Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) Pint-sized rivals Logan Myers (1) and Nic k Cumm ings waged war all week in the 85cc DTX (7-11) and Modified (7-11) classes. (Belo w) Roger Lee Hayden didn 't have the best of weeks, mix ing class wi ns with ,S-year-old from med iocre plac ings, but the 1 Owensboro, Kentucky, d id co me away with the prestigious AMA Horizon Award . ra ces had been ru n, causi ng a six-hour pe riod of dow ntime. Hea t races began at 6 p.m., and the racing resumed , with the fina l main event being run we ll a fter midnigh t. , Pa rt icipa tio n (no n -scored) cl asses opened up the evening' s series of main eve nts, with 5-year~0Id John Long III of Co a tesv ille, Pennsylv an ia, ge tti ng th e h oles hot in the 50cc Junior (4-6) class. Long buil t a comfo rta b le lead in th e th ree -la p ma in eve n t a nd crossed th e lin e first. Cas ee Lyn n McCammon and Alex Gu ilbea ult we re still righ t toget her a t the finish , with McCammon get ting the nod at the stripe. Candy Hiley, 7, of Beaver Dam , Wisconsin, was the young es t lad y en tered for th e weekend, bu t she showed that she mor e than measured up agains t the boys in the 50c c PW 50 (4-8) cla ss for s tock mo torcycles. H iley g rabbed the lead early a nd ou tra n Mark Keirleber and Casee Lynn McCammon to starter Larry Schmid's checkered flag . The speed s went up considerably in the 65cc DTX (7-11) class, and Devin Jessop of Churchville, New York, was the ma n to bea t. Jessop got the holeshot , with Carter Myers and John Lewis all over him as th e trio pulled away from the res t of the pack. With Lewis and Myers battling all the way to the finish, Mye rs was able to sta y a head of them for the d ura tion. A t the finis h, Myers bagged the win, with Lewis just outmotoring Myers to the line for the runner-up spot. Competition in the 85cc ranks started ho t a n d stayed hot throu ghout the week, being riva lled by few other di visions in terms of intensity and close racing. A pa ir of 'l l -year-olds, Logan Myers of Wheeler, Michigan, and "N itro us" N ick Cu m mi ngs of Mount Morris, Michiga n, ba ttled too th and nail for the top spot in the six-lap 85cc Modified (711) fi nal as they led an e ight-rider freig h t trai n in the early goi ng . As the pack spread out, Myers a nd Cummings pu lled away, with th e Mad Dog Raeing /Vanki rk Racing-backed Myers getting off the comers better to take the win by five bike lengths. " I couldn't hea r him ba ck th ere, " Myers said . "I jus t w anted to leave it wide open and go. The track wa s bett er a t night. We were hooked up better." Cummings gain ed a m ea sure o f revenge, however, by ou tru nning Myers by a s im ila r margin in the 85cc DTX class . Though Myers closed up the gap between the two on the w hite-flag lap, th e TCR /Moti on Pro-sp onsor ed Cum. mings had the upper ha nd at the finish. "On the last lap, I sa w hi s wheel, " Cummings said . "I turned it on an d got crossed up and almost knocked h im d own. I was lucky to save it." - Cand y Hil ey go t ano ther one of her "pa te n ted" holes ho ts and led lap on e w hen the 50cc Senior (7-8) d ivision took t o th e tr a ck , but Elliot O q u is t o f Marysville, Wa sh in gton , and Tra vis Myers sho t by in turn one shor tly thereafter. Oquist would not be denied, as he kep t the throttl e wide open and built a 12-leng th lead on ru nner-u p Myers by the finish. James Li les of Bergen, New York , sq uea ked int o the lead off the sta rt of the 85cc (12-15) class, wit h Steve Murray and a host of ot hers in hot purs uit. Liles pra ctically cruised to th e w in as th e order cons ta ntly shuffled behind him . At the finish , Cor y McDermitt 'Yas second, with Tom Link third and Murray dropping to fou rth. Mike's Moto rsports, Young America and Torqu e Center ' s Jesse Janisch of Ha rtford , Wisconsin , appea red to ha ve no eq u a l in th e 65c c Modified (7-11) class during the heat races, but the 10yea r-o ld found him self taking a back sea t to both Andy Fay and Justin Hittle during th e ma in even t. Af ter running third fo r a lap, Jani sch finall y got it together and pa ssed around the outsid e of Fay off tu rn two to take the lead for good on the second lap and bring home his first win of the week. "I just tried my hardest and did what I co u ld ," Janisch sai d. "I tri ed to get them in the comers because I'm usually fast in the comers. You can draft on the straightaways, bu t it's harder." When the first "big bike" class came to the line, it w as Cali fornia' s turn to shine, as Lodi Cycle Bowl regular Tony "The Tiger" Meiring, 14, of Tracy, California, flat blew away the competition in the 250cc DTX main event. Meiring g ra b b e d the le a d off th e s t a r t and flogged his Bell /Rod Lake Racing /Redline Racing Oil Honda to a convincing wi n over Honda rid ers Bryan Smith and Du sty Faulds. "1 thought that there were guys right there the whole time, " Meir ing said . "1 . just ran as hard as I could th e whole . race. When 1 cam e in, my dad sa id , 'You left 'em: I was sh ocked." Zakk Palmer of Broml ey, Kentucky, scored what appear ed to be a big upset over fellow Kentucky rider Roger Lee Ha yden in the 500cc Mod class. Palmer led Cory Roth in the early going before Hayden, wh o was att empting to recover fro m a p oor s ta r t, took ove r seco n d pl ace. Palm er took th e easy wi n, w it h Hayd en and Roth taking the next tw o sp ots in the 12-ride r field . Sixteen-year-old Donnie Mullen II of Coa tesv ille, Pen n s y lv a n ia, put on a smooth d isplay of riding in the 250cc Pro Sport class and was never headed as h e pilote d h is Mi ch a e l' s ,H - D Clas sics / Clark' s Mac Tools Suzu ki to the win ov er Ra nd y Smi th a n d Brian Mayo. " I just got the holes ho t, used my head and pu lled away," Mull en sa id . In the 600cc Pro Spo rt class, 17-yearold Bryan Shirl ey of Chatham, Illinois, took ad van tage of a mistake by eventual runner-up Michael Forro and made a pass for the lead on lap four to take the win, while Kenny Noyes moved up to third place aft er completing a last-lap pa ss on pre-race favorite Joe Ead es. "He (Forro) left the doo r open comin' out of two," the [ayco Construction/Overturf Motorsports ./Hart-backed Shirley said. "I jus t ran it in on him hard . We bumped a little bit, bu t he left the door open." ' Josh Toungett and Rob ert Pearson stayed in front of an inte nse fray in the 125cc Modified class final. Tou ngett held the lead for all six laps, with Pearson ru nni ng abo ut a bike leng th behi nd him. Cory McDerm itt emerged fro m a five-rider war to take third place. Bryan Smith, 15, of Flint, M ichi gan, r ode hi s TCR /Cometic /WD-40 H onda CR500 to th e win in the 600cc Modi fied cla ss. Smith wa s chase d by Rog er Lee Ha yd en in the early going b efore pulling hi gh into th e cush io n a nd running away fro m his pursu ers. H a y d en wa s se con d, fo llowed b y Zakk Palmer. 'Tha t was just whe re my bike was w or kin g," Sm it h sa id . " It go t a littl e rou gh up there, but th e bike was workin g good enoug h to w here it didn 't throw me off." The diminutive C ha rlie Italia was u nsto ppable in the 250cc Modi fied class . The 80-po u nd 12-year-old from Cu yahoga Falls, Ohio, follo wed Roger Lee Hayden fOf most of the first la p before gai ning the u pper han d d own the fron t straigh taway. From there, Italia gui ded his Roth Racin g / Ia n Se g ed y / To rco Honda to a thr ee-length advantage ove r Hayden a t th e lin e. John Sp ire lli was third . The "old guy" classes offered racin g that was as compe titive as the kids . Dan Crawford of Marlette, Michigan, topped the Ov er 30 class, whil e Royal Add erson wa s the to p dog in the Open Over 40 class and backed it up with an other win in the Open Twins Over 25 class . TT Wednesday' S IT was ru n on the half mile, but with the obvious twist, as riders ran down the front straig htaway and were funneled into a tigh t and tw ist y 'TT" section that featured a d ogleg left, followed by an off-cam ber righ t-hander and th en another le ft as the sectio n p oured onto th e back stra igh taway . Patience was the nam e of the game, and rid ers able to pass cleanly in the twisty sec tion had a di stinct advant age ove r those wh o tried to for ce the iss ue and wo und u p in a heap on the ground. Candy Hil ey became the weekend ' s first repeat winner, of sorts, as she again top ped the 50cc PW50 (4-8) participation clas s. Th e 50cc (4-6) class wa s won by Tyler Pittman, but perhaps more impo rtantly, it showcased jus t exa ctly how sha rp some of the younger riders can be. Case in poi nt : During the main even t, a red flag was thrown. All rid ers heeded it an d came to a complet e s top - so mething that many pros still fail to ge t right on occasio n, Elliot Oquist was once again unbeatable in the 50cc Senior (7-8) class, Travis ' Myers mana ged to keep Oquist in sight e n route to fini sh in g seco n d. Matt Downs was third . The 65cc DTX (7-11) race aga in featu red 'a close battl e betw een Devin Jessop a nd Carter My er s for what a t the time ap peared to be second pla ce. Ultimat ely, th ough, it turned o u t to be a race for the win (see "Briefly"), with Jesso p again prevailing ove r Myers, and John Lewis grabbing another third-p lace finish . Nick Cummings took the win in the 85cc Mod ified (7-11) class, taking over 31

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