Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ROAD RACE AMA/MBNA S PERBIKE U N ATIONALC AMPIONSHIP H dl er wis hed he had a sibling with him on the track - a bro th er , a sister , anything? "I was thinking ab out that for lit tle w hile," he ad mitted . "I was racing both of them for the cham pionship. You hate to lose them, bu t you can' t feel too bad . I was doing w hat I had to do and I think we had them cove red . I'll go home and d o wh at I want to do. In another mon th o r so , su re, I'll sta rt thinkin g abou t it (racing) aga in. Ben d id well - he hu ng in there and d id what he had to d o." If re lief ca me in waves, th en Be n Bostrom wa s hit with a tidal wave of it on lap 11. He saw the smoke, he saw the oil - he saw his champio nship. "I got a reall y good start and I was right behind him (Cha ndler) and follow ing him around for a few laps," Ben Bostrom said . "I was like, 'Hey, I better pass this gu y and show that I ha ve 11 little something for him: He just rod e like a cha m pion a nd stuc k to my butt lik e glue . He mad e a really good pass on me a nd I followed him a ro u nd for a few laps. Th en I not iced a slig h t sp ri nkle ha p penin g on my lens and I knew he had a bit of a prob lem. I didn't want to follow him and ru in my winds hield, so I used my Honda to power by him on the s traig htaway. I tried to signal Doug to show him that he had a bit of a problem. I noticed his tire wa s startin g to slick up a li ttl e b it and I didn' t wa nt him to cras h. He was still right behind me and I fig u re d it wou ld b e a g reat rac e. I thought it would come down to the last 10 lap s and we'd give the spectat ors and everybody a rea lly grea t show, but it just d id n' t pan out. Un for tu na tely, for Doug, he had troubl e. It's not really the wa y I wanted to win the thing, but I'll take it an y way I can get it:' Beh ind Ben came Eric - d uti fully, if not too modest to ad mit it. He said later th a t h e 'd raced hi s h ard est , th ou gh everyo ne knew that there was no way in hell he was goi ng to do anythin g th a t could ru in his brother's title aspirations. "I was riding ha rd every lap ," Eric Bostr om sa id . "I didn't get off to quite" th e s ta rt I wanted to and, man, th ose guys put thei r heads d own a nd really wen t. I was thinking, 1 don 't kn ow how they' re going to hold this pace: I di dn' t kn ow th at the tires a nd all th at could handle it. They just had the bett er measur e of me tod ay. I rod e hard every lap . When my brot her (Ben) got by, I alm ost ran off the race track. Ben made a really nice pass on me, an d then Dou g (Chandl e r) ca me by , too . Then I th ought, A B ~ ~ OC> 0\ 0\ ,..... -q< ~ ,..... l-< Q) ...0 o ..... u o 10 Final round: Las Vegas Motor Speedway 'Ma n, I better get my ass in gea r here: Doug was oiling Ben and I down pretty bad; it kinda ru ined my shield . It was a really good race for me. Unfortunately, the Ducati gu ys crashed out, but I think it w as ju st part of th e p ace th at they were running. I' m really happy to be here and I'm rea lly happy for Ben - he d eserves it:' Though he ran wi th them for a whil e, Picott e drop ped back a bit at the end secure in fourth place wh en the Duca tis d ropped ou t. "I w as s hoo ting for s ix th ," Picott e ad mitted. "I thou ght I had a cha nce at six th, maybe fifth . I w as really s ick. I had a bad cold on Th ursday and Frid ay. On Sa tu rd ay , for the last qualifying , I was starting to feel a little bit better, but we put the wrong qu alifyin g tir e on it. We just went backward s. As far as ph ysically, 1 wa s much bett er tod ay." Steve ns was pleased with his performance, and it may be IUs last - a t least on a Superbike. . "In the beginning, it (the bike) was go od ," Stevens sa id . "v T h.,\1 I ha ve a good tire, it' s good . When the tire drop s off, two thin gs happen: It hits too hard at 9000 rpm and it's down on hor sepow- after wo rki ng prim arily in a research-and -development role fo r Chaparral last year . bUilding race engines for Chaparral' s Yamaha mo tocross team. "The Damrons and everybody at Chaparral are excited about going road racing . " Ca rruthers said in Las Vegas. " It sounds like w e're go ing 10 have two good yo ung riders. and we're looki ng forward to gelling start ed," ' In addit ion to working on the Suzuki G SX-R600 and GS X·R750 for the Chaparral Suzuki te am. Carru thers will continue t o develop the te am ' s Yamaha VZ250 motocrossers for the co m'ing season . The team recen tly signed former Honda factory rider Steve Lamson to a cont ract for ., the 1999 seaso n. in M at Ml adin is look inq forward to having ano ther Au st ra lian AMA racing and feels his " mate " Buckmaster will be up to the c hallenge . " Anyone who can win the Australian Supersport Cham. pion ship has to be prett y capable: Ml adin said. " Or the Aus tralian Superbike Championship. I've said it bef ore and l'll say it again: I think there are a few ride rs around that aren' t here who are more capable than some of the riders here who' have rides · . and I think Damon is one of them . Next year w ill tell. wo n' t it? He' s got to ride the 600 , and if he can do we ll in 600 then he' s obviously pretty capable. " .. . er from 6000 to 10,000 rp m. It's 10 hors ep ow er d ow n to th e facto ry e ngines . Vance & Hi nes gave me re ally good bikes - a top-five bike. I d id my job and a ny thing mo re would have been icin g on th e ca ke . I'm ou t th ere wi th some very fast company. If yo u d on 't hav e the A bike, yo u can't race with the A riders, but I never quit and that's why I'm fifth toda y: ' n La s Ve ga s Mot o r Sp eedway Las Vegas , Nevada Re sults: Oc tober 4, 1998 (Ro und 13) SU PE R BI KE QU A LI FYI N G : I. Ma t Ml adin (1:36.398); 2. Ja son Pridmore 0:36.4%); 3. Eric Bostrom 0 :37.61 7); 4. Doug C ha n J ~er 0 :36 .619); 5. An th o ny Cobert (1:37.170); 6. Ben Bostrom (1037.273); 7. Thomas Stevens (1:37.408); 8. Siev e C revie r 0 :375 12); 9. Mike Sm ith (1:37.678); 10. Rich O live r 0 :37.760); 11. Pa sca l Picott e 0 :37.943); 12. Aaron Yat es 0 :38.670); 13. Tom K ipp (1038 ,446); H . To m my Hayd en (I :38.4S5); 15, Larry Pegra m (1:38.741); 16. RaJ Greaves (1:38.865); 17. jorda n Szo ke 0 :39.568); 18. [a mi e [ames 0 :3Q.761); 19. Ch ris Ran kin (t :39.978); 20. Grant Lopez (1:40.420); 21. Do n M u nr oe 0 :41,4 49); 22. Ricky O rlando 0 :41.939); 23. SIeve Rapp (1,42.241); 24. Nicky Hayden (1,42.295); 25. Jef williams 0 :42.878); 26. Jimm y Moore (1:42.922); 27. f Richard Alexa nder Jr . 0 :43 .076 ); 28. David D uprey 0:43.312); 29, Ja mes Randol ph 0 :43.3%); 30. An dr ew Deatherage 0 :43.4&U; 31. joshu a Kurt H., y(. 0 :43.044); "S 32. Jake Zemke (1.44.139); 33. Brian Gibbs(1,.j.J.355); 34. Sha ne Clarke 0 :44.612); 35. Dea n Mizdal 0 :44.690);.36 . Dale Kieffer (H 4.m): :rJ. Cory Call (1:45.198); 38. 51,,"e Teschke (1:45.239); 39. Mari o Duf-lamel (1:45.825); 40, John Jacobi 0 :46.119); 41. Mike Wal~h 0 :46.9(3) ; 42. Jeff Eklund (1;47.213); 43. Eric Seward O :47,!)91); 44. Bryce G""" (1:48.J.l9), " Butthat mon th was nothing compared to the last three days . actually the lastthree hour s. I s ki pped the 600 rac e to save myself for this race . and those three hours were just terri ble . I was shaking. and people were asking me . 'Hey , w hat ' s wrong with you?" l'rn like. 'Hey, l'rn nervous · gimme a break : I knew as soo n as the green light we nt that l'd be okay , l'rn much more relieved now. but l' m still nervous. It still hasn't sunk in that I've wo n the S upti rbike title.' Bo stro m won the Superbik e title withou t win ning a. race . but he's not abo ut to let that las t part ruin' what he's acco mplished. "Part of the dealof win ning the Superbike title is that a lot of luck has to go your way. " Bo strom explained . " I started off a bit slow an d I j us t wa nt ed t o lea rn f rom guys like Ch an dle r . "M ig uel ' (D uHameIJ. M ladin. and all the fas t guys. I figured they' d teach me something and the n maybe halfway throug h the seaso n I co uld win one of these things . Som e of the guys had some really bad luck this season arid I haven't really had any bad luck. I crashed out at Lou don . but my bike was indestructible and I picked it back up and finished · so I've just had a lo t of luck. lt' s kind of a weird . deal, but thet's how spo rts go ," Accord ing to Thomas S t ev e n s . there's a stro ng po ssibility that The one-month break between the Pikes Peak round and the seaSunday"s Superbik e National will be his last in the class . " Any· finale makes for nervous times if you're tied for the lead in the . thing can happen. but it looks lik e that was my las t Superbike Superbike National C hampion ship . The hours leadi ng up to th e race . ' Stevens said after finishing fifth . " If it was . it 's been a great event are n' t so easy. either. according -to Be n Bostrom. "These eight years . I did what I set out to do : win a Superb lke National guys give us a who le month to think about this. " Bo strom said. "C hampionship and make money. I did bot h. There 's a chance 1"11 son (Ab ove) Do ug Cha ndler (1) looked to be ri g ht in the h unt f or the ti tl e until his engine fail ed him, allo w ing Be n Bostrom (11), Gobert (95) and others t o p as s. SUPERBIKE NA nQSA L: 1. Mat Mladi n (Suz]: 2. Ben Bostrom (Hon); 3. Eric Bostro m (Ho n);' 4. Pasca l Picotte (H- D); 5. Tho rn,..... Steve ns (Dud; b . Steve Crevier (Su z), 7. Rich Oliver (Yam); 8. Mike Smith Hi- D); 9. To mmy Ha yden U(aw); to. Tom Kip? (Dud; 11. Jo rda n Szoke ( Due); 12. Doug Chandler (Kaw); 13, Crant Lopez (Suz); 14, Aaron Yates (5uz); 15, Larry Pegram (Suz); 16, Red G reav es (5uz) ; 17. Don Mu n roe (Ka w): 18, Jamie Ja mes Il-l-D): 19, Andy Deathe rage (Kew) : 20. Jimmy Moore (Suz ): 21. Jeff Williams (Kaw): 22, John Jacobi e (5 uz); 23. 0 .11 Kieffe r (Suz); 24. Cory Ca n (5uz); 25. Mario D u H a mel (Suz): 26. Ste ve Te scb ke (5 uz); 27. Da vid Du pre y (Suz ): 28. Ch ris Rankin (H-D); 2Q. Je ff Eklu nd (Su z): 30 . Eric 5e wa r d (Ya m); 3 1. An thon y 'Gobe rt (Du e); 32. jason Pridmore (Due); 33. Bryce Gross (Suz) ; 34. Mike Walsh (Ya m); 35. Dca n Mizd al (5uz). Ti me : 40 mi n.• 49.186 St."C. Distance: 25 laps . 625 miles Ave rage Spee d: 90.762 m ph Margin of Victory: 6.757 sec. Fastest up: Mat Mladtn , 1:37.167, lap seve n FINAL AMA SU PE R B I KE C' S H I P POINT ST ANDlNCS (After 13 of 13 rou nd,): 1. Ben Bostro m (355); 2. Dou g Chandler (274 ); 3. Ma t Mla d in (33011 w in); 4. Rich O live r (285); 5. Aaron Yal(.·s (266/2); 6. Tom Kipp (256); 7. Steve Crev ier (255); 8. ja mie Had ing (251); 9. Anthony Gobert (249 / 3); 10. Migud Du l-lamel (236 / 4); 11. Tommy Ha yden (229); 12. Road Greaves om; 13. Thomas Stevens (19)) ; 14. L..m y Pegra m (88); 15. Pasca l Pico tte (176); 16. Chri s Ranki n (134l; 17. Ma rio DuHamel (131); 18. Eric Bostrom (128 /2); 19. Thomas Wilson (127); 20. Jamie Ja Ol\. (26). "S be on a 600cc Supe rspo rt bike next year . but nothing has been finalized . " Although Stevens w ouldn't comment on it . the team he is most likely to join is a Yamaha team thai will be operated by former Kmko 's Kawasaki team owner Robert Nutt. M ike Sm ith fin ished eigh th on the fact ory Harley -David son V RlOOO aher qualify ing ninth. and he'd like nothing better than to ret um to the tea m fo r the 1999 season. "I' d love to co me back and ride It again. " S mith said. " I think I surprised myself that I'm back . b ut not with w hat I can still do . Eric Bo strom is w inning races now. and I've show n -him arou nd the 'track . " Smith made so me suspension change s to the V R1000 for Sunday"s race that didn 't work out as planned . " I think I got stuck heading in a certa in d.rect ion . W e changed fork s ye sterday and that helped . but I think we were. too stiff in the rear today. W e did goo d lap tim es. just not a lot of them . " Alt hough 42 ·year·old Randy Re n f row was hono red prior to the start of racing on Sunday. don't think for a minute that we've seen the last of th e veteran road racer . Renfrow . who was inju red in a pract ice crashon Thursday at Las V egas and drdn't race on Sunday. did a lap of ho nor . He wa s also given framed phot os 'and other memorabilia in honor of ,his outst anding career - a career that saw him eam titles in all of A MA's major road racing series with the exception of the Superbike National Championship. Renfrow. however. says he plans to receat Dayt ona and at some o ther ven ues if he fee ls he has a competitive mo torcycle and team, . •

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