Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Kaleb Northrup (left ) accepting the congratulat ions of Bob Fisher for hi s 1998 Pushrod Series win allhe Ott awa Hillclimb. B 250: 1. Bryan Kryunowicz uCaw); 2. R.uldy O' pen (K1M) ; 3 . Karl Strat z (Ya m ); 4. C h ri!l G ru M" (Su z l; 5 . Sle p h r n JOI nis...... Results (Hon). 199 1S P USHROO SER IES FI NAL STANDINGS: J. Kaleb Northrup ITri);2 Bob n 'lhl.'"(H· O); 3. Tl.'TT}' &ik-y (H· D); 4. w edc Sch u ltz (H ·D) ; 5. Bill Myton. Luca lands 72nd Jackpine Enduro By Kern Burden Northrup takes Pushrod title By Bud North ru p 38 OTTAWA, It, AUG. 30 In 1997, the Rock River Rider s fro m Polo, llline ls, a nd the Variety Rid ers from O ttawa, lllinoi s, crea ted a five- race Pushrod Series in their hillclimb programs. A beautiful 5 1/2-foot tall trav eling trophy was provided , with the stipulation that if an y rider could win it thr ee stra ig ht years, he could keep it. A plaque is also given to e ac h yea r' s winn er. Th e class has become a cro w d and rid er favorite in northern Illinoi s, mat ching Harleys, Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons in their own class. In 1998 action, 25 rid ers cornpe te , with 18 running on August 30. d Kaleb Northrup, riding a beautifull y built and strong-ru n n in g Triumph out of Cr yst al Lake, lllin ois, w on the series in 1997 with four wins in the series, on his wa y to the District 17 Pu sh rod-class se a so n points ch ampionship. "Flyin '" Bob Fisher finished in second place in both th e five-race se ries and the season points race on his Supe rior Cycle Harley Spo rtster. The 1998 series s tarted o ut much as the 1997 season ended , w it h Nor thr u p taking th e w in and Fisher runnin g second a t the fir st o f th e seri es events at Polo on June 7. But things were not to be so easy for Northrup in 1998, as five different rid ers claimed wins in the five climbs . The final results would not be determined until absolutel y th e la st rider rode in the Pu shrod class in the fifth and final even t. Harley pilots Wade Schul tz, Terry Bailey and Stev e Shafer, as well as Triumph-mounted Kevin Til son , eac h claimed o ne w in in the s e ries, al ong w i t h Northrup. Wad e Sch ultz took the second-round win on his fantastic Harl ey at Ottawa on July 12, a nd Fisher aga in took second, with Northrup run ning third, dropping No rthru p's point lead to a single point. Terry Bailey ambushed the class on the very next week on his 1608cc Harley at Polo, with FIsher running second for the third stra igh t time. Northrup finis hed third again, and ,Fisher moved into a slim tw o-point lead . On Au gus t 29, a t Ottawa, Steve Sha fer claimed the fourthround win on his s mooth-ru nni ng Harl ey, and Fish er ca rded ye t anoth er second . N o rth r u p slip ped to fourth place, which resulted in Fisher opening up a se ve n- po in t lead . It was lookin g very goo d fnr the "Flyin' Fish " and prett y grim for the defending series cha mp io n. The last run ·in the St.--nt."S was on Aug ust 30 at O ttaw a, and Kwin Tiison blitzed the 125-foo t hill in a blazing 2.917 seco nd s to set a very fast time in the finJt roun d . Fisher ran a respectable 3.400 seco nds a nd was sitt ing in six th place. Northrup had turned in a 3.268-second run , but ' Wade Schu ltz (3.236) a nd Lloyd Mueller (3.266) wer e ben ea th him, putting him in fo urth place the two- po int s prea d w as not good enough to ove rta ke FIsher. Things wer e looking better and better for Ayin' Bo~. In se co nd- ro u n d a ction , Fi s her be tt e red h is t ime w it h a 3 .29 0-secon d run to m o ve u p to fift h, righ t behind No rth rup, making t he ta sk seem rea ll y im poss ible fo r the Triu mp h jockey . Th en Wa d e Schult z bette red his fi rst r un wi th a 3.145- seco nd tim e, a nd D a v id Dea v er t urne d a fi ne 3 .1S6 -seco n d time o n hi s classy BSA to a lso m o ve u nd er N or t h ru p . Lane S c h u lt z m o v ed u nd c r ' No r t hru p a lso, w ith a 3. 21S-seco nd tim e o n hi s N o r to n . A ll t hi s goo d run n in g mi gh t s eem to be bad for No r t h r u p , bu t it wa s ac tua lly ju st w ha t he need ed for a cha nce to over ta ke Fis h e r. H e ne ed ed to p u t a t lea s t fo u r riders be tw e en him a nd Fis her, wi th a se co n d - p la ce fin ish . W ith L loy d M u eIl er a ls o und er h im , h e n o w h ad a ch a n ce to take t h e t i tl e w it ho ut h a v in g to b e a t t h e 2.917-second fi rs t-place Til son run . H e had to b e a t Sc h u lt z's 3 .14 5-seco n d tim e a nd h ope Mu ell er o r s om e o n e e lse w ou ld n 't come bac k even fa st er . N o rt hrup w a s u p to th e cha llenge - h e d eli v e r ed a fin e 3.089sec o nd run to m o ve in to se co n d pl ace, a nd th en had to si t ba ck a nd wa tch the rema in in g ri de rs run . I,t w a s n 't o ver yet - if a n yone go t und er hi s s e co n d -p la ce t i me, Fis he r wou ld be th e series cha m p . No rthru p's heart had to skip a beat as Bill Myers flew his Triumph stroker over the top in an obvio us ly fas t time, bu t his time w as 3. 190 seco nds , mo vin g FIsher to eighth. Bu t now it wa s Mueller coming to the line; Mueller was currently in seve nth place, but he had turned the fast time of the day the day before and had already turned a fantastic 2.803 seco nds on this day on this bike to win the Open Class. All eyes were on the Kewaskum Harl ey rider as he turned it loose . Mu ell er had a slig ht fis h ta il off the lin e a nd wa sn't qu ite strai gh t as he hit the first kicker, but he straigh tened. it ou t and turned on the po wer of th e awesom e Harley . As he land ed off th e third kicker, however, the Harley stood u p on its rear whee l, and Mueller had to blip his throttl e or loop th e roarin g machine. That throt tle blip s lo wed h im to a 3. S00-sec o n d r un , lea v in g No rthrup in second place and Fishe r in eig ht h. The final poi n t d ifference wa s a mer e tw o po ints in N or thru p's favor, and he would take the big troph y back to Wood bu ry, Minneso ta, where he now lives. Fish er is, ho we ver , well ou t in front in the District 17 (and IS) seaso n po ints total race, and wil l almost surely pick u p the season cha mp ion...hip jacket in bo th of those dis tric ts . Flyin' FIsh er congratulated Northrup on his title repeat, simply sayi ng. "He did wha t he had to do whe n he had to do it." M RESTOWN, MI, AUG. 9 OO Scott Luca and his KTM ou tlasted the rest of the Dist rict 14 enduro rid ers to lay claim to his first cowbell by blas ting thro ugh the woods to ca rd a sco re of 27. Snatchi ng seco nd place, and also on a KTM, w as Ro n Scha rp hor n, wi th a 32-poin t sco re, edgi ng David Lip ovsk y Jr. on tie breakers by mere seco n ds . Lip ovs k y w a s a lso KTM mo un ted . Ka w asak i pilot Blair Bersano interrupted the KTM pa ra d e by roosting to fou rt h with a 38 . Rou nding out the top five was Vic Flegel, who ham mer ed down the trail to po und out a sco re of 41. For the firs t tim e this yea r, th e ra in gods sm iled on a District 1-1 enduro by granting some m uch-needed water, so dust wa s not a facto r. Loop one left out of the Lansin g Moto rcycle Club clubgrounds and ra n into the first of m.1 ny Sl"'Ctions of little-used trail. Check one caught no one napping, as the top five riders all zeroed it, having no trouble staying on time ea rly in the event. Check two wa s mo re interes ting a nd sta rted taking points from everybody. Bersano shot throug h the face-slapping new-growth po plar trees in this ar ea to a four score to take the early lead . Luca and Lipovsk y would keep the lead er honest by dropping five points her e. Scha rphorn would stay close with a six, wi th Flegel just a tick further back with a seven . Check thr ee w ou ld mirror check two, with Bersa no dropping four poi nts to be the quickest, with Luca jus t behind, d rop pin g five. Lipovsky fen off the pace a bit, dropping six, as di d Scha rp hom , with Regel carding an eig ht here. At the firs t gas sto p, Bersano had bu ilt a two-point lead on his near est com peti tor an d was feeling rea l good about his cha nces. Loop two took the ride rs in to some real tight , technical woods sections and took the mos t po ints from the racers. Bersano would again show the wa y th rou gh the tou gh stu ff by blazing to a n eigh t. Luca wo uld again keep the lead er in sight. drop ping nine po ints. Lipovsky and Scha rp horn would keep their persona l ba ttle tight by both carding lOs, while Flegel slipped off the pace by drop pin g 13 in this section. A reset go t everyone back on time, and again no one wa s dayd ream ing at che five, with all the le rs zeroing this one. ck ade Check six, coming out to the secon d gas stop, follow ed a fun secti on of tr ail featuring tall tr ees , mo re visibility a nd , theref o re , hi gh er s peeds. Be rsa no, Lip ovsky, Luca a nd Scha rp horn a ll d rop ped three points here, with Flegel just missing the flip card by a scant few seconds to drop four. With one loop to go, it was Bersano's race to win, as he had a three-point lead on the field . Loop thr ee would bring every one back to the dubgrounds, at times reversin g the rou te of the firs t loo p. Bersano w as on the gas a nd in cornmand less tha n .two miles from the finis h when d isa ster stru ck. The bike that had been bulletproof all year suddenly and mysteriously halted. HI d on't kn ow w ha t happened," Bersa no said. "It just kind of spu ttered, then locked up." Luca was right in lin e to ta ke the win, wi th Scha rph orn overtaking Lipovsky in this section to s te al seco nd . Bersano, in th e nev er-sa y-d ie spirit of the spo rt, litera lly pushed his bike to the finis h to tak e fo u rt h . Fleg el took fift h from Scharp horn on tie breakers. Results G RANDCHA.'dP ION: Scott Lue a (KTM l. AA H· PT: Ron Scha rp horn IKTM). A H·P'T; Ndl Scharpho m Jr. (KTM). B H- PT: Gn-g G illia n (Yam) . C H-f'T: RU Chester (H on ). !15 AA : I. Dav id Lipovsky Jr. (KlM); 2. BI.lir IkBaoo (K. w ); 3. , Vic ~'Kd ( I<.l w ); 4. Scott IMSlidt (Hu n); 5. Rod Ben jamin ( K.lw) . A 200: I. Bria n Sou th wo rt h ( K1"M ); 2. Gt."llrg,' Kell y (KTM); 3. Te rr y Bende r ( K aw ); 4. Re g e r Stevl'ns (KTM ); 5 . J t'!I~y H in tz (Ka w) . A 2"0: 1. Scot t Cu r tiss (Kaw); 2. Snltt 8.1Il:I'l y (Hun); 3. Steve " Voll m.u (Su z ); 4. Co re y Cal kinll (KTM ); 5. Rogl'r BarN'r (KT M ). A O PEN : I. Jo n Eric Bur leson (K T M ); 2. Russe ll No rm a n (KTM ); 3. Robe rt Evan !' (Ho n). A VFf; 1. Dt.'110 Skul as il io n ); 2. Bri,," Ma rr (Yam l; 3. G r~ Lu tl (Ka w); 4. Juhn Low (Hu n); 5. Dav l' Kyll' (Hon ). A SR: I. Bill l-Iulo w e1l i (KTM); 2. Mill' Martin (KT M); 3. k Richard Kalm ( Kl'M ); 4. Willi.lm Catron (Ya m); 5. Ju hn Rydqui!< l (Yam) . A 4-STRK 1. Dan Hu ell-so'm a IHbJ; ); 2. Jim K.d ll·l tT (H u,,); 3. Ju~ tin Co nye rs (Hu n ); 4. Troy Stl>ney (Su z ); 5. Oaw Hu tchinson (Ho n). 8 200: 1. A.lron Wegne r (Y.ml) ; 2. Dualll.' L... oi m· (KTMI; 3. m Aa n m Hunt (Ka w ); 4. Jdf Spence (Ka w ); 5. Kl.'TJl Burd,,-n ( K.l w ). (KTM) . • B OPEN: 1. David Vamh"Cilr (KIM); 2. Rick Flees (KTM); J. Jdf Lynch (KIM) ; 4. Da ve Kube (KIM); 5. Don Ku be (KTM ). B VET : 1. OOlITe" Blad~ (KOI w) . 2. Mark Losey O

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