Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

59th annual Sturgis Rally &Races STURGIS, SD. AUG.8 ra w ing riders fro m an l l -s tat e radius - as far aw ay as West Virgin ia - the 59th annu al Stu rgis Rally & Races wee k wa s, for the secondconsecuti v e ye a r, opened wit h a m otocross eve nt held on th e jackpine Gyps ies clubgro unds. AMA Prof ess ion al Ra n d y Hocker mad e the trek from Colorado pay off by virtue of his win in the Vet class, bu t it wa s Missouri 's Clayton Riggle who was the biggest winn er . The diminu tive Riggle posted impressive wins in the 60 and 80cc classes, becoming the da y's only two-cla ss winner. Whil e H ock e r ' s win appe a red to com e effo rtless ly , Riggle had to fir st sha ke off th e effec ts of a horrend ou s crash before his win would come to pass. Riggle not only picked himself up off the gro u nd a fte r th e na st y spill, but also made the res ta rt. Th e end of th e moto would ma rk the first of three moto wins on the da y for the Riggle, who is perhaps best kn own for his dirt track prowess. I • 28 Ridin g th e cr e st o f th e cu r re n t motocross popularity, the jackpine Gypsies pro vided the riders on hand with a technical, althoug h slightly toned-down cou rse from the previ ous yea r, wh ich wa s th e Gypises' first - and most successful - attempt at running the event. Until 1998, the Rally & Races wee k had opened with its custom ary IT event. Colby McCa tcheon, th e rider who came the far thest (Wes t Virgi nia ), put h is Co bra out front of the 50cc class's firs t moto. It was a position tha t he 'd hold in both of his motos on the tacky course, McCatcheon, though, had initia l challenges fro m KTM- mounted Cody Burd ick, but by the seco nd lap of each ou ting, McCa tcheon was long gone. McCat cheon, who was celebrat ing his 9th birthday, swep t both motes, ahead of Bu r d ick a nd Ya maha -mounted Austi n Engle, th e secon d a nd th ir d place finishers ove rall. An an ticipa ted showdown bet w een McCatcheon an d Riggle in the 60cc class fail ed to mat erialize, as Riggle left the competition behind and was well on his wa y to a victory wh en he came up short on one of the many double jum ps, and wa s catapulted in to the South Dak ota sod . This pu t a quick, premature end to Riggle' s fine rid e. After 10 minutes, Riggle rose to his feet as the crowd applaud ed him . "I'm go n na win the next one," sai d Riggle, who got a lucky break when it was decided that the race, whiclt was less than 60 percent complete, would be restarted. A ltho ug h Ri g gl e s tarte d off th e res ta rte d race m ir ed in m id p a ck, th e Kaw asaki ri dersoon rose to the occassion and , after two lap s, clawed his way into the lead to beat N ick McDouga l and McCa tcheon. Riggle go t off the line perfectly in moto two to ou tride the competition , w hile McCa tc heon improved upon his fir st -moto p er fo r ma n ce b y ho lding off McDo ugal for second and second ove rall. Kawasaki-mounted Wade Engle put an end to Riggle's d ominance by virtue of a moto win in the SOcc class, but in all fairness to Riggle, the race was a Riggle runaway until he dumped his machine . and Engle got around him befo re Riggle could refire his KX. Riggle ran second to loca l favo rite Tu rner Johnson on the opening lap of moto two, bu t it didn't ta k e Rig gl e lon g to w o r k hi s way around the Honda rider and fina lize his two-class decimation ahead of Engle (12), Johnson (4-3), Jeremy Chaffee (3-4) and Cody Burrull (6-5). Oklahoma's AI Walto n proved to be the fas tes t starter in the Vet class, as he put his Yama ha ou t fro nt of bot h 20m inute motos, alt ho ug h it a p pea red that the nearly 100-degre e heat had go tten the best of him as he fad ed to fifth in both of the motos. On e rider that the h eat a nd humidity di d n' t bo ther was Hocker, wh o overcame dismal starts to put hu ge gro u nd between himself an d the rest of the fie ld. Fell ow Pro Mike Maltaverne, also Yamaha- mo unted, finis he d second to Hocker in mot o one, but it was Jim Smith 's cha rge th rough traffic that ea rned th e local rider th e runn er-up la u r e ls wi th a 3- 2 tall y , b eh in d th e C o lorad o Mo to rs por tsbacked Hocker. Honda -mo u n ted Tat e johnson was another clearcu t win ner. johnso n showcased his abilities in the 125cc class w hile run ning ou t fron t b y a large margin . Jo h n s on le d moto one from th e get-go, leaving only a secon d-place squabble between Yamaha rider Co ry Meke rkoid and Travis Engle to keep the heat-stricken crowd alert. Suzukimounted Jimmy Gallegos gave Johnso n his only taste of confronta tion, b u t th at was o n ly for a b rief moment at the start of moto two. jo hnson relegated the Colorado-based Gallegos to second and , from that poin t, left th e compe titio n in h is dust. Ga llegos held on to finish second ove rall, aidi ng h is second overa ll w ith a 3-2 performan ce to' lead Meyerk oid (2-3), Michael Dykes (4-4) and Rod Seals (6-5) into the, top five ove rall. _ Jackpine Gypsies Motocross Sturgis, South Dakota Results: August 8, 1999 so: 1. Colby McCatehe on (Co b); 2. Cod y Burdick (KTM); 3. Au stin En gle (Yam ); 4. Megan McD o ugilll (Cob). . 60: 1. Clayton:Riggl e (Kaw): 2. Colby McCatcht.'On (Ka w) : 3. Sha ne Green (Ka w) : 4. N ick McDouga ll (KTM); 5. Thomey Dertien (Ka w). 80: 1. Cla yton Riggle (Ka w ): 2. Wade Engle (Kaw ): 3. Turner Johnson (He n): 4. Jerem y Chaffee (Hen): 5. Cody Burrull (Hc nl. 125: 1. Tate Johnson (Han); 2. Jimmy Ca llegos (Suz) ; 3. Cory Meyerkoid (Ya m); 4. Mich ael Dykes (Ha n); 5. Rod Sea ls (H en). VET: 1. Rand y Hock e r (Ya m) ; 2. Jimmy Sm ith (Yam); 3. Mike Maltaveme (Yam); 4. AI Walton (Yam); 5. David O'Ncill (Suz) . ... Pn·. . . . .b By Clay Light STURGIS, SD. AUG. ~ o rt h Dako ta ' s Daniel Dvorak beat heavily-favored winners of the p revious two yea rs, Arnie Jelin ek and Jamie Greicar, for a win in the 501-750cc class at the AMA Pro-Am hillclimb on the jackp ine Gypsies' clubgro unds, also posting the fastest ascent to th e 200-foot mark on the infam ou s "Gy psy Mountain." Dvorak' s mark of 5.28 in th e 501750cc class establishe d th e Park River, N orth Dakotan as the "King of the Hill," a mark last year notched by Montana's Dave Johnston with his blisterin g run of 4.84. While Johnston, the former Great American Hillclimb winner, wa s not in N

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