Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SETRA HillbillyClassic Enduro, Round 16 Events By Kenneth King . en en en ~ 52 CLANTON, AL, MAY30 eeley Racing's Jason Chancey went head to head with the top SERA riders as well as SETRA's best to claim the overall in the next-tothe-last round of the SETRA series, the Hillbilly C lassic. Held in Cla nto n , Alabama, a small tow n just n or th of Montgomery, the race has been on the SETRA ca len dar for yea rs, a nd it is always a goo d one. When you think of tou gh end uros in SETRA, all the Alabama races come to min d , and this one is always tight eno ug h tha t if you get you r bike in third gea r, yo u ha ve fou nd a wide-open section . The race was cosanctioned by SERA, so the com pe tition wa s stiff. Chancey's main concern during th e da y wa s not from SERA but from right in his own back yard . KTM' s All en Gra vitt and Chancy swapped scores on and off durin g th e 50-mile ra ce, but Chancey go t the better end of the tie breakers by 13 seconds . Gravitt had to settle for second. SERA AA rid er Step hen Reed pulled oul a good run to earn third. The terrain con sisted of a .lot of rocks, roots and hills, al on g with th e ad ded bonus of some of the u gliest tra ils imaginable. Pr omot er Edwin Petty alwa ys la ys o u t a tou gh co u rs e. SERA ra ces usu all y ha ve several speed changes on the route sh eet, bul this year Petty kept thin gs at a s tra ig h t 24 mph , and th e scores showed it. The event wa s held on trail s, with no roads th rown in for rest. AA rid er Michael G rizzle described the race per fectly. "This was a real enduro, possibl y the best thi s yea r," he said. " It was tighter a nd techn ical and] d on 't think] rode d own a road for longer than a coup le hundred fee t. The n it w as ba ck in th e tight stu ff. Plus, the checks were placed spot-on. Check ' em in , che ck ' em ou t. . the n you kn ow wh o's fas test," Off the start, it was four miles of free time on the way to the first points taker. The sectio n was 6 m il e s lon g a nd Cha ncey p ost ed th e fa st time w ith a 3:50, followed by Gravit t with a 4:09. Michael Gri zzle was next fastest, scoring a 4:21, and Reed scored 4:23. Gravitt got off to his typi cally slow sta rt . "Yeah, I had my usual slow first section," said Grav itt. "I had a lot of trouble ge tting around riders in the tight stuff." Ther e was a reset after the check, and then the next section started at mile 24. At nine miles, the trail wa s the lon gest of the day. Once again, Chancey proved to be the quickest wit h a tim e of 7:43. Gravitt was close behind with 7:59, followed bv Reed 's 8:10 and Grizzle's 8:36. "Tha t section was tight and technical - a good section," said Cha ncey. "It wa s har d to gel aro un d riders in places." Gravitt ha d some problem s in the . section. "I h ad so methi ng weird happ en ," sa id Gra vit t. "I snipped a bu sh or tree and my visor cut a leaf that proceed ed to s tick to m y goggle len s. I co uld n' t see and w h e n I r ea ch ed to pull it o ff , ] clip ped a tree with my right side, then bou nced over and hit one with my left side - hard. It popped my rad iator off the frame and it took me a bit to get started." The gas sto p follo w ed a t 37 m iles. Gravitt spent most of his break tryi ng to repair his rad iator and man aged to ge t most of it back togeth er' before the start of the second half. The first section after the gas also took the most points from the riders. Gravitt's crash mus t have jump-started him , as he was the fastest in the next 6-mile section . He gained a point back on Chancey with a 4:42. Cha ncey wasn't far off - 13 seconds from a four with 5:13. Reed was on the gas, dropping a 5:29, and Grizz le followed close behind wi th 5:32. Five miles of free time led to the fourth section, where Gravitt again had the fast time - 4:35. Gr izzl e had h is Hu saberg roIling for a 4:46, with Chancey sneaking by with a 4:59, one flip shy of a five. The fifth and final section of the day was o n ly 3.2 mile s, but it was tig h t enough to keep eve n the AA riders from s tayi ng o n th e tim e sc he d u le . Bo t h Chancey and Gravit t dropped a po in t. Griz zle and Reed dropped two . Whe n the overall scores were tallied, it was Chancey a nd G ravitt wit h 20, wit h Chancey edgi ng Gra vitt on tie brea kers. Reed bea t Gri zzl e on tie breakers , bot h wi th 23. Round ing out the top five was SERA rid er Mat t Joachim, also with a 23. "It was a good race," said Chancey. "I really d idn't have that eve ntful a ride - no problems all day. They d o a good job over here." Gravitt had similar feelings. " It w as a w ell -run ra ce - n ice and tight, just like I like them. It's tou gh ge ttin g beat by seconds, th ou gh ," Gravit t said of losing the overall to Cha ncey on CN tie breakers . Hillbilly Class ic Enduro Clanton, Alabama Results: May 30, 1999 (Round 16) O / A: Jason Cha ncey. AA : 1. Alle n Gravitt; 2. Ste phen RCL 3. Micha e l >d.; Grizzle. . OPEN A: 1. Kevin Hutchin son ; 2. G reg Peterson; 3. Steve Hard em an . 250 A: 1. Brian Hudson; 2. Steve Saun ders; 3. Glen n Hollingsh ead . 200 A: 1. Davi d C rai n; 2. Travis Ha yes; 3. Co lin Joa ch im . INT A: 1. Micha el Barton ; 2. Jay Litt le; 3. Robert M orris. 4-STRK A: 1. Jeff H arris; 2. Ben Weathe rs; 3. Jim Parsons. (Right) Although he started out slow, Allen Grav itt charged on in the later part of the day to threaten Chancey for the lead. Grav itt came up short on tie breakers, releg ating him to second . overall. (Below) Jason Chancey won the tight and technical Hillbilly Class ic Enduro by mere seconds. (Right) Jeff Harri s scored the ove rall in the A class as well as the A FourStroke win. V ET A: 1. Bennie Waldrop; 2. Johnny McCoy ; 3. Grq; Golde n. S R A: 1. Mitch McRtc"e; 2. Ga ry Co pe la nd ; 3. Ca ry Barr. S/SR A: 1. Jo hn Wad e; 2. Mike Sha nk ; 3. Joh nn y Bord ers, M STR A: 1. Robert Rocke . 2. Barry Bordes; 3. Ron Hil le. 200 B: 1. W ilson Cagle; 2. A ndy Dca n; 3. David Dexe rtegend. 250 B: 1. Blain e Williams ; 2 . C ha d Ea rl ; 3 . w es Vinya rd . OPEN B: 1. Chris Do ra n; 2. Jam ie Waite; ~. Ste ve Ta ylor. 4-S T RK B: 1. C ha rlie Sing le y; 2. Mich a el Fike; 3. Andy Jelks. . (NT B: 1. Lee Nic ho ls; 2. Andrew Dressel; 3. Danny Griffin. VET B: I. Barry Brazier ; 2. Jeff Go rdy; 3. Ken Pott s. S R B: 1. John Hams; 2. Steve Irwin; 3. Mark Robe rts . S/S R B: 1. Butch Rose; 2. Rich ard Shipner; 3. Ra y Melton . MSTR B: 1. Mike Thompson; 2. Benny Weathers ; 3. Robert Williams. c: 200 1. Jeremiah whe eler : 2. Richard Barrett; 3. Michael Fraser. 250 C: 1. Kevin G reen : 2. Ja son Bro ck ; 3. Mark Shrout. O PEN C: 1. Scott Presn ell; 2. Scott Fraser; 3. John Fis her . INT C: 1. Glenn G ree n: 2. David Summers; 3. Kelly Ravrnan . 4·S T RK C: 1. Aaron Ma jor; 2. Allen Young ; 3. Darren Atchinso n. . VET C: 1. Pooner Pow ell; 2. John Wilson; 3. Danny Hillard. . S R C: 1. M ike Johnso n; 2. Ste ven Lewis ; 3. Ca meron Smi th. S/SR C: 1. Mik e Lynn; 2. Willi a m Durham; 3. Benn y Hamby. . . MSTR C: 1. Mike Ga rrett. 2. Paul McDon al d; 3. BiU Goldsby. G LDN M STR : I. Jam e s Bran s ford ; 2. Pa ul Richardson; 3. Jim Armita ge. WMN: 1. Jennifer Hea th ; 2. Lisa Schi dl meier: 3. Ashley Pierce . J R 100: 1. C hris Wade; 2. Sha w n Fann; 3. Dan iel McKee. • JR OPEN: 1. Ros s Porter; 2. Jeff Pa rke; 3. Tr ey Cai l.

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