Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

£~10~A~d~~~~FINALS ., Round 4: Speedworld Motorplex (LeM) Although he lost the final round to Larry Laye, Team Kawasa ki's Steve Rice clinched the 1988 AMAlProstar West Coast Funnybike Champ ionship at the final round of the series in Phoe nix, Arizona. (Above) Chip Ellis (far jane) bro ke 600cc Super Sport class champ ion Trac i Farr's (near lane) string of victories by post!ng the win In a clo~e final-round dash. By Marty Kane PHOENIX, AZ, OCT. 10-11 L 00 0\ 0\ .- -e ~ (J) ..0 E (J) > o z 16 arry Laye did all he could, w in ning t he Fu n nybike cl a ss, whil e Steve Rice did all tha t he needed to, w inning the title a t the Speed world Motorpl ex during the fourth and fina l round o f the ina ugu ra l A MA / Prosta r West Coast Series. In th e Fu n nybike class, th e Seasonlong ba ttle between Laye a nd Team Kawasa ki rid e r Rice ha d result ed in bo th of them setting national reco rd s, Rice having tw o even t wi ns a nd Laye o ne . Co nsequen tly, o nly a few points se parated the two for the cha m pio ns hip, an d it all bo iled d ow n to w ho did what at Phoenix. After three sh ots at qualifying, Laye en ded up on top w ith a 7.00-second ela psed time . Rice follow ed suit with a no t-too-distant 7.06. As th ey w orked their w ay through elimi na tio ns, both pa ss ed throu gh some intense competition. Laye received a so lo pa ss in ro u nd one, and then went o n to eventually defeat Stev e Humphrey in round tw o. O n the o ther side of the lad der, Rice first faced Okla homa City-based Roy Sears. After losin g the starting- line advantage to Sea rs, Rice motored arou nd him and took the win light, 7.11-7.45. In round tw o, the battle of the "old g uys" occurred w hen Rice faced off with Ken Sh urtz. Both left the sta rti ng line together ; ho w ever , Shu rtz experienced probl ems and had to abort his run early. Rice cruised to vi ctory w it h a 7.l7/188-mph lap. Wh en the announcer ga ve the call for the final rou nd , Laye and Rice advanced int o the stag ing area . Not only w as this the mo ney ro u nd, it was also th e point at w h ich th e cha m p io ns hi p wou ld be decid ed . Rice held en ough of a points advantage th at Laye w ould hav e to w in and se t a nati o n al record in o rd er to beco me the cha m pio n, and that is exac tly w hat he pla nned on d oing. Wh en the g reen light flas hed, Laye grabbed the sta rting-line lead and mainta ined it all the way down the track to t he 1000-foot ma rk , at which point Laye's crankshaft failed and his bike lost power. Fro m th ere, he could only hang o n and hope tha t his momentum wo uld carry him. Wh en they reached the finish stri pe , to Laye's su rp rise, the win light came on in his lane, a nd he ea rned th e vi ct ory with a powerles s 7.00 -second run. " I co u ld not beli eve Lgot th e w in light" La y e sai d . " W hen m y engine died , the ne xt few feet seemed lik e a n e te rn ity. I co u ld onl y h an g o n a n d hope." La ye did not set a rec ord with th e run, howe ve r, so th e se ries ch ampi on s hip w ent to Tea m Kawa sa ki and Steve Rice, m ar king th e fir st time th a t a cu rrent p roduct io n e ng in e ( Rice rides a 1998 Kawasaki ZX-ll -power ed b ike) clai m ed a Funn ybike ch ampi onsh ip. In the Pro Modified ca te go ry, fa ns watched Rya n Evans g rab hi s careerfirst top qualifier spo t. Series champion Scott Valentine followed closely in the number-two position , and Steve Lund- strom's high-gear-only Harl ey sat in the nu mber-th ree spot. In round one, Evans so loed with a 7.23 -second , 186-m p h run. Va lenti ne then faced Lundstro m, who gra bbed a ho leshot but coul d not hold off Valentin e' s 7. 48 -secon d c ha rge, as Lundstro m's bike experienced tire shake and he had to lift early . In the fina l, Eva ns g ra bbe d a s li m sta rt ing-line advantage but had to sh u t off at the 3OO-foot ma rk w hen his engi ne expe rie nced problems. Valentine in tu m co llec te d the w in with a 7.48-secon d pass. The Pro Stock series had been dom inated so far this season by Steve Inou e. Ph oen ix would, howev er , be the pivotin g p oint for h im, as th e Eas t Coas t cham pio n, Pa ul C ast , came west to try him ou t. Gast quickly grabbed the top q ua li fier s po t with an off-the-trailer 7.38-seco nd lap. Inou e followed di stantly w ith a 7.60. Th e fi na l-ro u n d results fo llowed exactly those in qu alifyin g. Gast ea rned the victory with a ste llar 7.37-second , lSD-mph blast. Inoue tried his best, but his bike did no t cooperate, and he ran a slower, 7.69-second time. The factory-based 600cc SuperSport class had alrea dy See n its fi rs t la dy, Traci Farr, clinch the cha m pions hip at the pri or event, held in Salt Lake City. Unfo rt una te lv for h er, th is weeke n d woul d mar k the end of her d omination, as East Coast racer Chip Ellis, who qualifie d n umber one wi th a 10.53-se cond ela psed tim e, turned o n th e w in light . Ellis grabbe d the sta rli ng-line advantage in the fina l, and he maintained the lead all th e way d own the track. Farr ra n a 1O.67-second ela psed time but she could not hold off Elli s' quicker 10.52. With that ru n, Ellis also rese t FaIT's previous nationa l record fo r elapsed time. One of th e tigh te st ba ttl es fo r the cha mpions hips would occu r in the Top Gas ca tego ry, w here thr ee riders (Ron Score, Jeff Pe ters and Aaron Pine) w ere se pa ra ted by just a few points for the crown. Whe n qua lifying ha d e nded, Pine sat in the top spot, Score was n umber tw o and Peters wa s way down in th e number-eight spot. In the first ro und, Peters suffered a d efeat to Scott Wa ll , a nd so ended hi s qu est fo r th e cha m pions hi p . Pin e, however, co ntinued by na rrowly defea tin g Bill Cramer. Wit h Pet ers o ut of co ntention, th e ba ttl e ca rne d o wn to Score a nd P ine. Score maintained just eno ug h of a lead that , if he mad e it past the first round, he would secure the title . With Pine anx iously watching and clutching his go lden horses hoe, Scor e faced off with Bryan Ryckmen , w ho claimed the starting-line lea d . A t th e ot her end, Score turned thin gs a ro u nd a nd clinch ed th e ti tle with a victorious 8.37-seco nd lap aga inst Ryckmen's slower 8.51. In rou nd two, Chad Co mpton and Ron Score faced off in the closest ma tch of th e d ay . Both left the line together , and in a photo-finish review, both had run 8.32-seco nd tim es . The co m p uters quickly rev ealed , ho w ever, tha t Compton 's ru n wa s better by .001 of a second, and he ended th e new cha m p 's d ay ea rly. Th e fin al ro u n d fe a tured C ha d Co m p to n and D yn at ek Ele ctroni cs ow ne r Robert Paisley. Wh en the starter gave the go, both ran neck a nd neck d o wn th e q uarter- m ile . A t th e finish s tri pe, Pa isl ey had run too fas t for the 8.2-seco nd Su per Com p index, wi th an 8.15, a nd thus lost to Co mp ton's slower 8.26. It was in thi s ve ry sa me pl a ce Speedworld Motorplex, located just ou tsid e of Phoenix, Ari zona - where it all started back in March. Celeb rating thei r fir st season, AMA /Prostar p re s id ent and CEO Keith Kizer d escribed the new se ries as a total success. " W e expected a s lo w sta rt in the western states, but the caliber of bikes aqd rid ers is not lacking in a ny w ay ," Kizer saidd. "In fact , it rivals tha t of our East Coast Na tional eve nt series." l~ Speedworld Motorplex Phoenix, Arizona Resu tts: October 10-11 (Round 4 of 4) FISK: 1. Larry Layc; 2. Steve Rice. PRO MOD: 1. Scott Vak'1ltinc; 2. Ryan Eva ns . PRO ST K: 1. Paul Cast; 2. Steve Inoue. 600 515FT: 1. Ch ip EIJis; 2. Traci Farr. TOP GAS: 1. Chad Co m pto n; 2~ Robt.·rt Paisley . S1CO MP: 1. Scott Wall ; 2. Te rry Berkman. SIGA5: 1. Red Co llins ; 2. Terry WlKJdroo f.

• Cover