Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

STURGIS 58th annual Sturgis Rally &Races Sturgis Motocross 80 B: 1. Josh Heying (He n): z. jcsh Ster ling (Suz). 80 C: 1. Co dy Meh lo ff (Kaw) : 2. Casey Mekin (Yam); 3. Joe l Dove ( K.1W) ; 4. Bra ndon Morrison (V.1m); 5. Loga n Casd ia ( K.1w ). 125 B: 1. Kyle Shc nbec k (Ho n): 2. Jami e Ha nson (Ya m); 3. Da nny Rcjda (Hen): -I. Robby Diehl (Suz ), 5. Lee Feld ha us (Yam). . 125 C: 1. C rai g O'Conn ellHto n): 2. J.lmt'" Smi th (Ya m ): 3. Ray Ha wk (Su7o ); 4 . Nick Spain (Ho n) : 5. Ladner takes three De n n is Sto ut (K .1W). 125 .' RO : 1. Tod d Flet cher tHon): 2. Rick Dittus IKaw ): 3. Randy Sta hla (He n); 4. Ter ry Arms tro ng (Suz); 5. Billy Stork (Yam). 250 B: 1. Je re m y Mu th (Ya m ); 2. Sho n Le bea u (Yam); 3. Mark Richa rds (He n): 4. Tra vis Sto ut (Ya m); 5. Ryan Specht (H on). 250 PRO: 1. M ike La d n...- r (Ya m ); 2. Ter ry Armst ro ng (Su z ): 3 . Ra nd y Sta hl e ( l-ion ): 4. Tod d F letcher (H un) ; 5. Randv Hocker (Ya m). OUTLA W: I. Mike Lad ne r (Ya rn): 2. Billy""Storl (Yarn): 3. Randy Sta hla (He n): 4. Terry Armstrong (Suz): 5. Ja mie Mallo ux (Ho n). By Clay Lig ht STURGIS, SD, AUG. 2 ike Ladner did a number on the competition d u ring th e opening race of the 58 th a nn ua l Sturgis Rally & Races week's kick off event, the [ackpine Gypsies Motocross, at the Gypsies' clubgrounds. The Sturgis, Sou th Dakota, rid er took convincing 1-1 wins in three classes 250cc Pro, Ov er 25 and Outlaw Money takin g hom e a g oods iz ed ch u n k o f mo ney fro m th e $ 2500 Profession al p urse. Joining th e Yam aha YZ 400 Fmounted Ladner in th e winn er 's circl e were fellow tr ipl e cla s s contestant s Todd Fletc her, w ho 'w o n the 125cc Pro class, and Billy Sto rk, w ho di d the deed in the Vet O ver 35 class. Riders came fro m as far away as the Pacific Northwest (and from a sevenstate radius) for the week's race opener; which for nearly a half-decade ha d been a d irt tr ack race. However, th e ri de r turno u t ha s nearly tripled in th e p ast two yea rs since the motocross event was implemented , thus su pe rse di ng the customary IT race . Th e first of Ladner' s three o ve ra ll wins on th e day came in the 250cc Pro class. The first moto, run in muddy con ditions due to hea vy th und er sh o w er s th e previ ou s d a y , saw Wyo m ing 's Randy Stahla put his H on d a ou t in fro nt of the opening-lap parade . Lad ner and Fletcher - also an AMA Pro - followed Stahla for one circu it of the w hoopedo u t tr ack, a nd th en th e du o relega ted Stahl a to third. The lead duo th en set up a battle for su pre macy that last ed sever. al laps until Ladner pu t all 400cc of his power to the g ro und and ma intain ed a 10-second lead to the finis h. Flet ch er th en held a similar m argi n over Sta hla, w h ile behind Sta hla was a multipl e-rider battle for fou rt h between KTM rider Bret Olsen, Du sti n Evink and Col o rad o' s Rand y H ocker. Th at position, thou gh, w ould ultimat ely bel ong to M ont ana ' s Terry A rm stro ng, w ho push ed his Suzuki past the trio of riders after a last-lap rampage. Armstro ng finished be hi n d Lad n e r , Fle tc her a n d Stahla, but ahea d of Evink , Hocker and Randy Baughmann, Lad ner, w ho recently fini shed eig ht h overa ll at th e Colora do ro und ' of th e AMA Fou r-Stro ke Na tional Series, again did so me tr ailing a t th e s ta rt of m ot o two, b u t it di d n' t ta ke long for t he O ' N ea l /Wh it e Bro thers / Bla ck Hills Pow er Spo rts -backed rider to overtake a fas t-starting Evink on the dusty openi ng la p . Evin k, who rod e a Yamaha YZ250, then had his hands fu ll wi th several rid - M VDTRA Rocky Mountain R egional Dirt T rack Series,R 3 ound McClelland's the master By Clay Light STURGIS,SD, AUG. 4 YZ400F-mounted Mike Ladner thumped his way to first place in three classes during the Jackpine Gypsies Motocros s at the Ja ckpine Gypsies clubgrounds in Sturgis . ers, incl ud ing Sta hla , w ho would ho ld th e number-t w o position for much of the race. Evink eve n tually began a -slow slide backw ard throu gh the field, falling to Stahla, Fletcher and Armstrong , who was th e recipi en t of a poor sta rt but who the n cla wed his way in to contentio n. Ladner 's lead eventually grew to as mu ch as 10 seco nds ahea d o f Sta h la , w ho la te in th e ra ce would lo se th e nu mb er-tw o s po t to the impressive Armstro ng, w ho by virtue of h is 4-2 placings netted the second-place money be hind Ladner 's 1-1 tally. Third we nt to Sta hla (3-3), foll ow ed by Fletc he r (2-4) an d Hoc ker (6-6). Fle tc he r's 125cc Pro win ca m e by virtu e of hi s 4-1 m ot o ta lly. The everpr esent Sta hla ran out fro nt in th e firs t moto, w hile Fletcher, w ho suffered from a midpa ck start, was having tro u ble gettin g around a trio of riders in a hea ted ba ttle for fifth place. Things go t worse for the Renn er, Sou th Dakota, rider on the nex t lap, w hen he fell, ulti mately losing sight of the top three rid ers - Stahla, Arms trong a nd Kaw asaki rid er Rick Dittus - a lt ho ug h Fletcher' s ch a rg e th rou gh traffic sa w him move to fou rth at m ote 's end . Arms trong chang ed th e o rder of finis h w ith a las t-lap p ass on Stahla for a wi n. M oto tw o saw S to rk ju mp ou t in fro n t of th e fie ld, fo llo we d closel y by Fle tcher. Th is set u p one o f the d ay' s tightes t ba tt les for the lead , a position that Fletcher would own after the ve teran rider Stork fade d . Stork held on for seco nd , a hea d of Dittu s, S ta h la a nd Armstrong, bu t Dittus took ho me sec- ond w ith 3-3 showings, ahead of Sta hla (2-4), Armstrong (l -5) and Sto rk (7-2). Lad ner 's d ay wa s complete after he used 1-1 ta llies to bea t Stork (2-3) and Stah la (4- 2) in the O u t law (O pen ) Money class, and then us ed a similar tally for an O ver 25 Mon ey win. Sto rk, who 4n the ea rly 1980s was a three-class w inner regularly, netted seco nd (3-2) ahead of Sta hle' s 2-3 placings. Stork, thou gh, didn' t leave w ithout a w in, as the Rap id Cit y rid er went on a double m ot o ra m page in th e Vet Over 35 race, in whic h he bea t Bauma nn and Colorad o' s Bryan Johnson. Another ru na way performance was logged in th e 250cc B class 'by Jeremy Muth . The Elko, Neva da , rid er o ver- . ca me fast starter Sho n Le Beau in bo th motos, es tablishing th e day's lar gest w in margin in th e p ro cess . Even a last-la p, off-tra ck excu rs io n co u ld n ' t p revent Mu th from re gaini ng his momen tu m and maintaining a tidy lea d of more than 15 seco nds in mot o two to cap his s w ee p . LeBeau (2-2) fin is hed second, followed by Ma rk Richa rds' 3-3 placings . Yamaha -mou n ted Jeremy Ha nson we n t on a similar ra m page for a w in in the co mbi ned 80 cc A /B class, easily winning bo th motos. Second to Han so n was Gran t Gilking, w ho was fo llowed by Billy Huffman. Honda-m ounted Josh I '~ Heying wo n the B-class po rtion. Jackpine Gypsies Clubgro und s Sturgis, South Dakota Results: Augus t 2, 1998 80 A: 1. Jeremy Ha nson (Ya m) ; 2. G ra nt Gilking (Yam ); 3. Billy H u ffman (l-lo n). o h n McClellan d, lik e m ost of th e VDTRA regulars, patien tly waited through two days of rainfall in the Black Hill s before he go t to test the Jackpine Gy ps ies ' sho rt tr ack for th e th ird ro und of the VDTRA's Rocky Mountain Re g ion a l Ser ies, but h e p ro ved th at patience is a virtue. McClelland , riding a Yama ha 650cc t w in a n d a Ya m a ha 600cc si ng le , sco red tw o impressive w ins on the no tso -im p ressive track, taking th e to p lau rel s in th e Open Pro Twin and Se nior classes. The cl u b wo rke d end lessly for s ix ho urs in order to ge t the ra in-soa ked track into race able condi tion , finally su cceeding in the la te ho urs of the nig ht. Jim Fo ring to n, w ho m ad e th e tr ek fro m De nver, Co lorado, led the firs t of the tw o 600cc Pro-class hea traces, bu t he go t to o muc h tra ct ion , allowi ng McCl ell and to nab the lead - o ne th a t wou ld effect ively ea rn him the p o le pos itio n fo r th e m a in even t. Sturgis ' Da rrel Br in k, w ho w as also Ya m ah am ounted , beat Richard Shi nn in a heattwo shootout. McCl elland was a bit o veren thu siastic in his Open Pro Twin heat race and had to co m e fro m a third -ro w d eficit before he co u ld ch a ll en g e Ka n sas ' William Snyder for bragging ri g ht s in th e class . Snyder, th ough, would hold off all of the cha llenges fro m his fellow Yama ha rider to net the pole positio n in the main event. Thi rd we n t the wav of Co lo rado's Bob Bra u nrei ter, w ho was aboa rd a Harl ey-David son. Co lo ra do's M ark Eric kson opened u p th e series o f m a in even ts (w hich p aid dou b le po ints d ue to th e prior ni ght' s even t' s can cella tio n) by rid ing h is 19 74 Ho nda Elsi nore 25 0-b a sed machine to a w ire- to -wire win in the J

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