Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

---- EV N S ET AMA National Hot Shoe Series R 5 e P ins Motor Speedway ound :Wst la Coolbeth captures West Plains win Fellow Pennsylvanian McGrane followed on lap four . Deeke now had his hands full trying to hold off Al Ead ie. Eadie got by just past the halfway point, and the top three were set. Deeke' s tr oubles were not ove r: A tight pa ck includin g Brian Kromroy, Vic to r McAnally a n d Yuhiko Hira o caught him on lap nine. Both Kromroy, who wa s making his first 883 appearan ce, and McAnally were able to get by. Four heats and tw o semis were used to trim the 3O"Expe rts down to a 12-ride r main. In the first heat, Coolbeth thri lled The Sac ramen to Harley-David sonbacked Kopp was rid ing his person al Rotax for the first time and had the bugs worked out as he pulled away for the w in . Orr found h im self und er a ttack now from Beyer, and the two swa pped positions several times before the checkered flag feUon Beyer. Joe Duvall led the last semi until the halfw ay po int. Marc Gifford, Billy Martin and Lonnie Pauley were in hot pursu it . Loral Coating' s Giffo rd was th e first to drop Duvall back; then , one lap later, Skip Ford ice's Billy Martin blasted (Above) Kenny Coolbeth prevailed In the Expert Main at the Hot Shoe Dirt Track by. Martin closed on Gifford, but th e fin a l o rd er a nd the main-event g rid were set. The Expert main got off to a rocky sta rt. Kell led Coolbeth and Varnes into tum one, only to see Coolbeth in control by the end of lap one. When the pack hit tu rn th re e of lap tw o, G ifford s p u n down and Martin could not avoid the fallen bike. Martin and his bike were catapulted high into the air. The red flag came out and a complete res tart was in order. Martin had to be transported to the hos pital , as the you ng Californian had suffered a d islocated hip. Kell, once agai n, had the start wired as he led into the first turn. Stanley and Varnes we re right behind, but Varn es was a ble to p ower h is KTM to t he fron t at the end of lap one, over Stanley and Kell . Lap tw o fo und Coolbeth already in second and qu ickly closing on Varnes. Lap four saw the red flag out for the last time as Paul Mo rga n fell in turn two. Mo rgan was u nin jured, but had wiped out a row of hay bales along the wall. When the field was called to the line for the start, Varn es' KTM failed to fire and the point position went to Coolbeth. Coolbeth made the most of the opportunity and led Kell and Hacker into turn one. As Hacke r and KeIl swapped posi tions, McCoy, Stanley and Kopp battled over third. Coo lbet h pulled to a big lead , with everyone else going for second . At the h a lf w a y p o in t, Mc Coy had it , w ith Hacker all over him . That is the way it would remain to the finish. KeU, Kopp an d Stanley wo uld bring the Washington co n n ec tio n h ome just off th e podium. .~ West Plains Motor Speedway West Plains , Missouri Results: June 20, 1997 250 PRO· AM: I. M i.ke M cKee; 2. Bra nd o n UrtwriJ;ht (Han); 3. Jerad 0M!ney CHon); 4. Darrol Peck (K.awl; 5. Rod Hartzel o-to n); 6. Cney Bu rton (Hon ); 8. ~y Jacob Latmer (Yam); 7. ( Y~m): 9. J~ynw Arnold Ru.o(Bul). 600 PR()'~ 1. Tim Ead~ (Rtx); 2. Brian Shirley Jr. CRtd ; J. [erad Cht.-rwy (Hor,); 4. MiLo McK- (Rn);~. Tom McCritlW" Jr. (Rtx); 6. JA~ Dean Fau lkner (H· D); 7. Yuhi looo Hirao (Rn); 8. Steve Jackson (JCTMl; 9. Ben Knight (H -D>; 10. Kevin Hilbert (Rtx). 883: I. Robert M III~r; Z. To m McGran e Jr .; J . AI Ea dll~; 4. Dnan Kromroy; 5. Victor McAn.1Dy; 6. Rand y Dccke; 7. Yuhiko Hirao. : 600 EX: 1. Ken Coolbeth Jr. (W-R>; l. Willie M~ (Ano; 3 . Mike HoKker (Rbi.); 4 . Speedy KeD (Rtx); s . J~ By Dave Hoenig Photos by Flat Trak Fotos WEST PLAINS, MO, JUNE 20 he Amer ican Motorcyclist Association 's Hot Shoe Dirt Track Series made the long trip down to scenic sou thern Misso uri - to the West Plains Motor Speed wa y for round five of the series - and it was Kenny Coolbeth wh o took the Expert Main win. The talented field of riders gave the high-banked 3/8-mile short tra ck great reviews. The fast, smoo th track created side-by-side racing in all four classes. Hannum's Harley-Davidson / B&B Enterprises/ J&M Racing's Mike McKee mad e the long trip fro m Pennsylvania to capture his third win of the series in the 250cc Pro-Am class. Burcham 's Cycles /Motion Pro /Wilson Honda-backed Tim Eades took the 600cc Pro-Am trophy back to Virginia, after r unning a w ay with th e main evenL How ell' s Harley-D avidson' s Robert Miller was a last-minute entry, but made the most of it as he pulled to the win after passing early leader Randy Deeke. The Expert main was marred by two red flags, bu t Connecticut's Coolbeth powered hi s W.E. LePage /HarleyDavidson of Missouri Rotax to the win. The 12-lap 250cc Pro-Am Mai n was the first out. Heat wins had gone to McKee an d Darrol Peck, and they led th e p a ck into turn o ne. Tw o Ok la hom an s - Brandon Cartwright and Ray Arnold - ba ttled o ve r th ird . Arnold fought his wa y int o second and closed on McKee. Arn old 's race ended on lap seven, as he coas te d o ff with a broken bi ke. Cartwright then took up the chase an d, althoug h he came close, McKee held on. Arka nsas' Peck fell victim to the lat erace charge by Iowa ' s [erad Cheney, as Cheney took third on lap I I. Many of the same riders returned on bigger bikes for the 12-lap 600cc ProAm Ma in . Illin oi s' Brian Shirley led Eades and McKee into tum one bu t, at th e end of the firs t lap, it was Eades lead ing McKee, Shirley, Cheney and Tom McGrane . . Eades pulled steadily away, while a slip by McKee dropped him into th e pack. Shirley was in second ahead of Cheney, while McKee, McGrane and Kevin Hilbert battled over fourth. By th e ni nth la p, there was a six ri der battle over seco nd . On lap 10, Hilbert fell in tu rn two, a nd the field received the red flag on lap 11. The race was called com plete , with Eades the wi nner over Shirley, Che ne y, McKee and McGrane. Randy Deeke led the 883 Ha rleyDavid son Main into turn one, ov er ProAm's McGrane and Rob Miller . By lap two, Miller had assu med command and T 44 pu ll~away . Serles race In Missouri. the small crowd with a blistering charge that saw him come from the penalty line to lead every la p . Washi ng to n's Dan Stanley wo rked his way around Da ve Hebb for second and a direc1 transfer to the main. Jason Sentell led Al Eadie and Hebb to the semis . The second heat was all Wash ing-. ton's Speedy Kelt's. KeU, wh o has ventured back east for several years, easily ou td istanced a three-wa y battl e for second involving Joe Kopp, Willie McCoy a nd Bret Be yer. Mc Coy was a ble to power his Harl ey-Dav id son of Dallasbacked Rotax into the last transfer. Virgin ian Mike Hacker too k the third heat, over a charging Kevin Varnes. Pole sitter Varnes had to sta rt his factorybacked KTM from the third row after a false sta rt sent four riders to the penalty line. Varnes worked his way a round Billy Mart in for second and closed on the Moroney' s Harley-Davidson-backed Hacker, but couldn't get by. Martin held on to third to lead Marc Gifford and Victor McAnally to the semis. Tennessee's Chris Boone passed early leader Nick Daniels and led every lap of the fourth heal. A light race for second developed between Lonnie Pauley, Joey Duvall, Paul Mo rgan and Ken Yod er . Morgan was able to slid e up and pu t his Coziahr Harley-Davidson-backed Rotax into the main in the closing laps . Pauley, Yoder and Duvall wo uld get one mo re chance. Dave Hebb go t the ho lesho t in the first semi, bu t Charlie Orr and Joe Kopp quickly dispatched him to third . As Orr and Kopp battled over the lea d , Bre t Beyer worked his w ay up to third. Kopp (Rbi.); 6. Da n Stanley (Rtx) ; 7. ClU"is Boone (Ra); 8. Bret 84eyeor (Rtx); 9. Marc Ciffor d (W. R); 10. Paul Mor goln III (Rb); 11. Kevin Vol m~ ( KT'M ); 12. Billy M. rtin (Rh). 0-37 Forest Frolic Dual Sport By Paul Ra nders MONTRC6E. CA, JUNE 22 Sitting just below the San Gabriel Mountains of the Angeles National Forest, Scott's Performance Prod u cts ag ain provid ed th e sta rt and fin is h loca tion for th e A MA Distri ct 37 Fores t Fro lic Dual Spo rt rid e. By special permit, the Haines Canyo n Avenu e gate to th e fire roads was open ed for the ride. The first dirt road of the 140-mile course led up to the Mount Luk en s m icr ow a ve-re lay s ta tio n . Th e morning ma rine layer of low cloud s, however, blank et ed the view of downtown Los Ange les and Catalina Island . From there, the course went on to the Ange les Crest Highway for a little d ie"ing with the morning spo rtbike riders. Then it was bad to the di rt again on the challenging Fall Cree k Trail to Mou nt Gleason . "The tOOO-foot cliffs on the side of the sandy dirt road can be a little unnerving." said rider Jeff Dyer. From t here , a fun trail took th e 86 rid ers through pine trees on down to the edge of the d esert, for lunch and gas in Acton . After th e break, it was up to North Fork Saddle and down the always- fu n Pacoima Canyon. "'With a d ry sp ring, Pacoima was d ow n to only four water crossings from the usual 20 or so," sa id Dave Tonkiss. The course then wen t back up to Mount Gleaso n, past the envious prisoners at th e "Co nse rv atio n Ca m p" on the old N ike tna'\ile srte, and onward to Mill Creek SurturUt. Iron Mountain and Lynx Gulch before returnin g to Mount Lukens. The view of Los Angeles had only halfway cleared up by early afternoon. The second day of su m m er p rovi d ed nice weather (wi th temperatures of about 80 degrees) fo r a p leasa nt ride. Two flat tires and a broken clutch cab le were the only problems of the day. "This is one of the few times a yea r w e get to ride mot orcycles on these tra ils which overlook my Glendale horne, and I'm glad that we get to do it:' said Ray Join er. "'W here else can you have a long trail ride righ t out of a majo r metropolitan area7"

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