Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

4-STRK B: 1. Da vid Kukcl ; 2. Gary Cru m backer; 3. Mike Shirley. OPEN C: 1. Ted. Lentz; 2 Scott Co rle tt; 3. Hermon Stoll . 250 C: 1. Da ve Ed w ard s; 2. Da n ie l Boyd; 3. Jim Distenhaupt. 200 C: 1. Dan e Sm ith; 2. Andrew Roshong. 3. John Allen . 125 C: 1. Todd Ro sen ; 2. Se a n Wa ll.lee; 3. Ja so n Cro ley . 4-STRK C: 1. Peter Magee; 2. Chris Jo h nson ; 3. Tom Cro n in. VET A: 1. Larry Arrin gto n; 2. Johnny Simpki ns; 3Maynard Patterson. VET 8: 1. Ed Sapsford ; 2. Fra nk Erickson; 3. Rick Hales. V ET C: 1. jeff Ware; 2. C lev e Ro be rts; 3. Da vid Sop ko. SR A: 1. Dav e Arnett ; 2 . Da ry l C rai g ; 3 . Ed Schulenburg. S R B: 1. Craig Walla ce; 2. Clint John son; 3. Davi d No rman . S R C: 1. Don Scm cnto: 2. Sam Men to; 3. John Dav . S/SR A: 1. David Kuka, 2. M ikl' Reynolds: 3. Cliff Go lby. S/S R B: 1. Jo h n Watts; 2. Lan e Shep herd ; 3. Chris Owens. S/S R 1. C ates Pcllct eir; 2. Barry Co le; 3. Kenny Malewicz. • MSTR A: 1. Bill Girard ; 2. JOt' Va n Sceters. MSTR B: 1. Richard Sm ith; 2. Joh n Gree n: 3. Jim m y Dubose. MSTR C: 1. N orbert Na il; 2. Buddy Gai lard: 3. Ed Weist. WMN: 1. Deborah Brod ric k; 2. Lori C raig; 3. Liz Th o m pson. VI NT: 1. C h uc k 'M il le r; 2. Ed Th o m a s; 3. C h r is Solan. G LD N MSTR: 1. J"" Ha ley. SP'TSMN 0: 1. Eric Perkins. 2. Dan McKune; 3. Marc Petit. SPTSMN t : 1. Han k Schwall; 2. Stev e Bigos; 3. Eric New land . TEAM: 1. Team a FG; 2. Tcam FROC . a F lorida T ilRiders C'ship Enduro Series, ra Round 8 Brewer's crowned By Kenneth King MORRISTON, FL, MAY 31 h e championship in the Florida Trail Riders Enduro Series came down to the last race, the Scrub Oak Enduro, and the battle between two riders from South Carolina: KTM's Franklin Ramey III, the current FTR and SETRA Enduro Champion, and Team Green's Ashley Brewer, a top SETRA AA rider. It was classic KTM vs . Kawa saki; champion v s. cha llen ge r. Both rid er s need ed a win to claim th e cha mp ionship, but wh en th e dust se ttled, it was Brewer taking the ove rall win an d hi s firs t-ever series ch am pi onship without dropping a single point. "1 am really glad 1 could win a championship for Kawasaki in my first year with the team, " Brewer said . "1 hope to d o even more next year. 1 think 1 ma y have caught the competition sleepi ng towards the end of the seaso n. It's hard to stay motivated all season long ." Ramey had n oth in g but pra ise for Brewer's accomp lis hme n t, as th e tw o had a close battle toward the end and it could have go ne either way. Ram ey lost the event and the championship by mere seconds on his way to a one-point card . Ryan Cris t, a fast 200cc B rid er, took his Kawasaki to first in his class and also finished an impressive th ird overa ll. With rid es like that, he wo n' t stay in the B class very long. The Scrub Oak End uro was prom oted by the Dayto na Dirt Riders, and the course' consisted of three loops w ith 60 actual gro u nd miles. The club used a 20to 24-mph speed avera ge. The race was dry and dusty, es pecially compared to previous events where endless bogs and drowned bikes were commonplace. The first loop was close to 12 miles in length and wa s run at a 20-mph average. The trail was mainly fast stuff with intermittent jeep roads, and both Ramey and Brewer zeroed-the check. "The 2D-mph average made it easy to T 40 maintai n yo ur t im e," MSR-backed Brewe r said. "You just kept tim e from mile to mile.': "Accord ing to my clocks, I had a pe rfect zero - :30, in the first section, but I was score d a :32," Brew er exp la ined. "My clock or theirs was a little off." "Tha t fir st se ction was pretty easy, esp ecially a t 20 mph," said Ramey, wh o came in at a perfect :30. There was a reset then into the next se ction befor e th e gas s top . Loop tw o had all the Florida essenti als - plenty of whoops, sand and palmetto roots - and the temperature wa s slowly rising, as was the dust. The trail was tougher, but at the slow sp eed average, Ram ey and Brewer had no trouble with time. Brewer was riding two rows behind Ram ey, so the two onl y saw each othe r at the resets. At the end of loop two, Brewer and Ramey were still tied at zero, but Ramey had the lead with a better tiebreaker scor e. At the 36-mile mark, it was on to the gas stop and a chance for a break from th e dust an d heat. So far, Ramey and Brew er had zeroed the course. This put pressure o n both rid ers, beca use if a mistake was made in the u pcoming two loops, the two knew it wo u ld cost them the championship. "1 had a pretty good d ay," Ramey sa id . "1 w as rid ing good. I just d on't really like the zero runs. There just isn' t any margin for erro r." The third loop was the toug hes t trail the rid ers rod e all da y, an d it was close to 25 miles in length. The loop star ted a t th e 50-mile mark, wa s run a t 24 mph and consis ted of pine sections cou pled wit h plen ty of whoops. The first tim ed sec tio n of th e loop was 12 mil es long. Th is was the toug h section since it had small d irt fu rrows p laced abo ut a foot apart as they raced th ro ugh th e pines . Going into the trail, someone in the club .had placed a sign that read, "Shock therapy ." It wa s an u nderstatement. Had the trail been longer, point s cou ld ha ve been taken, but as it was, Brewer and Ramey once again zeroed the sectio n. Th er e wa s a rese t to 68 m iles a n d th en it was on to th e fin al tr ail of the race. The trail was fas t and flowi ng, with the added bonus of being a little damp. Dust-free conditions and perfect traction were welcomed by the combatants. The trail got tight in places, and in the dense foliage, Ramey took a wrong tum that ultimately cos t h im th e race and the cha mpions hip. (Left) Team Green's As hley Brewer rode to the overall win at the FTR Scrub Pine Enduro, snaggi ng his first-ever se ries championship. (Above) Franklin Ramey til got lost but sttll finished sec ond overall at the Scrub Pine Enduro. The error probably cost Ramey the cham pionship. Costa Mesa Speedway "1 was following the trail a nd then lo st th e a rro ws, " Ramey explained . "You could see tracks from other riders. 1 rod e seve ral mile s, 1 know, before I reali zed what had happened. 1 was d own abou t four minutes, but the trail was eas y and I cranked it up. I made up those minutes but ran out of trail and luck before the last check. I came in at 1: 14. 1 think Ashley zeroed it . If I cou ld have just made up those 14 seconds, the results may have been d ifferent. "1 had bad luck at the last two FTR races," Ramey continued. "That kind of luck cost me the championship, 1 still won the SETRA Enduro Series, but it would ha ve been nice to make it two years in a ro w with FTR." On the other hand, Brewer kept sight of the trail to take the win. "T ha t la st sec tio n w as fun - it flowed," Brewer said . "It wa s the most fun of th e day. 1 saw where Franklin passed the trail and I decided not to go that way. Fortu nately, 1 caught an arrow abou t 20 yards up the trail, w as able to zero the section and take the win . " My Kaw a saki produces a lot of p o wer, w h ich helps m e in th e sa n d w hoops," Brewer ad de d. "Ad d in th e Bridgestone tires and 1 think 1 have the u ltimate setu p for Florida endures." After tw o overall wins in a row and the series cha mp ionship, wh o can ar gu e with that? • Overall A honors went to Steve New in the 200cc A class with a score of two. The Ove rall B trophy went to Crist, who al so na bbed th ird o ve ra ll, and th e Cclass Overall went to 200cc rid er Dan e Smith, who dropped seven route points, t-:\ Scrub Pine Enduro Morriston, Florida Result s, May 31, 1998 (Round 8) Q /A: Ashley Brewer. AA: 1. Franklin Ramey 111. OPEN A: I. Mik e Marlin ; 2. Joe y Rowland; 3. Steve Hardema n. 250 A: 1. Nic k George; 2. Danny Ba rr ett: 3. J.R. Cooley. 200 A: 1. Steve New; 2, Brian Martin; 3. JOt.Y Haley. ' OPEN B: 1. David McAd am . 2SO B: 1. Mark Honak er; 2. Ti m w e be r. 3. Mik e John so n. 200 B: 1. Rya n C ris t; 2. G reg Jo h nson ; 3. Stua r t Bradow. 125 B: 1. John Fran klin. Schwartz, Venegas tops By Ela ine Jones Photos by Mike Basso COSTA MFSA, CA, JUNE 20 t was a Speedway Extravaganza a t Costa Mesa on Saturday night, with so me thi n g for everyone : sp eed w ay bikes, sidecars, PW 50s and Pro 600cc dirt track bikes . If it had wheel s and went fast, it was on the program. When all was said an d done, Bobby "Booga 100" Schwartz and Charlie 'The Edg e" Venegas were the kings of the hill, winn ing the Scratch and Handicap m ain events, respectively. The draw for th e Scratch main sa w "Fast" Edd ie Castro in one, Gary Hicks in two and Schwartz in three. On the ou tside, in fou r, it wa s John Ad en, wh o is returning to speed way after a year off, an d McConnell in fiv e. Schwartz got abou t a width of a w heel ed ge on th e res t of the field when the tapes came up, with Aden rid ing in tandem with him in second . McConnell dropped down on the pol e and we n t hunting on the low side. He fou nd the hole on the second lap and was able to put himself in second . Sch wartz was running easy and made it look lik e a walk in th e p ark . Ad en ca me b a ck a t Mc Co nnell bu t couldn't get aroun d on the outs ide, and it ' s hard to m ov e McC onnell o ff th e pole. Hicks' problem s continued as he lost his motor with one lap down, and his ni ght w as ov er. Ca stro fini sh ed fourth and Hi ck s wa s cred ited with fifth. This was Schwartz' second mainevent win in three weeks and he was liking it. On the Handicap side of the program, the fir st heat saw Castro get through traffic from the 40-yard line and put hims elf in the lead on the fourth lap. I

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