Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Dirt Track Washington Speed Week seco nd after a come- from-behind charge wh ich go t him p ast Cali fo rnia n John Hlebo III. Pri ce fen d ed off all of H lebo 's la tera ce cha lle nges to fi n is h seco n d to Annen, while Hleb o ro u nded ou t th final position on the ros tru m with his third-place showing. Anne n's first Na tional victory was a long overdue win for the Everett, Washing to n, rid er, who fo r many years ha s been a fixtu re on bo th the o rthwest and Na tional TI circu ts . Annen 's wi n was worth $1600, w hile for seco nd -place Price poc keted $975. • By virtue of his win in the fastest hea t race, Hlebo sa t on the pole in the ma in event, which included 12 ational number holders. Hlebo was joined by Simo nsen, Annen, Fitzhugh , Ch ristian Vernon and Lonny Kopp on the first of the three AMA N ational Hot S Series:Round 10 hoe Annen gets his first at • ~astle ROf;fc TT' By Clay Light CASTLE ROCK, WA, SEPT.5 ashington's Jeff Anne n earned his first-ever AMA Na tional victory by virtue of his win in the 17-rid er, 25lap 600cc Expert main even t at the 10th ro und of th e AM A Na tiona l Hot Sh oe Se ries, he ld on th e Cas tle Rock Ra ce Park 's TI course . Annen, the Nationa l number 40 plate hold er , tr ail ed fell ow Wa s hi ngto nia n Chris Fitzh ugh for the op ening two lap s, m o vin g to the h ead of t h e fie ld as Fitzhug h began a grad ual d escent ba ck through the ranks. Fitzhug h would drop ou t of ac tion entire ly, with mechanical problems. Fitzhugh 's pr oblems opened the door for Cas tle Rock's J.P. Simonsen to move in to the vaca ted p osir ion , o ne that he held for many laps until he too k a hard tumble w hile atte mpti ng to pu t a wh eel un d er Anne n for the lead . Th is allowe d last year's winner , Eli Price, to se ttle into W '" '" '" '" N ~ E .S! c. CD en 28 rows. (Above) Jeff Annen scored his first career AMA National Hot Shoe at his home track, the Castle Rock TT grounds, in Castle Rock, Wash ington . (Left, from left to right) Runner-up Eli Price, winner Annen and thirdplaced John Hlebo III share the podium. It was Fitzhugh with the fastest trigge r at the sta rt to lead the field into the dogleg. Right from the ge t-go, Fitzh ugh w as p u sh e d hard b y A n n e n , w ho pa tiently tra iled the ve teran Fit zh ug h for two laps and then mad e his move on lap three to take the lead. Fitz h u g h w a s th en faced w it h the looming advances from Hlebo and also Simonsen , afte r Simons en had qu ickl overta ken Verno n, Kopp a nd Price to el, se ttle on Hlebo 's rea r wh e the n made a slick pa ss o n Hlebo and quickl y disposed of Fitzhugh to set his sig hts upon lead er A n ne n , w ho ke p t puttin g distance o n the rest of the field . Fitzhugh wou ld also lose g rou nd to Hlebo, Vernon and next Kopp before his ste lla r performan ce, w hich wo uld have net ted him his best Hot Shoe finish had h e m ai ntain ed a to p -fi ve fi nis h, was th w ar ted b y m ech a n ica l prob lems , dropping him ou t of action. Th in gs go t interesti ng up fro n t, as Si monsen cl a w ed h is wa y in to contenti on w it h A n ne n, s lici ng in to A n nen 's a dva n tage to run within wheel of him . A cl os e co n fro n ta tio n between the tw o TI specia lis ts last ed for five more laps. Th en , while try ing to put a w heel a hea d of A n ne n , Simonse n's path to vic to ry w as tak en away from him, as Anne n slam med th e door shu t when Si monsen ca me kn ocki ng , send ing Sim on sen spra wli ng to th e tu ff after high-siding. "W e ca m e in to th e th e left -h an d er lo wer and lo wer ea ch lap ," Simons en sa id . " H e (A n ne n ) kep t for ci ng m e down into the co nes, and jus t when I thou ght I had him, I gassed it hard , but w he n I saw he'd taken it away from me I hit the fro nt brak e and just slammed it."

• Cover