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Los Angeles County Raceway: Michael Penta 1161 took the lint-moto holeshot on
his way to the Junior Vet Novice victory in Palmdale.
This year, a few more woods sections were
added to the lengthier, 9-mile course. Lap
times were near the 19-mjnute mark for the
fast boys.
When the 20 AA riders left the line, Ardmore Kawasaki's Eric Hmhouse powered his
K.X250 to the front. Jeff Fisher was in tow on a
YZ250, and the two set a blistering pace from
the get-go. Clay Boreing, on a Gas Gas, was
in third, but he couldn't hang for long and he
lost sight of the leaders. Hillhouse and Fisher
took turns leading for the first three laps while
the rest of the pack sorted itself out.
Back in ttle pack, after a terrible start, Missouri's Steve Leivan, riding a WR400 for SCR
Yamaha, was the man with the fastest charge.
It took him just three laps to move from 20th
to third. North Texas Yamaha's Darryl Smith
passed 11 riders on lap qne, putting him in
eighth place. Missourian Chris Nesbitt, on a
KTM 250 this year, was running in the top
five, along with Texas ISDE contender Brian
Storrie.
Leivan was closing on Hillhouse when he
fell over in the deep sandy sections near the
end of the lap three. He backed off the pace a
bit and saved his charge for the more solid
Los Angeles County Raceway
Norton, Penta
prevail at LACR
By GREG ROBERTSON
PALMDALE, CA, DEC. 12
The Yamaha~mounted duo of Brandon Norton
and Michael Penta used identical 2·1 scores to
top the 125cc Novice and Junior Vet Novice
classes, respectively, during round two of Cal~
ifomia Racing Club's Simi Valley Cycles-sponsored Trophy Series, held at Los Angeles
County Raceway.
When the 125cc Novices took to the track
for the first moto, it was Bobby Steffan, on the
lone Kawasaki in the field, with the early lead
over Bo Williams, Mike McAlpin and the rest
of the pack. Steffan proved to be untouchable,
as he led every lap for the win. Norton got a
midpack start and by lap four was around
Williams for the runner-up position, but he
couldn't find a way around Steffan and had to
settle for second at the checkers. Williams finished a close third, ahead of McAlpin, with
Riley Seckinger overcoming a faU early in the
moto to take fifth.
Round two was a duplicate of the first, with
Steffan nailing the start and Norton stuck in
traffic, but Norton was quickly on the move
and by the end of lap two_ he was hounding
Steffan for the top spot. St~ffan went down a
short time rater anc! dropped back to sixth.
With Steffan 'out of the picture, Norton easily
motored away from the others on his Montclair Yamah-a/Scott/EVS/FMF -backed YZ125
to claim the overall. WiJliani"'s came out on top
of a battle- with McAlpin and' Beckinger to go
3-2 for second overall. Steffan crossed the finish in foudh, behind Beclcinger. to sew up
third overall.
In the first Junior Vet Novice mota, Penta
naiied the holeshot on his YZ250, with Dave
Riley and Rick Knox in tow. Knox dropped
Riley to third and within a lap was pressuring
the leader. Penta gave it his best shot, but
Knox was able to slip past on the white-flag
lap for the win. Pasha Afshar climbed his way
up into a third-place finish, ahead of Riley and
Jeff Hall.
Afshar, Penta and Knox engaged in a
moto-Iong battle over the lead that saw Penta
finally get the upper hand with time running
out to take the second-moto and overall win.
Knox edged out Afshar at the checkers to earn
the second-place trophy, with Riley and Dino
Catuogno rounding out the top five.
Results
JANUARY 12, 2000'
125 NOV: l. Brandon Norton (Yam): 2. Bo Williams (Yam); 3.
Bobby Steffan (K8W); 4. Riley Beckinger (Yom); 5. Mike McAlpin
(Y.!lm).
125 INT: 1. Chris Tocco (Yam); 2. Donnie Gritton (Yam); 3. Jeff
Elde (Yllrn): 4" Donnie Durrer (Hon); 5. Shllun Trllbert (Kaw).
250 BEG: 1. Chris Carroll (Suz); 2. Bobby Schuler (Yam); 3.
Christopher Leiker (Hon); 4. Bryan Ward (Yam): 5. Brllndon Wilson
(Hon).
250 NOV: I. Gertlrd P.!llin Jr. (Yam); 2. Cole Thurston (Yam): 3.
Ole Henden (YlIm); 4. Andrew Cordos (Yam); 5. Daniel Carabajal
(KTM).
250 INT: I. Warren Tittlemier (Han): 2. Josh Mason (Hon): 3.
Justin Eide (Hon); 4. Brent GJIIlam (Yem); 5. Eddie 1...lIret (YlIm).
JR VET BEG: I. Joe Masek (Hon); 2. AI Bender (Hon); 3. DarTen
Siegrist (Yam): 4. Kelly Andrus (Yam); 5. Rick Snavely (Hon).
JR VET NOV: I. Michael Penta (Y8m); 2. Rick KnOll (YlIm); 3.
Past'lll Afshllr (Yam); 4. Olive RHey (Kllw); 5. Dino Catuogno (Hon).
JR VET INT: I. Bryan llImborn (Hon).
VET BEG: I. Dale Hooker (Yam); 2. Rick McComb (Yam); 3.
Stefan Ne!lry (Hon); 4. Dann Kellstrom (Hon); 5. Greg Turner (Yam).
VET NOV: I. Pasha Afshar (Yam): 2. Brett DaHey (Hon): 3. Tom
Stemmen (Suz): 4. Ray Ritzler (Kaw); 5. WilHam Welchance (Yam).
VET INT: 1. Danny Batlllglia (Yam): 2. Mike Licitra (Suz): 3.
Chuck Kober (Suz).
VET EX-PRO: 1. Jon ZlIhrt (SUl); 2. Frenk Costanzo (Hon): 3.
Jimmy Roberts (Hon); 4. Norm Schiel (Hon); 5. Dave Shelton (Yam).
SR NOV: I. MlIrk Dewbeny (Suz); 2. Andy F1um (Yam); 3. Vic
Parker (KlIw): 4. Randy Winslow (Hon): 5. Terry Sabadini (Y8m).
SR AM: 1. MIke Foos (Yam); 2. Greg Robertson (Hon): 3. Bob
Dunham (YlIm); 4. Larry Hipp (Yam).
SR EX: I. RlIndy Tittlemier (Hon); 2. Tony Schuler (Yam); 3.
Chris Leiker (Hon); 4. Dave Shelton (Yam): 5. George Jimenez (Hon).
Arkansas Hare Scrambles
P/W YAM BEG: 1. Nick Frllnco (Yam): 2. Andrew Delgado
(Yllm).
P/W BEG: J. Scot! Winslow (HM): 2. A.J. Horton (KTM); 3.
Demion Teckett (KTM): 4. Shewn Rhinehert (KTM); 5. Zech
Townsend (HM).
P/W ADV; J. Chris Brackett (KTM); 2. Eric Kahler (KTM); 3.
James Hill (ATK); 4. David Hili (ATK).
S/p/w (7-9): I. Keith Robinson (Cob): 2. Jnmes Hill (ATK); 3.
Eric Kahler (KTM): 4. Dnvld Hili (ATK).
60 BEG: J. Tony Notaro (Kaw); 2. Chris Deeds (KTM).
60 (9·11): I. Shawn Butler (Kaw); 2. Billy BnUestero (Kaw); 3.
Dougles Certer (Kaw): 4. Shllnn Rhinehart (Kaw): 5. Mall Ailltorre
(Kaw).
80 BEG: I. Ryan Peterson (Yem): 2. Denlel Cngle Jr. (Hon): 3.
Trevls Foos (Kaw); 4. Mall Paullin (Hon): 5. Jeffrey Skene (Yam).
80 (7.11): I. Nick Sanchez (Suz).
80 (12·13): I. Cory Redenius (Kew); 2. Ricky Parks (Yam): 3.
Rtlndllll HIIII (Kllw)j 4. Garrett Norr (Hon): 5. Dove Cllrter (Kaw).
80 (14-16): 1. Chris Norr (Hon); 2. Sleven Colson (Yom).
S/MINI: 1. Chris Norr (HOll): 2. RtmdaU Hall (KlIw); 3. Anthony
Barbacovi (Yam); 4. Steven Colson (Yam); 5. Toby ChrllvHer (Hon).
125 BEG: I. Mike Epstein (Yam); 2. Darin Chisholm (Han): 3.
Son Scanlon (Han): 4. Bonnie Kelly (Yam); 5. Ryoo Peterson (Yam).
42
Arkansas Hare Scrambles: Scott Osbume 1441 and Bryce Gutt 11021 battle for the
holeshot at the Riverfront Grand Pri" in Van Buren, Arkansas, on their way to
placing one-two in the Mini class.
eye
I e
ground of the woods, where he knew he was
faster. His battle for the iead, though, was
uneventful. Hillhouse decided to pit after the
third lap, and shortly thereafter Jeff Fisher just
moved over on a old dirt road and waved
Leivan by. Leivan was now in the lead and thinking Hillhouse was last year's winner, Clay
Hoenshell . he put on a serious charge. Hillhouse got back to within 20 seconds, but by
the end of the r.ace, his stamina was gone; he
fell back