Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

VDTRA Pro-Am N ational Dirt Track Series Round 14 Matiasevich and Layton prevail By Beth laRock SAN B ERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 25 he final round of Friday night IMS Stad iumcross was a grea t opportunity for 250cc Pro Jeff "C hic ke n" Matia sevich and 80cc Intermed iate rid er Bra nd o n Lay to n to p ractice fo r th e upco m ing U.s. O pe n of Su pe rcross. Kawasaki/Pro Circ uit/Troy Lee-backed Matiasevi ch talked about getti ng used to his new 1999 Kawasaki as well as ge ttin g in shape and getting his tim ing down - and he was able to do just that. At the start of the c250cc Intermediate /Pro mo ta, Pro Jose Polasek captured the holeshot, followed by Matiasevich, Pro Jason Dubin and Intermediate Jeremiah Moore. Matia sevich tried different lines on the first lap, but Polasek used his past experience on the track to stay in the lead. On lap four, Matiasevich cut to the inside of the turn before the finish-lin e jump to take ove r the lead, but Polasek recovered to make a pass on lap five in the inside of the turn coming out of the spectator whoops. Moore, meanwhile, passed Dubin fo r third on the same lap . Ma tiasevich, looking more comfortable on the track, repassed Polasek on lap seven a nd was able to open up a lead. Moore, w ho had been patiently waiting for an oppo rtunity to advance, seized the nu mber-two position on lap eight. In the next half-lap, Moore caug ht Mat iasevich and stayed on his back tire t h roug ho u t th e mota . Mat ia s evi ch crossed the finish line first, followed by Moo re, Polasek and Dubin. Intermed iate Moore was stoked at his ability to han g tou g h with th e Pros, sayi ng th at th e series allowed him to "attack the track ins tead of going for the riders." Moore appea red read y to .go righ t back out on th e track for a no t he r 10 la p s. Ma tiasevich. on the o the r han d, went bac k to the pits to have Pro Circuit mechanic Bud d y Mo rgan wo rk o n his suspension. Moore, s till o n a fi rst -moto hig h, grabbed the holesh ot in mota two . Mati asevich was in seco nd, follo wed by Polasek and Dubi n. On lap th ree, Maliasevich effortlessly passed Moore and developed a co mfortable lea d . Moore ma intained second un til lap five, when he dropped h is bik e in a turn, losi ng two positio ns . This pu t Polasek in second , w it h Dubin on his back ti re . Polasek mad e a va lian t effort to ca tch Mat iasevich bu t was unsu ccessful. "He's tricky," Polasek said of Maliasevich, "He sta rted on the left side, then he was on the right side. The re was lots of blocking." Matiasevich said that his suspension was dia led in for the second mo ta . "T here was a night-and-day d iffer ence ," he said. Team Yamaha 's Lavton is also slated to compete in .the U.S. Open of Supercross; he is one of just a few 80cc rid ers who were invited . Considering his performance a t Glen He len, luck was not a factor in his being in v ite d. La yton T snatched the holeshot and qui ckly had a comfortable lead. Kevin Payne and Derek Costella were in second and third, respectively. Layton was clearing t h e g ra ndsta nd tr ip le - a ju m p tha t man y 125 a nd 250cc Novices d o no t attem pt. Cos te lla, meanw hile, crashe d in a turn on lap four, allowing Brent Line to advance to seco nd . The first mota ended wit h La yton crossing the line firs t, followed by Payn e an d Line. Lay to n aga in took off in mot o tw o, ga ini ng a subs tant ial lead on Payne and Costella. On lap th ree, Layton ov er shot the trip le and broke four spokes in his rea r w h eel. He im mediat ely realized wh at he had d on e and p layed it sma rt by red ucing his jumps to doubles. " I w anted to d o th at triple so ba d , but the back tire was real sq uirrelly," he said. He had to wor k hard to maint ain his lead over Payne and Cos tella, w ho finished in seco nd and third . l~ Glen Helen Raceway San Bernardino, California Results: September 25, 1998 PIW: 1. Scott Noble (Cob ); 2. M.. tthew Richardson a (Cob ); 3. Garrick Noble < Cob); .t . Chris top her Bradsha w (KI'M); 5. O""ft.·k Perc [l.c ml . 60 ( O ~8): 1. Brand on Mill ion ( Ka w) ; 2 . Ju s ti n Ca rm ody (Ka w ): 3. Phillip Aube (Ka w) , 4. Matthew Richardson ( Ka w). 60 (9·1]): 1. Cha r les Pea rso n IKaw): 2. And rew Yarnell (K.1W); 3. B.). Bohren (Kaw): 4. Brandon Spencer U(a w ). 80 BEG: 1. Nichola!' Cla nto n ( Y:am ); 2. 0.10 Bartz (Suz); 3. Kris Pa lu zzi (Y am); -I. Robbi e C... ol..bv (Hu n); 5. Bryan - u llin (Sw; ). M 80 NOV: 1. [erred Browne (Y am); 2. Andrew Petri e ( K.1W); 3. j eff Loop (Yam) ; -I. Kevin Hunter (Ya m); 5. Ryan Pia ttoni ISu z) . 80 t NT: I. Brandon Layton ( Ya m ) 2. Ke vin Payne (Ya m); 3. Danny Mohr ( Ya m); -I. Brent Line (Yam ): 5. Derek Co stello (I(a w ). 125 DI::: C : 1. Milt> Da vis (Ya m); 2. Rober t M.lV (Ya m); 3. Bonni e Warth (Yam) ; 4 . Shawn Hansen (Y.lm~; 5. Brad Goo lsby (Yam). 125 NO V: 1. Da vid Sullins (Yam); 2. Ga briel Obeso (Ka w): J . Natha n fo m"!' (Ya rn); 4. Chris McDimil'1 (Y .lm); 5. james ward (Y. m) . l 12 5 (N T : 1. C o ry G i b b o ns (Ya m) : 2. G l'r ri l Or dclman (V,lOl); 3. Sean O'Co nne r (Ya m); 4. jeremiah Moor e (Hon ). 125 PR O : 1. Doug Person (Ya m) ; 2. Ty ler Evans (Su z ); 3. Dustin Ryley (HUll). 250 IIEG: 1. Cru ise Iain es (Yarn): 2. Ca -ret Mathew s (H en) : 3. Dou g Corey (Hun ). 250 NOV: L Mikl.· Boz ...rth (Ya m); 2. David Angelo (Yam); 3. Dere k Ang ell) {Ho n): -I: Toby Thiel (Hun); 5. Jim Brown (Yam ). . 250 t NT: 1. [ererniah MUllrl' (Ho nl . 250 fRO: 1. kff M" tiol t"v k h {Ka wj: 2. JO!oC PlIL1!M.."k " (Y.am) : 3. lason Dubin (Sul'). JR VET NOV: 1. M.a tt Morgan (Su z): 2. Dom in ic Gayta n (Yam) . . VET BEG: 1. Bonnie Warch (Ya m ); 2. Fra nk Wright (Yam); 3. Billy McAlli !Oter (Su7o); -I. Le Sa u l Sr. (Sud; 5. e Anto n Bereich (Suz) . VET NO V: 1. Steve Pia ttoni (5uz) ; 2. David Barnes (H on): 3. Tomm y Lt.. ne (H on): 4. Michael Carr (Hon ): 5. o Milton Mize (Hon). RMEC Beaver Creek Enduro Griffith goes good By Troy Reynor GUNNISON, CO, SEPT. 13 r ic Griffi t h h ad th e rid e of h is yo ung caree r as h e p il ot ed h is KX125 to his first-eve r overall win at th e Beaver C reek End uro. G riffit h maintain ed the zo ne he had been in at the Wells-to-We ndover Nati on al Hare & Hound just the day before to p ropel him to the best rid e of the 240-ri der-s trong field . The firs t-ever Be a ver C reek Enduro was round 12 of the 13-round Rocky Mountain End uro Circuit Cha mpionship Series. Although the Beaver Creek Enduro was in its first yea r on the circuit, G reg Hu ffer and the rest of the Endurocross orga nizatio n are ex perienced p romoters, a nd th ey worked clos ely with the Bureau of Land Mana gement to pu t on a fun en duro. Mo the r Na tu re also coopera ted by providing so me ra in th e night before, which ad ded to the fun factor. The two-loop, 64-mile event was laid out in typical Endurocross for ma t: no fancy timekeeping skills or equipment required - just ride both loops at the best pace you can and the fastest rider wins. Huffer set the speed average for the first loop at 30 mph and told everyone at the riders ' meeting they could no t be earl y at this pace , but Griffith almost proved him E Jell Mati asevich won the 250Cc Pro class during Friday night IMS Stad iumcross act ion at San Bernardino, California's Glen Helen Raceway . wrong . Th e Sun Sports /Tea m Greenbacked G riff it h gassed it up ha rd and zeroed the loop wi th one second to spare. Hu ffer a lso p ro vid ed so me ad ded in cen ti ve fo r th e rid ers wit h a p a ge fro m th e ha re-a nd -h ound races : Top Na tional desert racer Jim Gray rode the fir st loop w it h a $100 bo unty on his head , pa ya ble to a ny rid er w ho cou ld better his time in the first loo p. Griffith ca me w it h in 19 seco nds of d oing ju st tha t with a grea t ride, but he still had a few problems. "My da d put new tires on for me the night befor e and told me to ad jus t the pressu re down, but I forgo t," G ri ffit h ad mitted . "So I rod e the first loop with abo ut 40 psi and blew several corn ers as a result: ' Th e 32-m ile loop co ns is ted o f fa st Je ep road a n d fu n si ng le - tr ac k th at wound its way th rou gh sagebrus h and la rge roc k slabs . Most of the tra il was easy for th e rid ers when .compa red 10 the brutal whi pping they end ured at the Dry Cr eek Enduro back in May. There we re a cou ple of interest ing rock climbs w he re rid ers were challe nged. On e in part icu lar arrowed the riders s traigh t up a pretty s tee p 100-foot h igh rock face with a lip in the middle of it. Most riders h ad n o prob lems, but Huffe r h ad a lon ger bypass route ava ilab le to minimize bottlenecks . The C class finishe after the first loop, d with Ben Jansm a once aga in taking the overa ll honors on his Yama ha. Paul Turner, a 200 C-c1ass rider, had his season-best ride, finishing first aboa rd his new 1999 Sass-tuned Vickery Yamaha YZl25 . The second loo p was a repeat of the first loop , excep t that the spee d average was bu mped u p to 36 mph . G ri ff it h backed up his fast first loop w ith anot her stellar performance, only dropping 11 points. "I knew I had a good ride going and ,..... N ;.., Q) .c o ..... u o 45

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