Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128013
24 H of Glen Helen Raceway ours Hengeve ld 's a t i 9 and Farrell's tea m wi th ii. The event promoters were pleased that every team that started th e race, bo th Pro and .ama teur, finished the race. Taking first overall in the amateur class and first in the 125cc-250cc Expert class was the IMS team of Nick Barlow , Dennis Gall agh er, Joe y Lan za, Gord on Keller and Rhett Higgins on a Kawasaki KX250. Higgins lau ghed and said, "I' m the old guy on the team, the 40 yea r old. The rest of the tea m is kids. It's my bike, so they let me ride a lap or two ." Also 'in the battle for the amateur overall titl e was the Husaberg U.s.A . ; team of Chuck Sun, Jeff Sheets, Richa rd Wilk , Fred Ha tch, Rick O'Don nell a nd Craig Conaway. "We're ge tting ready for Vegas to Reno, so it's a good opport uni ty to ge t used to the Husaber g," sa id Sun . 'T he sus pe ns ion was do ne by Dicks Racing, which is a lot d ifferent from motocross. I' m u sed to stiff motocross sus pe nsio n, but yo u've go t to have light stu ff for the desert . It's a kick." The team cla im ed second overall in ama teur com peti tion . A n e w co nve r t to ni ght r acin g , O'Donnell, came int o the pits excla imin g, " I' m havi ng a blast! Th is was my fir st tim e racing a t ni gh t a nd it was grea t. I rod e bet ter a t night than I rode this morning. You can't see the cliffs, so it' s not as intimida ting. " If there had bee n an award for dedication; it wo u ld ha v e gon e to t he SRA /White Brothers Bierman Racing team, com pleting the race on a Honda XR100. The team of Mike and Eric Bierman, Bryc e Oxl ey , Je sse Co sta , Mike Seele y and Jolin Whitaker coaxed , pad dled and some times pushed their bike for 520 miles to the finish . Eric Bierman explained that the team was, "trying to 90 the turtle beating the hare thin g." He ad d ed , "the hills are cha llenging. We'Ve been practicing run ning up hills in our motorcycle gear to prepa re for th is . We h a ve sprinters ' calves ." Mike Bierman had ano the r stra tegy fo r th e h ill s. "T hey wa rned me th at .,; there we re some pre tty high hills and I N sa id , 'No hill's goi ng to stop me: So, I .D d ecid ed that 1 was going to sho w them E "' that I could ma ke it up tha t hill. I tried l i three tim es, and 1 couldn't make it up. Ul So I go t a shovel and dug a tre nch up 38 th e side of the hill and I made it. Th is ~ "' "' morning when I got to the same hill , I had to paddle up it." Eight o'clock Sunday morning, a still enthusiastic Mike Bierman said, "We've decided we 're going to fini sh the race, even if we have to carry the bike around the track ." • White Brothers-sponsored thirteenyea r-o ld Gregory Jon es, so n o f world cham pion Gary Jon es, com pe ted on the overall you nge st team to enter the race. Jo nes, a lo ng w it h Ma tt Je n s o n (15) , Jus tin Smit h (16) , Roland Rod riqu ez (17), Jeff Bueno (20) and John Mon cada (29), rode a bike on loan from Husqvarna to the finish line, and the 0-200 Sport class win. . On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Over 40 Expert team of AC. Bakken, Dennis Boul ware, Allan Brown, Mark Hall , Gary Jon es and Ron Lawson wo n thei r class and came in fourth overall in the Amate ur class. Jon es ex p lained , "Basica lly yo u wa n t to ride as hard as you can witho ut tearing up yo ur bike or cras hing . It' s a fun race beca use everybod y isn' t tryin g to knock yo u down ; you don 't wa nt to risk crashing because you wa nt to save you r bike." At the finish line, Boul war e said, "Bv this time next year, we will have forgotten how tou gh thi s was a nd we'll jus t have to do it aga in." The Las Vegas -based, Fast Line Racing /Motorcycle Central-sponsored team of Br ett Marshall , Dav id Fry, Je s s Ha gue, Mark Morris, Jason Partr id g e and Ton y Thurlow procured the win in the Four-str oke expert class. "I was surfing the net and found the Glen Helen Web site whe n I was looking for some thing to fill the week end," said Mar shall. 'This is the most incredibl e e ve n t w e've pa rti cipa ted in . Th e wh ole thing has been reall y well-or ganized. " The IMS/Bridgestone /Extrem e-spons o r ed team of Earl Fr aser, H o w ard Suk enik, Carl Fischer, Johnny and Todd Alexander and Kyle Krause claimed first in the Fou r-stroke Sport class. They were fo llowed by th e Honda of Redlands / XR's Only team of Matt Breyer, Co rey Henry, Gary Heronern e, Kr is Keefer, Steve Wor ley and Jason [ellerso n, The Hosp itality Dental team of Tres Hoffer, Vincen t Poblano, Alan MacDonal d , Jeremy an d Ch a d Tu ck er a n d Michael Ch ris pens experienced night rid in g for th e first tim e rid in g in th e Four-S troke Sport class. Chad Tucker (Left) They had light problems, they had reed problems and they had carburetor problems, but the team of Oakley Lehman (show n), Mike Healey, Steve Hengeveld and Jason Kawell forged on to finis h fourth overall on the ir Team Green!IM5-backed KX250. (Above) Erik Wolfe (shown) rips the VZ4QO of Brent Farrell, Phil Holcomb, Chuck McBurney around the motocross'portion of the lo-mile circuit. After 24 hours of racing the team finished sixth overall, fifth in the Pro class. (Below) The Mike Bierman! Eric Bierman! Bryce Oxleyl Jesse Costal Mike seeleyl John Whitaker team competed on an XR100 and finished first in the o-20Occ Expert class. The team struggled at times but still comp leted 520 miles of racing. ad mitted, "We have o ne bik e in impou nd that has pret ty mu ch fallen apa rt. Bolts missin g and a cou ple fiat tires. But we're havin g a grea t time." Taking first in the Four-stroke Expert class wa s th e le arn o f Ra y Conwa y , Robert Curga , Steve How e, Dave Chase, Chri s Bla is and Jerem y Hoernin g . Gu rga , of the American Ho nd a learn, sa id , ' '' We' re just a bun ch of friend s, usu ally com peting ag ain st one another in Grand Pris. We d id the six-hour race here, So we decided the 24-hour sho u ld be fou r limes as fun. " • Family and fri end s comprised th e winn ing 201-250cc Sport team of Ste ve Jennings and Cliff Jennings, Steve BlakeBrendan and William Lu te s a n d Stephen Read . "We just came qu t her e to see if we could finish ," said Lutes. "We 're having a lot of fun." When asked w hy the Four-stro ke learn of Scott Davis, Davi d Kovacs , Bill and Billy Ramsey, Ra nd y Rogers a nd Gary Tay lor decid ed to en ter a 24-ho ur event, Tayl or lau g hed and sai d ; "We had a sponsore d bike." According to Rogers, the Motor cycle Accessory Shop ly, spo nso red team was mad e up of nigh tracing virgins. CIII Glen Helen Raceway Park San Bernard ino, California Results: September 11-12, 1999 OPEN PRO: 1. Jo h nn y Campbell /To rsten Bostrom / Jimmy u-wis /Drey Dir cks (He n): 2. Dave Ood as /Rich Barker /Chris Bdrker/Shane Espo sito (Ka w ): 3. Jeff Willoh /Dustin Evana/Tod Sciacqua / Bill Sauro (He n ): 4. Sieve Hengev eld zMike Healey /jason Kaw ell /Oakley Lehman IKaw): 5. Brent Farrell /Erik Wolfe/Phil Holcomb/ Ch uck McBum ey (Yam). 0-200 SPT : 1. Jeff Buen o / Mati Jenso n / Gre gory Jont."S/John Moncada /Roland Rodriq uez/Justin Smith (Hus). 0-200 EX: 1. Mike Bierma n /Eric Bierm an / Bryce Oxley / j esse Costa / Mike Seeley / John Whitaker {Ho nl . 125-250 EX: 1. Nick Barlow /Dennis Gallagher / Joey Lanza /R hett Htggire../ Gm don Keller (Kaw). 201-250 SPT : lSteve Jennings /auf Jennings/Steve Blake ly/Brenda n Lutes /Wil liam Lutes /Steph en Read (Hon) . OPEN EX: 1. C huck Su n/Je ff Sheets /Ric hard Wilk /Fred Hat ch /Ric k O ' Don nell /Cra ig Co na way (Hus). 4-STRK SPT: 1. Earl Fraser / Howard Sukenik/ Carl Fischer / Jo h nny Al exa nd er Z'To d d Alexan d er /Ky le Krause (Yam ); 2. Matt Bre yer ZCo rey Henry /Ga ry Heroneme / Kris Ket>fer / Steve WorlevlJ ason [cller son (Hen): 3. Vincent Poblano / Ala n Ma'cDonal d /J ert>my Tu cker / Chad rucker /M ichael Chrispens / Tres Hoffer (Yam); 4. Scott Davis /David, Kovacs/ Bill Ramsey /Billy Ramsey/Randy Rogers /Cary Taylor (Hen) . 4·ST RK EX: 1. Dav id Fr y /Jess Ha gu e /Brett Marshall / Mark Morris /Jason Partridge/Tony Thurlow (H en): 2, Ray Co nwa y /Robe rt Gu rga /Steve How e/ Dave Chase/ Chris Blaia/ Ierem y Hoerning (Hen). 40. EX: 1. A.c. Bakken /Dennis Boulw are /Allan Brown /Mar k Hall/Guy Jones/Ron Lawson (KlM).