Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) David Athert on (15X) won the Se nlor-class heat race but had.tro ubles In the main. (Above) Curtis Zeiter (52C) mixes it up • with Ronnie Hall (52) in the Over 50 Super Senior class. Zeiter won it by a hair. 0> 8l :N -5 -, 40 Though it wa s highly accessible to spectators and the layout crew did the best with what they were given, it didn' t seem like a real trial. Th at changed a bit in 1998 when a pa tch of woods next to the camping area was op ene d for the trial and two sections w er e located th ere. More of that area wa s o kayed by Mid-Ohi o for AHRM A' s use in 1999, and the en ti re trial moved into the w oods. Th e result was by far th e best VM D trial ye t. Th e e ig h t sect io ns, ridden three times o n a lo op perhaps two mil es long, concentrated in large part o n a creek bed that presented riders with s li ck rocks and roots, a b it of m u d , and abrupt , s h o r t climbs and descen ts . Other fea tured obs tacles included a jumbled pile of loose rocks, tig h tl y s p a ced trees , and logs. Over 100 riders enjoyed th em s e lv es on a s unny, comfo rtab le m o r n i n g , and the re were s till p lenty of enthusiastic specta to rs who found their way to the new location. The Premier Lightweight and Moder n C lassic cl a s s es continu e to b e AHRMA' s most com pe titive d ivisions. In Pre mier Lig h tweight Expe rt, Bob Gi nder and Mike Pa rs lev both tu rn ed . i n low- singl e-di git 'r ides, with Greeves-mo u n ted Ginder be tterin g his Triumph -ridin g r ival b y a si ng le m ark. Likewise, Tri u m p h rid er Randolph Stoike edged o ut fe llow In ter media te Dennis Brown, o n a Greeves, by one po in t . The th ree Pre mier Lig htweight Novices were separa te d by o ne dab apiece, with Scott Kim taking the win on an unusual choice for the class, a 1965 Honda . Th e Mod ern Clas sic Intermediate and ovice contes ts both had to use tie break ers - the most sections cleaned by each rid er - to d et ermine the w inner. Bultaco Sherpa T-350 rider Ryan Davie earned his first win as an In termed iate, topping Maurice Boutell o n a Kaw asaki KT250. Bultaco-m ounted Novices Curtis Harper and Mike ewton each lost just two poi nts, bu t Ha rper rod e 23 sections e r ro r- free to Newto n 's 22 . The same tie breaker was used to decide the winner in the "no nchampionship Beginner cla ss - Ray Corlew, over Willia m Prinkey Ill. Sco tt Bea tt ie drop ped three fewer marks tha n Steven Gli nski to earn th e Modern Classic .Expert win. Riding the sa me tough "one" line, former Na tional Tria ls C ha mpion C u r t Com er ea rned ju st eight ma rks to wi n Classic Expe rt o n his Dales ma n, It's ra re to see an y com pe titors in the Rigid class, but at Mid-Ohio there were four. Bruce Clegg's gorgeous littl e 1949 James ea rn ed th e Int ermed ia te victo ry ov er Rich Froelich's '46 BSA 500 . The Novice wi nner was Eric Richardson, o n a '49 Norton SOOT, with runner-upBrian Ho lzigal on a 1950 Trium ph: CIII Mid-QhioSports Car Course Lexington, Ohio Results: July 10, 1999 (Round 10 of 18) RIGID (NT: 1. Bruce Clegg (lam ): 2. Rich Froeli ch (BSA). RIGID NOV: 1. Eric Richa rd son (Nor) ; 2. Brian Holzigal (Tri). PREM UW EX: 1. Bob Ginder (C re); 2. Mike Parsley (T n ); 3. Je Smith (BSA); 4. Kurt Baue (T n ), ff PREM UW INT: 1. Randolph Stoike ITri); 2. Den nis.. . Brown (G re ): 3. Rob Meadows (BSA ); 4. Bra d Ea to n (BSA1;5. William Men ges (BSA). PR EM U W NOV: 1. Sco tt Kim (H o n) : 2. La rry williamson (Cre); 3. Jerry Sib ley (Gre). • PREM HM (NT: 1. Ron Wingt't (BSAl. PR IM HIW NOV: 1. Ben o Rodi (Ma t); 2. John Posthuma (Mat). CLSe EX: 1. Curtis Corner (Dan. INT : 1. David Allen (H od); 2. Paul Danik (Sar); 3. Dennis Jones (Pen ); 4. Joe CLeff (Bul) . elSe NOV: 1. Da vid Brown (G re) : 2. Brad Kennard (Oss). MD RN ct.sc EX: 1. Scott Beattie (Yam); 2. Steven Glinski (Bu D; 3. John Calli,cm (Yam ); 4. Ken Blink (Bu l); ' 5. Keith Du nlo p (Yam). MDRN CLSC INT: 1. Ryan Davie (BuJ); 2 Maurice Bou te ll (Kaw ); 3. To ny G luek (Suz); 4. Ja mes Smit h (Ho n); 5. Mitch Shei telman (Hon). MORN CLSC NOV, 1. Curtis Harper (Bul); 2. Mike Newto n (Bul): 3. Bill Mel vin (Yam); 4. H an s Wil son (Suz) ; S. Chad Danik (Ya m ). BEG: 1. Ra y Co rlew (Tri); 2. W illiam Prinkey III C n); 3. David Reott (Man ); 4. Bob Bulmer (32). Ho cisc Upcoming Rounds Round 11 - Colorado Springs, Colorado. August 1 Round 12- Chehalis, Washington, August 21 Dirt Track AHRMAIClassic B Magazine D Tra ike irt ck series,Round 9: Ashland By Matt Benson ASHLAND, OH, IULY9 t wa s rollin g-thunder time wh en AH RMA' s ational Championship Di rt Track Series hit its halfway po in t as the opening event in the big AMA Vin tage Motorcycl e Da ys week end . But th e thund er th a t go t everyone's a ttention came with ominous black clou ds, ligh tning, hea vy ra in and tornado warnings, jus t as the first of 23 heat races was to take to the deep-cushion half mile track. Two hou rs lat er , followi ng so me deft grad er and tractor wo rk, the track was, on ce again, in raceabl e condi tion. Th e even t-re co rd 153 en tries got back in to th eir ra ce gear, specta to rs refi lled th e gra ndsta nds an d lin ed th e tracksi de fences; and the rea l thunder.fina lly started . A special highlight of the evening's ac tio n w as racing legend Ronnie Rail, co m pe ti ng in the brakel es s Cl assic 500 /750cc class on a Harley-Davidson I KR750 and then jumping onto a BSA B50 in the next race to run with the Over 60 Super Seniors. In his Super Senior heat, Rail sta rted nearly half a lap down on the res t of th e field and swe p t into the lead in fin e s tyle just pa st th e halfway poin t in the race. The crowd loved it. Th e racin g start ed with the Dinosaur class, and Bernie Breece used his 750cc of Harley power to reel in fast starter Beno Rodi, on a 1950 Royal Enfield SOO. Breec e moved to th e lead at the start of the third lap, and Rod i hu ng fairl y close to h im fo r the rema ining laps. Dick Zrubek wa s an uncontested third on his H-D WR, while Jerry Ficklin and his '36 Norton ES9 w on the battle for fourth over Chris Tanner's Matchless G80. Th e Bultaco of class champ John Bova a nd Michael Con nell 's Harley Sprint je tt ed away a t the start of the Classic 250cc final , with Connell eventually gaining a litt le breathing room over Bova. Despite the loss , Bova still holds a commanding lead in th e se ries poin ts o ver Co nne ll. Kenny Thomas, riding a '62 Ho nda 250, spent his entire race trying to keep Carl Forkey's Sprint from taking away . third place, but on the last lap Forkey d id indeed find his way into the third spot. Rid in g a '56 BSA Gold Star, David A ther to n cha rged to the lead o f t he mu ch -anticipated C lassic 50 0 /750cc final. Poi n ts lead er Jo hn Pl u m b was rig ht behind Atherton on a '66 Tri ump h 500 twin, but by the time the first la p ended , Rail had joi ned the party up fron t writh his big Harley twi n. Plumb seemed to be the one in volved in all the scrapping, first going at it with Rail to hang on to second and then mouing up to ch a llenge A th erton for the lead as Rail slip ped back slig htly from th e lea d pa ir. When th e checkered flag ca me ou t, Atherton was sti ll o u t fro n t, s hadowed bv P lu m b a n d then RaI L Richard Coat6 and Charlie Southgate, both on BSAs, ro unded out the top five . Back.o ut with the Super Seniors, Rail immediately cleared off from the pack. However, Cu rtis Zeit e r from nearby Mansfield soon closed on th e fo rmer G ra n d National contender and took over th e lead . Then the sh o w began. Zeiter took a low line in the comers as Rail w ent all the wa y o u t to the h ay ba les before s w oo p ing down to d rive into th e lead partway down the straigh tawav. Zeiter too k back the lead before the ~nd of the straight, a nd then they d id it all ove r again. At the chec ke rs, it was Zeiter over Rail, with Sam Gray in third on a Ho nda. In Spo rt sma n 250 , P lu mb s h o w ed why h is Ya ma ha carries th e numberone pIateo All of the actio n w as beh ind ' him , pa rticularly the co ntes t over second between Larry Barnes, on a Bu ltaco Astro, and th e man w ho did clai m runner-up, Richard Stiefel [r., also on a Bultaco. The Over 50 Senior division belong ed to Norton 750 racer James Mo nera n, who ca me all the way fro m Was hing ton to race . Yama ha 75Q-mo un led Jim Oliver follow ed him across the line, while Triumph rid er Fred Weese earned third after a racelon g scra p with fourth-place fin isher Southga te 's Triumph and Gig Hamilton's fast Maico 450. In the other rid er-age class, Scott Blower ra n w ire to wire (and seemi ng ly u sed the en tire track) to win the nonchampionship Veteran class on a Yamaha 750. AHRMA' s newest ma chine-based categ ory, 7 0s Sin gles, provided so me of the night's closest racin g, wi th a pair of BSA B50s thumping a fie ld of newer Yamaha and Honda 500cc singles. Wisconsin's Mike Gi lk ey led by a small margin fr om s ta rt to end, despite an engine that missed badly at full throttle for most of the race . Then came the rag ing ba t tle fo r second b etween Dave Valiket, Brett Miller and Californian Rod Lake. They fini shed in that order, ' ahead of another three-way tiff involving Da rrell Bryant, George Mack Jr. and Dennis Williams. BSA rider Valiket go t his win in the next race, Sportsman 600, fending off the chall enges of Yamaha-moun ted Bra d Spencer Sr. th e w hole way. The batt le b etw een Va li ket a n d Spence r d rew the lead pair away fro m Maicomounted Hamilton, who had his ha nds full for a tim e wi th To m Morgan, until he even tually pulled off w ith bike problems. The n igh t' s last ra ce loo ke d fo r a while like it mi ght be won by the last bik e runnin g. Sports ma n 750 had three restarts, two due to crashes a n d o ne beca use so meone was too quick wi th the clu tc h off th e line. Initia l lead er a nd defending class champ Jo hn Plu m b didn' t ma ke the firs t restart because of mechanical woes. When the race fina lly g o t going, Blower wa s the man ou t fro nt. But longtime AHRMA dirt tracker Arnie Mahnke stalked Blower and made a move that s tu ck, gi vin g the Norton rider his first win of the year. CIII Ashland County Fairgrounds Ashland, Ohio Results: July 9, 1999 (Round 9 of 18) DIN O: 1. Bernie Breese (H-D); 2. Bt.'JlO Rod i (En O; 3. D ick Zrubek (H- D); 4. jerrv Fickli n (N or ); 5. Ch ris Tan ner (. 1at). " • CLS e 2SO: 1. Micha el Conndl (H·D); 2. John Bova (8 ul ); 3. Ca rl Form (H-D ); 4. Kennv Thomas (Hun); 5. Karl Wilk en (H-D).· • cisc SOOI7SO: 1. David Atherton (BSA l; 2. John Plu m b (Tri); 3. Ronnie Rail (H· D); 4. Rich ard Coates IBSAI; 5. Charles Southga te (BSA I. SPTS MN 250: 1. John Plumb (Ya m ); 2. Richard Stiefe l Jr. (8 u l); 3. La rrv Barn e s (B un; 4. Co re Wmou~hby (Yam) ; 5. Gary Neff (Ka w ). . SP T S MN 600 : I. Da ve Va li kct (BSA ); 2. Bred Spe nce r Sr. (Yam); 3. Gig Ham ilt on (MaO; 4. Doug Horner (Yam); 5. Ed Valiket (BSA ). . SPT S MN 75 0: 1. Ar nie Ma hn ke (No r); 2. Sco tt Blower (Yam ); 3. Brian Echnrt (Tr i); 4. Do ug Horner (Ya m ); 5. Don Blyar Jr. (Yam) . '70s SGL: 1. Mike Gi lkey

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