Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

59th annual Sturgis Rally &Races Feature en en en ~ 36 w heel. In th e heat of ba ttle, Babcock's 750cc Harl ey-Da vid son got knocked into ne ut ral. Babcock ja mmed it back into gea r (which broke a VDTRA Open Pro Twin Class rule) and was disqualified for shifting, giv ing the win to the Honda-mounted Snyder. Babcock came into town with a slim lead ove r 1998 Open Pro Twin Class Champion Ma rk Gibson, who was not on hand for, ei ther of the VDTRA ationals, but he left the Black Hills of So u th Dakota with a bad taste in his mouth. "With three laps to go it po pped out of gea r," the sof t-spoken, 1995 VDTRA National Cha mpion Babcook said . "So I jammed it bac k in gear to keep goi ng . I had a huge lead until it went in to neutral, so how can they tell me that I had a n adva n tage b y s hifti ng w he n they were right on my ass after I'd missed a gea r?" Yam aha-mounted Tom Booth of Iselton, California, was the stellar perform er in the am ateur classes, winning in three di visions. Booth, wh o rode impressively through out the week, p icked up victories in the Masters , 250 and 600cc classes, also finishing second to Kansas' Bob Sny de r in the Open Twin Amateur final. Fike put his BSA out front of the Pro Ma st er s fi na l, lead in g Snyder, M ike Zbrozek, John Jeffries and Perry Bicek on the ope ning lap, but it wo u ld be a Fike/Snvder battle to the finish, as the two VDTRA regulars stayed close u ntil the checkered flag, Fike taki ng the win . Snyder netted second, ahea d of the previous nigh t' s wi nner, Bicek, w ho overcame a poo r s tart to claw his way in to thir d . It was the Rapid City rider's best finis h of th e even ing . Jeffri es ne tt ed fou rt h , a head of Zbro ze k and Texas' Jam es Henrv. The 600cc Pro-class final was a cras hmarred eve nt, as sho rtlv af ter the field ha d le ft th e s ta r t, a s ix-rider p il eu p occurred. This left the track strewn with r id e r s and th eir m a chin es. A ft er a leng thy delay , th e race was resumed . Burge led Ro ss Ro hd e, Tim Newby, Ke v in Fo rres te r a n d fo rme r AMA Expert Co rey Brink off the line, but from the very s ta r t it w as ev iden t that it wo uld be ano the r Burge runaway win. Burge was never challen ged , finishi ng ah ead of Rohde, Co lorado's Pat Schieffer, Bice k , Fo rres tera n d Brink, w ho could not overco me a p oor start, a nd finished sixt h. Burge sat on the pole position for the Open Pro Twin class, joined on the front row by Babcock, Fike, McClella nd, Snyder, Zbrozek and He nry. Bu rge blazed to the head of the field at the sta rt, but when Zbrozek too k a nasty tum b le down the back straightaway, racing was quickly s to p p ed. Although Zb rozek was uninjured in the hair-raising crash, the Colorado rider wo uld n't ma ke the restart , since his Tri ump h was badly man gled. Burg e put his Yamaha out front on the restart, but his lead only lasted for t w o circuits of t he inc redi blv dustv track . It was so bad that Babc~ck narrowly averted r ear -end ing Bu rge when Burge' s Yama ha sp uttered to a stop. Babcock led fro m that poi nt , although he saw his once-large lead evaporate to less than a bik e len gth lat e in the final after his controversial missed shift. Snyd er and McClella nd, who ran a distant secon d a nd th ird to Babcock, gained co nsidera ble ground when Bab cock ' s mi shap occu rred, then before Bab cock could ge t the XR back into gear, the duo was right on his rear fender. Although Bab cock did hold off the two to cross the lin e barely in fro nt of Sny der, his w in was qu ickl y ta ken Clayton Riggle had a dynam ite week at the Sturgis Rally & Races, capping his dominant performance off with wins in the 50 and BOcc Amateur classes during the final race action of the wee k at the J .C. "Pappy" Hoel Short Track. away, giv ing Sny der the w in ahead of McClelland, Fike, Hen ry and Burge. CIII Jackpine Gypsies Clubgrounds Sturg is, South Dakota Results: August 14, 1999 so AM: 1. To m Booth (Yam) ; 2. Bob Snvdcr (Bu )); 3. Rov Haine (BuD, s . • 600 AM: 1. Tom Boot h (Ya m); 2. ~1drk Erickson (He n ): 3- Rov Davis (Yam) ; 4. ' .R. Smith (Yam ); 5. Glen McN amara (Yam) . S R AM : 1. Russ ell Briggs (Ya m ); 2. Jerry Hind s (Yam); 3. Mark Erickson (Honk 4. Mik e Konshak (H e n): 5. j.R. Sm ith (Yam) . MSTR AM: 1. Tom Booth (Yam) ; 2. Jer ry Hi nds (Yam); 3. Roy Haines (BuD; 4. Mi ke Konsh .. k (H e n ): 5. r J.R. Smllh (Yam). OP EN 1W AM: 1. Bub Snyder (Y.1m); 2. Tom Booth (Ya m); 3. Russ Brig gs (Ya m ); 4. Fred Cu ba (T ri ): 5. David ud en ITril. 600 PRO : 1. Mati Burge (Ya m); 2. Ros s Rohde (Y. m); 3. Pat Schieffer (Yam); 4. Perry Blce k (Ya m ); 5. l Kevin Forres ter (Yam). MSTR PRO : 1. John Fike (BSA); 2. Bill Snyder (Bull; 3. Perry Blcek (Yam); 4. John [eff ri es (Yam); 5. Mike Zb ro zek ITri). orEN rRO TIV: 1. Bill Sny d er (H on ); 2. John P. McClelland (Yam); 3. John Fike (BSA): 4. [am es Hen ry (Yam ); 5. Matt Burge (Yam). . By Clay Light STURGIS, SO, AUG. 14 obra-m ou n ted Alex Jorgenson an d Kawasaki pilot Clayton Rig. gle fi na lized t h e 59th annua l Sturgis Rally & Races week by dominating the 50 and 80cc Amateur classes with sweeps at all three Amateur short track events during the week, including ru naway wins at the series finale. [o rgensn, from Lennox, Sou th Dakota, and C hill icote, Mis souri' s Riggl e joined Wyoming's Na te Nea the r, w ho swe p t 250cc Amateur action, as the only riders to dominate their respective classes d uri ng the di rt track po rtion of the Rall y & Races week. Nation al number 91, Joey DuVall, picked u p a wi n in the 600cc Expert class to joi n Ca lifornia n Kenn y Noyes, the 600cc Pro-Spo rt class winner, an d cj. Beving, the 250cc ProSport w inner, as riders who notched wins at the series final event. C Rigg le ca me cl o s e to a two -class sweep, as the KX rid er was well on his wav to a w in in th e 60cc fi nal until lapped traffic got in his way . Fellow Kawasaki rider Sha ne Green u sed th e lapped riders to close the gap on Riggl es wi th thr ee laps remaining, then wit h the checkered flag waving, made a pass on Riggles when Riggles had nowher e to go . This allowed Gree n to post.a wi n in the class ahea d o f Riggl es a nd KTM rider Nick McDou gall, who was a consistent finishe r all week long . "I didn't ha ve anywhere to go," the soft-spoken Riggles said. "I either had to let off the gas or put Sha ne (Green) into the wall , or rear -end the lapper." Riggles, thou gh , rebounded nicely to earn a wire-to-wire win in the 12-rid er BOcc final. Alth ou gh he started off mired in traffic, it d id n' t take more than a lap before the speedster wo uld catch up to a n d ultim at el y ove rta ke le ad e r L.N . Wa g g en er for th e lead , bef or e go ing on to victory by nea rly half o f a la p . Wagge ne r fi n is hed seco nd, a hea d of Jaco b Kei e rl ebe r, second hea t winner Nick Martin and Kansas' Ken t Briggs, the fift hplace finisher. Oregon 's Sean Light concluded a week of ups and downs by runn in g away with the 125cc final. Ligh t s u rvived three res tarts to post h is bes t showing of the week, beating the fast but con troversial Elizabeth Kantor , who all week lo ng wa s under sc rutiny for ' rough r id in g tactics . When Ka n tor crashed while trying to reel in Ligh t, the race came to a stop and the 14-year-old Light's large advantage was lost. Light, though, ga pped the field to beat Kan tor and the other fast female in th e pack, Da nielle Beving. Martin and Keierleber filled ou t the top five. eether's incredi ble wee k, one which saw the Yama ha rider wi n three Am ateur classes at Monday' s opener, didn't conclude wi th such domination , how ever, as he cou ld only mu ster a single class win ton ight . He had to wo rk for his wi n in the 250cc Am ateur final, as he had to fend off four rid ers fro m start to finis h. Ch ris Feist, Sheldon Wen z, Nic k Olso n a nd Kan tor rode in Neethe r's shadow fro m s tart to finis h, bu t none of them could stop Nee ther's domination of the class. Feist scored secon d p lace, ahead of Wenz , Ka n to r a nd Olson. We nz, who las t year wo n the 250cc Pro-Spo rt class, used a Suz uki to post a victory in t h e O pe n Ama te u r class a m id the d ep lor abl y dusty condi tions. A midrace w a te r ing sess io n imp roved the co nd itio n s eno ugh to aid Wen zl vic to ry; th e ta ck y trac k n ow favo red the two-s troke ma ch ine s u tili z ed b y th e top three. Colo ra do's Mark Er ick son w as second and Feist was third , follow ed by the fourth-place finish er Mike Opsteda hl and Rotax rider Clarence Rud e. Beving, who wo n the 250cc Pro-Spo rt heat race, came bac k to beat the small field of rid ers for a win in the final, leading Mi n nesota's Wi llie Brote n a n d Wyomin g's John P. McCl elland across the line. Noyes, who had been pl agued by poor starts all week long, finally go t the start he was looking for a t the sta rt of the 600cc Pro-Sport final. Noyes bu ilt up a good-sized lead in th e lO-Ia p race, on ly to have Wyomi ng r id er Jake Latimer close th e deficit th at th e Husa be rg rid er h a d o pened up . Ra n d y Co ugh lin then go t the best of Latime r and chased Noyes to the fin ish. Noyes held off all of Coughlin's ad vances for a wi n. Cou ghlin, Latimer, Broten and Ben Drew er round ed out the top five. It took so many restarts to ge t th e final race of the week started that Jackpin e Gy ps ies officials waved the black flag a t th e small assemb ly of rid ers. It served as a warning: Calm down or no race. Once und erw ay , Du Val l, w ho ha d pa tie n tly overcome every restart, had Stu rgis' Mark Larvie all over him, looking for a way arou nd the Oklahoma n, but Du Vall persevered to pick up a win over Larvie and Dustv Faulds, who had mechanical problems in the finale. CI/I Jackpine Gypsies Clubgrounds Sturgis, South Dakota Res ults; August 14, 1999 50: 1. Alex Jor ge nso n (Cob); 2. Mega n Mc Douga ll (Co b); 3. Mark Keie rleber (J... M ). . 60: 1. Shan e Green (Ka .....); 2. Oa}10n Riggle (Kaw); 3. Nick McDou.,all (KTM); 4. Jay Milt'S (Kaw) : 5. L.N. w aggener (Hon). 80: 1. Cl a yt on Riggle (Ka w ): 2. l.~ . Wa ggen er (Han); 3. jake Keier lebcr (Yam); 4. Nick Marti n (Hon ); 5. Ken t Briggs (Kaw). 125: 1. Sea n light (Kaw): 2. Elizabeth Kantor (Yam); 3. Danielle Bevin g (Kaw): 4 . Nick Martin (Ha n); 5. Jake Keierl eber (Yam) . 250: 1. Nate Nee ther (Yam ); 2. Chris Feist (Han); 3. She ld on Wcnz (Suz); 4. Elizabe th Kantor (Yam); 5. Nick 01!'On(Yam ). OPEN: 1. She ldon wenz (Suz ): 2. Mark Erickson (Kaw): 3. Chris Feist (Ha n); 4. M ike Opstedahl (Hen): 5. Cla re nce Rud e (Rlx). 600: 1. Mike Opsteda hl (Ho n): 2. Elizabe th Kantor (RTX); 3. Na te Nccther (Yam); 4. Lee Rud e (RTX); 5. Chu ck Beving (1<.1..... ). 2SOPRO-SPT: 1. Beving (Hen): 2. Willie Broten (Kaw): 3. John P. Mt. 'C1cllimd (Ka w). 600 PRO ~ SPT: 1. Ken ny Noyes Il-lbg) : 2. Randy Coughlin (Rtx): 3. ja ke Latimer (Ho n): 4. willie Broten cr. Be Brew er (Rtx) . n . 600 EX: 1. joey DuVall (IV-Rl; 2. Mar k Larvie (W-Rl; 3 . Du sty Faul d s (w-Rl. (Rtx ); 5.

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