Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS EDITED BY CAMERON COATNEY olden State Nationals South, Round 1 Rusty Holland (76) leads Casey Lytle en route to the 125cc Pro-class win at the open ing round of the CMClSunStar Golden State National South , held at Glen Helen Raceway. Holland also made a two-moto sweep of the 250cc Pro class. (33) McGavran proved to be the best of the best a n d his s trong s ta rt in th e main ass u re d a goo d fin ish. McGavra n not only performed like a future pro bu t he romped away from th e fie ld wit h a ut h o r i ty . Th ir teen-yea r-o ld Bobby Bond s wo rked his way through the pack and was the on ly race r in h is class to quad -jump th e rocker sec tion. Bonds finished second overa ll in fron t of Ryan Orr, C h r is Gossela a r, Du st y Walter, Mike You ng and Sean Hamblin. I~ Glen Helen Raceway San Bernardino, California Results: January 11, 1998 50 (4-6): 1. Don nie Kearney (KTM); 2. Dustin Pipes (KTM); 3. Hav den Commans (KTM); 4. David Meade (Co b); 5. Tay lor Lacery (KTM). By Tony Alessi 34 SAN BERNARDINO, CA, JAN. 11 lawson Motorsports / AXO /Pro Circu it-spo nso red Rusty Holland drew first blood at the CMC /SunStar Gold en State Nationals South opener by posting a four-mota swee p of both 125 and 250cc Pro divisi ons a t Gle n Helen OHV Cvcle Park. Thi s yea r inarked the 22n d ann u a l ru nni ng of Californ ia's oldes t (and one of its most prestig ious) motocross series, wh ich started back in 1977. Mor e than $1.2 million in purse an d prizes wa s up for grabs, including a new KTM 50 and a Kawasaki KX60 for the mini classes. Heavy rains poured do wn for days pri or to the event but CMC stood firm ' on racin g corne rain or shine. "Racing in adverse con ditions bu ild s cha rac ter," sa id one CMC offi cia l. The co nc ept, od dly enoug h, was well-received by the more th an 700 rid ers wh o travel ed to race the opening rou nd of the seri es at Glen Helen Raceway. The 125cc Pro class was perhap s the most talked- abou t race on the schedule, with rookie Pro Billy Payn e making his CMC professi ona l d eb u t. Pay ne line d up op pos ite most of the faster Pros for the first mota . When t he g a te dro p p ed , Pa y ne hooked up and pu lled the holesh ot, followed by Holland and Casey Lytle. "Th os e ga tes we re a ll w et," Pa yne noted . "My gate was more inside, bu t it was d ry." Payn e was on the gas and opened a cush ion on hi s Pro -Circuit /Quick Silve r I Kona-backed Ka w asaki, but HoIland began to close by the halfway point in the race. While Holland was gaining g rou n d , so w as Lytle, w ho may have be en arg u ably th e fast est rider on the track . With tw o laps to go, Holland finally mad e his mov e. "I lef t the d oor ope n," Payn e sai d . "H e (Holl a n d) s la m med me goo d . ] tried to get him back but when] pulled up next to him, Lytle go t a wheel on me and] lost second ." Lytle kept the pressure on Holl and for the remainder of the mot a but, in the end , Holland toughed it ou t and posted the win, followed by Lytle and Payn e. The second mot a sa w Payn e p u ll a repeat holesh ot and immed ia tely open up a comfortable lead. Payne had a fivesecond lead and looked like he woul d be th e ru na w ay w in ner, but di sas ter stru ck as he cras hed while negotiating a downhill jump. With Payn e ou t of the race wit h a fat lip and a gash in his wri st, New Mexico's Keith John son took the lead , briefly. A lap lat er , Holland and Lytle moved in to fir s t a n d seco n d and b eg a n an int ense battl e that lasted the duration of th e race. When th e dust se ttled , it was Holland by a bike length over Lytle in second , w hile Johnson, SplitFire /Pro Circu it/ Kawasaki's Nic Weyand former min i champ Bad er Man neh rounded ou t the top five. "Radical" Ron Turner, 1977 250cc Pro Golden Sta te Cha m pi o n, o w ned th e Ove r 40 Mast er divisi on, u sing fa st sta rts and sm ooth finis hes aboard his FMF-backed Yama ha. Mark White was a factor in both mote s, bu t poor sta rts left h im p a ssi n g rid e rs a ll m ot a lo n g to claim second. "I wa n ted to ge t u p th er e and ra ce Turner, bu t sixth-place starts don ' t cut it a t th e Go lden Sta te Nationals," Whi te said . . Parry Klassen , aboard his bright yellow Husaberg, wa s impressive in both m ot os an d record ed a solid th ird , in front of Ron Ru ff, Alan Olson and Joe Root, w ho was making his Over 40 Master-class d ebu t. Team KTM/R&D Racing pilots Donnie Kearne y and Cole Seely were kings of th e 50 (4-6) a n d 50 (7-8 ) classes, resp ectively, by winning both of th eir m ot os i n co n vi nci ng fash ion . Se e ly topped th e AC Racin g Cobra of Mike Mead e and Matt Harrison 's KTM, while Kearn ey took th e m easure ,,( Dust in Pipes and Hayd en Commam Las Vegas, Nevad a's Jason r' artridge was untouchable in the 80cc (7-11) d ivision. Not even a crash while lead ing the first moto could help the field of contestants, as Partrid ge sho t back past th e field in the blink of an eye to sco re the mota win . . The seco nd mota saw Part ridge out front from the drop of the gate and turnin g he ad s b y trip le -jumping in t o a w hoop sec tion th at most others cou ld only d ouble into. Partridge and his Foxba ck ed Su zu ki topped Chris Nih an , Mik e Alessi, Scott Sim on a nd Robby Wood s when the overall scores were tallied . . Th e m uc h-a n tici pate d s howdow n between Mike Alessi and Josh Grant in th e 60cc (9-11) d ivisi on w a s n ot h in g s h o r t o f a b arn -burn er durin g b oth motos of compe tition. Alessi and Grant waged a p riva te duel as th ey left th e field behind , caught up in a race all their own. In the end , Alessi edged ou t Grant d uring bot h mot os to post the ove rall vic tory . Grant took second overall; followed by Ed ward Herrin g, Buck Gu lley and Robert Memo li. Jo nathan Sh im p was th e top mini racer , sweep ing all four motos of both the 80cc (14-16) and Supe rmi ni divisions abo a rd his fast Pro Ci rcu it Yama ha s. Shimp built up 2D- to 3D-secon d lead s in every mo ta by ga ssing it lon ger in the straigh ts and by his uncanny ability to drag the handl ebars in the berm s. Shim p topped his teamma te, Ross Garcia, and Billy Laninovich in the 80cc (14-16) d ivis io n, an d C h r is Tocco a n d Suzuki 's Sha ne Bess in the Supermini class. Mik e Blos e fro m Arizon a ha d th e 80cc (12-13) class wired by placin g first d uring both motos of competiti on. Bess finished seco nd ove rall on a borrow ed bike. Todd Cam pbell fou nd his way to the winner's 'circle in the Ov er 25 Intermedia te di vi s io n with t w o wi ns . C hris Ra dz in ski o n h is Team TRE /Stiffieba cked Kawas a ki wa s in th e hunt a ll day a n d record ed runner-up h onors . Rad zinski topped Mike Hodges, Rand y Da ny lo a n d Jerry Jett on. C a m p be ll ret u rned to fini sh se cond in the 250cc Int ermediat e class behind Daniel Martins, w ho posted both mot a wins aboard his Too Trick Racing -backed Honda. Near ly 60 125cc Int ermediates were in att endance, which forced qualifiers to be run, with everything being d ecid ed in an all-or-nothing main even t. Bryan 50 (7-8), J. Cole Se ely (KTM); 2. Mike Meade (Cob); 3. Matt Ha rr iso n (KTM ); 4. Billy Ball estero (Pax) ; 5. Ta ylo r Hem m e (Cob ). 60 (0-8): 1. Jeff Aless i (Ka w ): 2. Co le See ly (Kaw) : 3. Trav is Chris te nse n (Ka w): 4. Tye Ha mes (Kaw); 5. Chad Go res (Kaw). 60 (9--1t): 1. Mike Alessi (Ka w) : 2. Josh Grant (Ka w ); 3. Edward Herring (K aw): 4. Buck C ull ey (Kaw ): 5. Rand.,l1Hall (Ka w ). 80 BEG : 1. Je ff Aless i (Kaw ): 2. j eremy Mal ott (Kaw); 3. C hase Mei nck e (Ya m); 4. Brian Melshcirner (Yam); 5. Randa ll Hall (Ka w). 80 (7~1l) : 1. Kyle Pa rtrid ge (Suz): 2. Chr is N iha n (Suz ); 3. Mik e Ale ssi (Ka w ): 4. Sco tl Simo n (Su z ): 5. Robby Woods (Kaw). 80 ( 12~13) : 1. Michael Blose (Yam); 2. Sha ne Bess (Suz) ; 3. Jaso n Ciarletta (Yam ); 4. Dylan Lord (Kaw): 5. Da te n Beavers (Kaw). 80 (l ~16): I. Jona than Shimp (Yam ); 2. Ross Garcia (Yam); 3. Bill y La ni novic h (Ya m ); 4. Bri an H u ls ey (Yam); 5. Nicholas Sclera (Kaw). S/MINl: 1. Jona than Shi mp (Yam); 2. C hris to pher Tocco (Hen): 3. Sha ne Bess (Suz): 4. Bill La ninovic h y (Yam); 5. Jason Cia rletta (Yam). 12 5 SCHBY: 1. Ja son D u bi n (Su z): 2. Br yan Jara millo (Han); 3. Kevin John son (Yam); 4. Emit Kling (Suz). 125 BEG : 1. Rodri go Quintanilla (Yam); 2. Bobby Blood w or th (H a n ); 3 . [a me s Wa rd (Ya m ); 4. Bra d Langston (Suz) ; 5. Jason Oli sa (Hen). 125 INT D 1: 1. Brya n McGav ran (Yam); 2. Bobby Bond s (Ya m ); 3. Rya n Orr (Yam); 4. Chris Gossc1aa r (Hen) : 5. Dusty Wa lters (Yam). 125 NOV 0 1: 1. Ran d y No rman (Ya m); 2. Billy Lovorci (Suz); 3. Fred Bergren (Yam ); 4. Ma tt Williams (Yam); 5. Eric Anderson (Ya m). 125 N OV D 2: 1. Fn .'CJ Kohncncro (H en): 2. Brian Morga n (Suz); 3. Co le Skee ter (Ya m); 4. Da niel Bagwe ll (Suz); 5. Gustin Ribera (Ha n). 125 INT D 2: 1. Tra vis Sm ith (Kaw ): 2. Beau Baron (Yam ); 3. Kenny Terraccian o (Yam); 4. Michael Skeeter (Yam); 5. R J. Th ompson (Kaw). 125 PRO: 1. Ru st y Ho lla nd (Suz ); 2. Casey Ly tle (Han); 3. Bader Manneh (Yam); 4. Keith Joh nso n (Yam); 5. N ick Wey (Kaw ). 250 BEC : 1. Rvan Wi nn (Suz ): 2. Matt Fe r ra to (Ka w): 3. Mike Move (Han); 4. Mark Wickham (Suz ); 5. Jeff Harper (Kaw).' 250 JR : 1. Joey Clrocco (Kaw ): 2. Rand y Norma n (Ya m); 3. Jaso n Trottier (Suz ): 4. Jim Finertz (Hu s): 5. Nathan Jones (Yam). 250 t NT: 1. Daniel M a rt en s IH o n ): 2. Todd Ca mp be ll ( Ka w): 3. Ze b Armst rong (Yam) ; 4. C h ri s Coo ley (Ka w ), 5. Rob Gilbert (Kaw). 250 PR O: I. Rus ty Holland (Su z): ~ Remy Vanrees (Ka w ): 3. Scott Brown (Kaw): 4. Keith Johnso n (Yam ); 5. Micha el Con..tantinou (Ya rn ). • 500: I. Set h You ng (Hen): 2. Son Pastell (Ka w) : 3. Mat t Ferra to (Hon) . 25+ AM : 1. Kenny Za hrt (Ya m) ; 2. Jaso n Marcus (Ya m); 3. Steve Pia ttoni (Suz) : 4. Chuck Kober (Suz); 5. Chri s Rad zins ki IKaw). 25+ M STR: 1. Jon Za hrt (Ka w) ; 2. Da rrin H oeft (Su z). 25+ PRO: 1. Billy Mercier ( Kaw): 2. Scott Brow n IKaw): 3. Co rdon Wa rd (TM); 4. Willy Musgrave (Suz); 5. Tim Sha rp (Kaw) . WMN: 1. Jen nifer Ca p uto (Han); 2. Dawn Rogers (Yam); 3. Tricia Yo u ng (Yam) ; 4. Meli s sa Billi n gsley (Yam); 5. Lorice Begin (Ha n). 30+ BEG: 1. Stewart Fiehler (Yam ); 2. Rocky Hash (Han); 3. Jim Ca r ley (Kaw): 4. Gary Rose IKa w ): 5. Meli ton Mora les (Yam). 30+ JR: 1. Ron Hyper (Hen ): 2. Robbie James

• Cover