Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

NASB Cycle Fest,Round 5: H e dM om stea otorsportsComplex Harrington cleans up By Jennifer Gardiner HOMESTEAD, FL. SEPT. 13 ith race w inner Tod d Har rington go in g w ire to wi re in th e EBC Brakes Spor t Bike final, the re was little dram a in the race. There was, howeve r, plen ty of p re-race exciteme nt for series points leader Brian Liven good. Liveng ood cr a s h e d hi s Suz uk i GSXR600 in qua lifying, totalin g the bike. He scrambled to borrow a Hond a for the race, and was able to han g on to the point s lead with a seven th-place fin ish . Livengood now leads Da vid McGrat h in the championship s tandi ngs wi th a 16point margin going into the seri es finale a t Da yt ona Internati onal Speedway . Billy Graef and his Buell Lightnin g sit third in the sta ndings, ano ther 10 poi nts beh ind McGrath . _ T he race was all Ha r ri n gt o nrt ght from the start. Sitting on the pole after qu a lifyin g a full seco n d faster than Valvoline Emgo Suzuki's Gran t Lopez, th e 4&6 Cycles-b a ck ed rid er jumped righ t to the front wi th Lop ez getting off the lin e seco n d . Jos e p h G ill a nd McGr ath es tablis he d th e msel ves in a battle for third with McGrath d ogging Gill th rou ghout the race. Ha rring to n ran away and hid from eve ryone with Lopez hold in g a sec ure spot in second . By the end of the race, Harring ton had some 7 '12 seconds over Lopez . With th e ra ce winding d o wn , McGrath began to pressure Gill and was able to take over the final podium spot at the finish . Billy Gr aef finish ed second to Mike Ciccotto for the second time in as many races in the Harl ey-Da vid son race, but h e ha s all but locked up the H arleyDav idson Twin Sports Nation al Champion ship . With a 33- po in t ed ge o ve r Brian Bodine in the standi ngs , he is only tw o p oints shy of winn ing his second stra ight titl e. Eve n if Gra ef mi sses th e fina l round at Dayton a, Bod ine w ou ld ha ve to w i n th e ra ce to w res t le the cro wn away from the defending champion . Richi e Morris u sed a third -p lace s h o w i ng to leap fro g fr o m s ix th to fourthin the point standings, Even with the nati onal title nearly in han d , Graef has to be wor rying abo u t Ciccotto 's recent victories as the Harley rid ers pr ep are for th e Tw in Spo r ts World Fina l that will be part of the Dayton a w ee kend . Da ytona w ill h ost tw o Twin Sports ra ces w ith the firs t round being the last of the nati onal races, and bot h races cou nting toward the Wor ld C ha m p io ns h ip . Based on hi s p erfor. mances at Road Atl anta and Miami, Ciccotto has established himself as the new man to beat. Sh a w n Co nrad h ad a mi s erab le w eekend o n his Spor ts te r in Flor id a. After qu alifying third , he was dropped 'to the rear of the grid whe n his eng ine m ea su re d too s tro n g o n th e N ASB Dyn ojet d ynamom eter in post-qualifyin g testi ng . It go t wo rse w hen .Co nra d dropped ou t of th e race a fter Just two laps, finishing last in the lO-ride r field . Co nr a d, th ou gh , ea rne d hi s firs t ca ree r vi cto rv in th e Buell Lightning Ser ies a t Miam i, beating Roa d Atl anta W first-time winner Chad Healy to the finish-lin e stripe by ov er seven seco nds. Bodin e came in third . Series p oin ts lead er Graef led fro m the pole on the opening lap w ith Conrad , Morris and Bodine in tow . Graef's lead came to an en d on the fourth lap when he had a low-speed spill in turn eight, a decreasin gleft-hander tha t leads bac k on to the s traight. The crash bro ke off hi s s h if te r and clu tc h lever , a n d forced him out of the race. With Graef go ne, Conr ad took over the lead with Morris right behind. Hea ly moved past Morris a nd Bod ine late in the race to fin ish second. Grae f continu es to lead the stand ings by 15-poi nts o v e r Br ia n Co n le y w ho limp ed to a 13th-place finish. Conrad 's win moved hi m to th ird in the s ta n d ings, th re e behi nd Conley . Roland o Q u inter o w on the clo ses t ra ce o f th e da y and mov ed into the poi n ts lead in th e HR C Gra nd Pr ix Ser ies for 125cc GP machines. O ff th e s tart it was Richard Cop ab ia nca taking the lea d o ve r polesit te r Q u in tero a nd Greg Esse r . Copabianca got pa ssed by bo th rid ers as they set their own pac e in a battle for victory. Switching back and for th , Quintero had th e po wer on the s tra ig hts as Esse r go t the better of th e challenger in the turns. La te in th e race, La vau ghn M on tgo mery moved up to jo in the lead in g duo . Th e win wasn ' t decid ed until the las t lap when Quiniero mad e one final pass and built a small margin to finish a ha lf-seco nd ahead of Esser with Mo ntgomery ha ngin g on for third . Ste ward Ait ken-Cad e, who led the seri e s s ta n d ings a f te r the la st two rounds, cou ld on ly manage a seventh place showi ng at Miami and dropped to thi rd in th e stand ings beh ind Quintero and Montgomery. O nly six points separa te the fro n t-ru nn ing tri o, leaving the final race at Dayton a as the most important of the season. Lup ez put i n th e m o st do m ina n t perform an ce of the weeke nd , top pin g a field of 18 rid er s in th e Su n oco GTO class a nd end ing up w ith a who pp ing 29-second margin of victor y a t the end of th e I I -l ap ra ce . Lo cal h ot sh o e 'Sh a w n Pr eitro wa s e xp ec te d t o be d ominant, bu t had to se ttle for seco nd place. H arrin gto n w ent w ire -to- w ire to w in the GTU cl a ss w it h Jos eph G ill a nd Ema n ue l Manusut h aki s joini n g him on the p od ium. In th e GT Lights divi s i o n , C hris to p h e r Ba y r ode a Du cati 750 to ou tp owerth e ot he r 15 riders in the race. Dominic Aubry' put up th e bes t cha lle nge on hi s H onda 650. Brian Livengood earned th e fir st 1998 cham p ions hip of th e yea r in th e Su n oco GTU cla ss after fini shing 'fifth on the day. He holds a 52-point advantag e over Kris Klubb w it h a ma ximum of only 35 points possib le in the seaso n fin ale. Ryan Meyer, wh o hasn't mi ssed a round all yea r, tops the sta nd in gs in th e GTO fie ld wi t h 24 more p oint s th an M icha el Fitzpatri ck . T he GT Lig h ts cham p ions hip is as close as it ca n get w it h Bill Wa chh old er lea d in g Ro n Pe rry by a s i n g le p oint a fte r Miam i. l~ Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex Homestead, Florida Resu lts : September 13,1998 ERC BRAK ES SfBK: 1. Tod d Harri ngton (Suz ): 2. Gra nt Lope z (Suz ): 3. Dav id McG rat h ISuz) : 4. Jose ph Gill (Ka w): 5. Ema nue l Manusu thakis (Suz) . • HAR LEY·DAVID S ON TWI N SP ORTS, I. M ;ke Cicotto ; 2. Billy Graef; 3. Rich ie Mor ris; 4. Brian Bodin e: 5. Michae l Friberg. BUEll LIGHTN IN G: 1. Shawn Conrad ; 2. Cha d Healy; 3. Brian Bodine; 4. Rich ie Mo rris; 5. Mic hael Fribe rg. H RC G RANO PR IX SE RIES BY IO EMITSU, I. J ohn Deeme r, on hi s Maico, w on all four motos in th e Spo rtsman 250cc Expert and Over 40 Expert c lasses at the Midwest Reg ional Mot ocr oss Seri es in Belding, Michiga n. " Ro l a n d o Q ui nte r (H o n j: 2 . G reg Esser (H e n ): 3. Lavo ughn Mo ntgom er y (Hen): 4. Rich ard C a pob ia nco C Hon); 5. Dav id Dot.' (Hon) . SUNOCO e TO: 1. G ra n t L O p l' Z (Su z) : 2. S h a nt.' Priet o (Kaw) ; 3. Mic h.lt' l Fitzp a tric k (K.IW) ; 4. Todd Harring to n (Kaw); 5. Rick NMUp (Muz) . SU NOCO GTU : 1. To dd Harrin gt o n (Kaw ); 2. Joseph Gill tKaw) : 3. Ema n ue l Manusut hakls (5u z); 4. Ni no Alegria (Kaw ): 5. Brian Liven good (Suz ). SUNOCO GT LIGH TS , 1. C hris to p her Bay (Due); 2. Dom inic Au bry (He n): 3. Scan McN ew (Ho n): 4. Ron Perry (Yam ):.5 . C rcg Done y (Hon). Maley the man at Michigan's hot new.MX track By Mark Thompson BELDING, MI, AUG. 16 We' ve all d reamed of ha vin g ou r own pri vat e motocro ss track and then in viting a few d ozen of o ur racing bu d di es to co m e sha re the fu n . To rn McGu ire decid ed to act ua lly do it. He crea ted a su p er b tra ck just a few miles d own the road fro m Gr attan Raceway, site of the A HRMA N a t io nal s in Jun e . To m a n d h is famil y a n d fr iend s spe nt wee ks clearing brush and tr ees on a corner of his farm to carve ou t a w ide, fast and vinta ge-friend ly tr ack, co m p lete w ith multip le uph ills an d d o wn hills, seve ra l jum p s, a s h~ r t wood s section, a lon g and deep sa nd wa sh WIth a tu rn in the midd le, pl us a long sta rt s traig ht. On A ug ust 16, mo tocrosser s fill ed o u t 82 en try slips, making the first race a t the ~ew track a success. It w as ho t a nd s u n ny, w hich wo re peo ple out a nd created a du st problem for peop le ta king thei r tim e ge tting to the first tu rn . First to the line were the Over 30 a nd Over 50 Int ermed iat es, wit h the Over 30 Exper ts s tartin g in th e second wave. In bo th m o te s, Mark Tho m pso n and his Maico pulled holes ho ts, only to ha ve Tom Boyd and hi s H u s k y ca tch hi m w ith in a la p in the sa nd w:ash . Both won their cla sses. M e a n w h il e, the O v e r 30 Ex p e r ts w e ~ e engaged in a d ogfigh t, with Fritz Kling winnin g the first mo to over CZ pilo t Scott Sta nfo rd . Stanfo rd ha d M i ke Z imme r ma n on a b o o m ing KX450 brea thing do wn his nex k. and sometim es .. in fro nt of him . TIle to p th ree positions go t sh uffled around in th e secon d mote, wi th Stan ford win ning fo r the overa ll, and Kling's 1-3 sco re besting Zimme rma n's 3-2. On a dem and in g track su ch as this, an d wit h tem peratures in the 90s, a rid er may no t want to rid e ba ck-t o-ha ck mo tes. In s p ite of tha t, Roy Ma ley im med iat ely pu t hi s Ma ico back on the starting line after the first race to w in the Over 60 Intermed iate class. Keeping him com pany in this race we re the Over 40 Nov ice winner, CC Mmou n ted Bill Barrow , an d Jeff Angs tm an a nd Fred Kling. Two riders w ho have been dom ina ting their classes this seaso n are Andy Hardin a nd Jo hn Deemer. Ha rd en was o nce aga in the king of the Spo rtsman 500ce Intermediates, colle cting bo th mo ta wins d esp ite th e effor ts of Mark Ne lson , Ma rk T ho mpson and o ff-r oa d d ire ctor Ron Winge t. Mea nwhile, Jo hn Deem e r o nc e again put his Mat eo in fro n ... of the O ve r 40 Exper ts, collecting the win over Mike Z imme rma n's KX and Alex Kris her's Can -Am . . Results PREM 5( M): 1. J.l m~'!o Ca rlson (Tri). CL%C 125 NOV : I. Ed Kub ik (Pl'n ); 2. Karsten (III> IPenl . -. .. C I.SSC 125 INT: 1. C hd rh~ Schan k (M,li l; 2. O.ln fll'hl'r \ D KW); 3. Jus tin IIlg (PI.nl; 4. R.ind y III ~ (PI.n). · · C L"i C 125 EX: 1. Brad K ennard (Pen). S C15SC 2511 NOV : 1. C hris M .lk vnl.'n (BSAl. C LS.iC 250 EX: 1. Dr.ld Kcnn-ud (O~:

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