Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events By Homer Eubanks Photo by Jen nider Dunn RAMONA, CA, SEPT. 5 h e 14th a n n ual CM MC Mi ni N a tional s , held at Ba rona Oaks Racewa y, d istributed m o re tha n $30,000 in prizes amo ng the 271 entrants . Of the 32 classes, IS of the Stock-class winner s each took home a full-suspensi on Trek mountain bike valued at $1000. The even t was co-s p o nsored b y SM P a nd KTM Sportcycles. In addition, $2000 was split between the 125 and 250cc Pro purses in addition to the existing lOO-percent payback of Pro entry fees. Tim Beatty took home most of the 125cc Pro money, while Billy Payne captured the 250cc purse. In th e Mini divi si on , Chris Plouffe and Michael Hall both won new 65cc KTMs: Double class Grand Prize winners included Mike Alessi in the 60cc (9-11) Stock and BOcc (7-11) Stock classes; Jesse Casillas in 80 cc Expe r t a nd Su permi n i; Richa rd Albach in 125cc 02-15} and 125cc ovice Stock; Billy Laninovich in 12Scc 0 6-25) and 125cc Intermediate; and Chris Wheeler in 125cc Expert and 2.5Occ Expert. The other overall gra nd- prize winners included Travis Chris tensen in 60cc (0-8) Stock; Bobby Rome ro in 80cc Novice Stock; Jarred Brow n in 80cc Intermediate; Ken Johnson in 2.5Occ Novice; an d R.J. Thompson in 250cc Interm ediate Stock. Billy Payne rode his Kawasaki to the 250cc Pro victory, though Ch ris Wheel er domina ted the first mo to . Pa yne manage d to m at ch W h ee le r ' s p ac e b u t couldn' t close in for a pass. In the second m ot o . Payn e absconded with th e holesh ot , while Wh eeler found himsel f ba ck in fifth on the sta rt. Wheeler had to pick his wa y through traffic and finall y took the seco nd s p o t with three laps remain ing. Wh eeler shadow ed Payne's every move through out the last lap but found Payn e blocking his every effort. In 125cc Pro actio n, Tim Beatty too k home the serio us mon ey wi tho u t wi nnin g a rnot o. In mot o one, Beat ty pressu red Mich ael Sleete r th roughout th e mot o but had to se tt le for seco nd . Josh U '" '" '" a;- N ~ (I) .c E a ( I) en 46 CM M CMini Nationals Michael Alessi (800) won both the 60cc (7-11) and 80cc (7-11) classes to bec ome a double Grand Prize winner at the CMMC Mini Nationals at Sarona Oaks Raceway in Ramona , California. Tara n ti no w a s a close th ir d . In m ot o tw o , Wh eel er to ok th e hol esho t a nd di d n't see Sleet er and Payn e ge t tan gled up, both flyin g over th e ha nd le ba rs . Wh eel er set th e pace, but Beatty wa s com fortable in second, knowing he had the o vera ll m o ne y. Aga in, Tara nti no crossed over third . Payne did not finish and Slee ter finished fifth . In the 250cc Expert division, Whee ler took the overall by winning both motos. Slee te r w a s Wheel er' s cha ll e nge r in mot o one but had to se ttle fo r second. Angelo ln grande kep t things together in mo to tw o to fend off D.J. Um phres, w ho earn ed his pair of thi rd -place fini shes for third overa ll. Wheeler also d o m in at ed the 125cc Expe rt class and again did it with repeat mot o w ins. Bea tty mad e Wheeler ea rn th e firs t-mot o wi n , as Beatty too k the h ol e s hot. On t h e d o wnh i ll sec tio n, Wh eel er trip led in to th e w hoops a nd d oubled out in the lead . On the followin g lap, Beatty cut in sid e for th e lead, but Wheeler again ca ptu red th e lead in the sa me w hoop sectio n as be fore. In the seco n d m o to , Wheel e r s na tc hed th e holes hot, and Beatty wa s kept bu s y fending off Sleeter , who too k third overall wit h a pair of third- place finishes . Ken Johnson too k h o m e the 2S0cc Novice grand p rize by winning th e second moto. In mo to one, neither Johnson nor an y of the o ther 25 rid ers could catch Joaq u in Ca ndia, w ho wa s d eep in th e pa ck off the start but cha rge d his wa y to the front like a runawa y train . In the followin g mo to, Candia cou ld n' t mat ch the pace he had set earlie r a nd fini sh ed in fifth . Johnson mad e his wa y to the fro nt but again had to earn the w in, with Co le Sleeter trackin g his every move. R.J. Th ompson co u ld n' t match th e pace of Billy Lani novich in the first 250cc In ter m ed iate m ot o and se tt led for second, but Th om pso n end ed up the ove rall winner . Jon Meyers stayed with Thompso n in bo th motos bu t couldn't find an opening . In the seco nd moto, Lanin ovich ag ai n had holeshot hon ors. Lanino vich pulled away fro m the pack early, but then he seized his m otor. Thom pson inherited the lead and was able to kee p Meyers at bay for the overa ll. Laninovich brou ght his br oom to the Mi ni Na tio nals and swept the competition aside in bot h the 125cc 06-25} Stock a n d 125cc Intermed iat e classes. The closelv ma tc hed 16-25 class had Jake Elki ns seco n d, Ma tt Co ndo n third , Derek C hase fo u r th, a nd Chad Frank fifth. The Int ermed ia te class go t m ixed up, as second-overa ll Elkin s sco red 4-2 on the da y. Ross Ga rcia managed third in bo th mo tos, and Co rey Ma co m ber took fourth w ith his 2-4 showing . In the 125cc 06-25) class , Macomb er br ee z ed throu gh m o to o ne un ch al lenged . Richard Albach, w ho took second, came ba ck in mo to tw o for the ove ra ll. Macomber pulled ahead of th e pack and left the ba ttl e for second to Erick Mey er a n d t h ir d- p lace runn er Albach. Macomber then washed out the fron t w heel w hile land in g his Yamaha in front of the to w er and got off ha rd . Macomber was able to rem ount still in the lead . T he n , o n the n e x t lap, Macomber again dropped the Yamaha before the whoops, a nd bot h Meyers and Albach m o tored b y . Maco mber rem ounted and too k the third spo t, but A lbach's p a ir of deuces di d h im in . Meyer had finished fourth in moto one . and earned third ove ra ll. In one of the bes t races of the weeken d, Jes se Ca si llas a nd th e yo u ng e r Michael Alessi d em o nstrated w hat a n 80cc bik e can d o. In the 80cc Expert class, Casillas was firs t off the line, with Alessi th ird behind th e NCY-mou nte d Tyl er Duncan. 'Alessi took second by tripling th e 70-foot infi eld jump. It appeared Cas illas had it in the bag as he put some real estate between him self and Alessi. Just as he beg an pu tting the final stitches on his wi nni ng effor t, Casillas caught a ru t in a rig ht -h an d er an d saw hi s lead unravel as Alessi rode by. Casillas was still abl e to ca tch up to Alessi in a cou p le o f laps. Fro m this po in t, the tw o we re glu ed tog et her in eve ry turn and o ve r every jump. Th e next time aro und , Casillas an d Alessi were handlebar to handlebar, flyin g over the triple. Casillas mad e severa l passing attem pt s bu t Aless i was real s ti ngy w it h th e ins ide lin e - ev en w hen Casillas tried to sha re it. A t the end of the moto, Casillas ha d to se ttle for se cond . Dunca n held thi rd . In the fo llo w ing mot o, Casill as put the hamm er down ou t of the ga te and never looked ba ck on his wa y to the chec kered . Alessi again had to contend w ith Duncan bu t also tripled pa st on lap two. Josh avarro wanted to take ho me a grand-prize bicycle for his last rid e on an 80 in th e In termed iate cla ss . ava rro started out righ t, winning the first mo to, but a poor start in moto two dropped him back to third - where he stayed - to earn third ove rall. Jarred Browne had to follow David Meyers across in third in mo to one bu t put it together off the gate in moto tw o. J h is time it wa s Meyers trailing Brown e, w ith Na var ro ba ck in th ird . Meyers was able to pressure Brow ne for th e lead early in the race but allo we d Browne to geta way in the later laps. Mi chael Pa rk er best ed th e effort of th e o th e r 12 rid ers in th e fir s t 80cc ovice Stock rnoto, with Bobby Rom ero taking a close seco nd . Th ings turned arou nd fo r Rome ro in th e fo llow in g moto, as he put his Kaw asaki ou t fron t ea rl y . Romero had co m pe tition fr om Larry Reese for most of the race but kep t his focu s all th e wa y to th e chec kered . Reese had fin ished third in mo to one to ea rn third overa ll. Parker crossed over behind Reese for second overall. Michael Alessi may not have had his way in all his races, but no one came near ' h im in th e 60cc a nd 80cc (9-11) Stoc k classes. Alessi took comma nd of all four motos an d quickl y charged to the finish line to collect his new bicycles. Brad Masters earned second ove ra ll in the 60cc d ivisio n with his 3-2 race effo rt. Tr ent Pugmire took third ove rall with his 3-2. In a class of 12 60cc (0-8) Stock rid ers, n o on e co ul d m atch th e pa ce se t b y Travis Christensen, w ho first foug ht off th e ea rly cha rge of Donnie Kearney in m o to o ne before tak in g th e checke red flag . In the se co n d m o to , Kearn ey d ropped ba ck to third, hop ing Michael Hall could ma tch Chris tensen's charge, but H all had to se tt le for runn er-u p . Kea rney d id tak e second o ve ra ll with his 2-3 effo rt, with Hall 's 4-2 sho w ing earni ng third o vera ll. CIf Sar ona Oaks Raceway Ramona, California Res ults: Sep tembe r 5, 1999 INTR O TO MX: 1. Nick Reasoner (Y.1m) ; 2. Nathan Dunn (Hon ): 3. Co llin Cu n ni ng ham (Ya m); 4. Tyler H errmann (Yam) . FIT: 1. Co dy Oche lt ree (KTM ); 2. Co nno r Hart (K iM ); 3. Sea n Quintan illa I KT~); 4. Tiffa ny Nevill e ILem): 5. Carlo-; Don Jr. (K IM). PIW (D-6) STK : l. Chris Plouffe IKTM); 2. Da kota Ga mcdCob); 3. Ty Keen om ICob); 4. ick Carze (Cob ); • 5. Dvla n Schmoke IKTMl . 'P /W (0-6) 1\tO O : 1. Dak ota Ga rner ICob) ; 2. Tv Kce no n (Cob); 3. Ch ris Plouffe (KTM ); ... Dyl a n Schmoke (KTM); 5. Ky le Corfman (Cob), P/W 17-8) ST K: 1. Mich.1C H.lD (Cob); 2. Trevor Rei!'> I (Cob); 3. Donnie Kearn ey ("" M ); 4. Johnny Ieldcrda l C lem ); 5. Christopher Loun..bury (Cob). P!W (7· 8) M O D: 1. Michael Hall (Cob ); 2. Trevor Reis (Cob) ; 3. james Frigo Jr. (Cob) ; 4. Jo hnn y [eld crda (Lem) : 5. Michael Treglia (Cob), JR C YC LE BEG : 1. Er ic Fischer (Ka w ): 2. Brad H u r le y (Ka w ); 3. An thony Quin tero (Ka w) : 4. Kyle Hurl ev (Ka w). 60 <0-8 ) ST K: 1. Travis Chri stensen (Kaw ); 2. Don nie Kea rn ey (KTM); 3. Mic hael H all (Kaw) : 4. Ferren O 'Dd! (Ka w): 5. Cody Tith of (KTM). 60 to -S) MOD : 1. Travis Christensen IKa w) : 2. Te rren O 'Dell (Ka w): 3. Jona tha n Horga n (Ka w): 4. Drake Plagema n (KTM) . 60 (9 ~11) ST K: 1. M ik e Alessi ( Kaw ); 2 . Brad Ma s ters (Ka w) : 3 . T rent Pu gm ir e. (Kaw) : 4. Casey Huntley ( )(.lW); 5. Adrian Fuller (K IM). 60 (9-111 MOD: 1. Trent Pugmire (Kaw ); 2. Brad M a s te r s (Ka w) : 3. A ndy Str a ig h t (KT M) ; 4. Casey Hu ntley (Kaw): S. Ad rian Fuller (KTM). 80 (7-11 ) ST K: 1. Mike Aless i (Ka w): 2. An thony C ha re tte (Ya m) ; 3 . Brnd Ma s te rs (K o1 W); 4 . M arc Aberna thy (Hon): 5. Iarrcd Brow ne (Yam). 80 NO V STK : 1. BobbyRom ero (Ka w): 2. Micha el Parker (He n): 3. Larry Reese Jr. (Ka w), 4. Broc k Hard en (Yam); 5. Jus tin No ble IKaw). 80 NOV MOD: 1. Bobby Ro me ro (K.1w); 2. Justin No ble (Kaw): 3. Brock Ha rd en (Yam). 80 INT: 1. Ja rr ed Browne (Yam) ; 2. Davi d Me yers IHo n): 3. Josh Nava rro (Kaw): 4. Ioey Navarro ( K.1.~); 5. Robert Mem o li (Yam). 80 t NT MOD: 1. S teven Ce rda (Ya m) ; 2. Bra d Masters (Kaw); 3. Robert Memoli (Yam ). S/M IN I: 1. Jesse Casillas (Yam); 2. Tyler Duncan (Yam); 3. David Meyers (Ho n); 4. Iosh Navarro (Kaw); 5. Ben Ramsaran (Yam) . 80 EX: 1. jesse Casil las (Yam ); 2. Mike Ales...i (Ka w); 3. Tyler Dunca n (Ya m); 4. Ben Ra msara n (Ya m); 5. Ken nv Laninovich (Yam). 125 (12- 15) : 1. Ric ha rd Albach (Ya m) ; 2. Corey Ma com be r (Ya m ); 3. Eri k Me yer (Ya m ); 4 . S teven Ha ughelstine (Yam); 5. Mickey C riffin (Yam). 125 (16-251 ST K: 1. Billy Laninovich (Yam ); 2. Jake Elkins (Ya m ); 3. Mol tt Condon (Ya m ); 4. Derek Cha~ (Yam ); 5. Chad Frank (Yam ). 125 NOV STK: l. Richard Alba ch (Yam ); 2. CoO' Criss (Yam ); 3. Chri. . Livin gs ton (Yam ); 4. Chad Gaumt.=r . (Hon); 5. Brandon Hamlett (Yam). 125 t NT : 1. Billy Laninovich (Ya m); 2 jake Elkins (Ya m); 3. Ross Ga rcia (Yam ); 4. Corey Macomber (Yam); 5. Matt Condon (Yam ). 125 EX: 1. Chris wheeter (Ya m ); 2. Tim Beatty (Ya m); 3. Michael SICt.1er (Yam ); 4. C hris 8.Im .. t (Suz); 5. t Oscarvaldez (Yam ). 250 NOV : 1. Ken Jo hnso n (Suz ); 2. Jim Schmidutz ( Ka w ); 3. Joaq uin Ca ndia (Yam); 4. Co le Sleeter (Yam ); 5. Steve Slade (Ho n). 250 INT: 1. R.J. Thompson (Ko1W); 2. Jon Meyer s (Kaw): 3. Bryan Bru no (Yam); 4. Billy Lnninovich (Yam); S. Del Ocheltree (Suz ). 250 EX: 1. Chris Whee ler (Yam); 2. D.J. Um phres (Yarn): 3. Michael Sleeter (Ya m); 4. A nge lo Ingrnnd e (Suz); S. Tod d Mitchell (Suz) . VET BEG: 1. Bru ce Alan Eve nson (K

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