Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

District 37 Big Six Grand Prix series, Round3 By Matt Freeman lWENTYNlNE PALMS, CA, APR. 4-5 t was no surprise that American Honda's Johnny Campbell raced to a near-perfect weekend at the HiUtoppers MC Grand Prix, located at the Twentynine Palms Rodeo Grounds. At the previous two rounds of the District 37 Big. Six Grand Prix Series, Campbell has come away with at least two race wins in each event. At the Twentynine Palms event, which drew approximately 1100 entries, the XR628 pilot won four out of five races he entered and finished second in the Open race, the last race in what was a long weekend for Campbell. The spoiler for Campbell's perfect weekend was Team Green's Paul Krause, who drove straight from a National Hare & Hound in Utah on Saturday to compete in the Hilltoppers' Vet and Open races on Sunday. Krause won both races he entered with little contest. Of course, Grand Prix specialist Rex Staten was on hand to take part in the Twentynine Palm event. Staten overaUed the Senior Expert/Amateur race on Saturday, and then followed up on Sunday with the Classic-class win and the overall win in the Team race, in which he partnered with Abe Baumann. The fir t race of the weekend was the Unclassified event. WR400-mounted Jimmy Lewis best de.scribed the race when he said, "I went out and roosted but Johnny (Campbell) just roosted faster than me." Lewis nabbed the holeshot and led for most of the first 8-mile lap before Campbell could catch up from a twokick start. "It wasn't the start I wanted," -said Campbell, who had to catch and· pass teammate Tim Staab before he could pass Lewis. "I caught Staab, and then Jimmy kind of let me by." The hour-and-a-quarter race ended i~ that order, with Campbell taking his first WlIl and LeWIS 1Il second, edging out Staab. After Staten was done wiping out the Senior competition, Campbell went to work again in the combined FourStroke/250/200cc race, but a new face on the starting line hinted that this race might not be as easy to win as the last. '1 had U,e weekend off," said Larry Roeseler, when asked about his surprise appearance on the starting line. "I wanted to come out and promote Stroker, plus I have a lot of old friends in the Hilltoppers. It was neat to see everyone." And promote is what he did, as the Stroker KLX650-mounted Roeseler hung close to race leaders Campbell and Staab for the fir t half of the race. Staab led a majority of the first lap before Campbell took the lead for good. Roeseler hung on for third. KX250-mounted Phil Holcomb aced all the 250s, as did KTM-mounted David Reese in the 200cc Expert class. "During the Four-Stroke race, the track started to get real beat up," said Campbell of the midday' race. "Once I got a comfortable lead over Tim (Staab) and Larry (Roeseler), I just started searching for the good lines for the Pro race. I tried to stay out of the rough stuff." Roeseler agreed that the track started getting rough but commended the HiU- I toppers for their course maintenance after each race. "After every race, they grated and watered down most of the cour e," RoeseIer said. "It was nice and smooth for the start of the Pro race." When the 12 or so Pros took off for the start of their money-paying race, Ron Schuler and his KXSOO were out in front - but not for long. "Larry was in the lead on the first lap," said Pirelli/FMF/IMS/K&N/ Acerbis-backed Campbell. "It was a fast first lap and I had to work hard to catch him. Once I caught him, we diced a little ways and then I settled in with the lead." . Behind Campbell all the way to the flll1sh was Roeseler, Donnie Morrison and Schuler, all mounted on Open bikes. John Whitaker and Robert Barnum took the top two 250cc Pro spots. Staten and Baumann may have lost an hour of sleep due to the switch to daylight savings time during the wee hours of Sunday morning, but they did not lose anything when it came to Sunday's 8 a.m. Team race. The KX500 duo edged out the team of IMS-backed Randy orman and Tommy Roberts, as well as the team of Jason Ingersoll and Erik Wolfe. Staten would later return to steal the holeshot in the Dual Sport/Vintage/ Classic race. "Rex got the holeshot and hung tough," said Campbell about Staten's start, "but my bike just outhandled his." Needless to say, Campbell rode away with the overall win and Staten with the Classic honors. Joel Bilotta ended up With the VlIltage-class win. The Dual Sport/Vintage/Classic race would be Campbell's fourth and final win of the weekend, as Krause and his KX500 were quickly getting ready for competition during the final minutes of Campbell's last hurrah. "I almost missed U,e Vet race," said Krause,. who admitted to forgetting to move his dock forward one hour on his trip back from Utah. "I made it to the start just in time and was able to get the lead nght away, but I knew I was going to have to ride fast because of Abe (Baumann)." At the end of the 75-minute race Krause rode hard enough to build up ~ near-four-minute lead over Baumann and third-place finisher Norman. YZ250-mounted John Rudder topped the 250cc Vet class, followed by the CR250 of Jon Parks. The 11th and final event of the weekend was the Open race.. Krause wasted no time in grabbing his second holeshot of the day, and he made it stick all the· way to the finish without much pressure from Campbell or third-place finisher Casey Longman. "I rode hard for a couple of laps to try and catch him but my body was just hammered by the end of the weekend. I figured out I rode something like 240 miles for both days," said Campbell about his winning weekend. "I just got a fN little tired towards the end." . Hilltoppers Grand Prix Twentynine Palms, California .Results: April 4-5, 1998 (Round 3) UtCLFD: 1. Johnny CampbeU (Hon); 2. Jimmy Lewis (Yam); 3. Tim Staab (Han). OPEN BEG: 1. Brett Daugherty; 2. Clint Burtle; 3. Ethan Allen. (Top) Paul Krause drove out from a National Hare and Hound in Utah on Saturday to win the Vet and Open Expert classes on Sunday. (Above) Johnny Campbell flew to four class wins at the HlIItoppers Grand Prix. OPEN NOV: 1. Danny Jones; 2. Dave Lippert; 3. n'omasBell. OPEN 'NT: 1. Jerry Fisher; 2. Durand Mack' 3. Mike Tyner. • • OPEN EX: 1. Paul Krause (Kaw'); 2. johnny Campbell (Hon); 3. Casey Longman (Hon). 250 BEC: 1. Dennis Mauer; 2. Brett Daugherty; 3. Bryan Barker. 250 NOV: 1. Chad Walton; 2. Michael Hill; 3. Steve Hernandez. 250 INT: 1. Nick Barlow (Kaw); 2. Dennis GnJJagher; 3. Gordon Keller (Kaw). . 250 EX: 1. Phil Holcomb OC,w); 2. Chris Dubowski (KTMl. 200 BEG: 1. Nick Thompson; 2. Oscar Dykesten; 3. Jelf Dillon. 200 NOV,!. P. Ashfo«l; 2. Jeremy Ferro; 2. Robert Werschey. _ 200 INT, I. Josh Stice; 2. Colby Gulledge; 3. Mike Miller. 200 EX: L David Reese (KTM); 2. Quint Betts (}(aw); 3. Morgan Crawford (Kaw). MINI BEG: 1. Matthew Lucas; 2. Dustin Braico; 3. Adam Beavidas. MI I OV: 1. Ryan Riess; 2. jeff Dillon; 3. Ty Renshaw. MINIINT, 1. Craig Gulledge; 2. Jason Jeffrey. M[NI EX: 1. Kurt Caselli (Kaw); 2. Jon'lilian Davies (Kaw); 3. Bobby Steffan (Kaw). 4-STRK BEG: 1. Miles Davis; james Keating; 3. Cody Pedmos. 4-STRK NOV: 1. Jay Wahl; 2. Todd Smart; 3. Dave Upperl. 4-STRK [NT: 1. Jeff BL'ckmore; 2. Will Galinato' 3 Rich Sui lor. • . 4-STRK EX: 1. Johnny Campbell (Han); 2. Tim Staab (Han); 3. Larry Roeseler CKaw). WMN NOV: 1. Mindy Hambleton; 2. 'Sarah Schikc; 3. Deanne Moore. WMN INT: 1. Heather McNabb; 2. Rita Morneult· 3. Amber Ricket. • WMN EX, I. Anna Jo Cody (Kaw); 2. Michelle Cassella (Kaw); 3. Shirley Jergensen (Suz). OPEN PRO,!. Johnny Campbell (Honl; 2. laITy Roeselcr (Kaw); 3. Donnie Morrison (Yam); 4. Ron Schuk:r (K.'lw). 250 PRO: 1. John Whitaker; 2. Robert BMnum. D/SPT NOV: 1. Rand Keast; 2. Rick Kanat7... r; 3. M. 1 Pull. D/SPT tNT: 1. Lance McRoberts; 2. Mike Ferro; 3. Ken Neal. D/SPT EX, I. Johnny Campbell (Hon); 2. Mike Martin. CLSSC NOV: 1. Jnmes Howard; 2. Darrell Allen; 3. Vinnje Mandzack. . C~SC [NT: 1. Jimmy Connolly; 2. Steve Dillion; 3. Wtll Llghthart. CtSSC EX: 1. Rex Staten (Yam); 2. James Connolly; 3. James Ditson. VINT NOV: 1.. Mi.ke O'Donnell; 2. Steve Hoover; 3. James Kohls. VlNT £NT: 1. Paul Ondas; 2. Tom Roach. VINT EX: 1. Joel Bilotta; 2. Dennis Tooman. TRAIL VLNT: I:Mike Vordean; 2. Steve Bowdan; 3. Terry Moody. TEAM OPEN: 1. Rex Staten/ Abe Baumann (Kaw); 2. Randy Norman/Tommy Roberts (Kaw); 3. Erik Wolfe/Jason Ingersoll (Kaw). TEAM 250: l. Dennis Gall~gher/GordonKeller; 2. Charles Powell/Bart Blankenship; 3. jeff Nutter/Gary Milain. TEAM 200: 1. P. Vandenberg/Dwayne Franks; 2. Scott Duval/Robert Saldana; 3. PhiJJ Holcomb/Curtis Walker. SDRCK: 1. Victor Pohfreyman; 2. Mike Bums/Richanl My....; 3. Dustin Hiniker/Jeff Anders. VET OPEN BEG: l. Jon Gnquegrant. VET OPEN NOV: 1. David Mullen; 2. Mark Salnor; 3. Bruce Young. VET OPEN tNT: 1. Alex Zapata; 2. Breit Sauve; 3. K. Hensley. VET OPEN EX: 1. I'aul Krause (Kaw); 2. Abe Baumann O

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