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Events
GFI Winter MX Series, Round 2
(Left) Dustin Nelson
took home cash for
winning the 250cc Pro
overall honors and also
took second, behind
Rusty Holland, In the
125cc Pro class.
. (Below) Dusty Walters
dominated the 125cc
Intermediate action
with back-ta-back wins.
By Homer Eubanks
Photos by Chris Holtner
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36
RAMONA,CA,JAN.17
arona Oaks Raceway hosted
round two of the GFI Winter
Series South, and 306 riders
enjoyed a full day of motocross action.
Once the dust had settled, it was
Motoworld of EI Cajon-backed Dustin
Nelson who took home the 250cc Pro
purse and controlled the second spot in
125cc Pro action behind Clawsonbacked Rusty Holland.
Both 125cc and 250cc Pro races were
set up in a 10-lap single-moto format. At
the drop of the ga te in the 250cc Pro
race, things looked good for Angelo
Ingrande, who grabbed the holes hot.
lngrande took charge, but only for a
while, as Bryan McGaVJ:an and Nelson
were close in tow. McGavran powered
through the whoops and pulled alongside Ingrande but could not make a pass
stick. The two were elbowing one another up the hill when McGavran grabbed
control of an inside corner, which
allowed him to edge out lngrande.
Before Ingrande could shake off the
loss of the lead, Holland sneaked inside
for the second spot. To add insult to
injury, Dustin Nelson had been waiting in
the wings and managed to outdistance
Ingrande on the flagpole triple, dropping
Ingrande back to fourth.
Holland was able to pressure
McGavran, causing the Yamaha rider to
run off the track - which gave Holland
the lead. McGavran was not done, however: He regained the lead after the stepup/step-down jump in front of the
bleachers. Holland still wanted the win,
and he pressured McGavran until the
halfway point, when Holland retook the
lead at the same corner at which he had
passed McGavran before.
While battling with Holland,
McGavran jammed his wrist, opening
the door for Nelson, who passed
McGavran late in the race.
With two laps to go, Holland crossrutted and dropped his Suzuki, allowing Nelson to take the checkers uncontested. Holland salvaged second and
McGavran soldiered on to third.
When the pros came back out for the
125cc battle, it was McGavran who
nailed the holeshot, with Holland and
Nelson trailing. McGaVl"an held the lead
for two laps, but his swollen wrist
caused him to double the triple, whHe
Holland and the rest of the field tripled
over him. Having lost the lead to Holland, McGavran was still able to hold
Nelson off for three more laps until Nelson danced across a set of whoops, passing McGavran in the following comer.
After passing McGavran and gaining
second place, elson hoped to repeat
his earlier effort, but this time Holland
kept things on track and elson had to
settle for the second-place money.
Since most eyes were focused on Nelson, wondering if he could make it a
double win, many missed the effort of
Tommy Clowers, who got a poor start
and had to work his way through the
field of 10 riders to earn fourth place.
The 125cc Intermediate class saw 23
riders come to the line, but Dusty Walters did not let the crowd affect his
nerves. In moto one, Walters first had to
contend with Chris Sprenkel, who got
the holeshot. Sprenkel held Walters off
for the first three laps, but Walters man-'
aged to slip past and take the checkers
first.
In the second moto, Walters put it
together early, taking the first corner
and following through to the checkers.
Behind Walters was Sean O'Connor.,
who had finished ninth in moto one.
Second overall went to Take Elkins with
his consistent third-place showings.
Jesse Casillas' NCY /Noleen/Dunlop-backed YZ80 and Daryl Ecklund's
Team Chaparral/TMR/Troy Leebacked minicycie provided the 80cc
Open Expert action. Casillas got the
holeshot in the first moto, with Ecklund
trailing. It took Ecklund three laps of
racing before he managed tl'l steal the
lead position. Casillas kept his Yamaha
upright to earn second, while third went
to Mickey Griffin.
Things changed in moto two, however. Off the gate, Ecklund made an extra
effort and exited turn one in first. Casillas was in hot pursuit but had to settle
for second until the final lap, when Ecklund, who had a five-second lead, bobbled and let Casillas steal the moto and
the overal). Ecklund regained some of
his composure and finished second on
the day.
Casillas was a repeat winner with tl,e
overall victory in the Supermini class. In
mota one, Casillas suffered a loss to
Cale Wallace. Daryl Ecklund took the
early lead and held on for three laps
before going down. This gave the lead
to Wallace. Ca illas, who was fifth off
the gate, had to work his way through
the pack. Casillas managed to take the
second spot as the white flag came out,
but he found he did not have enough
time to catch Wallace.
Casillas got his act together in moto
two and took control of the race off the
gate. Brandon Schlensig let Casillas get
away, as he was kept busy warding off
the advances of Ben Ramsaran. On the
last lap, Ramsaran found his opening
and slipped ahead of Schlensig, but he
couldn't see Casillas as he crossed the
finish line. Wallace posted a DNS for
mota two.
Cale Wallace did go home a winner
in the 80cc Intermediate class, however.
Wallace dominated the class, as he outpaced Ben Ramsaran in both motos.
Third overall went to Zac Wray, who
put in a 3-4 effort.
The Over 25 Novice class provided
the fans with some action. In round one,
Skip Edwards capitalized on his
holeshot to take charge of the race early.
BeIllnd Edwards was Ken Johnson and
Tim Konkol. During the second lap,
Konkol slipped inside Johnson for second, but Johnson matched the pace set
by Konkol. On the following lap, Johnson retook the second spot and left
Konkol busy with fourth-placed Chad
Doggett.
Johnson came back in the second
moto and stole.the show off the gate.
Behind Johnson were Konkol and
Edwards. Jolmson went on for the overall win and Edwards was content in
third, knowing he had the second spot
wrapped up. Konkol took the thirdplace trophy.
Matt Condon earned both moto wins
in the 125cc ovice class. At the start of
moto one, Condon was midpad in a
field of 19 riders. Jon Myers was out
front, witl, Chad Gaumer in tow. Myers
dropped out on the third lap, handing
Gaumer the lead.
By lap three, Condon had moved to
third place. David Sullins managed to
pressure Gaumer, and Condon used the
battle for first place to sneak up on the
leaders and steal the lead on ilie last lap.
Gaumer fell and Sullins held second, with
Kevin Chimits crossing over in third.
In the second moto, Condon read the
gate correctly and entered turn one first.
With a clear track ahead, Condon head-
ed straight to the checkered flag. This
meant the action was for second place.
Dustin Watson was fourth off the Line
bu t managed to steal third and then second place by mota's end. Zack Shirley
'and Billy Arnone rounded out the top
four.
.
.
Robert Memoli took home the 60cc
Open trophy after besting the effort of
Michael La Paglia in moto two. In the
first moto, La Paglia got the checkers,
but Memoli stole the show in moto two,
sending La Paglia back to the runner-up
spot. Third overall went -to Matt Harrison, who swapped positions with Justin
Carmody during both motos. Carmody
was third in moto one and then fourth
behind Harrison in moto two.
It was La Paglia all the way in the
60cc Intermediate division. La Paglia
rode his KTM to victory in both motos.
Brad Masters earned the second-overall
honors after placing iliird in moto one to
Trent Pugmire. Masters came back in
the next mota to cross over the finish
line in second behind La Paglia and Ben
Ramsaran.
CIII
Barona Oaks Raceway
Ramona, California
Results: January 17, 1999 (Round 2)
50 STK (4-6): 1. Dakota Garner (Cob); 2. Brett
Harrison (Cob).
50 STK (7-8):1. Trevor Reis (Cob); 2. johnny
Iclderda (Lcm); 3. Marcus Carrillo (Lcrn); 4. Scott Noble
(Cob); S. Garrick Noble (Cob).
50 OPEN: 1. Scott Noble (Cob); 2. Marcus Carrillo
(Lem); 3. Carrick Noble (Cob); 4. Trevor Reis (Cob); 5.
lake Locey (KTM).
60 BEC: 1. Chnpman Fiene (Kaw); 2. Phillip Aube
(Knw); 3. Senn Thompson (KTM); 4. Tyler Sievers
(Knw); 5. Andy Straight (K.-.w).
60 OPEN: 1. Robert Memoli (Kaw); 2. Michael 1...,
Paglia (KTM); 3. Matt Harrison (KTM); 4. Justin
Cnrmody (Kaw); 5. Michael Hall (Kaw).
'60 NOV: 1. Steven Cerda (KTM); 2. Justin C,rmooy
(K