Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~HRIfA C lassic Bike Magazine Dirt Track Series,Round 8: Indianapolis Mile (Left) Dante Dambruoso (161Z) leads Joh Plumb (31B) and the rest in Sportsman 250 racing. Dambruoso and Plumb battled for the win, with Dambruoso coming out on top. (Above) David Atherton finished first (ahea d of his brothe r Gene) in the Classic 5001750 class . (Below) David Allen (89), riding a Yamaha 360, worked hard to defeat second-place finisher Craig Brecko n (39) in the Sportsman 600 class, taking the narrow victory over the - 580cc Triumph rider on the last lap. By Matt Be nson L\'DlAJ'JAPOLIS, IN,JULY9 alf miles , short tracks and the occasional IT are w here vintage flat-trackers normally do battle. By comparison, the Indy Mile is a huge, imposing place, provoking intense conve rsa tio ns among competitors about gea ring, jetting and the health of 30- and 40-year-old engines on this hot, h um id Midwest dav, Tho ugh ·se iz u res and other motor maladies diu cause a fair n umber of retirements, most riders and tun er s figured o ut the proper setup for AHRMA's second-ever mile race. The result was so me excellent racing amo ng the nearl y 100 entries. Typical of th e close action was th e brakeless Classic 500/750 class. It started in the first hea t race as Triu m ph twin riders Craig Breckon and George Richtmeyer swapped the lead for most of the race. Breckon just managed to hold off the d efending class champ , while behind them Harley KR-mounted Rusty . Lowry eventually wrestled third away from Californian Garv Davis on a BSA Gold Star. The sec~nd heat was an Atherton family feud, with David and his Gold Sta r single p revailing o ve r Gene's Triumph 500 twin. In the fina l it was all Atherton as the tw o veteran Michigan riders dista nced themselves fro m the pack. Ge ne led the firs t half of the race, bu t then David too k ove r and held on for an extremely close finish. Behind them , Riehtmeyer worked his way pas t Brecko n to finish third. In th e quarter-lit er 'Classic cla ss, it was a race to the chec kered flag between Mike Co n nell on a '66 Harley 250 Sp rint and class cha mpion john Bova's '67 Bultaco tw o-st roke. Th e wi n w ent to Co nne ll. Yam aha-mounted -Davis spent th e race d icin g with Jo hn Daniels and his Bultaco, fina lly opening a slim ma rg in to captu re third . . H 48 Davi s a nd Geo rg e W ill s' s pen t the Dinosaur heat race battling one another, and they took it up again in th e fin al. Whi le Wills and his '48 Harl ev WR handshifter pr evailed in the 'heat, ·it looked as though Davis would take the main - that is, until his ' 51 Triu m p h fell vi ctim to mecha nical problems and Will s, the defending class champ, found himself with a free rid e ho m e, ahead of Beno Rod i's Royal Enfield . , When the bikes with brakes took to the track,-the stage was set for a showdown in the Sportsman 250 cla ss bet w een New Yorker John Plumb and California racer Dante Dambruoso. In the opening heat, Plumb had bested Richt meyer in a close one, while Dambruoso ea rned a decisive victory over a tight race between Darryl Ja ku bowski and Keit h Bryant. The 250 final began as a three-w ay race involving Dambru oso, Plumb and Jakubowski. A short distance back, Richtmeyer and Bryant we re engaged intheir own battle. Late in the race, Dambruoso and Plumb began to pull away, still running supe r-close, whil e Jakubowski , Richtmeyer and Bryant were engaged in a dispute over third pla ce. Wh en th e checkered flag waved, it was Dambruoso and his Yamaha twi n s till hold ing th e lead position ahead of Plumb's Yamaha sing le . Brya nt , m ea n wh ile, nipped jakubowsRi at the line, with Richtmeyer tra iling a short dis tance behind in fifth . David Allen and his Yama ha 360 led the Spo rtsma n 600 freight tra in, towing Breckon, Davis and California n Rod Lake. By m id race Breckon ha d mu scled hi s 580cc Tri umph th ump er to th e fro n t, beginning lead- sw a p p ing battle with Allen. It was the Yamaha rider who nar rowly held the point position for the final circuit to the checkered flag. Thir d we nt to Davis, whil e Lake ran into bike problems and showed up eigh th in the final tally.: As he has do ne so many times, Richtmeyer roared his 'Ed Albri ght Yamaha to a the front of the Sportsma n T::>O pack and stayed there. Behind the defen d ing class champ was a dogfight involving Dennis Williams (on a Yamaha), John Plumb (on a Triumph), David Wekht (on a Yamaha), Gary Horton (on a Triumph) and George Mack (on a Triumph). Late in the eightlap rac e, Plumb and Williams began to d istanc e themselves from the others, finishing in that order in Richtmeyer's wake. In the Over 50 Senior clas s, it. appeared that Duwayne Montgomery would earn top spot. But class charnpion Gary Brennan had ot he r pl an s. Spotting Montgomery a cylinder and be tter than 150cc, Bre n nan and his Triump h TR5MX-based m achine steadily reeled in Mo ntgomery's Ya ma ha 750cc twin. Bre n nan ca ugh t the Georgian on lap seven and at the finish line drafted past' for the closest of vict ories . Sit ting in a solid thi rd all r a ce was j im C ha llingsworth on a Trium ph 750. ( In t h e nonc ha m pio ns hi p Vetera n class for rider s o ver age 35, Mike Barber ran at th e he ad of the pack from start to finis h, d efeatin g fe llow Yamaha 750 racer Dennis Williams. A HRM A ' s two-even t Classic Bike M a ga zin e Mil e Champi onsh ip conclu des Se ptember 27 at Sac ramento's Cal Expo Fairgrounds. f:\ Indiana State Fairgrounds Indianapolis , Indiana Res ults : July 9, 1998 (Round 8 of 18) D INO: t. George Wills (H-D); 2. Bene Rodi (En f) : 3. Richar d Zrubek (H-D); 4. Jerr y Ficklin (N or); 5. Blake Ross (Ma ~ . CLSSC 250: 1. Mike Co nnell (H-D); 2. John Bova (8 uI>; 3. Gary Davis (Yam); 4. Da vid Heber ling (8ul}; 5 Carl Forkey (H· D). CLSSt .5001750: 1. Dav id Athe rto n (BSA); 2. Ge ne Atherton (Tr i}; 3. Geo rge Ric htm e ye r (Tri); -I. Cra ig Brecko n (T ri), 5. Jim Oliver (He n). SPTSMN 250: 1. D.lnte Dam bru oso (Yam); 2. John Plumb (Yam); 3. Keith Bryan t (Yam); 4. Da vid Wills (H.u D); 5. Geo rge Richtm eyer (H· D). S PTS MN 600 : 1. Da vid Allen (Ya m) ; 2. C r a ig Breckon (Tr i): 3. Ga ry Da vis (Ho n): 4. Dan Phil lip s (BSA); 5. Norman Gru ber (Tri). SPTS MN 150: 1. Ge rge Richtm eyer (Yam); 2. john o Plumb (Tri): 3. Dennis williams (Yarn): 4. Ca ry Horton (Tri);5. Da vid w ekh t (Yam). S R: 1. Gary Bre nnan (Tri) ; 2. Duwa yne Montgom ery (Yam): 3. jim Cha llingswo rt h (Tri): 4. Fred Weese (Trf): 5. warren Adams (Tri) . VET : 1. Mik e Barber (Ya m); 2. Denni s Will iams (Yam); 3. Bill Allen (Yarn): 4. Scott Fluck (Yam); 5. Bob Hovden (Tri). Upcoming Rounds: Round 10· Weed sport. NewYork. J uly 25 Round 11 . Savannah, Georgia. August 1

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