Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

one of the factories. And, with entries being up by over ISO this year, it looks like the sport is on an upswing, so budgets will be bigger and more Ponca City ch a m p io ns will see s ponso rs h ip in 1998." Te am G ree n / Pro Ci rc u it -backed Pavne looks to be well on his wav to the pro ran ks after giv ing nothing short of an awesome performance in both 125ee Stock and Modified divisions, wh ere he earned both NMA National titles . "We came here to win the championships and that's wh at we did," Payne said. "Billy Boy" Payne, who is the so n of former factory Maico racer Bill Payn e, was untouchable in his heat races, as he Simply blew away the field en route to a four-mo to sweep, but he was beaten in bo th main even ts by Brande n [essema n of Fombell , Pen nsylvania. But Payne's better finishes ove rall gave him top hono rs. " I have been wo rking w it h Gary Semics mos t eve ry day ," lesseman said. "I have a new die t and training sched ule tha t will in crease m y endurance and strength , plus we ride most eve ry day." Though [esseman was the top of the field in th e main eve n ts, he struggled with crashes a nd generally bad luck in th¥ heat races. "I crashed in a few of the heat races, which is going to hurt my overall finishes," he said . In the en d, Payn e top ped the 125cc Stock Intermed iate cla ss w ith a 1-1-2 o ver Jess eman 's 7-1-1 and Andrew Short's 3-4-3, and Payne won the Modified di vision w ith a 1-1-2 over Trav is Riley' s 1-1-3 a nd [essernan's 5-7-1. [essern an, however, did not w alk away em p ty -ha nded , as he put it all togeth er for the MA National Championship in th e 125cc N on-Pro division over Short, Donovan Mitchell, Tim london and Travis Riley. Sp e akin g of Ril e y , th e futur e Kaw asaki star had a g reat weekend in the 250cc Modified Intermediate divisi on but an unluck y weekend in th e Stock division. "I hav e been stay ing with my sister in Colorado Sp rings," Riley said . " I work at a fri end 's co ns tru cti o n site every day, a nd they bu ilt a motocross practice track for me near the site, So 1 work half the d ay, then go practice for the other half. I thin k it was what helped me win the cha mpionsh ip this year." Riley topped Keith Johnson and Nick Metcalf in the Mod ified 250cc Int ermed iat e class, bu t had to surrender th e Stock class to Johnson after a bro ken chain stopped his cha rge. "I was out front with a good lead ," Riley said . "Then, when 1 land ed on top of the step- up table, 1 landed hard and the chain broke. " . Johnson went on to claim victory on .his Bobby "J"-backed Yamaha. "I will be pro at this race next yea r," Johnson said . "I have a lot to learn, but I think by winning the Intermediate class here, I'm o n my way." Johnson finished ahe ad of Short and Team Thousand Oa ks Yama ha' s Andy Anaya. Minicycles mad e up the bulk of the entries, with Justin Buckelew getting top billing with three class championships in the Stock and Modified 80cc 04-16) divisions and the "Big Bore" Supermini division. Buckelew smo ked them in the Modified and Superm ini divi sions, but had to perform his best in the Stock divisions after starting out of the top five. "I think Adam Mennenga an d I ta ngled in the first turn in the Stock race," (Above) More than 1200 riders turned out for the an nua l eve nt in Oktahoma. Here, the 125cc Stock Novice class charges down Ponca 's fast start chute. (Left) Bru ce Rutherlord topped 1he Mini (4-6) class . (Below) Chase Reed won the 80cc Mod if ied (12-13) class on a stock '98 KX80. Buckelew said. "I cu t in after a bad start and ali I saw was a green fend er." Mennen ga ended up crashing hard and was knocked out, while Bucke lew set afte r fellow Team Yamaha mini racers Jonathan Shimp and Johnny Marley. When Buckelew arri ved at their doors tep, th e battle of the . w eek end erupted as the thr ee future stars wa ged an all-out w ar for se ve ral lap s and, in some instances, the three rider s came into the turns almost handlebar to han dlebar. . Buckelew bl ew b y Marl e y a t th e halfway mark, and then set up Shim p w ith an outside- to-the-i nside sweep in the fas tes t section of the rac eco urs e . Buckelew then pu lled away from both Marle y and Shimp by perform ing a 95foot double ju m p that struck fea r into most mini racers. Buckelew went o n for three cham pionships in front of Marley and Shimp. Team Green /R&D Ra cing-b a cked Mike Alessi was the onl y other triplecia» champion alter sw eep ing all six motos in the 60cc (608) Stock and Modified d ivisions and the 50cc (7-8) Modified class. o" N

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