason (SU7.); 5. Ryan McCa rthy (Hen). 125 INT: 1. Iva n Ted esco (Yam ); 2, Keith Johnson (Ya m); 3. Billy Pay ne (Kaw): 4 . M ike Co ns ta n ti nou (Ya m); 5. Scott Co nley (Ka w). 125 PRO : I. S teve La uso n (Hen ): 2. D amo n Hu ffman (Kaw); 3. Cas ey Johnson (Kaw ); 4. Jiri Dos tal (Suz); 5. Lance Smail (KTM). WM N JR: 1. C h r is t ine Ru ssell (Yam); 2. Tin e H andelln (Yam); 3. Kell y Renshaw (Kd W); 4 . Lau ra Uti li! (Ho n): 5. Pam Clem ons (KTM). WM N I N T : 1. Nao m i Willis (H o n ): .2. Tam m W illia mso n (H on); 3 . Tricia You ng (Yilm); 4 . N iH /' Fm hlick (J Ion); 5. S. Thorw ald so n (lion). . W M N PRO; I. Dee Wood (Kaw): 2. Kristy Shealy {Ka w ]: 3. M. Gonzalez (~uz); 4. Jennifer Nelso n (K fIW); 5. Scda n n Shllmock (Hon ). Sun da y 250 JR: 1. Jeff Han zo (Suz); 2. Jere Santon (Kaw); my 3. Joe y Ctrocco (Kaw ): 4. Patri ck Wad ... (Kaw): 5. Akira Su n••da (Yam). 250 TNT : 1. Mi lt> C n ns ta ntino u (Yilm ); 2. T rolvili Riley (Kaw); J. Conn Co u to (Yam); 4. Darrin Hcer (Suz); 5. Jere m y Chau ssee (Kaw). 250 P RO: 1. Casey Joh nson (Ka w ): 2. Ste ph a ne Roncada (Hen): 3. Lan ce Sm ail (KTM ); 4. Ty Dav is (lea w); 5. Casey Lytle (Hon).

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