Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

D TRACK iRT AMADIRT T A KGRAND RC CHAMPIONSHIPS " : :":"; ,_~ .:T I'",'. ~ " . ;' , ;'~"_"' _';J.~~:, ..., . '.' '7'.,,,: -..::';f": .C; " -" " ' ~.~ !.:"".'.~• ., ';,. ,~ • the lead from ea rly fro nt-runner Jesse Janis ch in th e ri ght -h and er. Lo g an Myers also pulled past [ansich down the front straightaway and looked to renew hi s ri val r y w i th Cum mi ngs . M ye rs closed in on Cu mmings in the final run down the fro nt chu te and attemp ted a sli ngsho t pa ss th at came u p sho rt. A clea rly ou tp owered Jan isch held on for third. " I' ve g o t a g oo d m ot orcy cl e th is year," Cummings said. "We got this one from You ng Ame rica. I ran Kawasaki s before, but I like this Honda because it's fast and hand les a lot better." The tigh tness of the first two turn s in the TT sec tion beca me obvi ou s in the 85cc DTX (7-11 ) m ain e ven t, as it app eared as though all 12 riders tried to squeeze throu gh the turn at once. Logan Myers go t the wo rs t o f it, as he squirreled sidewa ys and went d own rig ht in front of Cummings, w ho had to squ irt. be twe en hay bale s to avoid being collected . This ga ve Nick Sellers of North Bend, Washing ton, all the help he needed , and Sellers took the lead for good . Be hi nd hi m , Jam es Li les he ld off a ch a rgi ng Cu m m ings a nd Wisc o nsin ride r Blake Young for second. Nick Sellers gra bbed the holeshot in the 85cc 02-15) main even t, but McDermitt / WD-40/Ray C' s-sp on sored Cory McDermi tt led a pack cont aining Tom Link , Sellers, Troy Joh nson and James Liles across the stripe on the first lap . As the race progressed , it als o in tensified , with McDerm itt and Seller s ofte n ru nning sid e by side - eve n th ro u gh the tight IT section. In the end, McDermitt, 13, of Flint, Michigan, got a better dri ve onto the back straigh t an d firm ly took the lead on lap five. Sellers was second by abou t one bike leng th , w ith Link third . " I hea r d t hem back th er e , b u t it d oesn ' t reall y bot her me," McDermitt said. "I just act like there's always someone in fron t of me and pretend like I' m chasi ng them down." The 65cc Mod ified (7-11) IT feature turned out to be the Jesse Jan isch show, as the IO-year-oId speedster once again piloted his ex-J.R. Schnabel KX60 to the win , although Andy Fay kept him hones t. Fay cl o sed late in th e rac e, but Jani sch wa s abl e to put a lapped rider between himself and Fay to guar antee the win. A flyin g Justin Hittle was third . "And y was pushing me, so I had to concentrate," said Ja ni sch , wh o was born in 1987 , yet rid es a " vi n tag e" mot orc ycle that wa s manufactu red in 1986. "I d idn 't want to get passed on the last lap . That's w here all the pressure is." 32 Tom Link wa s impress iv e in the 125cc Amateur clas s . Link, from Muskegon, Michigan, ran third for three of the six laps in the main before closing on leader Cory McDermitt and secondplaced Wesle y Brown. Link sh ot under Brown in the right-hander and landed right on the back fender of McDermitt before div ing underneath him and taking the lead off turn four. Link led the next two laps and took the win. Roger Lee Hayden, wh o man y insid ers figured would be the one to watch all weekend , overcame ano ther bad start to win th e 600cc Mod ified IT feature, wh ich turned ou t to be one of the best . race s of the week end. in 'a classic "old man vs. the kid " shoo tout, the 15-yearol d H ayd en duel ed w it h 46-year-old Royal Ad derson of Cal gar y, Canad a. Hayd en do gged Adderson, passing him in turn three at the halfway point, only to lose the lead as Adde rson squared the corner off and retook the lead . The battl e se esawed back and fo r th fo r tw o Indiana State Fairgrounds "<) (Left) Thursday 's TT course was ti ght an d tricky. Here,500cc Mod if ied winner Hen ry Wile s (71) gets set to clobber Roge r Lee Hay den (69) afte r th e two have tangled. (Below) Winner by a half mile: To ny " The Tig er" Meiring bla sted the c om petit ion the 250cc DTX main event during Tuesday 's hall mile co m pet itio n: ' in mo re laps before the 2nd Cha nce Aut o Sales / Rod Lake Racing /Hart-sp onsored Ha yden finall y too k it fo r good a nd bagged the win. " I was p retty hap p y to wi n th a t," Hayd en said. "I usually d o pretty bad at them (ITs). Bu t now I've got the points lead in two classes (250 and 600)." Hayde n came out on the losing end of the 250cc Mod ified final, as that race was all Kur t Hawk. The Presto n, Washington, Hond a rider nailed the holeshot and left everyone else fighting for second alm os t from th e ge t-g o. H ayd en ha d to d eal with eventual third -pl ace fin isher Brya n Smith before making a race ou t of it. Hayden caught Hawk on lap five, bu t he would have to settle for second at the finish. Both the 250cc a nd 600cc Pro Sport fina ls w ~ re practi call y runa wa ys, as Da niel Kau ffman of Blanchard , Michi gan, showed the field his backsid e in the 250cc Pr o Spo rt fin al , leaving Jeremy DeRuyter and Donnie Mullen II to figh t fo r t he seco nd s po t, w hich fe ll to DeRuyter . In the 600cc Pro Spo rt class, 24-year-old Donnie Stewa rd of Burlington, Iowa , put his Heartl and H-D-BuellATK/Bill' s Cu st om Finish / Thor en try in front off the start and kept it th ere, leaving the fie ld behin d him . Dan iel Ka uffma n and Brian Shirley rounded au t the top three. "I felt really good on the IT," th e Steward said. "I had some bad luck on the half mile. I'm not really sure wh ere we are in the points. I want ed the championship, but with a 12th place on the half mile, that 's probably impossible." Larry Van Val kenbu rg a nd his screaming Yama ha twin appeared all se t to collect the firs t-p lace trophy in the Open Twins Over 25 class, but a miscue sent him skid d ing off the track in turn o ne , dropping him to third . In his absence, George Mack took the lead and held on for th e w in. Van Valken burg rebound ed to finis h seco nd, wit h Paul Laak so finis hing th ird on an ex-Kevin Atherton TCR Harley-Davidson XR750. Roger Lee Hayd en was another victim of turn one. H ayd en led the 500cc Modi fi ed m ain e ve nt' for four laps before tangling with Henry Wiles an d throwing it awa y in the IT section. With that, Wiles, 14, of Blan chard, Michigan , assumed the lead and had such a hu ge safety mar gin that he probably could hav e pu sh ed hi s Mad Dog Ra cin g / Mo u n t Pleasant Fo rei g n Car-backed Honda home for the w in ah ead of Joe Bromley and Brian Woodward. "I was catching him (Hayd en) alot," Wiles said. "I bumped his back tire and he sli d o u t a nd h igh -sid ed . I wa s al ready going to the outside, and I hit him. I did n't mean to do that. It all happened pretty quick." Mark Ch eza of Clio, Michigan, bea t Joe Broml ey and Lyle Barber Jr. back to the line in the Open Over 30 class, while Royal Add erson held off Rick Reed an d John McClelland Jr. in the Open Ove r 40 class. . _' In the 250cc DTX ma in, 23-yea r-old Ch ad Fitzp atrick of Sandusky, Michigan, kept his Sandusky Motor Parts Yamaha ahea d of a close race between Kurt Hawk and Tony Meiri ng for second . Hawk pre vail ed a ft e r Me irin g a tt emp ted a pa ss in the IT section 011 th e las t lap , bu t nei th er man would catch Fitzpatrick. 911 ~ Briefly_ir ~~---,----.:----,---:--....:....:...:.' _ '_ ." . . ' . The AMA Gr and Championsh ip Short Track scheduled for Friday: July 10. at 16th Street, Speedway , had to be canceled due to ' unsafe track conditions. Riders arrived at the fabled M idget .car-racirig facility t~ find the track had been preparedin theheavy. r~ugh' condition ,tha( favors the open-wheel cars: Riders who took to the track to test the surface also found difficulty withthe facility's odd.. square-shaped layout. Aft er several hours: Worth of grooming. the best attemptsof the track prep 'crew still 'did not sattsfy .the sefety concerns of the AMA and Fast 'Track Promotions. The decision was made to 'pullthe plug On the short track arid gi~e all 'entered riders full refund of their entry fee. Perhaps ·surPrisingiy."" the cancellation a'nnouncement ' mei . . ' .' , .' t-l with a round of applause from the racers and their parents, who felt that the AMA's decision was . ,the correct one under the 'circumstances. Several options ' including the possibility of retuming io '. 16th ~treet Speedway - are being discussed fcithe 1999 edition of the sh0rt ·track. a

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