Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

J f I I I I I l I r I I t Lake County FairStadiumMotocross Bogard takes bounty (Ri ght) Todd DeHoop(49) was one of 10 nationally ranked pros whO sh owe d up to race with the locals at the Lake County Fair Stadium Motocross in Grayslake, Illinois. By David Deringer Photo by Ton y Cl po letll GRAYSLAKE, n, jUtY23-24 xcellen t rider tu rnou t, large spectator at tendance, great weather, and in tense racing were all in the mix for Up -Front Promotions' Lake County Fair Stad iu m Motocross, w here Charlie Boga rd topped the 2S0cc Pro field . Ten nat ion all y ranked riders and a han dful of loca l Pr os all showed up for a shot at ' so me of the big money up for grabs. Both n igh ts of racing fea tured 125 an d 250 cc P ro cla sses, the O ver 30 Expert cla s s, 125 a nd 250cc Amateur classes, and a Dash for Cas h for the top fiv e Pro rid ers in eac h di vi si on . The track was s imilar to that of an Arenacross, with large jumps, tight comers and high speeds making for tight, close, exciting racing. As the Pro riders p rep a red for the 125cc m a in event on the first night of racing, the lineup was filled with Supercross an d Arenacross hotshots w ho had made the trip to Illinois on their way to the following week end's National race in Troy, Ohio. Missing was the heavily favored Jim my Gaddis, who crashed out in a preliminary heat race and was d iagnosed w ith several cracked ribs. F&S S uz uki/ A rlington M otorsports/JT Raci ng-backed Cliff Palmer grabbed the holeshot in Wednesday's 125cc Pro main and never looked back. Behind him were BOgard, [eromy Buehl, Jim Povolny and Todd D e H o op . As Palm er rod e sm ooth out front, Bog ar d loo ked rel axed in second, with Buehl studying h is lines. Not until the eighth lap of the to- lap race di d thi ngs s tart ha p penin g, Bueh l passed Bo g a rd for seco nd, and Povolny and DeH oop we re p a ssing each o the r severa l t im es for fou rt h and fifth. As the checkers cam e out; Pa lmer took the w in , with Buehl h oldin g o n to second. Bog ard crossed the line in third, and the battle for fourth was w on by Del-loop, w ith Povolny a close fi fth . Xtre me /SCR/ Banzai Yamaha-s po nso red Buehl s na gg ed the s tar t of th e 2S0cc m ain, followed by MSR /Morgan Racing /Banzai Suzuki-spo nsored Bogard in se co n d and Fa st/LBZ-back ed Josh Demuth in th ird. Bu ehl led until the fifth lap, when Bogard decided to take over. Bogey rode flawless ly from then on and, along with Buehl, w as o n the podium for the seco nd time th at night. Dem uth styled hi s w ay to th ird, with fo u rt h and fift h going to Palmer an d Nie lsen Enterprises' Brad Wool sey. Ten rid e rs fro m the tw o Pr o m ai n even ts lined up for a si x-la p Da sh for Ca sh, and once aga in Palmer took the lead from th e sta rt and ra ced al one to the end to ta ke home the cash. Bogard, Buehl and DeH oop were second, th ird and fourth, respectively. O th e r winners o n the first ni gh t in cluded De s Pl aines Su zuki / Xtr emeb a cke d Mark M orris i n th e Ove r 30 class, an d Jesse Wise and Josh Pistole in th e 125 and 250cc am a teu r divisions, respectively. - E On Thursday night, heat races again were run to determine gate po sition for the m ain events. Several riders worthy of notice in th e heats could be considered possible wipners in the m ains . Suzuki-moun ted Anthony Pocorobba w as o ne of these riders. ."Pokey," who scored a sevent h and a ninth the nigh t befor e, looked like a changed man w hen he nai led th e sta rt of the 125cc m ain . Behind him were Bogard, loca l favori te ' Eron Ezerins, . Jem u th, and Manchester H onda s ' Roboie Skaggs. Pocorobba p ulled away a s Bogard followed in second. Demuth oassed Ezerins on the second lap for trird, and Skaggs an d Mor ris were in fif:h and sixth . Skaggs made a nice pass or Ezerins o n the seventh lap to move into fourth, and Morris wo uld also poss Ezrrins on the next lap to toke fift h-place ~ o nors. Pocorobba - rid ing for F&S Suzuki, Xtreme, and Pro Source - used the I lSt lap for can-cans, whips and other f< verite jumps, and he sty led to a proud. rin, Bogard, Dem uth, Skaggs and Morris ' ounded out the top five. It was a i ybod y ' s gu ess as to wh o would win the 250cc main. Going into the first tun , it was Skaggs, Palmer and De Hoop. Buehl, who was sixth at the en d of the first lap, m oved into third by th e end of I he sec ond lap. Skaggs and Pa lmer wen pulling away, as Del-loop. rid ing for Yamaha o f Troy and Banzai, was pressuring Buehl for the third spot at the halfway point. Bogard, who ha d a m ise rable s ta rt, was m o vi n g th ro u gh th e pock and was working on Pocorobba with two lops to go . Skaggs took the w in in front o f a packed crowd, w it h Pa lmer in second. DeHoop and Buehl ba ttled to the end, w ith DeHoop taking third and Buehl fourth . A hard-ch arging Bogard made the pass on Pocorobba for fifth . Pocorobba took his second win of the nigh t as he w on th e D ash for Cash . Povo lny hod his best finish of th e two nigh ts of racing as he came home second, and Todd DeHoop finish ed in the third spot for the second time on the nigh t. Mark Morris won the O ver 30 class for the seco nd night in a row, with Mike Roth seco n d and Tu f Ra ci n gs' And y Stacy third. Bill Britton was the big winner in the 12Scc Amateur class, and Josh Pistole did it ag ain in the 2505. '" Lake County Fair Stad ium MX Grays lake, IIl1 s nol Results: July 23-24, 1997 Wf'dn nd..y 12.5 AM: 1. }t!!o!>t! W ist! (Yam ); 2. Bri an Kultsek (Han); 3. Bill Britton (Yam ); 4. Jim Oversea (Yam); 5. Bart Haffio.rkamp (YMIl). 125 PRO: J. Cliff Palme r (Suz); 2. [eromy Buehl (Yam); 3. Charlif' Bogard (Sm. ); 4. Todd DrHcop (Yam ); 5. Jim Pov olny (Suz). %50 AM: 1. Josh Pbtoko (Yam ); 2. Bill Britton (Yam ); 3. Otad Stanko (Yam); 4. Mark Calb«k (Hon); 5. JaInd Wehrman (Suz). 2SO PRO: J. Charlie Bogard (Suz); 2. Jcromy Buehl (Yam); 3. Josh Demuth (Suz); 4. Cliff Palmer (Suz ); 5 . Brad wcobey (Kiw). 30+ EX: 1. M.u1c Morri s (Suz ); 2. Mi~ Roth (Stu); 3. Andy Sta cy (Kaw ); 4. Roy Nafz~"r (Ka w); 5. Tun Bate'S (Kdw ). DFC: 1. Cliff Palmer (Suz); 2. Charlit! Bogard (Suz ); 3. jeromy BUPhl (Ya m); 4. Todd DrHoop (Yam); S. JoMl Drrnuth (Suz). Thursdlly 125 AM : 1. Bill Bn tton (Ya m) ; 2. Bri an Kulisek (Hon ); 3. Derrick Benz (Hon); 4. Kevin Bell (Hon); 5. Jim Overson (Yam). 125 P RO: 1. Anthony Pocoro b ba (Suz); 2. Charlie Bo,.\ard (Suz ); 3. Josh Demut h (Suz); 4. Robbi e Skaggs (Hon); 5. Ma rk Moms (Suz) . 250 AM: 1. Josh Pist o lt' (yam ); 2. Bill Britton (Yam) ; 3. Jolmt>

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