Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

59th annual Sturgis Rally &Races Larvie, A nderson, Sco tt De u bler and Marsh ro unded ou t the field . "It feel s so good to get this wi n," Fau lds said. "I never thought that I'd get it (his first win) this early, especially at a race this big. I've only been an Expert since last Monday. Hey, I've still got the red numbers on the back of mv chest protecto r!" . CN (Left) Mall Burge picked up a win in the Open Pro Twins class at round three of the VDTRA All-Sta r National Championship Series at the J.C. Jackpine Gyps ies Clubgrounds Sturgis , South Dakota Results : Augu st 13, 1999 " Pappy" Hoel Short Track on August 13. (Below) Dallas Babcock (21C) appeared to have the Open Pro Twins final in hand at rou nd 15 of the VDTRA AIIStar National Championship Ser ies on August 14, but he was controversially excluded for "shifting gears" after his XR750 was knocked into neutral. 600 EX: 1. Dusty Faul d s (W· R); 2. Billy Hofm eister (Rtx); 3. Beau A. Brown (W-R); 4. Rex FIS her (W-R); 5 . Eric Rickma n (Rtx). 600 P RO·5 rT: 1. Jak e La ti me r (Ho n); 2. Jami e Vo ll mer (Rtx) : 3 . Rand y Co ug h lin (Rtx): 4. Mike Nic ho las tf-lon): 5. Ken ny Noyes (Hbg). 250 PRO-SPT: 1. John McC1ell.lnd (Ka w): 2. Willie Bro ten (Kaw ); 3. C.). Bevi ng (Hen) . By Clay Light STURGIS, SD, AUG. 13 o r m er AM A Ex pert Kit Farl ey m ad e th e t rek fro m Pa rk City, Uta h, to the Black Hill s of Sou th Dak ot a pay big di vidends by virtue of th e BSA rid er' s wi n in th e 600cc Pro ma in event o n the Jackpi ne Gypsies, or not one-eight h-m ile oval during rou nd 13 of the Vin tage Dirt Track Ra cer ' s Associa tion's Na tional Championship Series . Farley, tho ugh, had tou gh com petition fro m ano ther of th e ma ny former AMA Experts on ha nd, Sturgis' Co rey Brink, in th e l6-rider 600cc Pr o final. . yYhile Brink eventua lly backed off th e pace, aiding in Farley 's firs t win in the series, Bri n k s ti ll m an aged a secondplace finish ahea d of Ra pi d City's Perry Bicek. Bieek, how e-ve r , w asn't fi ni shed there, as he would come back one race lat er to win his first VDTRA National as a Pro, com ing in the Pro Masters' final, wher e he had tough competition from s e r ies re gul ars Jo hn Fike a n d Earl Smith. Local rider Matt Burge, ano the r of th e mu ltitude of former pr ofessionals to join th e se ries for this round, beat BSAmounted Fike and fellow Kansan Bill Snyd er for a wi n in the Open Pro Twin class . Th e Yamaha-m oun ted Burge got around early leaders Snyder and Fike to post an aggressive, but impressive, win . E ke came int o the Sturgis round tied with VDTRA founder Johnny Isaa cs, but th e lon gtime BSA rid er left the badlands o f South Da ko ta w it h a cons iderabl e p o ints lead in th e Pro M asters cl ass , aided by a seco nd- place finish in the Pro M a st ers fi na l, and a lso b y Isaa c' s absence. Two heat races in th e tal ent-lad en field of 600cc Pro contestants organized the rid ers for w hat would be the lar gest main event assembly of the evening, the l 6-rider 600cc Pro final. Bicek, Gary Pettis and Snyde r finis he d in the top three from th e he at race. Brink came armed ' wit h a newly built Yama ha IT 500 in the second heat race, a heat w hich would showcase th e Brink / Farley d uel. Brink took the w in, ahead of Farlev and Yamaha rid er Ross Rhod e. The Pr o Maste rs class also u tilized two qualifiers. Bieek was also a wi nner F 34 in th e first of the tw o heat races, leading John Jeffries and Sn yder to the finish. Fike ran away and hid from the rest of the competition in his wi n of the second heat race: Bur ge ca me ba ck a rm ed wi th h is poten t Yamaha to w in th e first of th e tw o Open Pro Twi n class heat races and earn the pole position fo r th e fin al. In the second qualifier, Snyder na rrowly edged H arley-D avi d s o n ri d er Dallas Babcoc k for a wi n. Bieek nabbed the holesho t honors in the P ro Masters final, followed closel y by Fike an d Bultaco-mou nted Pettis, Smi th, Jeffries and Mike Zbrozek. While Bicek and Fike mai n tained close quarters in an exchange for the lea d , Pettis dropped ou t of the th ird-place position d ue to m ech a ni cal prob lems, openi ng u p a spot for Smit h to tak e, we ll beh ind the lead duo. Bieek fina lized his stellar s ho w in g wit h a win , ahead o f Fik e , Smith, Jeffries , Snyder and Zbrozek . Babco ck took a d va n tage of the absence of current number o ne pl at ehold er Mark Gibson to further his points lead in th e Open Pro Twin cla ss , alt ho ugh Babcock could only muster a fifth-pl ace finish in the fina l. Snyd er led the opening lap, but w ould qui ckly lose grou nd to both Fike and Burge. Bur ge d isp la ced Fike to grab th e lead by th e third lap, and from that p oint went un challen ged aboa rd his 650cc Yamah a. Fike maintained second pla ce to the finish - his seco nd such finish of the eve ning - fo llo wed b y Snyd er, Illin oi s ' Rod Hartzel, Babcock and John McClelland . Farley, a former Na tiona l number hold er , proved that patien ce is indeed a virtue, as it too k severa l rest arts, all of them led by Farley. On the final sta rt of th e 600cc Pro feature, Farley ran tw oabreast wi th Brink in the early portion of the race, but Brink made a slight erro r th at allowed Farley to break free from Brink and go on to win by a lar ge ma r: g in after Brink dropped off th e pa ce. The wi n, Farley 's firs t of the series, came a h e a d ' of Brink a nd fellow Sou th Dakotan s Bicek, Burge and Rohde, and Wyo mi ng's McClelland . CN Jackpine Gyps ies Clubgrounds Sturgis, South Dakota Results: August 13, 1999 PRO MSTR : 1. Pe rry Bicek (Yam) ; 2. John Pike (BSA); 3. Earl Sm ith (Yam ); 4. John Jeffr ies (Yam ); 5. Bill Snyder (He n). PRO 6O(k 1. Kit Farley (BSA ); 2. Corey Brink ~a m); 3. Perry Bicek (Yam ); 4. Matt Burge (Yam); 5. Ro ss Rohd e (Yam) . OP EN PRO nov: 1. Matt Burg e (Yam); 2. John Fike (BS;\); 3. Bill Snyd e r (He n): -t-Rod Hartzel (Tri) ; 5. Tr av is Babcoc k (H- D). STURGIS, SD, AUG. 14 ansas' Bill Snyder, Sou th Dakota ' s M att Bu rge and Kans a s ' John Fike left the Black H ills of So u th Dakota with im p ressive Professiona l class w ins at th e co m ple tio n of round 15 of th e Vintage Dirt Tracker s K Racing Association's All-Star National C ha mpionship Series, he ld on th e eight-mile J.c. " Pa p p y " Hoel Short Track on the Jackpine G yp sies' Clubgrounds. Burge, who posted wins at each of th e two VDTRA National s here, won the 600cc P ro class. Burge ' s win in the cra s hmarred fina l was a wire-towire performance. Fike picked u p what would be his only win of the week - a Pro Master vie tory - w hile fellow Ka nsan, Snyder, w ho like both Fike and Burge had finish ed consistently in th e dual Sou th Da kota Nationa ls, w on ou t in the con tro vers ial Open Pro Tw in class, alth ough he never led a lap of the 10-lap fina l. Dall a s Babcoc k fro m Do dge Ci ty, Kansas, led the,majorit y of th e Open Pro Twin final - leading laps three th rough 10 - and crossed the finish line with Snyder and John P. McClelland on his rea r

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