Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Fourth annual Pro Challenge (Left) Mike Brown (1 00) took charge at the Pro ' Challenge M Xat Swan Cycle Park in Texas. Brown won both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. Here, he chases down Travis Hodges. (Right) Jeff Dement (29) took runner-up honors in both classes. Char lie Bogard (53) gives chas e. By Kat Spann and The Beckster Photos by Connie Jo hnson TYLER, TX,SEPT. 27 ond a of Troy's Mik e Brown powered his way to a four-mota sweep in both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes to ta ke home a hea lt hy chu nk of th e $20,000 Pro pu rse tha t was up for grabs a t the Yamaha-presented fourth annua l MT A Br idgesto ne Pro Challenge at Swan Cycle Park. " I've been coming to this even t for four years now, an d nook forward to it each year," Brown said while collecting his cas h. Jeff Dem ent and Josh Demuth batt led over th e seco n d- p lace po s it ions through ou t the d ay in both the 125 and 250cc classes, with Dement taking th e runner -up spo ts overall, Travis Hod ges took the hole shot in the first 125cc mot o, with rookie Travis Elliott in his wake. Elliott too k over the lead near th e en d of th e firs t lap and kept hi s Pl an o Honda /J &M Ra cin gb a cked C R in fr ont , w hile fr o m hi s third -place spo t Keith Johnson watched Elliot extend his lead on Hod ges. "I p a s sed Hodg es on th e ba ck stra ight," Elliott said . "He went insid e and 1we n t outside:' The remainin g 40 riders scra mbled for position, and on e of those riders wa s Brown, who suffered a less-than-stellar start in 13th. "I bogged a little bit off the start and everyone was coming in to me," Brown sai d . "So me times it ' s good fo r me to start like that and ge t a bit of a workout, H A El ~ , ,...... N l-< OJ ..0 o ..... u o 42 bu t it' s a lot easier if you can s ta rt in front." Dem e n t ga te d fo ur th b ut p a s s e d Johnson on lap four to move into third . Bro w n, m e an w hil e, co n ti n ued to cha rge forward . By the end of the fifth lap , Brown caug ht up to Dement. Brown eve ntua lly took the inside line into Catfish Corner and made a clean pass. He then began th e search for second and eventually go t around Hodges . From the re, Brown set afte r the leader, Elliot and soon go t him, as well. Once in the lead, Brown co n tinu ed his charge an d began to distan ce himself from Elliott. Dem ent, mean while, set after Hodges an d go t him. A fe w p osi ti ons back, the boys of Kawasak i of Carrollton - Cliff Pa lm er an d Dem uth - waged thei r own war that eve ntually carried them up to third an d fourth. . Demut h b roke away fro m Pa lme r an d se t after Deme nt in the late stages. Demuth then sliced insid e of Dem ent in the big bow l sweeper to make the pass for second . The rem a in in g seven minute s o f th e 25 - mi n u te m ot o saw no cha nges in the top five spots, as Brown motored on to take the win. "I w orked up to sec ond, an d the n Brown p assed me a nd pulled away," Deme n t sa id . " I got ti ght , and Jo sh Dem u th put a goo d pass on me. He had some good lines: ' The second moto belo nged to Brown a ll the wa y. He gra bbe d th e hol es hot and never looked back. Elliot t ga ted seco n d , foll o w ed b y Joe y Pr a tt and Dem ent. Jake Martin gra bbed so me th rottle and pa ssed both Dem ent and Pratt by the end of the first lap , b u t t hen Deme nt turned on the gas and got a round Mart in . Dem en t then passed bo th Pra tt and Ellio tt on the second la p , but Brow n h a d alrea dy es tablis hed a siza ble lead o n th e p a ck a n d rode a p erfect race to the checkered flag. Dem uth raced up fro m a mid pack s ta r t to chal lenge Demen t on lap five, and for the next few laps they go t into a cat -and-mouse race for second. Demuth pull ed a longside Dement over the finis h- li ne jump o n lap 10, a n d th en h e mad e a pass in the tower tu rn. Dement kep t close to Dem u th for tw o more laps bef ore he emerg ed fro m th e w ood ed section in second . "I we nt off the track and Deme nt got by me," Demu th said . Dement held on to his po sition a nd chased - at a dista nce - Brown to th e checke red flag, followed by Demuth, Jeff Willoh, Dennis Owens and Travis Elliott. Kawasak i of Mexico' s Pedro Gon zalez absco nd ed with the holeshot in the first 250cc Pro mot o, leading the 54·ri d er ga te on to the field . Team Green /D&S Kaw asa ki's Travis Riley ga ted second , followed by Spu d Walters and Dem ent. Walter s reeled in Riley for se cond , b u t Ril ey had other pla n s a nd put a grea t pass on Gonza lez to take over the lead. Walters then switched his efforts to Gonza les, but ins tead of climbing forw ard , Walter s w as d ro p ped to fou rth w he n Dement snea ked up a nd pa ssed him . ' Dement th en p ressured Riley and passed him in the air on the third lap . Meanwhile, Brown was picking off . the riders one by one and soo n had con tro l of fourth . He soo n passed Riley and then cha rg e d a fte r Walt ers, ge t tingaround him on lap five. Elsew he re in the field , Cha rlie Boga~d had his work cut ou t for him. Sitting In 10th early on , Bogard worked his wa y through the pa ck and soon had a gri p on third place. Wh en Brown made his move on Walters for seco nd, Bogard followed s uit , a lso passing Walters for third. Brown went afte r lead er Dem en t and p a ss ed hi m o n lap s ix. O nce aroun d Dem e nt , Bro wn began to extend his lead . Th e top three battled closely for several laps, and then Wal ters go t back aro und Bogard on lap nine. At the end, it was Brow n taki ng the win, follow ed by Dement, Walters, Bogard and Demuth. "I got up 10 the lead and then Brown passed ," Dem ent sa id . "He put abou t five second s on me really qu ick. 1 was kind of overw he lme d , beca use I reall y wan ted to try and race with him , bu t I go t nervous." Walter s u sed th e p o w er o f hi s YZ400F to sna re the holesho t in the second mota . He was chased early on by Bogard and Brown. Bogard used the finish-lin e jump to p ass Walter s for th e lead at the top of lap two. Bogard im mediately began to pace himself. Bro wn.. however, pic ked off Walters an d went -after Bogard and passed him over th e ski ju m p , pulli ng away fo r good through Catfis h Corner. De m en t, m eanw hil e, had ga ted fou rth, but he passed Walters on the second lap. He then went after Bogard and pa ssed him. Brown and Deme nt began to distance th em sel ves from th e rest of the pa ck. Then Brown pu lled away from Dement to take his fourth wi n o f th e d ay. He w ould cro ss th e finis h line 13 seconds ahead of Dem ent. I~ Swan Cycle Park Tyler, Texas Res ults : September 27, 1998 125 MO TO 1: Mike Brown (H e n): 2. Jos h Dem uth (Ka w ): 3. Je ff Dem en t (Ya m); 4. Cliff Palmer (Kaw): 5. Tra vis Elliott (Hon) . . 125 MOTO 2: 1. Mike Brown (H en): 2. jdf Dement (Ya m); 3. Jos h Dem uth (Ka w) : 4. ]l'f£ Willoh (Suz ): 5. Dennis O we ns (Yam ). 125 O / A : 1. Mi ke Brow n ( Ho n) ; 2. Jd f Demen t (Yam ); 3. J o~ h , Demuth (Ka w ): 4. ]df Willoh (Suz) ; 5. Dennis O we ns (Yam ). 250 MOTO 1: 1. Mike Brown (Ho n): 2. Jeff Dem en t (Yam); 3. Sp ud w alt ers (Yam) ; 4. Josh Dem uth (Kaw): 5. Char ley Bogard (S \lz). 250 MOT O 2: 1. M ikt' Bro w n (He n): 2. jdf Demen t (Yam); 3. Cha rley Bogard (Suz ); 4, Spud walters (Yarn): 5. Pedro Conzalez (}(.lW ). 250 O /A: 1. Mike Brown ( Hen ): 2, Jeff Demen t (V,lm); 3. Sp ud Wa lters (Y,l m); 4. Cha rley Bogard (502) ; 5. Ped ro Gonzalez (} w). C&1 .

• Cover