Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

STURGIS 57th annual SturgisRallyand Races VDTRA V intageC lassics XN tion l a a Championship D T Series:Round 1 irt rack 0 Showdown at Sturgis By Clay Ugh! STURGIS, SD, AUG. 9 a rley-Da vid so n XR750-mounted Royal Adderson put the hammer on the compe tition in the premier Open Pro Twi ns class during round 10 of the Vintage Dirt Tra ck Racers Associati on ' s Vin tage Classics X Na tio nal at th e j.e. "Pappy" Hoel Short Tr ac k by so un d ly beating all of th e series' regulars at their own game. Ad derson dri fted into town earlier in th e week like an unknown gunfighter , but wh en all of the smo ke and dust had cleared, the former AMA Expert had left th e Black Hills with a bounty o n h is head, a po cketful of loot, and ha d also sc ra m b le d u p th e VDTRA Nationa l p oints sta nd ings it b it. Co lorado' s Mark Gib son may have esca ped the Black Hills of South Dako ta wit h the points lead in the coveted Open Pro Twins cla ss, ahead of Iowa's Rick Fis cc l. but it wa s C a lga ry, A lberta , Ca nada's Add er son who ex tended his w in streak to two in th e seri es' round at Sturgis. Ad de rson , wh o earlier in the week at the Ra p id Ci ty , So ut h Dak ota, rou nd had held off Bill Hofmeister and Fisccl for a win, rod e much the same on th e eig hth-m ile oval at the jackpi ne Gypsies' Clu b-g ro u nd s, beat ing Tri umphmounted Gibson and Hofmeister in the Open Pro Twins main event; Fiscel fin-ished fifth. Another rid er wi th a strea k com ing into Stu rgis - Wheeler, Mich igan's Merlyn "Skip" Wertz - left the Badlands with a sour taste in his mouth. We rtz, who' had wun the Masters Pro main eve nts at the roun ds in Norton, Kansas; G rand Isla nd, eb r as ka: a nd Ra p id City, South Dakota, could onlv muster a fourth- place finish in the Sturgis rou nd, p lacing his 750cc Triumph behind win ner Bill Sny der - who fou nd-a Bultaco 360 As tro to be th e hot tick et fo r th e small track - seco nd -placed Bill Ber ger, and number-one plate hold er john Fike. Two heat races of 600cc Amateur rid ers sta ged for position with the threat of possible thundershowers hanging ove r- H Eastlee's Yama ha was unchall en ged in the 600cc Amateur final , as the Minneapolis, Minneso ta , rid er led sta rt to finish , wi th Rayno r being his closest com petition nearly a quarter -la p back. Raynor, though, di d survive a ll of th e advances from Hultman to take the ru nner-up laur els. Cou ghlin led the opening lap of the cras h-marred 600cc Pro final, which was red -flagged , but Coughlin's chances of netting a win in the class went down the dra in a fter AMA District 30 referee Tom Olson deter mi ne d that Co ug hli n had jumped and sent him to the pena lty line. This, tho ug h, ma de thi ngs mu ch eas ier for Fiscel, who this time imp roved his s tart by jum ping to the front of the pack. Schieffer di d everything in the book s to ge t by Fiscel, but to no avail. As Fiscel barely ed ged Schieffer for a win, the battle for third wa s still up for grabs . Th is spo t went to Yamaha rider McCl elland, who u sed his familia rity wi th th e track to net th e final podium spot, ahe ad o f Cheney, Germain a nd Fik e, who was on e of th e fi ve rid ers involv ed in the first -turn cha os. . Fiscel, pumped abo ut his 600cc win, stormed to the lead off the start in the Open Tw in Pr o fin al, but th e o fficials th ought th at he left a bit too soo n and sent the- Des Moines, Iowa, rid er to the third row. Adderson, Gibson, Schieffer, Ho fmeister a nd Germain bumped fo r positions goi ng into turn one, but exiting tu m two, it was Ad derson welt in comma nd. Adderson, though , had Gibson an d Hofmeister closing the ga p on him, bu l the Canadian d id a cred ible job of sla mming the dour shut o n all of the adva nces. Ad derson's win (hi s second in a TOW) relegated Gibson to second , and he is still win less in th e class . Gibson was followed by Hofmeister, Schief fer and Fiscel, who finished fifth. Fiscel was visibly upset at the finish, losin g gro und to Gibson in his qu est for a repeat of his title. "I thou ght I had a dean start:' Fiscel This (a fifth) isn't good going into sa id . " the fi na l ro u nd . I' m not happ y ri ght now ." " It a ll boils d own to who wins at Muskogee:' sa id Gibson , who furthered his points lead in the class. Snyder, Wertz, Berger , Cheney, Fike and the rest of the field ba ttled for position in the Master (Over 50) Pro final on the first of the eight laps, bu t it wa s Snyder w ho had h is ha nd s fu ll w it h the class points leader, Wertz. But Wert z fell backwar d throu gh the ranks to fourt h, where he'd finish , beh ind Snyder, Ber ger and Fike but ahead of William Burr: Lee Parker and jo hn ny Rams ey. '" Royal Ad derso n c laimed t h e Open Pro Twins victory. head. Roy Haines, who rode one of the man y Bultaco As rros o n ha nd , ran out front of Mike Zbrozek's SOOcc Trium ph, bu t the 360cc machine looked right at h o rne u nder the guidance of Hai nes, w ho wo n d es p ite all of Zbrozek's adva nces . . Colora do's Mar k Eric kso n h eld a 'slight ad va ntage in the second hea t race, but Maico-m ounted Cra ig Rayn or kept the pressu re on to kee p th e Yama ha rider honest. Thi rd place wen t to local r ider Greg Hult m a n , w ho, li ke th e majority of th e rid ers in the class, wa s riding a Yamaha . Th e 6CKkc Pro class was also tw o heat races s tro ng, li ni ng u p so me prett y heav y hitt ers, of wh o m 12 wou ld ma ke th e final lineup. Io wa ' s jerry Ch eney jumped ou t fro nt of Fiscel a nd Fike in the first heat race, but by lap tw o Fiscel had di splaced th e Yam aha -m ou n ted Cheney for a win, ahead of Cheney and an on -the-m o ve Snyder, wh o dropped Fike back a spo t at th e finish. Sturgis' own Randy Coug hlin led Pat Schieffer, Brian Isbell and john McClella nd in the second heat race, a nd s pe nt th e entire race in a hea ted , sid e-by-side conflict for a spo t on the front row. It was Isbell' s antics, thoug h, th at se pa ra ted th e pair on th e last lap , netting Co ug hlin a win and releg atin g Schieffer to third . Fiscel, aboard his 750cc Trium ph, tro unced the competition in the first of the tw o Open Pro Tw ins-cl ass heat races, leaving on ly Paul Germain a nd We rt? to pro vid e ac tio n behind him. Gibson, despite the ad va nces of Adderson , Hofmeister an d Sch ieffer, held up under pr essure to top the second heat , which, like he at one, ha d a ll r iders tra nsfer to th e lO-rider final. The first in a series of main events to line up wa s the Master Am ateur final. Gary Hite o f Sp o kan e, Wa shin gton , despite starting on the penalt y line, pu t hi> Harley-Dav idson XR750 ou t fronl in the main event, much as he d id in his heat ra ce, to lead Yamaha rid ers james Eastlee and jerry Zoh feld from start to finis h for an effortless w in. Snyder sa t on the po le for the 250cc Pro main event aod enjoyed a brief lead , bu t it was local Yamaha rider rat Schieffer w ho s neaked a wheel underneath him a nd the n maintained a good-size d lead to the finish to gra b a wi n. Snyder netted second pl a ce, a head of O ssa mounted Dennis Melcher. Jackplne Gypsi es Short Track Sturgis , South Dakota . Results: Aogust 9, 1997 (Round 10 of 11) OPE N PRO TW : 1. Royal Addcrson (H- D); 2. Mark ter Oib-on (Tn) ; 3. Bill Ho fme is (H- D): 4. Pat Sc'hit' fft'T m); 7. (Yam ); 5. Rickt>y Flscel (T ri ); 6. r au l Germain ('I'.1 Micha el Blvthe (Tri); 8. John Mc:CIelland (Yam); q. John Fill.'

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