Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS Round 1: Birch Creek Motorsports Park AMA FALL CLASSICSERIES ~ ----, • By Jay and Sharon Hauser DANVILLE, VA, SEPT 20 0nda of Troy' s Mike Brown continues to bu ild on his impressive fo ur-ye ar win s t r e a k at Birc h Cree k Motorsports Park. Brown , rid ing in the final mon ths of his Honda of Troy contract, mad e it perfectly clear wh y he fin is he d fifth in the 1998 AM A 12Scc Natio nal Motocro ss Series. Still u nsure of his plan s for the 1999 racing season, Brow n go t down to the business at hand a nd nail ed d own a per fect d ay as the AMA Fall Classic go t under wa y wi th round one of the six-ro un d series . Brown kept his streak alive by winning all four Pro-class mote s, rem ainin g unb ea ten at th is facility over the past four years. A familia r face amo ng the locals was No rth Ca ro lina native Jim eese, w ho followed Brown thr ough out the day, as he has done so many times in the pas t. Neese was sporti ng new mach inery at the Fall Classic, trad ing in his KTM for a shiny new Husq varna 125. "We jus t go t th e bike and ha ven't had time to do anything to it - it's totally s to ck," N ee se ' s m ec ha ni c, Kevin Rothrock, said. You wo u ld ne ver have known this was the case, as Neese flew the bike to a . ru nn er-up finish beh ind Bro wn in the 125cc Pro class. Maryland's Tom Welch stayed bu sy all wee ke nd, smoking the Pro s on Ama teur da y and then returning on Su nday to be a major player in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes . The day sta rted with the 125cc class, wh ich is conside red a sort of a su pport cl a ss to th e p rem ier 250cc d iv is ion. When the pack hit the first turn, it was Suzu ki of Winst on-Salem's Chad Loug h naili ng down a picture-perfect holeshot to lead Neese's teammate, Pro-Action / Factory Husqvarna /Pirelli / Silkolenebacked Greg Ra nd , Welch a nd loca l rider Mark Wagner. Neese ga ted slow ly and was startin g to wo rk into the top 10 halfway into lap one while Brown, on the other hand , turned his fifth-place start into the lead before the completion of lap one. Onc e in front, Brown put it on cruise control, and that would set the tone for the rest of the da y as far as he was concerned . With Bro w n out front and long gone, the true ba ttles we re those being fought b e h ind him . Rand k e pt h is Hu sky perched in second for thr ee hard- fou ght laps u n til Welch was fin ally a ble to make a pass stick. This left Rand to battle Kansas City, Missouri's Doug Stone and the fast-approaching Neese. N e es e s te p ped u p the p a ce a n d moved p ast Ston e with his first strike, and th en se t off after Ran d - brin ging Stone along for the rid e. N eese wa s able to reel in and pass Rand for third before th e two-lap board ca me ou t. By this time, however, Welch had a big-enough lead to make it to the ch eckers. Ston e wa s also able to d isplace Rand one more p osit ion, pushing Ran d ba ck to fifth. [J{j 00 0'\ 0'\ ...... t'--' l-< OJ ..0 '0 ..... U o 32 (Left ) Mike B'rown sail s to victory du ring on e of the fou r motos he won during the open ing roun d of the AMA Fall Classic MX Serie s, held at Birc h Creek Mot orsports Park. Bro wn won the overall in both the 125 and 250cc Pro cl asses . (Above) J im Neese was impressive, fini shing second behind Brown in the 125cc Pro class abo ard a brand-new, box-stock Husqvarna. Ohio's Brad Stru nk cam e in sixth over ano the r loca l favorite, Tri -City Yarna ha / Sitec Racin g' s Brand on Tu rlin gton . Lough's and Wagner's sho ts at a top finish w ere d ash ed when th e tw o came · togeth er on lap four, losing sever al po sitions in the process. . . Brow n hit the mar k per fectl y at the start of the second 125cc Pro rnoto , nabbing the holesh ot and checking au t to another mo ta victory. . He left Neese, Team Green ' s up-andcoming hotshoe Jeff Gibson, and Lough in his wake. Gibson and Neese battled from the drop of the gate all the wa y to the checkers, but in the end it wo u ld be Honda of High-Point/ Husqvarna /Big Gun Exhaust /Pirelli /Win ter s Market in g-b a cked N eese h o ld ing on to t h e position. Gib son w ould ho ld on fo r a wellearned third in the mot a, vastly improv ing on his first-m ota DNF du e to a brok en clutch perch. Welc h s uffered a 12th-place ju mp ou t of the ga te and it cost him dearly. By the time the flag fell, he had worked his wa y to fourth, but he had no chance of catching the fron t-ru nners. Stone recorded another fine mota finish with a fifth, ah ead of Sou th Carolina's Chuck Shirley, Strunk and Loug h. Turlin gton picked up ninth, just ahea d of Rand. Just a s in th e 12Scc class, Bro w n sho wed early th at he was th e man to beat as h e b rought h is Honda CR250 across Mount Deacon with the lead as m oto number o n e got u nder w a y . Yamaha YZ400-mou nted Kevin Walker, meanwhile, was right on Brown's heels. Gibson wa s righ t in th e middle o f things, doing his best to kee p Welch, Stone and California' s Andy Anaya at bay. Walker main tain ed a quick p ace that kept him in second for the first four laps w hile thi ng s wh ere un fo lding beh ind him . When 'he sta rted to slow, opting to save his energy for the Fou rStroke Natio na l he wo u ld be runnin g later in the d ay, Welch too k advantage and moved in to second p lace. Welch , th ou g h, was totall y unaw are of w ha t was charging at him from behind. Totally out of the picture at the sta rt and durin g th e ea rly stages of the moto was An thony Poca ro bba, bu t th e Floridian was on the gas and was the fastest man on the race track. Po carobba s liced and slid hi s way p as t a bo ut 20 r iders to finall y rea ch Welch. He then turned the .battl e for second into an intense showdown tha t saw him eve ntua lly power-slid e u nd ern eath Welch in the late stages of the mota to tak e second p lace. Welch man aged to hold on to third while Suzuki-mounted Jon Boruff put in a killer rid e to mov e up to fou rth - pushing Walker back to fifth. Mark Burkhart mad e up for a so-so start and filed int o sixth by the end of the moto, edging ou t Gibson. Brow n, of co u rse, pe rfo rmed h is magic one last time and ran off and disappea red in fron t of the 250cc Pro field a fte r a brief on e-lap bou t w ith KTM' s Kelly Smith. Smith looked strong early on but just cou ld n' t see m to find hi s groove. He wo u ld end u p slip ping back to fifth by the end of the moto. Step p in g up to fi ll Smith' s s hoes again was the persistent Welch, but this time aro und he had no breathing room. . Pocarobba gated w ell and was right on his rear fender, matching him mov e for m o ve for three la ps before he cou ld blast pa st. Burkha rt moved right up in to th e gro u p, turning it int o a three-way shoo tout for the runner-up spot. Wh en the checke rs fell to en d th e d ay, it was Pocarobba hold ing on with an incredi ble ride jus t seco nds ahead of both Welch and Burkhart. Still close to the lead pack, Smi th crossed the line in fift h, a hea d of yo u ng Gibson, w h ile Brad Strun k came u p wi th another fine ride to take seventh ove r Boruff. (~ Birch Creek Motorsports Park Danv ille, Virginia Results : September 20, 1998 (Round 1 of 6) 125 MOTO 1: 1. Mike Bro wn (Ho n); 2. Tom Welch (Suz); 3. Jim Neese (H mo) 4. Doug Stone (Kaw); S. Greg ; Rand (H us ); 6. Brad Stru nk (Suz); 7. Brandon Turlingto n y (Ya m); 8. Hans Nee l (Hen): 9. Ch uck Shirle (Yam); 10. Troy Crisp (Suz). 125 MOTO 2: I. Mike Bro wn (Ho n); 2. Jim Neese (H u s); 3. Je ff Gibson IKa w): 4. Tom We Ich (Suz ); 5. Do ug Sto ne (Kaw): 6. Ch uc k Shi r ley (Yam) ; 7. Bra d S tru nk (Su z ); 8. Cha d Lo u g h (S uz); 9. Bra nd o n Tu rlington (Yam); 10. Greg Rand (Hus ). 125 OIA: 1. Mike Brown (Hen): 2. Jim N eese (H us); 3 . Tom We Ich (Suz) : 4. Do ug Stone IKaw ): 5. Brad Strun k ISuz): 6. C h uck Shi r ley (Ya m ); 7. G reg Rand (Suz); 8. Brandon Turl ington (Yam); 9. Troy Cri sp (Suz); to. Richa rd Watson (Suz) . 250 M OTO t: Mi ke Bro w n (He n) : 2. A n t hony Pocaro bba (Suz ): 3. Tom w el ch (Su z ); 4. Jon Boru ff (Suz); 5. Kevin Walk er (Yam); 6. Mark Burkhart (Yam); 7. Je ff Gibson (Kaw): 8. Bra d S tru nk (Su z); 9. La rry Gcs~ner (KTM); 10. Dou g Ston e (Ka w). 250 MOTO 2: 1. Mik e Brown (He n): 2. A nthony Pocarobba (Suz) : 3. Tom Welc h (Su z); Ma rk Burk hart (Yam); 5. Kelly Sm ith (KTM); 6. Jeff Gibso n (Kaw) : 7. Brad Strunk (Suz); 8. Jon Boruff (5u :£) 9. Todd Do w ns ; (Yam); 10. Doug Stone IKaw ). 250 O /A : 1. Mik e Brow n (H o n); 2. A n tho ny Pocarobbe (5uz ); 3. Tom Welch (5u z); 4. Ma rk Burkhart (Ya m); 5. Jon Boruff (5uz); 6. Jeff Gibso n (Ka w) : 7. Brad Strunk (Suz ); 8. Doug Stone IKaw): 9. Todd Downs (Yam); 10. Jaso n Co nlon (SOl). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Sanford, Virginia, September 27 Round 3 - East Bend, Northcarolina, October 4

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