Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, HILLCLIMB { AMA N TIO ALC P A N HAM IONSH IP HILLCL/MBSERIES Final Round: The Devil's Staircase By David and Lora Patton A B ~ 00 0\ 0\ ,..... o:t'~ I-< Q) ,.!:l E Q) :> o Z 26 OREGONIA, OH, ocr. 11 h e AMA National Cha mpio nsh ip Hill clim b Series closed out the 1998 season wit h the year's largest cro wd at the' 51st ru nning of The Devi l's Staircase . With defending 800cc a tional Cha mpion James "Jammer" Large having already sewn up his seco nd stra ight number-on e plate, att ention was on t h e 540cc class. Poi nts . lea der Da vid Wat son had a hu ge lead go ing int o the Staircase despi te a winless season, but five-time and defending Na tio nal Cha m pion Paul Pin sonnault would do all he could to keep the pressu re on Watson . Mich ael Tem p leton opened up the d a y' s competition in the 540cc cla ss. Templeto n had to back off the thro ttle at the 270-foot mark to ge t the front wheel back down. His 9.874-second ride wa s a little off the pa ce. After Tyrone Smoot looped ou t over the second kicker, rookie Wes McCoy put in a smooth 9.399second ru n to take the lead . Former 540c c N ationa l Ch ampi on Tim Frazier wa s up next, and he had a grea t ru n going u ntil th e thi rd kick er . Frazier held on to stop the dock at 9.143 seconds. It wa s his only attempt of the day, and it was fast enou gh for ninth ove rall. Richie Sche uerman, Mike Pul ver an d Kenn y Reif couldn' t ge t in to the nines . Then Cha d Disbennet wheeled his Triumph twin to the line. Disbennet picked up the first win of his career tw o weeks ago, and he was read y for wi n number two . Disbennet came off the line a little too hard and got air over the first jump; th en he had to climb the tank to keep from flipping over the second kicker. He h eld on and held it on and ju m ped almost to the timing lights for a run of 8.304 seconds to tak e over the lead. Paul Pinsonna ult was on his way to what looked like a faster time when he made a small error. Pinso nna ult jum ped off the second kicke r and land ed hard , getting off-li ne for the th ir d ju m p. He drove through th e lights for an 8.376second ru n. Toby Thompson also had an exciting ride. He left the line wide open and his BSA went s ideways befo re the first jump. The 16-yea r-ol d rookie stayed with it and got everything straightened ou t to pul1 into third with a time of 8.483 seconds. Older brother Terry Thompson entered the Staircase fourth in the points, only two points out of second, and he was fired up. Terry, however, came off the line too strong and got too much air over the first jump en route to an 8.570-second run. N e xt up w a s Da v id Wa tson , th e 540cc points leader. He could clinch his first Pro Championship with a 14thplace finish . Wat son lined up on the far left side of the hiIl; then he aimed the front wheel toward the dry, right side. He made the unusual approach payoff, as he fought off a wheelie at the 260-foot mark 'and then bla sted past the timers for an 8.436second run to all but clinch the championship. T ed Wilkin s didn ' t g e t a great holeshot but he was real1y flying aft er the first kicke r, and he also broke into th e e ig h ts with a n 8.759 -secon d run . Scott McNeely had to fix a bik e problem and barely go t his run in before the 10minute grace peri od wa s up. He lin ed up on the far right side to hopefully sta y on the right sid e, away fro m the mu ck in the mid dl e. McNeely put in a solid rid e to card th e fourth-quickest run of David Watson clinched the 540cc National Championship with a win at the Devil's Staircase Hillclimb in Ohio. the 540s first round wit h an 8.524 time. He had the las t sub- nin e-second run of the first roun d, bu t two ot her top riders had problems . 540cc Rookie of the Year points leader Tim Fried h off had bike problems on th e line, so Phil Libhart brought in the Thomas' Racing Yamaha twin. Phil , however, mistimed the shutoff point ov er the first kicker and nearly went over the bars. Then he go t cros sed up over the second jump, which messed him up for the third jump, wher e he nearly looped out. H e w ould end th e seaso n fourth as his second rid e on the fast but unfamiliar Yamaha d idn't go well, eit her. Tim Fried hoff pul1ed back in a nd th en o verjumped th e s eco n d kicker. When Friedhoff landed from the third ju m p at the 270-foot mark, h is chai n cam e off. Mike Templeton sta rted off the second round, but he ran ou t of luck at the 240-foot mark. Tyrone Smoot scra tched his wa y to a 9.713-second run but fin ish ed outside the top 10. Wes McCoy put in another flawl ess rid e to drop his time to 8.817 for eighth overa ll. Chad Disbennet sat and watched as rider after rider took aim at his 8.304-second time. Paul Pinsonnault ran hard on his last rid e and see med to hit e~ery th i ng just right, but he got a lot of air over the last ju mp and lost valua ble tim e. H is 8.390 was not as fast as his first ru n, an d he w oul d fi n is h th e d a y th ird . Toby Thompson was real1y on the gas bu t it all came apart off the third jump. Terry Thom pson got a little squirrel1y off the bottom but he s traig htened it ou t and held it w ide o pen a l1 the way up the hiIl. His . 7.730 wo uld send Disbennet d ow n the hiIl to get read y to ride. Te rry' s ru n wou ld be th e fast es t ti me o f the day. David Watson near ly.flipped 'his bike, but h e kept it on two w h eels - bu t th e n he wen t ou t of bounds at the 300-foot mark. His firs t-round ti me of 8.436. was fast enough for fift h p lac e and the championship. Disben n ett pu ll ed in to th e p i t to try to retake the le a d bu t revved up too high off th e lin e and broke loose right away, sending hi mse lf o u t o f bound s after th e first jump. Wilkins a lso could n ot improve ov er hi s fir st -run tim e of 8.759 and he wou ld take sev enth place in rou nd 12. One rider who did improve on his second cha nce was McN eel y . He p assed by Wat son by .004 to take fourt h. The last rider to crack the top 10 was Friedhoff. David Wa tso n was also enjoyi ng his victory. "I've won amateur cham pionsh ips, bu t this is my first Pro championship:' Watson exclaimed . "It feels great." The tricky third jump would prove to be an even bigger problem for the heavier, more-powerful 800cc bikes. Harry Denham led off the round . His 10.770 was a top-10 ride for the first round. Jeff Thomas got out of shape earl y but rode hard to pass Denham with a 10.189-secand run. Bobby Templeton entered the day third in the points after two straight third-place finish es. He got a little sidewa y s a t the 240-foot mark but was strong at the top of the hill to power to an 8.657-second run and the lead. Mark Swem put in a 1O.133-se cond run, a couple of ticks quicker than Bob Shreiner. Then G reg WiIliams ca me to the line and turned in a time of 9.550. Glen Petty drifted int o the soft stu ff in the middle of the hiIl,J}nd it stopped him dead in his tracks . Richard Soter III rod e th e injured Rodney Smith's Yamaha tw in, and Soter made the most of the chance. Soter had a clean ride until he hit the third jump and go t ou t of shape, bu t he still turned in an 8.310 to take the lead . After Beese Wend t su ffered a chain problem, Bob Castledi ne put in his firs t ride of the day. He mistim ed the bo ttom by just a fraction, and then he was never more th an three fee t fro m th e out-of - bo unds line, but he had a grea t ride for an 8.1Do-second ru n. After Russ VanderVeen's spectacular get off ove r the third jump, Mark Bufto n rolled his Norton th rough the mu d and over the top. Then Lou Gerencer pu lled into the pit. Gere ncer roared up the hill and in to the sevens. "Ho t" Rod Williams was trying to be tter Gerencer's time. He looped ou t ove r the second jum p. The last rider of the class was James "Ja m me r" La rge, w ho had a lrea dy clinc hed his second st raight Nat io na l Champ ionship. . " I' m just go ing to go for the win and have a good time:' Large said. He ma tched Ceren cer's perform ance bu t no t his s peed. Jamme r did every th ing w e ll , bu t h e was ju st o ff the leader's pace at 8.414. Denham pow ered up the hill on his seco nd pass for a 9.883 effo rt to finish 11th overall. Jeff Thom as put in a wild rid e on his second rid e. He took ninth overa ll with a 9.505 tim e. Bobby Tem pleton had problems on the third jum p. He w ou ld en d u p sixth ove rall. Swe m bobbled off the third jump, leaving him wit h 10th place at 9.568 seconds . Shreiner went faster on his second run, but he cou ld n' t crack th e top 10. Then G reg WiIliams came to the line. Williams had a little too much speed ' off the boll om and lost a li ttle time in the ai r. Then he se ttled d own for an 8.424-second ru n and fifth overall. Petty go t ou t of sha pe over the seco n d ju m p a nd h is Harle y-Dav idson high-sided him over the third jump. DeBusk avoi ded the mud on his second ride to take seventh overall after an 8.747 lime. Richard Soter III lost a cylinder after the third jump, but he still too k fourth overall, thanks to his firs t-ro und time. Forme r Na tio na l Cha m pion We nd t made a grea t save over the third jump to claim the eighth spot wit h a 9.105. Cast1edine was af ter his firs t Pro win but cou ld n' t quit e get it together, tho ugh he d id pu t in an eight-second ride . Castled ine took third overal1 with his firs tround time. As Gerencer wa tched, VanderVee n and Bufton were off his pace. Then Jam mer fired up his bike for his cha nce at the win. He pu t in an excellent rid e, but his 7.993 was .111 seconds behind Gerencer's, Rod ney Williams had mech an ical problems before Large's ri de, so Williams was the day' s last rider . He had a fas t ride going, but his Trium ph los t power at the 3Do-foot mark, and the win belonged to Gerencer. (-:\ Devil's Sta ircase Oregon ia, Ohio Results: October 11,1998 (Rnal round) AMA 800cc NATIONAL HILLCUMB CSHIP SERIES FINAL PO INT STANDINCS (At tn U of 12 rounds): I. Ja mes Large (160 /6 wins); 2. Gle n Petty Jr. (123); 3. Robert Templeton (120); 4. Mik e Debusk (114); 5. Steve Dresser (99/ 1); 6. Lou Cerencer (95/2); 7. Greg Williams (7l /1); 8. Bob Shreiner (77); 9. Rus s Vanderveen (71); 10. Ha ny Den ha m (69); 1I. Robert Ca srled ine (52); 12. Rodney Will ia ms (51); 13. Mark Swem (49); 14. Pa u l Za nde r (41/ 1); 15. Willie Pri ce (35 / 1); 16. Jeff Thomas (34); 17. Rodney Sm ith (25); 18. Be ese Wend' (23); 19. Wa llace Fowler (21); 20. mE) j ason Pet ty / Ric1lclrd Soter III (12); 22. Waller Herri ck (12); 23. Chris Brown (6); 24. Mark Buft on (4); 25. Bra nd on Kree ger (4); 26 . Sha yn e Wal ters (3 ); 27. (TIE) Ch uck Myles / Cu rt Snelling / Jack Yeck (2). AMA S40cc NATIONAL HI LLCLIM B C'SHIP SE RIES FINAL PO INT STAND INGS (After 12 of 12 ro u n ds): 1. David Watson (142); 2. Terry Th ompson (130/6 wins); 3. Pau l Ptnson naul t (130); 4. Phil Libhart (116/1 ); 5. T<>d Wilkin s (94/ 2); 6. Scott McN{·.: ly (87); 7. Tim Fried ho ff (67/ 1); 8. Tim Fra zie r (66); 9. Tob y Th om pson (62/1); 10. Jo h n H amilton Jr. (62); 11. Cha d Disbennet (55 /1 ); 12. Wes ley McCoy (55); 13. Mike Te m pleto n (43); 14. Mike Livi n gs to n (42); IS. Richie Sche ue rman (41); 16. Harry Schrei ber Jr. (41); 17. Mike Pulv er (29); 18. Ja mes Zucco (23); 19. Jeremy Thom a. (23); 20. Roger McN<'Cly (22); 21. Ch arles Robe rts (18) ; 22. A la n Ho sk ins (14); 23 . Anthony Smoot (2); 24. C hris VanHyni ng (0); 25 . Ke n ne y ReH (0 ); 26 . Paul Kops (6) ; 27. Ca th y Tem pleto n (6); 28. mE) Jack Macaulay /Randy Dillon (5); 30. Pau l Carrety (.3); 31. SIeve Kuhl (2) ; 32. m El Jeff Brown/ Leon Everet t (I).

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