Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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the moment, th ey were all in Victory Lane at round 10 of the AMA Hot Shoe se ries. LaPeer, Mich igan' s Bob Knapp had ea rned hi s fir st 750c c Hot Shoe race w in eve r . Besid e him self with his son's win a n d th e g rea t rid e b y Buc ha na n (o n a b ik e o n lo an fr om St yl ema ster' s Jimm y Mcllvena ), Bob Knapp's dad exclaime d, "These are m y boys!" Jason Se n tell kept th e M ichi g an ho mecoming alive w it h a hard-fought w in in th e 600 cc ma in ove r Buc key e Doug Davis and factory KTM rid er Joe Kopp. The 600cc Pro-Sp ort di vision was wo n by Brian Shirley, and the 250cc ProSport by Phil Palm er. T he ev enin g ' s pro ceed ings were int errupted by a brief rain shower that soaked the limestone facility. The Darke County fairground s resp on d ed favorabl y to the trac k pre para tion and yield ed a damp but raceable surface. Geo rge Roeder, the r e ce nt "Guru of Greenville," blasted by Kyle Lon g and Jimmy Mcll v en a to co n tro l th e firs t heat. Joe Eades and Pa t Bucha nan kep t Bob Kn app h on est, a n d in re tu rn he covered the m w it h w hite mud . Brian Shirley a nd Tom McG rane contro lled th e 600cc Pro -Sport q u a lifiers, w hile Dan Stanley and Doug Davis owned the 600cc Expert hea ts. With the thr eat of rain s till in the area, the evening's final s we re reversed . Roed er selected the inside, and after one tour he appeared to be on his way to Victory Lane . Knapp wor ked on the bot tom and Roed er took the top , while Pat Buchanan and Kyle Long argued over the show position . Roed er' s swinga rm bolt wo rked its way loose and collapsed the rear sus pension. At almost the same mo ment, Joe Eades fe ll victim to th e slick conditions in tum three. The race was Knapp's as he adjus ted his line on his Boucha rd Aut o Works/Bisbee/B&B Racin g-backed XR and di stanced him self fro m Bu ch an an a n d Lo n g . Buchanan's hopes for victory bri gh tened as Knapp's rear-brake disk turned cherry red , but Knapp took the chec kers and the win. Ron Kimm el and Tom McGrane took th e 600cc Pro-Am field into turn o ne . Brian Sh irley w a s in a hurry and h e worked his way toward the front after a less-than-desi rable s ta r t. Th e hi g h schoo l se n ior from Illinois d is p laced McGrane and then Kimmel for the lead by the end of the third lap. Shirley distan ced him self from the ba ttle for second . Jeff Landrum kept Don Mullen and John Hastings at bay for a fourth- place finish. With three laps to go , McGrane got by Kimmel for good . "I want to thank Marlin Hart and my dad," said Shi rley in Victory Lane. (Above) The 750cc Expert class lines up at round 10 of the AMA Hot Shoe series in Greenville, Ohio. Robert Knapp (44) took the win, followed by Patrick Buchanan (75) in second and Kyle Long (94x) In third. (Right) Northern Californian champion Bart Bast (lef1) won the Scratch main event at Costa Mesa Speedway in California. "I kn ow school is firs t, bu t 1 th ink 1 ca n ge t away for t he r ac e in Las Vegas ." Dou g Davis, now a 600cc specialis t, led John Nicke ns and Jason Sen tell after th e firs t lap of the 600cc Exp er t ma in . Dan Stanley moved in on the lead tri o by the end of the third lap . Davis go t too high in turns one and two, brushed the ba les a nd bent his br ake lever . Sen tell a nd Stanley se iz ed the m oment a nd fought for the lead as Davis regained his momentum. With three laps to go, Stanl ey retired to the pits and Sentell set sa il. Kopp had used all of hi s tear-offs as he fought with Davis. Davis quickl y re co ve re d , adjus ted his line and held off Kopp for the place position . Sentell was happy. "I lov e this track !" he exclaimed. "It is a blast to be ou t there. 1 have to thank m y dad for working on this bike for three days to ge t it together." . Th e eve n ing's co m pe ti tio n w a s topped off with another great rid e by Phil Palmer on wh at some would consider to be a vin ta ge 250cc air-c ooled H onda . Palmer bat tled with Rand y Smith and Dave Woods for th e win in I~ the 250cc Pro-Spo rt final. Darke County Fairgrounds Greenville, Ohio Results: August 28, 1998 (Round 10) 250 PR O -SP T: 1. Phil ip Pa lme r (Hen): 2. Rand y Smith (He n): 3. Dave Woods IHon ); 4. Ray Rees (Hon ); 5. Usa H iler (Hun). 600 P RO-SPT: 1. Brian Sh irl ey (Rtx) : 2. Thom as McGrane Jr . (Rtx ); 3. Ronald Kim me l (Rt x); 4 , } d f Land ru n (Rtx): 5. Do na ld Mu llen II (Rtx). 600 EX: 1. jason Sent ell (Rtx): 2 Dou g Davis (Rtx): 3. Jo e Kopp (KTM); 4. Jo h n Nic ke ns III (R tx ): 5. Ken Coolbeth (W.R) . 7S0 EX: 1. Robert Knapp (H-D); 2. Patrick Buch an an (H· D); 3. Ky le Long (H·D); 4. Ch ris Boon. (H· D); S. Jam es Mcllvena (H· O). Costa Mesa Speedway Bast and McConnell on course By Elaine Jones Photo by Mike Basso COSTA MESA,CA,SEPT. 19 t was Leg ends ni ght a t Costa Mesa , a nd the crowd wa sn't d isappointed wi th who showed up. Heading the talen ted list of past champions was non e oth er than Bruce 'The Fox" Penhall. He has go ne on to become a ch am pion in offshore powerboat raci ng , and he is going for an unprecedented fourt h championship in a few weeks. Add to the list "Slid in '" Sonny N u tter, " Da ngerous" Dubb Farrell, Tommy Burba, Dou g 'The Destroyer" N icol and Do n "Too Tall " Od om. These were the gu ys who each thr ew a leg over a bike and went ou t and sho wed that they could still be considered legitimate competi tors tod ay . The Mo ran b ro ther s were also on ha nd bu t chose to watch the action from the gra ndstand. Things are star ting to heat up for the National, as the boys from Northern California are coming down to get dia led in on the sm aller Cos ta Mesa bu llr ing. N ew bik es with lay-down motors a re showing up all over the pits and the dia ling-in process is in full sw ing . "Flyin' " Mike Faria, the current National Champion, made the trip from Reno to Costa I Mesa this season. The nigh t, how ever, belonged to Bar t "Simpson" Bast, who won the Scratch main event, and Shawn "Ma d Dog" McCon nell , who took the wi n on th e Hand icap s ide of th e p rogra m . Bas t an d McCo nnell have tw o com ple tely different sty les of rid ing: Bast ma kes the outs ide wo rk, an d Shawn likes it down close to the pole. The first heat on the Scratch sid e of the progra m saw Andy 'The Enforcer " Northrup, on a new lay-d own [awa, on the pole. Nex t to him in the two slot was Northern Cal rider Vance Felicia . Faria drew the three spot, with McConnell in four and "Fast" Ed Castro in five. It was Faria who made it clear from the get-go that he was here to pick up w here he left o ff at th e N ationa l. He led the quick four-lapper from s tart to fin ish. Castro had gotten off second, but Northrup got th e drive out of fo u r a nd th e contest turned int o a drag race for th e checkered. Castro won it by th e w idth of a tire, and he and Faria wo uld bo th move to the semi. McConnell and Felicia finished out the field . The second heat had Gary Hicks on the pole, with Ch arlie 'The Edge" Venegas in two an d Rick Pea rce in three. Kon Baur and Nort hern Cali fornia' s Chad Felici a loaded in to four and five . The first try at a go saw Pea rce get into the tap es, and h e was se nt to the 20-yard line. Hicks was ha ving bike p ro blem s, and whe n the backup bike was ca lled u p, it also refu sed to work and he wen t in to th e in fiel d . On th e s tart, it was Venegas out on top, bu t the red flag came ou t wi th one lap down when Baur parked it in to m one and Pea rce, with nowhere to go, plowed in to him. Baur was deemed to be the cause and he 'was se nt to th e pits. Reserve rider Jo hnny 00 0\ . 0\ ,..... ~' 10-< (]) .c o ..... u o 43