(Left) Beno Rodi (27), Henry
Nonnenmacher (4T)and Gordon
M
enzie (20X) do battle in the Classic
500n50cc class during vintage dirt
track racing action at Hayden
Speedway.
(Above) James Tumlin (24L)won in the
Sportsma n 750cc class, topp ing Fred
Cuba.
m ost o f th e ra ce side by sid e before
Glaefke o pened a small margin and held
on to it to the checkers.
Jo na tha n Hord pu t his Honda Hawkb a s ed m a chi ne into second b ehind
David Kieffer' s Buell in Bat tle of the
Twins Formula Two, then captured Battle of the Twi ns Formula Three ahead of
John Clemens.
Super Mono Two was initially a close
race between class cha mp No rman Lastovica on a BBM 500 and Jim Marchbank
on a Yamaha SR500 . However, la te in
the race, Lastovica started experiencing
bike problems a nd los ing p os it io n s,
leaving Marchba nk to ru n alo ne . Ma rk
Ha tten was second on another Ba re
Bones Mac hi ne, and Andy Mol~ar was
credited with fourth on, of all thin gs, a
1962 Norton Manx replica after To m
Meles ky was DQed . Fourt h we nt to Stuart Ca rter on ano the r piece of vintage
iron, a '62 Matc hless 500.
0
Steamboat Motorcycle Week
• Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Results: September 19,1998 (Round15 of 17)
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28
200 GP : 1. Co rey Ru sk (Du e); 2. Ken Lighthou se
(BSA); 3. Byro n Blend (H on); 4. Geo rge G ramlich (H e n):
5. john Haber bosch (Mon).
250 C P: 1. Jim Ne ue nbu rg (Bul): 2. La rry Pe ons
(Du d ; 3. John Lefevre (Hu s): 4. Robe rt Borg (CZ); 5.
Byron Blen d (Hon ).
350 GP : 1. Jim Neue nbu rg (Bu1); 2. Craig Brcckon
(Du e); 3. Johnny Demoisey (Tr i): 4. John Lefevre (H us ):
S. Lon McCroskey (AjS).
500 PREM : 1. Adam Popp (Hen): 2. Ralp h Aue r
(BMW); 3. Larry Peon s (See); 4. Rodd Lighthouse (BSA);
5. Andy Mol na r (Nor ).
PRE· 1940: 1. Ralph Aue r (BMW); 2. Do c Batsl eer •
(Ind): 3. Bene Rodi (No r),
CL C FOOT: 1. Ralph Auer (BMW); 2. Norbe rt
Nic ke l (BMW); 3. Fred Mork (Nor) ; 4. Beno Rod i (EnO;
S. Lonnie Harmon (Tri ).
CL C HAND, 1. Doe Batsleer (Ind ).
CLSSC 1960li : 1. Je ff Eling s (Ma t); 2. Fred Mor k
(Ma t); 3. Virg il Elings (AJS); 4. Jo hn Cy g no r (H-D ); 5.
Lon McCrosk. y (AJS).
.
F·l25: 1. Mark Whitt., (Hen): 2. Clair Saa m (Yam ).
F·2S0: 1. Je ff Elings (Ya m); 2. T uppe r Robi nso n
(Bul): 3. Clair Saarn (Yam); 4. John Easto n (C-A); 5. Bob
White (Ya m).
F-500: 1. Adam Pop p (Ho n): 2. Dave Rosno (Ha n);
3. Jim Neuenburg (Bul) : 4. Dav id Wright (Ya m); 5. Ma rk
Whi te (Suz) .
F·750: 1. Will Ha rd ing (Ha n); 2. Ca l Lew is (Nor) ; 3.
o
Dave Russell (BSA); 4. Michael Ha racourt (Tri): S. .f n
Sch ultz (H-D) .
F-V INT : 1. Ada m Po pp (Hon ): 2. Gle nn Ca m p bel l
(Dud; 3. Kevin Brown (Suz): 4. David Jane czko
(Suz ); 5. Geo rge Schroeder (Du C>.
BO T 2 ~STK : 1. Bru ce Bille (Yam); 2. A rt Fa rley
(Yam ); 3. David Wrig ht (Yam).
SOT/BEARS: 1. Jef f Nash (Due); 2. Ra ndy w hite
(Du e): 3. jona than Glaefke (Su z): 4. Davi d Kieffer (Bue):
S. Jim Brewer (D uC>.
AHRMA Classic Bike Mag~zine Dirt Track
Series,Round 15: Steamboat Motorcycle Week
@OOLfrn@~9
LFill]~Ibil!ill
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By Matt Benson
HAYDEN, CO, SEPT. 16
ring together seri es regulars from
all corners of the nation, mix in a
few h o t sh o e s fr om th e Rocky
Moun tain a rea, throw the 80 en tr ies
togeth er on a rough little oval, and the
result is bo und to be inter estin g and
u npredictab le. And that is what it wa s
for th e opening event of the Steamboa t
Motorcycle Week, as California Bultaco
pilo t Ma ur ic e Ort ega , C ol orado 's
Ho nda-mounted Mark Eri ckson, a nd
Georgian Ja m es Tumlin and his Triumph 750 put on qu ite a show before a
fairly large crowd.
First up were th e Din os aurs , and
defe n d ing ch a m pio n Geo rg e Will s
quickly m oved his hand -sh ifti n g 1948
Harley WR arou nd Gordo n Menzie's '51
Royal Enfield . Th e Man ha ttan, Illinois,
rid er nev er look ed b ac k, while Be no
Rodi, o n a no ther Enfield , gra d ua lly
m oved closer and closer to Menzie. A t
the checkered flag, however, it wa s still
Wills, Men zie arid Rod i.
Ortega's fi rs t wi n ca me in Cl as sic
250, which be ga n as a battle with the
class cha mp, O hio's John Bova, also on a
196 7 Bultaco 250 . Cal if ornian James
McMurren soo n moved his '66 HarleyDavidson Sprint up to make it a threeway race for the lead. Ortega warded off
McMurren 's determined bid s for th e
lead , and Bova finished a close third.
One observe r described the Hayden
Speedway as a round motocross track,
which su ited di rt track newcomer John
LeFevre and his rather unlikely mount,
a '67 Husqvarna 360, to a' tee . The Californ ia H usky specialist, making his bid
for th e Stea mboat Iron Man award by
o
lID
compe ting (on a Husqvarna, of cou rse)
in all four ty pes of competition, ch ose an
ou tside line to rid e around Rodi's Roya l
Enfield 500 and Henry Nonnenmache r's
Harley Sprint to lay claim to the lead by
the ha lfway mark. Alth ough Rod i hung
close to L,;Fevre, th e Hu sk y rid er was
not abou t to relinqu ish his lead .
Th e bi kes with brakes to ok to the
tr ack n ext, and th e Spo rtsma n 250cc
class turned ou t to be an excellent ba ttle
between Ort ega and Erickso n . Th ey
spe nt mo st of the eight-lap fina l rid in g
side by side, with Ortega arriving at the
checkered flat half a bike length ahead
of the Honda CR250 rider. Third w en t to
Gary Neff on a '74 Kawasaki 250, who
successfully held off Rob ert Griffi n on a
Bu ltaco a nd Ya ma ha -mou nted Frank
Hardman.
Ortega and Erickson lined up next to _
one a nother for th e Sports man 600cc
final , and it was the Bultaco rider gra bbi ng the hol es hot and th e Co lora da n
maki ng u p grou n d . Er ickso n soon
closed the gap and on the sixth of eig ht
la p s rode h is Honda XL350 aro un d
Ortega ' s 360 Bultaco in turns on e and
two to take the lead. The final lap was a
frantic affair, and Ortega wound up on
the ground after the checkered flag as he
unsuccessfu lly tried to keep his seco nd
sp o t from Jo hn McClella nd 's Yamaha.
Brad Holt finis hed a tight fourth . _.
Senior-class champion Gary Brenna n
grabbed th e ho les ho t on h is Triumph
thumpe r, h ound ed by Ti m W olf of
Arvada, Colorado, riding a Yama ha 750.
The Illinois racer looked as though he
would hold off Wolf, bu t on the final lap
he ran wid e in tu rn three, allowing Wolf
to snatch the lead and win the sprint to
th e ch eckered flag . Third was Texa n
Gera ld Jessup on a BSA B50.
In th e n on champi on ship Veteran
clas s for riders o ver age 35, Hard ma n
led init ia lly, but Tu m lin and Norto nmounted Arn ie Ma hnke soo n d ispl aced
h im to th ird . Th e man o n th e m o ve,
however, was Erickso n, w ho worked his
wa y up to second but coul d n' t quite get
close eno ugh to Tumlin to make a serious bid for the lead.
All w armed up from the Vet ra ce,
Tumlin gra bbe d the Sp ortsman 750cc
lead and kep t his Triumph 750 there all
race, d espite p ressure from Fred Cuba,
also on a Triumph tw in. Co lorado rider
Rip Raygor ca m e out th e winner of a
four-way race for the third position. 0 1
Hayden Speedway
Hayden, Colorado
Results: September 16, 1998(Round 15 of 18)
DINO: 1. Ge o rge Will s (H· D); 2. Gordo n Me nzi e
(Enf): 3. Bene Rod i (En f) : 4. Den nis Clark (H -D); 5 Craig
Nesshoe fer (Tri ).
CLSSC 250 : 1. Ma uri ce O r te ga (Bul ); 2. j ame s
McMurren (H· D); 3. jo hn Bova (Bul ): 4. Rob ert Borg
(CZ); 5. David Dean (Oss).
.
CLSSC SOOn5(}, 1. John Lefevre (Hus): 2. Beno Rodi
(EnO; 3. H en ry Nonnenrne ch er ( H ~D) ; 4. Jeff Tulinuis
