Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. 13th annual Lake County Fair Stadium IIX By Dave Deringer Photos by Tony Cipolletti GRAYSLAKE, II., JUI.Y29-30 id e rs fr om ?cross th e co u n try . made the tnp to Nor th ern IIh. no is for th e o nce-a -ye ar, twoday, big-money eve nt run by Up -Front Pro motions. ·The ren t-a-rid er program was used, once again, for those rid ers who pre- entered early eno ugh . Loca l mo tor cycl e deale rs hi ps and area businesses w ere hooked u p with d ifferent rid ers for the eve nt, and, in excha nge of covering th e ri d ers' en try fees , hotel a nd a lit tle s pending cash, th e rid ers would run the companies' logos for the race . The track was an arenacross-type layou t with supercross -like jumps. A supercross format of hea ts, se mis , and las tcha nce qualifers were used to n arrow the fields dow n to 15-rid er main events. Kawasaki rider Jimmy Gaddis was th e bi g-m oney w inner, to pp ing th ree classes over two days of raci ng. O n We d n e s d a y , Jerom y Bu ehl grabbed the start of the first 125cc Pro mai n on his Banza i/Tho r /Pro Circu itbacked Hond a, wi th Cliff Palme r, Shae Bentley and Tom Hofmaster next in line. As Buehl d ropped bac k, Palmer took the le a d on his A r li ng ton Mo torsports / Smith /Carrollton Kawasaki, w hile Ben tley and Hofrnast er d iv ed into se co nd and th ird . Geo Tra di ng /Tea m Gr een's Josh Dem u th was on a ch arge, a nd he was up to fourth on lap two . As Palmer and Bentl ey were pulling away, Demuth had'passed Hofmaster for third and was still on the gas . .. Bentley made his move on Palmer on lap fiv e as h e outpowered P~I:ner t h rou g h t h e long whoop section . Demu th was. closing in on Palmer next and block passed his way into second a lap later. Bentley pulled away.in the fina l four laps, and Demuth wo uld finish seco nd . Palmer held on to third in fro nt of Hofmaster, w ho was all alone in fourth . In the Pro Four-S tro ke cla ss, it was Todd DeH oop on his Banzai/Yamaha of Troy-bac ked YZ400F w ho nailed the s tar t wit h Beloit Yama ha /X tr e me / GRP-s ponsore d Co ry Kee ney and Pro So urce's A nthony Pocorobba in tow. R DeHoop pulled away in the fir st few laps, as Keen ey and Pocorobba battled. Pocorobba got around and m ad e some d ist an ce on Keeney several la ps later and pu lled on to th e tail o f DeHoop . With one lap to go, Poco rob ba made several attempts to get pa st th e vete ran Del-l oop , but to no ava il. Del-loop took th e checkers with inches to spa re. The 250cc Pro mai n wo uld be another crowd -pleas ing battle, as well. Buehl gra bbe d th e start wi t h Po co robba , Nie lse n Kawasaki's Jimmy Gaddis and Ban zai Su zukr/ To rqae Ce nter's H of mas ter next. Ga ddis and Hofmaster tangled in tu m three resulting in Ho frnast e r h it tin g the deck a n d a p ile -u p aftermath . Bu ehl too k adva ntage of the mess and pulled away from the pack quickly. W hile ru n nin g in s ix th ' o n la p th ree, DeH oop went down hard in the whoops a nd was slow to his feet. Up front on lap six, Buehl had several seconds on Pocorobba, Gaddis came next in thi rd, Palmer was in fourth, an d the hard-chargi ng Demuth was closin g in . Gaddis ra il ed a d ee p berm a nd cruised by Pocorobba with a few laps remai ning . Palmer would strike next, as Pocorobba went off the track briefly and was now in fou rth. Demu th was next to dice as he tripl ed by both Pocorobba and Palm er for third . On the fina l lap, Demu th ca me u p v e r y sho rt o n th e (Above left) CliffPalmer (44), Shae Bentley (583), Anthony Pocorobba (690), and Tom Hofmaster (364) mix it up in the 250cc Pro main at the Lake County Fair Stad ium Motocross in Illinois. (Above right) Hofmaster (364), J osh Demuth (48) and Jeromy Buehl (1 08) bang handlebars off the start of Wednes day's 125cc Pro main. (Right) Palmer won Wednesday's Das h for Cas h. tripl e an d crashed vio lently, resu lting in a concussion . Buehl took a commanding w in followed by Gadd is . Palmer, Pocorobba, and Bentley rounded out the top five. The Dash for Cash wo ul d p lace the top five riders out of the 125 and 250cc Pro clas ses in one race for money to be p aid to th e top four . In th is rac e , Palmer would take hi s se cond win of th e n ig h t and his fourth tr ip to the p odium, making him the big-money. w inn er on th e n igh t. H e too k home about $1800. On Thursday, Gaddis nailed the start of the 125cc Pro main w ith Banzai/Sinisalo-backed Jim my Wilson and Palme r settli ng into second and thi rd . Ga ddis established a torrid pace as he pulled away early. Palmer mot ored by Wilson , as Cycle Craft Ya ma ha /S inisa lo / Kames -backed Mike Katin moved up. Ka tin was in to th ir d o n lap th ree, w hile Bu ehl wa s work ing h is way th rou g h th e pack after a p oor s tar t. Adoptante and Aero PA / KTM- backed Dami en Plotts collided on lap five, and bo th riders we re lyin g on the track sha ken u p for several laps. Bue hl m o v ed in to thi r d , pass ing Ka tin th rou gh th e w hoops on la p six. Ga dd is, meanwhile, was s tre tchi ng his le a d o n Pa lm e r . O n th e fi nal la p, Pocorobba and Bentley made thei r way past Kalin to round out the.top five. Flo rida 's Eddie Ra y g ra bbed th e hol esh ot in th e Pro Four-Stroke class ahead of Del-loop, Keeney , and Ezerins. DeHoop a nd Keen ey moved by a t the end of lap one, wh ile Pocorobba was in fifth. Pocorobba poured it on as he passed Eze ri ns a nd Ray an d was gunni ng for the leaders. By lap three, Pocorob~a had passed Keeney and was on the tail of Del-loop. In the next few laps, th e two had an epic battl e passing each other a number o f tim es eac h lap all the way down to the checkers. Pocorobba made a g o- fo r- b ro ke, w ide-o pe n p ass on DeHoop through the whoops an d took the wi n by a wh eel. Gaddi s, Karin , Wil son a n d Banzai /Teca te /Kaw asaki of Me xico's Ryan Clark were 'at the head of the pack in the 250 cc main . Wi ls on tripl ed b y Kati n in to second on lap one, w hile Gaddis wa s, once aga in, pulling away. Wilson slid out on lap th ree ha ndi ng second to Buehl, who had passed Katin. Pocorobba wa s on it again as he sat in fou rth , w hile Palmer was work ing on Clark. Gaddis wa lked away with his secon d win of the night and Bueh l held second to the finis h. Palmer and Pocorobb a bat tled the ' Ia st few la p s, an d Pocorobba would take the final po di um position . Ga d d is came back for his thi rd victory of the night, thi s tim e in the Das h for Cash, a head of Bentley and Palm er . Ga ddis wou ld be the big-m on ey w inner o n this n igh t. H e grabbe d abou t $2500. 1:\ Lake County Fairgrounds Grayslake, Illinois Results: July 29-30, 1998 We d nes day 125 A M: 1. Z.1C Sa p ko (Ya m) ; 2. Wa de John son (Ka w ); 3. Je Pa tel (Han ); 4. Ryan Bond (Yam ); S. Jason ff Shiller (Yam). .. 250 AM: 1. Zac Sap ko (Yam ); 2. Lon Fra n ks (Ha n); 3. John Ma zur (Suz) ; 4. Skee Hartmann (Su z ): 5. Jason Klop to wski (Kaw ). . 25+: 1. Cliff Palmer (Kaw): 2. Ieromy Bueh l (Hen ): 3. Cliff Ado p ta nte ( S~); 4. Roy N a fzger (Kaw): 5. Ch ris Ritte r (Yam). 125 PRO : 1. Sha e Ben tley (Kaw) ; 2. Josh Demuth (Kaw ); 3. Cliff Pa l mt.~ (Ka w ); 4. To m H ofmaster (Suz ); 5. Todd OcHoa? (ya m). 250 PRO: 1. Ierom y Buehl (}-J on); 2. Jim my Gad d is (Kaw): 3. C liff Palmer (Kaw) : 4. An tho ny Pocorobba (Su z): 5. Shae Bentley (Kaw ). 4-STRK PRO: 1. Tod d DeHoop (Yam); 2. An tho ny Po corobba (Yam) ; 3. Cor y Kee ne y (Ya m ); 4 . Ero n Ezerins (Yam) ; 5. Brandon Bartz (Yam ). DFC: 1. Cliff Palmer (Ka w); 2. Jim my Ga dd is (Kaw): 3. An thony Pocorobba (Su z); 4. Ier om y Bue hl (Ho n): 5. Tom Hofmaster (Suz) . Th ursdav 125 AM: 1. Z1e Se p ko (Yam); 2. John Mazu r (Suz) ; 3. Jason Sch ille r (Yam); 4. Jam es Ove rso n (Yam); 5. Jeff Pat el (Hen) . • 250 AM : 1. Zae Sap ko (Yarn): 2. Rya n Bond (Yam); 3. Skee Ha rtmann (Suz) : 4. Jaso n Kloptowski (Kaw): 5. Wade Jo hnso n (K.1W). 25+: I. Jerum v Bue h l (Ho n); 2. Oi ffPa lmer (Ka w); 3. Cory Keen ey (Yarn ): 4. Mark Wright (Ka w ): 5. Bran do n Jeffery (H onl . 125 PRO : 1. Jimmy Ga ddis (Kaw): 2. Cliff Palmer (Ka w): 3. Jerom y Bueh l (Hon ): 4. An tho ny Pocorobbe (Su z): 5. Sha e Bentley (Kaw). . 250 PRO: 1. Jimmy Ga d d is (Kaw): 2. J cro ~y Buehl (H on) : 3. A n thony Po eorob ba (Suz): 4. Cli ff Pa lmer (Kaw): 5. Shae Bent ley (Kaw). . 4-STRK P RO : 1. An thony Pocorob ba (Ya m ); 2. Tod d De l-loo p (Ya m ); 3. Cory Keen ey (Yam ); 4. Eron Ezeri ns (Ya m); 5. Brandon Bartz (Yam ). D FC: 1. Jimm y C a d d is (Kaw) : 2 . Shae Be ntl ey (Ka w): 3. Cl iff Pa lm er (Ka w ): 4. A nthony Pocor ob ba (Suz ): 5. Jer om y Buehl (Ho n}.

• Cover