Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS ' Final Round: Camp Coker MX Park AMA FALL CLASSIC M TOC O SSERIES O RS By Kirk Johnson SOCIETY HILL,SC, OCT. 31-NOV. 1 oing into the fina l round of th e AMA Fall C lassic MX Series a t Ca m p Co ke r, only a couple of p o int s separa te d Yamah a-mount ed Anthon y Pocorobba and Kawa sak i rid er Doug Stone for the crown. Wh en it wa s all ove r, Pocorobba used his sa nd-rid ing expe rience to his advantag e and wa lked away wit h the d ay's win and the champion sh ip . The man y specta tors lined the fen ces when th e first moto of the 250cc Pros left the sta rting lin e, an d it was Kingsport Suzu ki's Jon Boru ff who g ra bbed th e holesho t. Close be hind him were champion s hip co ntende rs Pocorob ba a n d Stone. Tu cked in behind those two we re Ya ma ha-mou n te d Ja so n Thom a s , AI Lane/Litz Racin g / Team Moto Planet' s Mall Wa lker, Suz u ki rider Tim Hodock, a nd C harlo tte Ya maha / Pe rfo rm ance Friction / Acerbi s' Ch uck Shirley. Go ing into lap two, Pocorobba mad e a m ove o n Boru ff an d took over the lead . Not w ant ing to ge t caught u p in a poi nts race, Pocorobba q uickly p ull ed G 00 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 ,..... l-o C.i ..0 a C.i :> o Z 2 o u t a s tro ng lead over th e rest o f th e field and would never be cha llenge d . Sto ne, meanwhile, was dropping off th e p ace a bit a n d s ta rted see ing h is cha m pio ns hip hopes slow ly slip awa y. Wa lker moved up int o the number-three po sition and se t ou t after Boru ff. Boru ff, ho w ev er , held off the hard -chargi n g Ya ma ha rid er until mi dmot o and th en fina lly succu mbed to the pressure fro m Wa lker's thun dering YZ400. On ce int o seco nd, Walk er tri ed to cu t in to the 12-secon d lead Pocoro bb a had built, but it w a s to no avail. Th e lead p ro ved to be too m uch fo r Walker to ov ercome . Boru ff m ana ged to hol d o n to th e numb er-three p ositi o n, wh ile Sto ne wo rked his way back into fourth by the end of the moto. He solid ified that spot wh en Th oma s bobbled a nd drop ped . b a ck . Yam a h a rid e r M ark Bu rkha r t worked his way in to the top five after a mid pa ck sta rt. Burkhart spent the mo to slowly ad vancing to the fron t. Yamaha-moun ted Tod d Do wns ra n just outside th e top five th e entire rno to, n et t tn g Js ixth at the ch ecke r s . Te a m Green Kawasaki's Jeff Gibson also ga ted (Top) Anthony Pocorobba (9) . leads Jon Borutl (75) in the first 250cc Pro-class race during Fall Classic MX Series action at Camp Coker. Pocorobba went on to win the race and wrap up the champ ionship. (Left) Mall Walker was pushing for a win In the 250cc Pro class when his bike broke. poorl y and eventually fin ished seven th. Shirley came home in eighth, with Jason Thomas recov ering for nint h. Rounding o u t th e top 10 w as Mi ch igan' s Jason McDo nald . Pocorobba wa s now in control of his o w n d estin y, and h e w ould ha ve to mak e a serio us mistak e to let Ston e have a s ho t a t the cha m pionsh ip . Th oma s grabbed the second-mote holesh ot, wi th Pocorobba once again gating well in the number-two position . H e w as closel y follow ed by Downs, McD onald, Yamaha r id er A n dy A na ya , [ er ed Bla ck, Bo ru ff, Gibson a nd Wa lke r. Sto ne was well outsid e of th e top 10, so a showdo w n b etw e en th e titl e co n ten de rs never mat eri alized . Pocorobba too k over th e lead before the en d of la p on e a nd t ried to p ull a no ther d is appear in g act. T ho m as, how ever, had o the r p lans and nagged the Suzuki rider th roughout th e m ot o. Th e ri d er o n th e m o v e w a s Walk er, w ho w as quickly push in g his 400 to th e front. Walker w orked up to third by th e middle of th e moto, and th en he slo w ly began to close o n th e tw o fro n t-ru nners. But jus t after th e cros sed flag s ca me out , Wa lker' s day cam e to an a b r u p t h alt w h en hi s bik e lo s t th e c1utch basket, destroying th e cases in' the process . The pace of the top three had carried them far aw ay from the rest of the pack. A t o ne point, Pocorobba a nd Th omas had more th an 20 second s on third after Wal ker d rop ped ou t. Th om as kept th e Suzuki rider honest for the enti re moto but w as nev er abl e to mount a se rious bid for the lead . Gibson then inherited th e numberthree po sition from Walker after picking off riders from hi s eig h th -p la ce s ta r t. Stone, who go t a terrible s ta rt, nev er gave up and slow ly plugged his wa y to four th p lac e b y th e en d o f the moto . Burkhart w as an o th er slow s ta rte r. He hooked up with Stone, and the two rid ers freight-trained to the front. Black fell back to eighth at the m iddle of the moto but stayed o n th e gas and man aged to w ork his w ay back to six th . McD on ald, w ho ga ted fourth, mad e a fe w mi sta ke s durin g th e m oto a nd slipped back to seven th . Downs maintained his th ird -place sta rt for hal f of the m oto, but a get-off lat er o n meant th at h e wou ld ha ve to fight his w ay back in to th e top 10. Down's cha rge w ould end in eighth. Hod ock and Boruff completed the top 10. Wh en th e sco re s hee ts we re talli ed , Poc o robba took th e o ve ra ll a nd th e series championship, and Stone grabbed se co nd overa ll w ith co ns is tent 4-4 finishes and sco re d runner -up hono rs in the series, as well. Taki ng the final podium position on the d a y w as G ib son, n w ith 7-3 finishes. Cam p Coker MX Park Society Hili, South Carolina Results: October 31-November 1,1998 (Final round) . 250 PRO: 1. Ant hony Pocorobba Jr. (5uz); 2. Doug Stone (Kaw) : 3. Jeff Gibso n (Kaw): 4. M ark Burkhart (Ya m); 5. Jason Th omas (Y am); 6. Jon Boruff (SuL); 7. Todd Dow ns (Y,lm); 8. J<1 ~n McOondld (5uz); 9. Chuck Shirley (Yam); 10. M.l tt Walkt'r(Yam).

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