Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Oregon State Dirt Track Championship By Clay light MADRAS,OR,SEPT. 11 arren, O regon's Rex Fish er, th e Nation al nu mber-12 plate hold er, was the d ominant Expertcl a s s r id e r a t th e And y Tres ser a n d Rick y Gra ha m Me morial/Oregon State Dirt Track C ha m p ionship , held at the Madra s Speedwa y in centra l O regon . Fisher swe pt the 600cc Expe rt class wi th his hea t, Dash For Cas h and main-even t victo ries. It was o nly fitting th a t Fis her, Oregon's highes t-ranked AMA Professiona l rid er, w ould be crown ed Kingfis h fo r 1999, although tw o riders gave it th eir all to kee p Fisher from taking th e laurels: Washin gt on' s J.P . Simonsen a nd Oregon ' s Ryan An derson, w ho were the second- and th ird -pla ce finis hers. Washingt on rid ers sw ept the podium positions in the 600cc Pro-Sport, led by class dominator Kurt Hawk, who sco red his seve nth conse cu tive win in the class, finishing ahead of Brian McG onigal and Eri c Beers. Hawk felt right at home o n the high-banked quarter-mile oval (long dubbed the " Lod i of th e Northwest") , and , like Fish er, he won hi s heat, th e Dash For Cash and also the m ain even t. Simo nsen , b est kn own for hi s TT p rowess, led th e lone Expert q u alifier, b ut it d id n't tak e long for Fisher to w ork p a st h im a nd record a wi n a hea d o f Simo nse n, Anderson and roo kie Expert Aaron West on. The top fo ur rid e rs from the lo ne eig ht -rider qualifier - Fisher , Simonsen, Anderson and Weston - lined up for the fo ur-lap, winner-take-all Expert Dash For Cash. Sim onsen again ran out front, coming from a row-two penalty to lead Fish e r int o turn o ne, put th en Fish er grabbed th e lead and wa s never ch allenged, taking the wi n ah ead of Simonsen and Anderson . Hawk' s w in in the Pro-Sport Challenge was a wire-to-wire one for the Presto n, Wash in gton , rid er , w ho led Beers, McGonigal and Bob Rosie to the line. Washin gt on rid e rs J.D . Bea ch and Jacob Lehman have spe nt much of th is season in a side- by-s ide configuration in the 50cc Senior and Mod ified classes , and tonight wa s the same. In the 5Qcc Senior final, Beach and Lehman drafted back and forth for eigh t laps befo re th e race we nt in Beach' s fav o r by less than a w hee l at th e line. The 50cc Modified fina l was rem ini scent of the 50cc Senio r final, al though AMA Na tio nal 5 0cc C hamp io n Evan Aronso n w as th ro w n into th e fold to spice things up a bit. The Wasp-mounted Aronson stole the lead from the fast sta r ting Lehman and then put several bike len gth s o n Beach and Le hman . Beach got the draft on his fellow Cobra rider co m ing o u t of the final tu rn to again beat Leh man , alth ough this tim e it was for the second -p lace laurels, behind Aronson. Oregon's Nic k Ohge is quic kly es tablishing him self as the d om inant rider in the 80cc class, a nd for the first tim e th is season he scored a two-class d ecimatio n o n his own turf. Ohge picked up his first win in the 80cc DTX class, besting Derrick Oquist, his seasonlong rival, by tw o bike len gths at the fini sh . Th ird p lace went the way of Kennet h Han sen. O hge wa s bu t a bl ur at th e start of the eig h t-rid er, tw o-ro w 80cc A m ain , leavin g the competition well behind him early on. Oh gegot luck y this time, how- (Above) Rex Fisher won the 600cc Expert class and the Expert Dash For Cash at the Oregon State Dirt Track Championship, wh ic h was also the Andy TresserlR icky Graham Memorial race . (Left) At Madras Speedway, Rex Fisher (12), J.P. Simonsen (37), Ryan Anderson (47) and Aaron Weston (66) lined up for the Expert Dash For Cash. They finished in the same order. ever, as Oquist and Sa m Ha lber t we re buried mid pack, which aided in Ohge's easy wi n (one w hich finali zed his twoclas s sweep) an d allowed Hansen to net second in an impress ive ride. ' ick Sellers was one of the two double class winners of the evening, picking up w ins in the 250cc and Open DTX finals, although he d id feel Some heat fro m Mitch ell Pierce in both contests . Pierce led the 250cc A final for several laps before Selle rs managed to sneak a wheel past him; the two then left the rest of the field well behind to take the top tw o pos itions, ahead o f Jason Rosie. Pier ce cha lleng ed Sellers early in the DTX final, but Jerry Han sen, who had earlier won th e 12Scc final, scrambled up the ord er by puttin g his 125cc Honda in to second behind Sellers in the eigh t-lap final. Vince Holt, th e AMA District 27 Over 40 Champion, sat o n the pole posi tio n for the eig ht-rider Over 40 final, w he re he lin ed u p besid e fellow heat wi nner Gary Moore. Oregon' s Allen Morinville grabbed the lead at th e start, followed by Do ug Cough try , Holt , Moore and Craig Ren fro. lt didn't take long for Holt to put his Rotax ahead of Coughtry, but it was four laps be fore Holt got around Morinville, and he too k th e wi n ahea d of Morinville, Cough try , Moore, Renfro and BSA-mounted Chuck H od son. Triumph rid ers Steve Ke nd ig and Gary Beach put on an incredible display of speed and dicing for positions in the Ope n Pro Tw in class. Last yea r, the victory in this class went to former AMA Expert Kendig, but AMA district Open Twin Champion Beach wanted badly to add this win to his po rt folio. Kendig led for seve ra l laps, but Beach s hoved a w heel past Kendig , a nd the n Kendig could n' t recover. Th ey finished ahea d of Jason Par ks and Dick Slusher . In an a tte m p t to speed up th e program (as cu rfew was ra pidl y approaching ), the 600cc Expert and Pr o-Sport rid ers were .com bined for th e ev en ly split 12-rider final. Fisher sat on the pol e for th e 15-1ap main, w hile Hawk wou ld face his to ughes t cha lle nge yet in hi s short spa n as a professional rider, as ano the r of the vetera n Expert rid ers, Sim on sen , sa t next to Hawk. This di dn't shake up H awk a t all , as the 17-year-old p u t his n ew C &J- fra med ATK ou t in fro nt o f Fisher, Simonsen and Anderson. Hawk, though, wa s quickly d isp laced by the National-nu mbe red trio. Fisher pu lled away and led fro m la p two to the finish . This left Simo nsen an d Anderson to squabble for ru nner-up - a po sition which Simonsen ma in tained to th e fini sh , with Anderson attached to h is rea r wh eel. Hawk lo s t g ro u nd to McGoni gal in a battle for the Pro-Spo rt lead , a lt ho ugh la te in the fina l Hawk m ana ged to get it ba ck . Hawk forced McGo nigal to ride u p hig h, slici ng hi s w ay p a st McG o nig a l w ith th ree la ps remaini ng to finish fou rth beh in d Fish er , Simonsen and Anderson, bu t a hea d of McGonigal, Beers, George Pri nd iville, Rosie, Troy Renfro and Dick Wall . CIII Madras Speed way Madras, Oregon Results: September 11, 1999 50 JIC 1. Tvl er Meade (AT K). 50 SIC 1. (D. Beach (Co b); 2. Jacob Lehman (Cob). SO MOD: 1. Eva n Aro nson (Wsp) ; 2. J.D. Beac h (Cob); 3. Jacob Lehman (Cob): 60 A: 1. Ellio t Oquist (Kaw); 2. Chris Cclorie (K.no.r); 3. Evan Aro nson (Kaw). 80 DTX: 1. Nick O hge (Hon ): 2. De rric k Oq uist (Hen): 3. Kenne th H ansen (H en). 80 A: 1. Nick Ohge (Hon ): 2. Kenneth Ha nsen (Hon); 3. Elliot Oquist IHonl , 125: 1. Jerry H a n se n (Hu n ); 2 ~ Amy Pruczi nski (Yam); 3. Mitchell Pi erce (Suz) . !SO: 1. Nick Sellers (Ho n); 2. Mitch ell Pierre IHo n): 3. Jason Ros ie ISuz) . DTX: 1. Nick Sellers (Hon) ; 2. jerry Hansen (Hen): 3. jacob Cu rrey ( Hen) . OPEN: 1. Bob Ros ie (Rtx); 2. Tim Ricketts (Hon). 3. R.1Y (A-Ford (Rtx). 30+ 250 : 1. Brett Weston (He n): 2. Ga ry M oore (Suz). 30+ O PEN : 1. All en Mo r in v ill e ( Rtx) ; 2. N eil C lcrtsen (H un): 3. Kim McKillo p (Ya m). 40+ A: 1. Vince Holt (Rtx): 2, Allen Mortnville (Rtx); 3. Do ug Co ught ry (Ya m). s VINT O PEN: 1. Bob Ingle (Yam); 2. Brett w e ton (Ya m); 3. Ed Dcrda (Ha n). VINT TW : 1. Gary Beach (Tri); 2, Steve Kendig (T ri) . 600 EX: 1. Rex Fish er (W- R); 2. J.P. Simonsen (Rtx): 3. Ryan Anderson (W· R); 4. Dick Wall (Rtx); 5. Aa ro n West on (Rtx). &00 PR O · S PT : 1. Ku rt Hawk (AT K); 2. Br ian McG o n iga l ( Rtx): 3 . Eric Be e r s (W- R) ; 4 . Geo rge Prin d iville (Rtx); 5. Bob Ros ie (Rtxt EX DFC: 1. Rex Fishe r (W·R); 2 J.P. Simo nsen (Rtx); 3. Rya n Ande rson (W~ R); 4. Aaron Westo n (Rtxl, PRQ..SPT O FC: 1. Kurt Hawk (ATK); 2 Eric Beers (W-R); 3. Bria n ~ cConi ga l (Rod; 4. Bob Ros ie (Rtx). '" '" '" . ,; '" ~ (I) .c E (I) Q. (I) en 47

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