Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

r I Gerald Direbliss from No rth Rose, New York, also broke the four-second barrier to tak e th ird place with a 4.998-second effort . Rick Geo rge from Danville, West Virginia, took fourth in 5.014 seconds o n his Kawasaki, with Ryan Lawrence frum Red Wing, Minnesota, filling out thet op five on his Honda in 5.055 seconds . Th en it wa s tim e for th e 750s . Eric O'Connor, a lso fro m Red Wing, Minneso ta, had turned a 5.522-second time on his Kaw asaki tripl e on Saturday, but eclip sed tha t m ark with a n in credible 4.802-second blast over th e top on h is scream ing triple, taking th e class lead and sett in g a n ew fa st t ime . Jason Northrup, also riding a Kawasaki triple, delivered what appeared to be an evenfas ter ride - ca us ing the annou ncer to note, "That's th e fastest bike I've see n toda y." Bu t the clo ck did not sto p as Northrup, tlyin g off the jump at 180 feet and go ing ai rbo rn e again over th e top, appa rently flew o ve r th e ligh t beam. N orthrup, v is ib ly s hake n by a crash land in g o n th e fa r si de, repai red' the damage to his bike as well as he could and returned fo r 01 re ru n, h op in g to dupl icate the speed of the missed time. Thi s time, ho w e ver, the bike twiste d sideways off the badly rutted big break er and violen tly changed ends on land in g, w ith th e s w inga rm s mashi ng Northrup's ankle, breaking it badly'. Not only did Northrup no t enjoy the grea test of the Am ateu r hillclim ber' s th rills - a fast tim e at the Nationals hi s season wa s ended ea rly while he was lead ing tw o d ist ricts (15 and 17) in tw u clas ses (500cc and 750cc). His first-roun d time w ould h old up for third pla ce , and O'Connor' s time would hold up for the cla ss w in a nd th e fa st time . Arnold [elinek improved on hi s first day's time with a 4.96-second time on his KTM540 for second place, The 1996 class champio n, Matt Nel son, from Ellsw orth, Wiscon sin, picked up th e fou rth -pl ace trophy with a 5.09 4-second time o n his KTM 550 . Ja y Parmeter o f Wi sconsin Rapids, also running a KTM550, filled o u t the top five w ith a 5.153-secon d time. The really big m otors were now comin g to th e lin e, w ith sev eral cap able of beating O'Connor's tim e. Lloyd Mueller charged up the hill on his 14llOcc Harl ey, sailing the big fire-brea ther o ver the top in 4.904 secon ds , Mue ll er, from Kewaskum, Wisconsin, took over the Open-class lead, but fell a tenth of a second sho rt of the fast time. Ch uck Neinfeldt challen ged with anothe r high-flying assault, bul he wasn't quite fast enough to claim the lead. His 5.065-second time did, however, move him around Kaleb No rthrup into second place . Mike Bronk, from Wi$con siri Rapids, is alwa ys a fa s t-t im e threat on h is spa rkling 1500cc Yamaha four-banger, and he delivered a very good 5.232-second time to move up into fourth place. N orthrup had geared up hi s Triumph for m ore speed and had a good run going until his roaring Triumph twisted in the air off the top breaker, sending hi m tow ard a la rge tree near the to p . No t wan tin g to join his brother Jason in th e h o s p it al , Kal eb s h u t dow n a n d coasted pas t th e tree and over the top, > (Above) Charli e Venegas was the wi nne r In the Hand icap main In Cost a Mesa. (Right) .. Bob by SChwartz won the Scratch main at Costa Mesa . Speedway. settling fur third place, based on his Saturd ay tim e. Fifth p lace went to Duane Wal ser , ba sed on h is firs t-d ay time of 5.278 seconds. O n Sunday, however, Walser suffered a potentially life-threa tening cra sh, with th e hand lebar of his Ha rley catch ing him high on the inside of hi s th igh, ripping a 6-inch- long, 3inc h-deep gash. An artery w as ap pa rently cut, as Walser was bleed ing profu sely o n th e hill. Me dics tr ansported him to the Mankato hospital, wh ere he claimed the bed next to Jason No rthrup in th e em erge ncy room. He was taken from there very quickly to the operating f~ roo m for surgery" - Kato Motorcycle Club Mankato. Illinois R es~ lts : July 26-27, 1997 SO: 1. Nolte Redmann (kiM); 2. Jacob Prebe- (Kl'M); 3. M.lr k M,l.th~ws (5 u %); 4. Ri ck Parmeter (kiM); 5. StE'PNrof' T~ (Y.un). JR MINI: 1. Dan Myen (Hon); 2. Joe Babbler (Han): 3. [a cob fWiI-:,y (Hon); 4 . Juon ~ (H on); 5. Scott tnl,lm~ (Yam ). SR MINI : 1. Dill MVf-n. (H on); 2 . Kevin Bra u n (K.aw ); 3. J.-.;~C.:l rnobP (H~n); 4_Colby M.u b lto (Kaw ); 5 Travis Mackty (KAw ). 125: I. Juan Braun (Ho n); 2. 'Anthony Of-Hart (Yam ); 3. Ryan Petersen (Hon); 4. SCott Braun (Han); 5. Curt Sul b\·an (Yam). 2Oll: 1. Md PIO tek (Kaw ); 2. Tony Marble (Kaw); 3. n Kevin Cox (Kaw); 4. Zach Paidcr (I(aw); 5. Bill Tim m (l(.>w' 250: I. Dean ' eli nl'k tHo n); 2. Corey Wood (Hon); J. Da n Sh.:lh.:l (Hon); 4. Cli nt Crowley (Ha n); 5. Tuffy Gibson (Hon ). 400: 1. Matt Bro nk (Yam); 2. Pau l Hackbarth (Yam ); 3. Tod Parmeter (KTM); 4. Marc Stamm (Yam); 5. Deen GerdE-5 (SUl). 500: 1. Mill' Wood (Hon ); 2. And y Ry~ e1 (Y.:Im); 3. c.. ·rilld Dtrebnss (Kaw ); 4. Rick Cecrge (Kaw); S. Ryan (H int). 750: 1. Eric O'Con no r (Kd W); 2. Arnold [eli ne k (KTM); 3. Ja.vm No rthrup (Kaw ); 4. Matt Nt' lson (KTM); L l WnoT U V 5. J<'IY Pamlrtt'T(KTM). O PEN: 1. Lloyd Mud lr r (H·D ); 2. Ch uck Neinft'ld t (H -U): 3. Kaleb No rthrup (Tri ); 4. Mikr Bron k (Yam); 5. Duan e Wabl'r (H-U). SR: 1. Dearns Jeline k (Hon); 2. Cr aig Del-tart (KolW); 3. Ashley Eikl'n (H ·D); 4. Tom Roll ins (Hon ); 5. Ran dy M a tab!O [H o n }, C Msa S osta e peedw y a SChwartz, Venegas ' share By Elaine Jones Photos by !JIlke Basso COSTA MF5A. CA. AUG. 16 o bby Schwartz won the ri chest race of a busy Saturday night, the Scrat ch main. and Charlie Venegas came ou t on top of the Han dicap m ain at Cos ta Mesa Speedway. B Th e first ord er o f bus in ess w a s to move up the ladder and qualify for the ma ins. In the first Scratch hea t, Venegas cu t a grea t gate and led the qu ick fou rla p p e r from s t a r t to fi nis h . A ndy Northrup lock ed in behi nd h im a nd cam e away with the othe r tra nsfer spot as he held Rick Pear ce and Brian Burch at bav . ' . In the seco nd heat, it was "Flying" Mike Faria from start to finish, with Ed Cas tro from the outside ga te p icking up th e seco nd spot and the transfer. Jason Ch ism an d Pa u l Binnquist were th ree an d four in this o ne. Brad Oxl ey a nd Shawn McConnell sho wed the bo ys how it is don e in the third heat as they dropped d own to the low line they love to ride. Steve Furman and Paul Colston cou ld do nothing but follow them home as they open ed a big lead. It was close a t th e checkered, as McCon nell m issed bea ting Oxley by the width of a tire. The fin a l Sc ra tch race h a d a rare ap pe arance by Ronnie Correy, visiting fr o m Eng lan d . Th e American h a s a p p li e d fo r En gli sh citizenship a n d plans to ma ke hi s home ov erseas. Correy w as paired with Schwar tz a nd, to tup it off, wa s rid ing Bobby' s backup bike. Schwartz came ou t of two like a rock et, and Correy was r ig h t behind him. The tw o were close en ou gh to sha ke hands, but it was Schwartz at th e checkered, with Correy second. Kun Baur held off Brian Pappalardo for the th ird. With onl y one race in the books, it w ould be interesting to se e if Correy was bein g a nice gu y, letting the loaner bea t the loanee. The way they went at it m ade th at highly unlikely. Th e first Scratch sem i h ad Venegas on the pole and reading the gate as he broke on top . Co rrey reme mbered how the lo w li ne works as h e dropped in behi nd Ve negas. Faria got in tr ouble early on as he got out in the marbles in tum one and slid o ut. McConnell wa s. looking for racin g room o n the inside, but Cor rey w ouldn't budge and he wou ld ha ve to wait for the last-chance qu alifier to see it he could make it to the main. The se co n d sem i saw Oxley get a g re at gate and take Schwartz to task, leading from start to finish. Schwartz wa s content with the second, as it was all he needed to transfer to the m ain . Castro, battling bike problems all night, had to settle for third and hope to get a better race in th e LCQ. Northrup was hoping he, too, would have better luck the next time around . There was one spot to be filled, and the LCQ looked like a m ain event. Fari a d rew the pole, wi th McCo nnell in tw o and Northrup in three . On the ou tside wa s Castro. When th e ga te came up, it wa s Faria who w as a way - and away big. He put plenty of day light between him se lf a n d th e re st o f the fiel d . McC onnell gave it hi s best sh ot , b ut Faria jus t had too m u ch o f lea d to overcome. .Northrup had the show spo t and Castro, still fighting bike problems, was fourth. The Scratch main had Venegas on the pole a nd Schwa rtz in two. Correy wa s next to Schwartz in three an d Faria was in four. On the fa r outside was Oxlev, The "Master of the Gate" d id it again, as Schwartz read it bea utifully and jumped into the lead . Venegas was d ose enough to shake hands, but al tho u gh he tried to back into to the corners an d get under Schwa rtz he just could n' t m ake it happen. O n th e last lap, Venegas tangled w ith Curre y. Wh at could have bee n a really bad accid ent was a lesson in riding ability, as Correy did some crea tive stuff an d not only stayed on the bike but came up with th e third. O xley got by Faria on the last lap to finish fourth. Th e Handicap s ide of th e progra m had Venegas coming from.the 50 10 win the fir st hea l. Mo vi ng u p the ladd er with h im were Baur, Correy and Northrup. Brian.Burch, comin g from the 10, held off th e field for the win and the transfer in the second heat. Oxley, coming from the 40, was second, with Faria, all the way frum the 50, third . The final spo t went to Binnquist , who started on th e 10. Th e final h e at h a d Rand v DiFrancesco from the 10 take it the di stance. Cas tro and Schwartz were seco nd and third from the 40, with McConnell (from the 50) getting by Johnny Walker on the last lap to pick up the final transfer spot. It took DiFrancesc o tw o laps to run do wn Baur in th e first Handicap se m i. Sch wa rtz, Venegas an d Northrup were also able to m ove Baur off th e groov e and a ssure them selve s s po ts in th e m ain. Th e se cond semi had Binnquist lead from start to finish , with O xley, McC onnell a nd Faria fo llo w in g him home. The lineup fur the Handicap m a in had DiFrancesco and Binnquist on the 10. No one was on the 20 or the 30, but the 40 had Schwartz, O xley and Northrup, Back on the 50, McCo nn ell, Venegasand Faria settled in . When the gate ca me u p, it was DiFrancesco out firs t, with Binnq uist in second. Ve negas, who m ay have anticipated the ga te a little , roared into thi rd . Schwartz ha d bike problems and ne ve r go t off th e line, kill ing his chances for a d ouble wi n. It took Venegas three laps to ge t by Binn qui st a n d one m ore to m ove a 45

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