Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Winner Don Frauenberger (76Z) slides to the outs ide, while Ron Wood (48) looks inside In the 2S0cc Novice class at the final Temecula sh ort track of the 1998 season. Frauenberger took the class win , SDFTADirt Track Season Finale Petton pounds Temecula ST By Fred Windum TEMECULA, CA, NOV. 15 ravis Petton closed the season at the San Diego Flat Tra ck Association's final District 37/ 38 race of the season with a win in the Pro-Sport 600cc cla ss, the la st ra ce of the day a t th e Temecula Speedway quarter-mile oval. With more riders and more classes, the new track has had a success ful first yea r. The 2S0cc Novic e class is one of the new classes inte nded to allow new racers to come out and give d irt track racing a try wit hou t having to jump in with the more experienced racers. Jim Wood jumped the star t, a good thing for Cr aig Hamilton a nd Larry Price, as the tw o riders ta ngled in turn three an d w er e able to make the restart du e to Wood's indiscretion. Roger Winiger led the field through the first lap, bu t Wood charged thr ou gh the pac k fro m the penalty line to lead into turn one on the second lap. Hamilton, unaffected by his ea rlier tu mb le, slipped past Winiger and insid e Wood, trying for the lead, bu t Winiger sna ked past both to take ove r. As the white flag came ou t, Wood pull ed up on Winige r, ge tti ng a b ett er driv e off Tem ecula' s tricky tum two to retake the lea d a nd th e w in , a hea d of Winiger, Hamilton, Tom Bohl er, Matt Fisher and Larry Price. Former Ll.S. Na tio n a l Spe ed w a y Champion Brad Oxley go t the jump on the Bomber class on his old TTSOO Baja rid e, ahead of Rick Reed , Bill Silverthorn a nd Robbie Nolin . Reed pu lled a lo ng the inside w hile Oxley was looking for the cus hion arou nd th e ou tsi de. Reed gai ned the top spot on the front straig ht, as Nolin moved ahead of Silver thorn for third . O xley soon took the lead ba ck through turn tw o, while Nolin dropped Reed back to third on the next lap as Silvert horn closed the gap on Reed . No lin T 00 0\ 0\ ,.... ~ ,..... l-< aJ ..D S aJ U aJ c 30 closed the ga p on O xley and , as th ey pull ed u p th rou gh lapped traffic, took o ve r th e lea d to th e ch eck ered fla g . Oxlev took second ahead of Reed , Silve r thorn , Brian Burkhalter a nd Jo hn Ga rcia Jr. Dennis Briggs cha ng ed th e tires on his YZ250 and led a Yam ah a sweep of th e 2S0cc Pro Sport ra ce . Brig gs le d Richard Pollock, Glenn L'Ileureaux and Ryan Fisher from the start, never looki ng ba ck a t th e ac ti o n b ehind h im. L'H eureaux took advantage of Pollock' s trip to the high line to snag second, leaving him to fend off [oeSteffen and Fisher. Steffen took third trom Pollock insid e tu rn one with Fis her in tow. Pollock held off the junior speedway ace, but Fisher had the advantage coming on to the back straigh t and d ro p ped Pollock to fifth. Briggs cru ised ou t front as Steffen tried a final charg e to get pa st L'Heu reaux , pullin g a lo ngsi d e at th e flag but coming up a wheel short. Brigg s . took the big money, with L'Heuraeux holdin g on for second ah ead of Steffen, Fisher, Pollock and Marcus Phar es . Pelton, Briggs and Bob Cobb got ou t of the ga te a little too fast in the Open Pro-Sport class, and the starter deci ded to give eve ryone a no t he r cha nce . Oxley's champions hip speedway expe rience ca me in han dy, as he nailed th e restart on his Yamaha ah ead of Pelto n's Wood Rot ax, w hile Tri ump h- moun ted Jeff Joh nson mot or ed arou nd th e ou tside and past bot h to take the lea d on th e back s tra ig ht on lap tw o . Petton soon was around Oxley and after Johnson, as Briggs u sed the horsepower of his Wood Rota x test rid e to pull alo ng inside Oxley going into turn one. Oxley was able to keep third throug h tum two , but Briggs dropped Oxley to fourt h on th e b a ck s traig h t whil e Rick Re ed cr uised behind O xley in fifth. Robb ie olin was moving up th rou gh the field, stuffing insid e Richard Pollock to Reed , wh o w a s s lo w ly cl osi ng th e ga p to Oxley. Up front, Pelton fou nd a way around Joh nson , se tt li ng into a rhy thm a nd leaving the work to Johnson and Briggs, bo th keeping the pressure on the leader. Oxley, in fou rth, was bein g shadowed by Reed an d Nolin in th eir own lit tle battle for position. Just befo re the whit e flag came ou t, Pe tton slip pe d wide in turn four within sight of the starter, letting Johnson under for the lead . Pelt on quickly reco vered , s ticking a wh ee l inside Johnson in one, but Johnson had the drive down the back straig ht. As the tw o raced d own the ba ck straigh t and in to th re e, Petton ca me in to o h ot , almos t clip pi ng Johnson 's rear w heel. Then Johnson nearly got p itched over the high side in tum four, letting Pelt on drive by on th e ou tside. At th e sa me tim e, Briggs go t a d ri ve on the insi d e, tryi ng to get by Pelt on. At the line it was Petton by a wh eel , followed by Briggs and Johnson. O xley held fou rth over Reed , olin and Pollock. (::\ Temecula Speedway Temecula, California Res ults: November 15, 1998 a.ssc: 1. Eddie Castro Ond ); 2. Vince C raves (Bu l); 3. Gordon Menzie (R-E); 4. Jim McM urn'n (H-D); 5. Gerry Du ttweller ITri). BM BR : 1. Ro b bi e N o lin (Ya m); 2. Brad Ox le y (Yam); 3. Rick Reed irwkr (Yaml; 4. Chri . Alt

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