Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HILLCLIMB AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HILLCLIMB SERIES R ound 5: . reasyRidge G By David L. Patton Jr. and Lora Patton HAYDENVILLE, OH, JULY 25 I hom pson Racing teammat es Terry Thompson (in the 540cc calss) and Steve Dresser (in th e SOOcc class) needed only one ride each to overcome the toug hest hill of the AMA Nat ional Cha mpionship H illcl imb Se ries . The Greasy Ridge , ational, p resen ted by Action Sports Promotions and Budweiser , is the only night race o n the pro circuit and " the Ledge" guarantees exci tIIlg action as the riders try to keep the ir bikes in the groove to jump the ledge straight and make it to th e finish . Thompson, winne r of rou nd three of the series, also se t fast time of the day on his 540cc BSA. "My d ad ha s jus t d on e a great job getting the most out of the bike with the help fro m Gen e's Machine Shop, Bowl by's Cycle and Pro-Action Suspension," Thompso n said . Ma c's Cy cle Suppl y-spo n sored Da vid Watson too k second overall for his best finish ever at Hayd en ville, and Rookie of the Year co n te n d e r Wes McCoy took third . In the 800cc class , Dresser's wi n was his first since 1996 a nd hi s second at Greasy Rid ge. Mi ke DeBus k put in the best ride ever for an 800cc two-st rok e on his Kawasaki Mach TV triple, and Glen Petty Jr. put together a n excellen t rid e under the lights to ta ke third , regaining the points lead in th e process. I 540cc 00 Q\ Q\ ,..- N' ,..- ..... (JJ ~ eo ~ <:( 42 Na tio nal number seven, Mike Temple to n, s ta r te d th e raci ng off but he didn't reach the top of the hill, bailing at th e 200-foo t m arker afte r get ting out of co ntro l. Howell's Triu m p h-bac ked Ph il Lib hart was o n a roll af ter his fir st ca ree r win in the previous round and he pu t up a 6.810-secon d ru n despite m istim ing tilt' lump and fli rt ing wi th the ou t-ofbounds line . vlike Pulver an Harrv Schreiber Jr. C OUld n' t beat Libhart's ride. Then Paul Pmsonnault came to the line. The five-time an defending Nationai Cham pion trail Ted Wilkins by two pomts. but he was ready to repeat his lOIn wi n here. Pinsonnaul t shut off earl) and he land i with his bike poi nte . straigh t up it' the air. snappi ng the throttle shut to ge ' th e front end down. foi, gassed it th rough the ligh ts for a 0.7"-- .. -seco nd ru n . His ti me he ld u p u nti Watson pu t in it 6.537 rid e.ialso on a II I tro- burning CR50fI Honda . 1>"ints lead er Wilkms go t in to trou b le w ith a tan k-sl a pper on th e to p ha lf of t hr- hill a nd' cras hed , ca u sing dam age th,1I wo u ld haunt his seco nd run. Rookie McCoy put in a great ride in his firs t attem p t, jum ping as ' far u p the hill as he cou ld . Tho ugh he wasn ' t able to get ba ck o n the gas righ t awa y, he still stopped the clock in 6.442 seco nds. " Roge r a nd Scott McN eel y a nd David Wats on have helped me ou t a lot this weeken d ," McCoy said . "I cou ld n' t have don e it witho ut them ." Mac' s Cycle Supply's Me eely came to Greasy Ridge fourth in the points, but he had a d ay to forget as his first rid e wa s ov er ea rly when he go t bounced sid eways o n the bottom half of the hill. As a result, he had to roll ov er the Ledg e for a time of 7.0236. It end ed u p being his best ride a nd he would take ninth ove ra ll, dropping him ou t of the top five in the season stand ings. After Chad Disbennett lost it on th e sta rt, Jo hn Hamilton Jr . took his s ho t. Ham ilton had to feather the th rottle in the m id dl e of the hill a nd he landed h ar d , but he h eld o n for a ti me o f 6.9785. Then Thompson came to the line . His B A is the most powerful bike' in the 540cc class and he blasted off the line loo kin g for the win. After blipping the throttle befo re the ledge, he got a good, hard launch at the top of the hill, though his front wheel was high . The BSA wheelied the rest of the way up the hill for a 6.056-secon d run. Terry's younger bro ther, 16-year-old Toby Thompso n, also put in a fine ride in his first pro event, picking up a time of 6.S34 for sixth place. W ith su nset fa st approach ing, the lights ca me o n for the seco nd round of act ion, ma king it even more of a challen ge to go fast. Libhart go t h is front end hi gh over the ju mp and barely stayed in bounds, and had to rely on his first ru n. "Today was pr etty rough," Lib ha rt said . "On bo th rid es, the bo tto m of the hill wa s grea t, but the key is ge tting to the br eaker and ge tting over it. 1 never go t it jus t right." . Libh art' s fifth o n th e d a y m o ved hjm to fi fth place in th e series s ta ndings. Pu lv e r ' s firs t- ro u n d ti me was fas te r th a n h is second, and Sc h re ibe r's bike shut off as he left the lip of the jump. Sch reibe r landed safely but finished out of the points. Pinsonnault chose the far righ t side of the hill for his seco nd attempt bu t he left the gas on too long off the jump and barely saved it. Hi s tim e of 6.717 was still fas te r th an hi s firs t ride. "I w asn 't reall y happy with eithe r ride," Pin sonnault s a id. "St ill, I go t fourt h place and took over the points le a d , so that was all right." Watson go t his seco nd turn at G reasy Rid ge and his Hond a to re up th e hill as he bar ely s hu t off at th e ju m p , staying lo w a nd going far to drive it thou gh the lights in jus t 6.142 seco nds, the fastest rid e of the second round in eith er class. On e of the few rid er s to challenge the left side of the hill, Wa tso n mad e it work a nd his seco nd place o n th e d ay pus hed him . into second place in the series. T d like to thank my dad for keeping my bike run ning so sha rp a nd Roger McNeely for the cylinder po rtin g," Watson sai d. "T h is is m y best rid e here ever." Wilk ins put his Ro ta x o n th e lin e along with his points lead - for his secon d ride of the nig ht. He hit the sa ndsto ne an d had to ease off a bit ove r the jump, but he still loo ked to have a fas t ride going. Then , when he landed , it appeared as though the centrifugal clutch didn't lock up right away . Tha t slowed him to 7.352 and 12th o n the day. "The w reck in the first ride bent the clutch jackshaft so bad I didn't think it would run at all," Wilki ns, now thi rd in points, said . "I lost a bu n ch of poin ts todav, but there are lots of races left." McCoy and McNeely cou ldn't better their first-ru n times bu t Disbe nne tt pu t togeth er a 6.889-second run to claim seven th overa ll. Hi s run was the last ride to make it into the top 10. Thompson was happy w ith his secon d win of the seas on - and a littl e surprised . "I really didn' t think it was that fast," Thompson said. "I go t kicked up in the a ir over the brea ker bu t wh en I go t on the top and landed it, it hook ed up and I guess tha t's wh a t w on m e th e hill climb." 800cc I Dresser wheeled his Harley-Davi dson to the line to open the SOOcc-class racing. After a little bobble on the start accelera tion bum ps we re form in g - he really got it going on his way up to the Ledge. Dresser's XR750 flew a long way up the hill but his suspension bottomed on the land ing, nea rly throwing him off. He hung on and kept it in bounds for a 6.332-second run. "This is the first ride all vear that I got over the hill clean and -that I felt good abo ut," Dresser said. " I'm sure my ride loo ked ugly, th ough . I had to back off a co u ple of tim e s in th e mi d d le because it was so rough ." Bobby Templet on put th e Erskine' s PMS For Mot o rcycles Harley-Da vidson in the pit for his firs t a tte m p t. He was reall y quick at the bottom of the hill but had tro u ble at the Ledge and , though he tried to bulldog the bike th rough the cu t, he h ad a low-speed high-s ide at 160 feet. India nap olis Sou th si d e HarleyDavidson & Bue ll teammate s Russ VanderVeen and Harry Denham followed Templeton and they both we nt through the cu t ins tea d o f leaping over it , but th e y both put in top-1 0 tim e s . Va nderVeen 's 6.8239 earned him sixth. Jam es Large , on th e number-onepl ated Re iser' s Cy cle Se rvice /Wh ite Broth er s Harl ey-David son , was u p next. "I think the key tod ay is the bott om of th e hill," La rge sai d gra nd ly . "You have to kinda finesse your way th rough the bu m ps, then land clean at the top." Large's run was sim ilar to Dresser's he had a solid bottom half, then landed hard nd had to fight to stay in bounds and Lar ge's 6.577 was just a few ticks behind Dresser's time. Bob Shre in er b rou gh t his ra d ica l Kawasaki tri ple to the line and got the bike s traigh t up to the Ledge; rolled over the cu t, and gassed it to the top for a time of 6.919, the seven th-fastest BOOec ru n of the dav. Shreiner'; son-in-law, Mike DeBusk, also o n the Dr. Bob 's Ra cin g Team Ka wasa ki two-stroke triple, moved up . to the line. DeBusk sc reamed up the hill , shu tti ng off jus t a little early bu t still easily cleari ng the cu t. He shook off the ha rd la nd ing to rip off a tim e of 6.402. " Dr. Bob rea lly had my bike set up perfect tod ay ," second overall DeBusk said. "I w at ch ed Steve Dresser's rid e an d he hit th is litt le line over on the right, so I figured if I hit the sa me line, I co ul d go as fast. Well , I hit it a nd we we re almo st as qu ick." Gle n Petty [ r., t he co- lea der in the po int stand ings entering the event, had one thou ght on his mind as he came to the line: Beat Large and retak e control of the championship . Petty see med to have an en gine miss

• Cover