Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 1: DeLand A "porl AHRMAIPROGRESSIVE SUSPENSION HISTORIC CUP ROAD RACE SERIES AHRMAIClassic Bike Magazine Dirt Track Series Round 1: Hard Rock Cycle Park Plumb doubles By Matt Benson OCALA, FL, FEB. 28 he American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association's biggestever dirt track took place at a rather unlikely venue: a relatively outof-the-way short track where only one motorcycle had ever turned a wheel before. Still, the first of AHRMA's three Bike Week dirt tracks drew an astounding 182 entries to this nicely maintained go-kart oval. The promoter had anticipated 70-80 entries, causing some scrambling to get everyone signed up and onto the track, followed by a long evening of heats, semis and mains. A brief deluge earlier in the day washed away the wide groove laid down by the go karts, but sunny, breezy conditions had the track in good shape by evening. The bikes built a much narrower groove, putting a premium on good starts. After several years of dominating the pre-1952 Dinosaur class, George Wills got some tough new competition in the form of another Harley-Davidson WR hand-shifter piloted by Booker Poirier from Biddleford, Maine. Try as he might, the lllinois racer just couldn't reel in the fast-starting Poirier. Third in the final went to Beno Rodi on his Royal Enfield 500. Iowa racer Bill Berger warded off the persistent advances of Harley Sprint rider Mark Hawk in the brakeless Gassic 250 class, while Bultaco-mounted Ken Lilly finished third and Mike Metzler was fourth on his beautiful Triumph thumper. The crowd's favorite, dirt track legend Ronnie RaIl, was fifth on another Harley Sprint. . In Classic 500 /750, Wills switched to a Triumph twin, opened up a nice lead and then fell off. After a lap or so he remounted to finish ninth, but in the meantime Triumph-mounted John Plumb took over and got the win. Second was James Oliver on a Honda. Plumb was back 'out the next race to defend his number-one plate in the Sportsman 250 class, and defend he did, holding off Ossa-mounted Donnie Warf. T (Above) John Plumb topped both the Sportsman 250 class and Classic 500nSO at the AHRMA dirt track in Ocala, Florida. (Right) Derek Belvoir won the Premier Heavyweight class at the Hard Rock Cycle Park trials. Wad, meanwhile, was feeling.some pressure of his own in the form of Brad Holt, who had broken loose from a dispute over third place involving himself, Dave Scheffer on a two-stroke Harley and Drew Patterson on another H-D. At the checkered flag it was Plumb, Warf and Holt. The early Sportsman 600 leader was Honda-mounted John Lambrick, but the lllinois racer was soon displaced by Californian Brad Spencer and Yamaha rider David Allen. Allen made a run at Spencer late in the race but bobbled and lost his drive. Meanwhile, Dennis Williams got his Yamaha around Lambrick to finish third, behind Allen. Plumb tried for his third win of the night in Sportsman 750, but he could stay in front of fellow Yamaha rider Darrel Bryant for only abou tala p. As the Georgian worked on his lead, Triumph rider Mark Gibson moved up to challenge Plumb's hold on second place. Cibson held second briefly before Plumb got back around, and the two rode most of the final lap side by side, with the Pennsylvania rider holding a slight advantage over Gibson at the flag. Rod Lake made the trek from California to become the first winner in AHRMA's new '70s Singles class for SOOCc four-strokes from the mid- to late 1970s. In a tight finish, Lake and his Honda took the lead from Yamaha. mounted Kenny Parker, while Ken Lilly got his Yamaha around Mike Gillkey to earn third for the night. In the over 50 Senior class, Honda rider James Oliver bested Bultaco jockey Bill Snyder. The new Over 60 Super Senior division saw Bill Burr earn the class's first-ever win over Tom Hodges, while in the nonchampionship-Over 35 Veteran class it was Jack Wagner taking the win on his Triumph. t:II Hard Rock Cycle Park OCala, Florida Results: February 28, 1999 (Round 1 0118) DINO: 1. Booker Poirier (H-D); 2. George Wills (H0); 3. Beno Rodi (Enf); 4. Bill Worthington (Trj); 5. james Cocrtois (H-D). CLSC 2.5&. 1. William Berger; 2 Mark Hawk (H·D); 3. Keo Lilly (Bul); 4. Mike Metzler (Tri); 5. John Bova (Bu!). eLse 5001750: 1. John Plumb (Tri); 2. Jim Oliver (Hon); 3. Bob Hovden; 4. Mike Metzler (Tri); 5. Cary Davis. SPTSMN 250: 1. John Plumb (Yam); 2. Donnie Warf (Oss); 3. Brad HoI' (Bul); 4. Dave S<:heffer (H·D); 5. Drew Peterson (H·D). SPTSMN 600: 1. Brad Spencer (Hon); 2. David .Allen (Yam); 3. Dennis WilUams (Yam); 4. John Lambrick (Hon); 5. Sootl Campbell (Yam). SPTSMN 750: 1. Darrell Bryant (Yam); 2. John Plumb (Tri); 3. Mark Gibson (Tri); 4. Jack Wagner (frO; 5. Nick Taylor (Yam). '70S SGL: 1. Rod Lake (Hon); 2. Kenny Parker (Yam); 3. Mike Gilkey; 4. Ken Lilly (Yam); 5. Darrell Bryant (Hon). SR, 1. James Oliver (Hon); 2 Bill Snyder (Bu!); 3. Martin Lewis (TrO; 4. Gig Hamilton (MaO; 5. Gary 8.rennan (Tri). S/SR: 1. William Burr; 2. Tom Hodges (BuD; 3. Charles Pidcreo (Hon); 4. jack Joyner (Bul); 5. orman Gruber (Tri). VET: 1. Jack Wagner (Tri); 2. Raymond Corkey (Yam); 3. William Alan (Yam); 4. larry Davis (Yam); 5. Doug Gropp. AHRMA/Speed &Sport National Vintage Trials series Round 1: Hard Rock Cycle Park Weathering the storm By Matt Benson o()\lJ\,FL,FEB.28 record entry of over 90 riders turned out for AHRMA's Bike Week trials National, an event that saw competitors challenged by extreme changes in section conditions. The skies began to darken as riders headed out for their first of three circuits of an eight-section loop, and about the time many of them were finishing their first loop, the downpour began. It didn't even rain for an hour, but two inches must have come down. After that, the sun returned and things started drying out. As a result, the scores fluctuated dramatically on each of the loops as conditions went from excellent to slick and gooey to something in between. The wet conditions troubled the ignitions of many British bikes and the brakes on the Spanish mounts. One rider who fell victim to loss of spark was former World Trials Champion Mick Andrews, who was competing under exhibition status o.n Barry Higgins' BSA Alloy Clipper. The adverse conditions didn't prevent two riders from turning in perfect scorecards. Mike Radford and Curtis Harper, both competing in Modern Classic Novice, didn't put a foot down A all day, forcing. AHRMA's ultimate tie breaker to be invoked. In such a case, the older rider wins, and Radford took the honors by virtue of being two years older than Harper. Ironically, third place in the same class also had to be decided by the competitors' age, and 66-year-old John Knapp had 31 years on Paul Campbell. There was a three-way tie in the tough Modern Gassic Expert class: Bill Blythe, David Hulse and Harry Heilemann each turned in scores of 27 points. This time, the tie was broken by the number of sections each rider had zeroed, and Blythe got the win by cleaning 15 traps, compared to Hulse's 14 and Heilemann's 13. In Modern Classic lntermediate"it was Duwayne Connolly taking the win over Randy Bailey and Gene Brown. Each rode the first loop without error, and it was Connolly who adjusted best to the slick stuff on the last two loops. The Premier Lightweight class is always one of AHRMA's most closely contested classes, and in the Expert division, Greeves-mounted Steve Glinski defeated Triumph rider Mike Parsley by six marks. Just three points back from Parsley was Bob Ginder on another Greeves. Daniel Moriarty took the win in a small Intermediate field, and James Lipscomb dropped just nine points to t:II top the Novices. Hard Rock Cycle Park OCala, Aorida Results: February 28,1999 (Round 2 0118) RIGID NOV,!. Doug Wothke (pan), 57 pts. PREM LWT EXP: 1. Steven Glinski (Gre), 17; 2. Mike Parsley (Tri), 23; 3. Bob Ginder (Gre), V; 4. Marc Comut er, 0; 3. Larry MacIntyre, 1; 4. john Knapp (Yam), 2; 5. Paul Campbell (Bul), 2 BEG: 1. Frank Weir, 15; 2. Ben Stevens, 19; 3. J.D. Flaherty ill, 19.

• Cover