Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Frank Corn wall (Hon); 4 Jim Enos (Suz); 5. Al Whipple (Yarn). OTHG EX: 1. Tud d Tow nseud O{un); 2. Ad.rm Thev em n (Ka w): 3. Joh n Ha nd elin (Suz ); 4. Alex Chclle w (Ya m l 5. Tl'"t' t-1 uHer (SlI7). OTI-IC PRO : I. Allen Silh.mt'k ISuz ]: 2. R.mdy I'o ckrand t ( K.~ w l. Plumb perfect at Athens HM By Rusty Lowry ATHENS, OH, AUG. 29 John Plu mb proved that you do n' t always have to practice to mak e pe rfec t, as he arri ved lat e, missed practice, but went on to sweep a pair of Vi ntage Sp o r ts ma n classes a t t he bea uti fu l Athen s Co unty Fairgrou nd s half m ile oval. The New York rid er w on by comfort able ma rgi ns in both the Sportsman 250cc and Sportsman 750cc race rid ing a brace of Yamah as on the high line s arou nd the Ohio cus hion track, wh ich normally features hor ses instead of motorcycles. Run in conju nction wi th an AMA Hot Shoe eve nt, 57 AHRMA Vintage rid ers s how ed u p at the Ohio Harley Owners Grou p (HOG) rally in Athens, Oh io, to con test Ihe 131h Natio na l of Back on the Triumph for the Dinosaur class, Breckon look the lead at the starl. George Wills worked hi s way thro ug h the gearbox on his Ha rley WR han d -shifter, dispatched Beno Rod i an d Dennis Clark, and set sail a fter the fro nt-ru nner. Breckon ap peared to hav e the race in han d w he n his left exha us t broke at the halfway flags, and Wills quickly ca ught u p to th e Mich iga n The brakeless bikes app eared to be the most . rider a nd s tuck it p as t for the lead . Breckon fought game ly for the last lap but ended up on th e Harl ey's rear wh eel at the finish to sa lvage second . There was so me deb at e with race officia ls af terwa rd as th ey had p o in ted a fu rled bl ack fl ag a t th e Tri umph du ring th e closing s tages of the race and co ns idered d isq ualifyin g Breck on for no t st o pp in g. H e ke pt hi s fini s h, ho w ev er , beca us e the fla gman nev er ac tua lly a t home o n the so ft tra ck , wit h Tennes see ' s Charlie South ga te p os tin g a 3:08 tim e in the un furled the flag and disp layed II to signal thai the bike should pull off. Whatever the ruling, the Class ic 500/75Occ feature for the second-fastest race was exci ting and many of the AHRMA reg ulars w ere drawn to the fence to see if Wills' lon g d omin ati on of th e Din osau r class mi gh t be in their dirt track season. The HOG rall ygoers w ere treated to a full afternoon of good, old-fashioned Ohio cush io n ra cin g, as the officia ls ke p t the track smo oth an d wat er ed th rough out th e pro gram, Long slides and roo ster ta ils of dirt w ere the ord er of the day as the racers pit ched thei r old machines side by side through the corners on the w ay to some very spirited and dose racin g. . George Wills (1) moves past fellow HarleyDavidson WR ri der Dennis Clark (93) at the start of the Dinosaur feature at the AHRMA Nati onal In Athens, Ohi o. Vintage race of the aft er noo n. Southga te p ut his Gold Star about 10 lengths ahead of a tight pack of rid er s, w ith Jim Oliver keeping his fast an d d ean Ho nda 450 in seco nd, ahead of a cha rgi ng Cra ig Breck on . Brecko n just cou ldn' t qu ite man - age to get his borrowed Harl ey-David son KR7S0 through the midd le of the cor ner fast eno ug h to drag-race Oliv er, but he see me d q u ite pl ea sed wi th his rid e o n the big side-va lve. jeopardy. TIle small bikes put on a good show as we lt as Maurice O r tega com pleted hi s East Coast tou r wi th a win in the Classic 250cc class over reignin g class cha m pio n Joh n Bova . Bova tr ied but just couldn't hold on 1 the flying California rider, but 0 charger Carl Forkey, who finished third just ahead of a flying Ducati single ridd en by Myron Clary. 50 Seni or class a boa rd his 750 Trium ph , brea king his Clas sic-clas s tim e wi th a quick 3:05 feature. Ortega cou ld n' t repeat his succes sfu l 250cc ride in the pr e-'74 Sportsman class , so he left it up to fell o w Califo rnian Brad Ho lt to provid e the ente rta inme nt. Orteg a bat tled w ith Harl eymounted Dav e Scheffer for the firs t half of the race, whi le John Plu mb pu lled away to a twoseco nd adva nta ge o ve r th e fi eld . Hold a nd Scheffer trad e second back and forth; the Bultad co rider would pas s the Har ley o n the o utsi de of the co m ers , only to be left behind as the racers Holt led Ortega and pere nnial class favorite Gig hit the front straight. Scheffer hooked up off the tu rn . Holt fina lly moved ahea d for keeps bUI just could n' t run down the flyin g Plu mb . No o ne was able to r un down Plumb in the Spo rts man 750cc featu re, either, as he drove his Yamaha ou t front, wi th Darrell Bryant in pursuit. As the field sp read out a littl e bit , the wh eelsp inning 750s churned up the dir t and dust. This caused the AMA starter to red-flag the race at the halfway po in t because he cou ld n't see the rear of the field w ell enough. Better sa fe tha n sony; the organ ize rs q uic kly go t so me mor e wa ter dow n o n the hot half mile an d the riders lined up for a single-file restart for a four-lap dash to the flag. Plumb again leaped to the front an d rema ined unchallenged all the way to the checkers . Sou thga te picked up an othe r w in in the Over he d id ga in a larger po ints cushion over hard Hamilton acro ss the line in the Sportsman 600cc even t to mo ve in to the class po ints lead a fter Breckon's BSArefused to start for the final. Th e d a y drew to a close w ith th e ra cers returning the track to the HOG rally part icipants fo r field eve nts a nd co ntests w hile the promoters made plans for a retu rn vis it next yea r. Based on th e r iders ' en thu siasm a nd th e a p p re ci a tive crow d , 1999 sho uld sec larger vintage field s and e~en better racing at th is classic track. Results DING: 1. George Wills (H·D); 2. Craig Breckon (Tri); 3. Dl"llnis Clark (H· D); 4. Bene RoW (EnO; 5. Cha rles Co man (Mdt). 250: J. Maurice Or teg a (Bul ); 2. John Hove ( Bul) ; 3 . Ca rl Forkey (H· D); 4. Myro n a llY (Oud; 5. Ceorgc Ackley (BSA). 50ll/ 75O: 1. Cha rlie Suu thg'-le (BSA); Z. Jim Olive r (Hon); 3. l Craig Beeckon (Il -D); 4. Geo rge W ills (Tri); 5. Rich Coa tes CBSA). 250 SrTSMN: 1. Juh n Plumb (Ya m ); 2. Brad Hult (Bul); 3. Dave Schef fer -(H -D); 4. Dave Wills (lI.D); 5. DoHryl [akubo wskt (H on). hlXI SI'TSMN : 1. Brad Holt (Bul); 2. Ma uri ce Ortt-gil (Bull; 3. Gig Ha milton (M di); 4. Larry Barna (Bul);·S. Don Blya r (Yarn], 750 SM'SMN : 1. John Plum b (Yam); 2. Darrell Bryant (Yam ); 3. j ame Tu mlin (T n ); 4. Do u g Horlll,. s "I'(Yam); 5. Bill Allt'n (Ya m). SR: t. Clwrlie Southg ate (Tri); 2. Gig Ham ilto n (MaO; 3. Fred Weese (Tri); 4. G.lrY Brennan (T n) ; 5. No nn Gru ber (T ri ). VET (N O N·C"S HW ): 1. Ra ym ond Corney (Ya m); 2. Larr y Barna (Bu)); 3. John GiIIi,.; n (BSA); 4. Marv in Long (Ho n); 5. BiU a Allcn (Yllm). • SECOND ~NUA1 AMA GRAND 'PROADRACE New Hamps"ire International Speedway September 25-27, '998 . ,1· Test yourself against racers from other regio ns. Pre-entered riders gridded first by random draw - deadli ne September 1. • Six AMA Premier C ha mpionship Classes for Exp erts. • 17 National C lasses for Exp erts, Ama teurs & N ew comers. • A ttractive Entry Incentives for top rider s from recogn ized orga nizatio ns. • licenses fro m all recogn ized national & regi onal organ izations honored AMA membership, but no specia l license required , top professional riders ~Iud~ . . • Pengu in Rood Racing School and open practice availa ble September 25 (Pengu in School qualifies riders for competition]. . • Entries: $50 per class, $80 per solo endura nce class. ~ INTERNAT IONA L t • N ~ 1 SP IE E D W AY 37

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