Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - ----- -_ .. Round 6: Greasy Ridge National AMA NA TlONAL HILLeL/MB SERIES By David & Lora Patton HAYDENVILLE, OHIO, AUG. 7 ithout a d oubt , th e G reasy Rid g e Nati on al Hillclimb is . regarded as the tou gh est event in th e 13-round AMA Na tio na l Hillclimb Ch am p io ns hi p. Th e o nly night round of the season feat ures a 3OO-foot hill that is nearl y vertical for the first 160 feet up to th e in fam ous " Led ge ." In order to be successfu l, a rid er h as to keep the throttle pinned over the Ledge, land ing on the smooth part of the tw o grad ual steps that lead to the top of the hill . Do it just right and you win. An ythin g else and yo u' re ou t of luck. At this yea r's race, nobody did it better than Glen Petty Jr. and Toby Thompso n, with both riders winning for the first time in 1999. This year's Greasy Rid ge event not only presen ted the competitors with a d ifficult climb, but it d id so amid the tigh test points battle in the history of the series. Going in to the event, John Hamilton Jr. and Ted Wilki ns were tied for the lead in the 540cc class, followed ever so closely by Phil Libhart and Paul Pinson nault. In the 800cc cha mpion ship , Bobby Templeton came in with the lead by just a sing le p oint o ver Tim Fra zier w it h s James Large, Pett y Jr. and David Wat on closing in. When all was sai d and d one, Hamilton ga ined a poi nt on Wilkins and Templeton left with with his lea d exac tly the same - one point. But now he had tw o cha lle ngers just beh ind him as Pe tty's v ictory m o v ed him int o a ti e w i t h Large, jus t a sing le point beh ind Templeton . Th e fir st to cha llenge th e hill was 540cc poi nts lead er Wil kin s. Although he shut off coming up to the Led ge, he landed smoothly and ran past the lights at the 26O-foot mark in 6.328 seconds. "I wasn' t wide open going up to the jump and I hit a rock that really kicked me," Wilkins sai d . "I blew it on that rid e." His lead lasted for exactly on e ru n. Then two -time 1999 winner John Hamilton Jr. took over. Despite some proble m s o n th e s ta rt, Hamilton was fa st eve ryw he re else o n th e hill, a n d that made for a 5.727-second pass. "I go t my glove tan gled in the clu tch lever and cou ld n' t let it all the wa y ou t rig ht off the line," Hamil ton explained . He wou ld end up fourt h on the da y. Paul Pinsonnaul t has had more success at Greasy Rid ge th an a ny othe r rid er , but his vas t experie nce and past results we ren' t enough to net him better than a third-p lace finish on the day. Pinso nna u lt calmly roosted up and over the Ledge, usin g his forme r mot ocrossing experience to perfection to land stra ight and ge t right back on the gas, clocking a 5.488-second run in the process. Ham ilt on 's tea m ma te Cha d Disbennett appeared to be the man to beat after his first run. Disbennet t was af ter win number three on the seaso n and he kept the throttle pinned all the way past the timers - clickin g in some .02 of a second fas ter than Pinsonnault to take the lead with his 5.466-second run. Despite the fact that the lights were on and the ruts we re bigge r, the top riders still fou nd a way to go faste r during the secon d ru ns. Pin s o n n ault has h a d co me- fro m b eh ind wi ns at Hay de nville, b u t h e couldn' t put one toge ther tonight. "I caug ht a little rut at the crest of the ju m p an d that prett y much wrecked my run," he sai d . "My bike was ru nn ing really well so I know I' ll ru n wit h the top guys now ." Pinsonna ult's first- ru n time held for third place, but the best of the . d ay was yet to come, A m e ch an ical p robl em th wa rted To by Tho m p so n's first effort at the Ledge, but he tu rned it all around in his second run. With his Thompson Racing BSA hooked up and fl yin g , Th ompson hit the Led ge cross-rutted, shooting him sideways through the air . Despite being sid eways wh en h e landed at the 20 0-f o ot mark, he kept the gas on and kept it in bounds on th e left side for a 5.346-second effort. He then crashed after going through the timing lights, bu t it would tum out to be the winni ng ru n. '~ I ca me off the lin e s t ra ig h t and kep t it pinned but it really went side ways when I land ed ," he explain ed . "I just said, ' p le as e let m e mak e throug h the lights.' " Everyo ne stood as Disbennett carne to the line, the last man with a r eal .s h o t at rega ining the lead. He had the w in i n his s ig h ts , bu t his th rottl e hand bobbled ever so sligh tly upon landin g, and it wasn ' t eno ugh. He fin ished second with his 5.442-seco nd run, but he was ha p py no netheless. "1 had to be lif e- flighted ou t of here tw o years ago so it ' s g rea t, " Disben nett sai d. "Ge tting second is goo d. I had straig ht rid es, ju m pi ng th e Led ge and landin g o kay . Toby had a g rea t ride s o I'm happy with second. John (Ha milton, Sr.) has my bik e smo king, a nd when your bike is that fast you just hang on and try to be consisten t, and we we re tonight :' Terry Thompson was the first of the favo rites to take a run in the 800cc class, but hi s Th omps on Ra cin g /Gen e ' s Ma chine / Be' s Radical Racin g-ba cked BSA thr ew a chain some five feet sh ort of the line. He mad e up for it, how ever, on his second run . Th ompson hit th e led ge on the gas , carried the front end lo w and co vered a lot of d istance. He landed it cleanly and blast ed through the lights in 5.187 seconds. T wo- ti me and defen ding 800cc Na tional Cha m pion James "Ja m mer" Large was the last 800cc rid er to cr ack the five-seco nd ran ge on his first ride, tu rning in a 5.372-second ride a fter a hard landing. "The first run I go t my boo t int o the chain and kicked it off the front sp rocke t," Lar ge said. "O n th is rid e I didn't bring it out as hard as I wa n ted and it wheelied up to the Ledge. I' ll take second, thou gh, and I want to thank everyone w ho has helped u s wor k on thi s motorcycl e this seaso n:' Bobby Templeton had a shot a t the victory but he got his front end too high over the Led ge and crashed u pon land in g. David Watson also hi t the dirt. "I blipped the throttl e in the air right before I lan ded and the cha in came off. The rear w hee l was locked u p w he n I hit," Watson exp lained . Glen Petty Jr. watc hed as Jeff Thomas and Tim Frazier tried unsuccessfully to co nquer the h ill. Th en he watched as Large also came u p short. Willie Price was th e last rider on the hill and the (Above) Glen Petty Jr . airs it out en route to the 800cc-class win at the Greas y Ridge National, the only night race in the 13-round AMA Nationa l Hillclimb Championship. (Right) Toby Thompson won the 540cc class with his best ride coming in his first attem pt up the hill. stage was set for ano ther comefrom-behind Ha vd env ille win, like in 1997 wheil he beat Pett y on the last run of the night. ot this time , however . Price could n' t ge t the Cas to Cycles Suzuki straigh tened ou t as he near ed the Ledge and he had to back off, ha nd ing Pet ty the victory. "I fig ured someon e woul d go faster tha n 5.0 tonight, but it sure is nice to win one on the fi rs t rid e, " Petty sai d . "This h elp s . u s in the p oint s a n d hopefull y we'll be right in th er e at the end of the year: ' eN Greasy Ridge Nationa l Hillclimb Haydenville, Ohio Results: August 7, 1999 (Round 6 of 13) 8OOc(: 1. Clen Pett y, Jr. (H·D ); 2. Terry Thompson (BSA); 3. Ja m es Large (H·D); 4. David Wa tson (Hen): 5. Bobb y Tem pleton (H -D ); 6. Jeff Thomas (Yam); 7. Tim Fra zier (H-D); 8. Robert Shreine r (Ka w ): 9 , Mike De bu sk (Ka w); to. Willie Price (Suz); 11. Har ry Denh am (H· O); 12. Rod Smit h (Yam) ; 13. Brandon Kreeger (Trl) : 14. Cu rt Snelling (Han); 15. Russ Vande rveen (I-I-D). SoIOce: 1. Toby Thompson (BSA); 2. Chad Disbennett (Tri): 3 . Pau l Pinso nna ult (Han); 4. John Hamilton . Jr. (Tri): 5. Ted Wil kins (Rotax) : 6. Phil Libha rt (TrD; 7. Aa ro n Brown (Han); 8. Scott McN eely (Ha n); 9. Ti m Freidhoff (Han); 10. Rich Scheuerman (Hon); 11. Chris Van l-lyning (Hen): 12. Chri s Brov- n (Ya m); 13. Mike .. Templ eton (Yam); 14. Bria n Bowlby IHo n), 15. Kenn y Reif (Ha n). AMA 800cc NA 11 0 NA L H ILLC LIMB C'SH IP SE RIES POtNT STANDINGS (Aft . r 6 of 13 rounds): 1. Bobby Te mp le ton (69/ 2 wi ns ); 2. (TI E) G ll' n Pe tt y. Jr. (l winl / j.l mes la rge (68); 4. Tim Frazier (66/1); 5. David Wa tson (63/1); 6. Lou Cerence r (41/1); 7. m E) MMk Swe m / Mike DeBu sk (31); 9. Harry Denham (30); 10. Terry Thompson (29); 11. C reg w tllinms (27); 12. Russ Van derV ee n (26) ; 13 . (TIE ) W illi e Pr ic e /J e ff Thomas/Bob Shreiner (25); 16. Bob Castled tne (24); 17. Steve Dresser (19); 18. Brandon Kreeger (16); 19. Rodney Williams (12); 20. Rodne y Smi th (1). AMA 540« NATIONA L HILLCLIMB C'SHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 6 o( 13 ro u nds): 1. John Hamilton . Jr. (70/2 wins); 2. Ted Wilkins (69); 3. (TIE) Paul Pinsonna ult (l) / Ph il Lih ha rt (67 ); 5. T ob y Th o mp so n (52 /1); 6 . Aaron Brow n (47) ; 7. C ha d Di sbe n ne tt (46 / 2); 8. Ti m Frci d hof f (42) ; 9. Ch ri s Van Hyning (41); 10. Mi ke Livi ngston(37); 11. Richi e Sche ue rma n (36); 12. Jack Maca ul ey (21); 13. Char lie ely (19); 15. Roger Mcrce ly c Roberts (20); 14. Scott Mcfvc (17); 16. Chris Brown (6); 17. Alan Hoskin s (11); l B. (Tl E) Mike Temple ton /Bri an Bowl by n O); 20. Jeff Brown (9). Upcoming Rounds: Round 7 - Dansville, New York, August 15 Round 8 - Laurelville, Ohio, August 21 U> :::> C> :::> « 37

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