(Left) Ryan Fisher,
who has been
heralded as a bright
star of the future, won
the first Handicap
main of his career at
Costa Mesa
Speedway.
(Right) Dallas Nyblod
won the Over 40
Expert class during
Vintage Motocross
action at the
Woodland Motocross
Park in Washington.
"After the second lap, I should have
known to take it easy in the creek, but [
didn't and my bike sputtered some
more," said Leivan. "It was a little
sketchy there for a mile or so, but once it
dried out, I was able to pick up the pace
again. It really wasn't much of a problem, except for the really tight stuff."
When the white flag came out,
Leivan still maintained a comfortable
lead - 52 seconds over Thiele - while
Yount had distanced himself from
Busenbark by nearly 40 seconds. Windmann's KTM was in a lonely fifth, a
minute behind Busenbark, but a minute
and a half ahead of Roth. Bobby Duncan
had complete control of the A clas by
this time.
The final lap saw Leivan pick up the
pace on his SCR Yamaha/Answer/Dunlop/Silkolene-backed WR400 and claim
the checkers with a minute and a half to
spare.
"I felt really strong today, and
despite a little problem with the water,
my bike worked great," said the race
winner. "I feel really comfortable after
having a whole year on the four-stroke,
and riding the GNCC series this year
has helped make me stronger, both
physically and mentally."
Thiele completed a great first ride
back to claim runner-up honors on his
Team Green-backed KX250. Teenager
Busenbark completed the podium in
third, matching the best ride of his
career. Yount slowed on the final lap but
still held tough to finish in fourth.
Windmann cruised in to take fifth and
some valuable points toward the series
championship.
Roth negotiated the rocky trails on his
YZ250 to claim sixth, while Duncan
raised many an eyebrow with his convincing win in the A class and seventhoverall performance despite riding the
final lap with a flat front tire. Eighth
went to Dan Burgard, who has just made
the jump to the AA ranks. Burgard finished only six seconds ahead of Tanner
England, who in turn had just seven seconds on the XR250 of Kevin Boyle, who
is also riding in the AA class for the first
time. Boyle filled out the top 10.
_
Nasty Creek Hare Scrambles
Steelville, Missouri
Results: April 11, 1999 (Round 1),
OIA: 1. Steve Leivan (Yam); 2. Chris Thiele Old Cody Sprague, John Zigler,
Todd Badham and Marty Welter.
Clark, riding a semi-works CZ400, outran
the competition in the combined Open Vintage
Expert/Intermediate class, handily winning
both contests despite pressure from Monty
Price, who was riding a rare 1974 Kawasaki
KX450. Price, though, was relegated to second
overall by virtue of his two--nmner~up placings
to Clark, but he finished ahead of Yamah. rider
Ron Fish, CZ-mounted John Vlver and Husky
rider Neil Giertsen.
Yamaha-mounted Dana Salsman continued
his domination of the Open Vintage Intermediate class, taking his third successive win in a
row in the class with his 1-1 placings. The
remainder of the contestants, though, were not
as consistent, as Darrell Kilgore earned second
via 4-2 rides, followed by Welter's 2-5 finishes,
which netted the Honda rider third.
TIt: 1. Rick Adams (Hon); 2. Mike Dieckhaus (Yam);
80enker (Kaw).
Schwartz and Fisher
ace Costa Mesa
By Elaine Jones
Photo by Mike Basso
COSTA MESA, CA, APR. 17
The master of the gate and the oldest rider present, Bobby Schwartz, won the Scratch main
event, while on the other end of the spectrum,
the youngest rider on the program, Ryan Fisher,
walked away with the Handicap main event.
The five-rider main event had Schwartz on
the pole, with Brad Oxley in two and Hicks in
three. On the outside, it was Ed Ca tro and
Charlie Venegas. The start had Schwartz out on
top, but it was short-lived, as the red flag came
out. Venegas got way high on the track and
looked like he was going to hit the wall. Castro,
who was also high on the track, started to lay his
bike down to keep from hitting Venegas. All
were allowed to restart.
On the second try, both Venegas and Castro
got too anxious ond went into the tapes. Both
were sent to the 2Q-yard line.
The third time was the charm, and Schwartz
• gain got a great start. Oxley was out second,
with Hicks third. Castro and Venegas were trying to make the outside work, and Venegas got
stuck outside, with Castro opting to use the
lower line. Hicks was working on Oxley and
found the chink in his armor on the white-flag
lap. Schwartz was making his winning ride look
like a walk in the park, letting the muggings
take place behind him. The gold belonged to
Schwartz, with Hicks second and Castro getting
by Oxley for the third. Venegas rounded out the
field with fifth.
The lineup for the Handicap main had Robbie Sauer and Ryan Fisher on the 10-yard UJ,e.
Cooley was alone on the 20, as was Northrup on
the SO. The 60 was rather crowded, with Oxley,
Hicks, Venegas and Schwartz. Venegas was the
only rider not to m.ke the start; he was disqualified for arguing with an official. Ea.rlier in the
night, Oxley predicted that if Fisher made the
main event, he would win, and the two-time
Junior Champion did not make a liar of him.
Fisher went out fast and hard and put the rest of
the field behind him. Andy Northrup came the
closest with a second-place finish, and Schwartz
put the icing on his night's racing with a third.
Results:
XR 75 AM: 1. Z,ne Zigler; 2. Josh Gclababeck; 3. Markus
Stevens.
XR 75 INT: I. Brandon Vuylstcke; 2. John TnJdeau.
PRE-IWO AM: 1. John I...,ushlin (Due); 2. c.'ry Meads (Hon).
PRE-1970 INT: 1. I);Irrell Kilgore (Yam); 2. Ken Burningham
(85A); 3. Sieve Sprague (8ul).
PRE·I970 EX: I. Neil Giertsen «(2); 2. Dirk Murphy (Oss).
OPEN AM: l. Jon Wall (Yam); 2. 0;111 Fogerty ( Z); 3. C.
Andel'9On (Suz).
OPEN lNT: I. o.,na Salsman (Yam); 2. Darrell Kilgore (Yarn);
• 3. Marty Welter (Hon).
OPEN EX: 1. ChrIs Clark (CZ); 2. Monty Pnce (Kaw); 3. Ron
FlSh (Yam).
125 AM: 1. jabez. H~ (Hon); 2. Kyle InghOlm (Hon); 3. Bmc
Nyblod (Yam).
1251NT: I. O
