Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Roun 2: Red Bud Track 'N' Trail: d 'J' By Don Sch neider BU~~,Mn, 5EPT.27 e ll y Smith to o k h is La ns ing Cycle-sponsored H usaberg FC501 to the overa ll wi n at ro und tw o of the AMA Eas tern Four-Stroke National Motocr oss Series , wh ich to o k place a t the Red Bud Track ' N' Trai l. Sm ith put together a superb 1-3 moto tall y, and he was visually jubilant after crossing the fina l-moto chec ke re d flag and ga rn ering th e firs t Na tio nal wi n of his career. With the win, Smit h also too k ove r the series points lead in his qu est for the cha mp ions hip . He is now a comfort- . able 15 points ahead of seco nd -p laced A n thony Pocorobba, 88-73. Jim N ee se has 62 and ho ld s d own thi rd , ahe ad of Kevin Walker a n d C h a rlie Dunawa y with 60 and 48 points, respectively. Th e Hu sq varna o f Hi gh Poi n t and Pro-Action Sus pensio n- backed N ee se kept it ver y inter es tin g th roughout th e day as he thumped his lar ge TC610 powerhouse around the long, natura l-terrain facility. Neese, w ho is Na tion al number two and hails from Greens boro, North Caroli na , garnered seco nd o vera ll on the da y ..vith his 5-2 mo to tally. But it w as Pocorobba w ho proved to be the fastest man o n the track. His Banzai/ Pro -Ac tio n Su spension-sponsored Ya maha YZ400 F w as ac tu a lly leading b o th mo te s . A flat r ea r ti re was hi s downfa ll two la ps afte r th e halfway mar k in moto one, while he was 10 seconds clear of the second- placed rid er. Pocorobba babi ed it aro u nd and eventua lly fin is he d in th e 13th posi tio n . His second -mote victory romp netted him eno ugh points for third overall on the day. David Gavlord m ad e the tr ek from P lain w ell , Mi ch ig an , an d garnered fourth overa ll w ith a 6-4 score. In eac h mo to, Gay lo r d ga te d no worse th an third and proved to be a contender after missi ng ro und on e of th e se ries . Aft er the fin a l m ot o , G aylo rd h ad ta ll ie d enoug h p oints to sit in 10th overall in the series point s chase. Todd Downs, w ho jus t finish ed seven th overa ll in the AMA Wes tern FourStroke Se ries, looked very s trong a nd we ll-focused aboard his Corpus Christi Mo torspo rts-bac ked Yamaha. How ever , Downs was inv olved in a tu rn -tw o pileup of three ride rs in moto one and start- K ed dead last. He w orked up to finis h a respectable seventh by mote's end. Moto two proved to be another complicati on fo r Downs, as two rid ers wen t down rig ht in front of him in tu rn one, fo rci ng hi m to ag ain scra mble towa rd the fro nt. Th is tim e his nickname rang tru e, as " Destructo" th rashed th ro u gh the field and worked u p to th e backs of Neese and Walker , w ho we re in second an d th ird , w ith three laps remaining. Ju st as Downs carved ins ide Walker an d mad e the .pass, he washed ou t and went ji o w n . H e wa s up q u ickl y and kept th e bi g-b ore runnin g, even tually. clos ing th e ga p again and finis hi ng in fourth a cou ple of seconds back. His 7-4 tally w as good for fifth overa ll. Finishin g six th ov er all on th e d ay via a 9-7 s co re w a s Matthew C rown , a n o t h er M ichi ga n r id er fro m th e M etam ora Ya ma ha te a m , wh o wa s als o o n e o f th ose d own ed rid ers in m o to o ne . Crown wo rked up to just inside the top 10 by p assin g Mantua , Ohio, Yamah a pilot David H and on th e final lap . In mot o tw o, Crown th u mped his way to finish sevent h after a mi d pack start . Shane Slo th er, from Oil City, Pennsy lvania, took the seventh-overa ll posi- M TOC O S O RS AMA EASTERN FOUR· SR T OKEN AnONAL IES M TOC SSER O ROS tion w ith a 6-10 m ot o tally. Finish ing eig hth was Tim H awthorne, followed by tw o Indianans : Tim Pridmore (12- 11) from Mitchell , and Mark Smith (11-13) from Co lumbu s . A nd y An a ya thundere h is North Co unty Yamaha to a ca reer-be s t thi rd in the rnot o o ne a nd then su ffered a flat rear tire in m oto tw o after ru nnin g fifth . He pull ed off in th e mech a nics' a rea an d cha nge d th e rea r w heel , then fin ished m ot o in 21st (one spo t out of the points ). Anaya sti ll man aged to pull off 11th overall on th e day and s tay ed insi de. th e top l O in the series . Kevi n Wal ker rode well in moto o ne to a w ell -earn ed seco n d- p lace fin ish aboard h is Birch C r eek M otorsports YZ400F. Thi s w as also a career best for the Cross roa ds Racin g Yama ha of Kin gsport-backed pilot. He w ould have pulled 'off a pod ium finish aft er running in the top five in m oto two, bu t a broken chain derailed his charge two laps from the finish . His 2-22 tally netted him 12th overa ll, and he is still fou rth overa ll in the se ries. Finis hing in 13 th w a s Pro-Actio n Su sp e n s io n a n d H usqva rn a - backed Ch arlie Dunaway, who fini shed with a 16-9 mo to ta lly. A firs t-tu rn mish a p in mo to one fo rced him to turn and burn to the fr ont. Ti m Christen s en fr om Rochester, Massachusetts, finished with a 19-8, just in front of Jim Randa (14-14), to garn er 14th overall. l~ Red Bud Track 'N' Tra il Buchanan, Michigan Results: September 27, 1998 (Round 2 of 6) MOTO 1: Ke lly Smi t h IH bg): 2. Kevi n Walker (Ya m); 3. Andy Anaya (Yam); 4. David Gaylord (Yam); 5 . Ji m N eese (H u s) ; 6. Sh ane Slat he r (Yam); 7 . Todd Downs (Ya m) ; 8. TI m H awthorne (Ya m) ; 9. M art he..... Cr o wn (Yam); 10. Da vid Hand (Yam); 11. Mark Smith (Ya m ); 12. Ti mothy Pri d more (Ya m); 13 . An th on y Pocor ob ba (Ya m) ; 14. J im Ra nda (Ya m); 15. C had Goche no u r (Ya m) ; 16. C ha rlie Duna way (Hus ): 17. To mm y Kirk (Ya m ); 18. Dona ld Alford (Ya rn): 19 . Timoth y Christia nse n (Yam); 20. Scott Wou lls (Yam) . MOT O 2: 1. A nthon y Po co robbn (Yam) ; 2. Jim Ne e se (H us): 3. Kell y Sm it h (Hbg) : 4. Tod d Down s (Yam ); 5. Todd Dehoo p (Yam ); 6. Davi d Ga ylord (Ya m); 7. Ma tt he w C rown {Ya m ); 8. Timo thv C h ristia ns e n (Ya m ); 9. Cha r lie Du naway (H ue) : Sha ne Sio the r (Ya m) ; 1 1. Ti m ot h y Pr td m or e (Ya m ); 12 . Tim Ha wthorne (Yam); 13. Mark Smith (Yam): 14. Jim Randa (Yam); 15. Do nal d Alfor d (Yam); 16. Chad Goc he no ur (Yam ); 17. Joshua Pistole (Yam ); 18. Tommy Kirk (Yam); 19. j essee Thunser (Yam); 20. Mar k Bur khart (Yam ). O/A: 1. Ke lly Smi th (Hbg): 2. Jim Neese (H us); 3. Antho ny Poco roh ba (Yam); 4. Davi d Gay lo rd (Yam); 5. Todd Downs (Yam); 6. Sha ne Slothcr (Ya m); 7. Matthew C row n (Ya m) ; 8. Ti m Hawt hor ne (Ya m ); 9. Ke vin Walker (Ya m); 10. A ndy Anaya (Ya m); 11. Tim o th y Prid more (Ya m) ; 12. Ma rk Smit h (Ya m ); 13. Cha rlie Du naway (H us): 14. Todd Dchoop (Ya m); 15. Timothy Ch rietlansen (Ya m) ; 16. Jim Randa (Ya m ); 17. Chad Gochenour (Yam ); 18. Davi d Ha nd (Yam ); 19. Donald Alford (Yam ); 20. Tommy Kirk (Yam). AM A EASTE RN FO U R-ST R OK E NAT IONA L M O TO CR O SS SERIES PO INTS STANDINGS (Af te r 2 of 6 ro und s): 1. Kelly Smith (88/ 1 win ); 2. Anthony Pccorobba (73); 3. Jim N~ (62); 4. Kevin w alker (60); 5. Charles Dunawav (8); 6. mE) Mike Brow n (l )/Todd Dov.. ns (47); 8. And y Anaya (45); 9. Sha ne Slothcr (37); v 10. David Ga vlord (33); 11. Timothv C hris tense n (28 ); 12. (TIE) Jim·Ch~ter /Ma tthcw C ro w n / Ma r k Smith (26); 15. Donald Alfo rd (23); 16. Tim Hawthorne (22); 17. Timothy Pridmore (2 1); 18. (TIE) C hris Cr a ft / Ce cil Will iams (20); 20. (TIE) Ma r k Bu rkhart / Todd Deh ocp 1I6). 10: Upcoming Rounds: Round 3 - London. Kentucky, October 3-4 Round 4 - Casey, Illinois, October 10-11 (Above) Kell y Smith (3) took th e holeshot in the f ir st mo to and went on to vi ctory , th en bac ked it up with a third-pl ace finish in moto two for the first National victory of his career at the second round of th e AMA Eastern Fou r-Stroke National Motocross Series at Red Bud Track 'N' Trail. (Left) Anthony Pocorobba smoked the competition in the .second moto and posted the win , but a ftat tire just past the halfway poi nt in th e fi rst mot o had already damaged his hopes for the ove rall win. Pocorobba wound up third overall, behind Jim Neese. 00 0\ 0\ .- ~ ~ .- l-< (l) .g ...... o U 57

• Cover