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Super TT Series Final Round: Buttonwillow Raceway Park AMA Victory Sport'.' Mega SerieslUltra Series Awards Banquet Pearce fierce at Super TT finale Christmas comes early By By BARBARA WILLIAMS SEVIERVILLE, TN, DEC. 18 isit Sevierville around Christmas and you'll see some nice lights, but probably the most spectacular sight is the Sevierville Civic Center. Every square foot, it seems, has a glowing reminder of the season, and just driving into the parking lot puts one in a festive mo.od. An overflow crowd of winners, their families and friends gathered to celebrate the presentation of awards for the 1999 AMA USA Mega Series and the Tecnosel Carolina Ultra Series. Victory Sports promoter Sam Gammon apologized for the lack of room and food. There was an increase of 125 people over last year's banquet (to more than 400 this year) and more than 100 people without reservations were waiting to buy a ticket at the door. "We appreciate your patience," said Gammon. "This year we moved the food out into the lobby to make more room, and next year we'll have to make arrangements for more of you to be comfortable. Thanks for coming; we're glad you're here." The top five riders in all amateur classes went home with loads of products from Fox, FMF. Dunlop, Scott USA, Klotz, IMS, Viers Tires, Sloan's Cycles, Tecnosel, Champion Cycle, Charlie's Soap, Pro-Action and MotoTees. Pro riders received healthy cash bonuses; Kevin Walker (the bigmoney winner) went home with $2100. Walker repeated as Mega Series triple champ in the 125cc A, 250cc A and Over 25 A classes, and was the Ultra Series runner-up in the same three classes. Atlas Honda/Yamaha of Bristol, Tennessee, supplied a Honda XR50 pit bike for the drawing held among all of the top-five riders. Toward the end of the evening, Four-Stroke racer James Goin was the delighted winner. "What will I do with it?" laughed James, repeating the question posed to him. "I've got four kids, so I don't think I'll get much time on it." Greg and Anne Dexter, who host mxnetwork.com (points keeper to the Mega Series and Ultra Series, among others), offered the unique service of an on-line rider resume, free to class winners and at a much reduced rate for all others. "If not for the riders, we wouldn't V W.H. SPENCER BunONWILLOW, CA, DEC. 12 akersfield Class A Speedway ace Rick Pearce wrapped up the final weekend of The Super TT series by winning top honors in the Triple Crown and Premier division with his victory on the Buttonwillow Raceway Park Super TT course by a mere onepoint advantage over Cycle World's Don Canet after a wild set of heats and an eight-lap thriller main. Attack Performance's Mark Miller had a real serious race face on all weekend. He placed second to Pearce in the dogfight for the Premier class, then won the Sportsman main over young Casey Yarrow, and then took another second in the Middleweight division, behind Donnie Howard, who had wrapped up his class win the previous day at Mesa Marin, becoming the second rider to journey with Pearce to the Guidon d'Or at Bercy Stadium in Paris to open up the new millennium. In the Premier class, Don Howard took the Clawson Honda to the front, ahead of Pearce's CR500. Antonio Nunez took third early, with newcomer John Hlebo III pressing by all after Nunez bailed in the muddy infield. The Nationally ranked dirt tracker, riding his brother Steve's CR300, caught Pearce in the infield with a great inside pass and then pushed Howard back to second and eventually third. Pearce closed up to Hlebo and made a run to the inside. Hlebo stayed with Pearce for the next lap and then pushed past over the TT jump for the lead and the win. Canet led Mark Cern icky and Paul Hart in the second Premier heat. Cernicky bailed, taking out Canet. Miller and Hart would start the main from the front row. The main was an eight-lap affair on the 1.6-mile course. Miller led from the outside over Pearce, Hart and Hlebo. The Engines Only/lindemann Suspension-sponsored Hlebo got through the second turn with the lead, over Pearce, with Hart going a bit wide into the dirt portion of the track and allowing Miller to take third, ahead of Brok McAllister, Cernicky and Howard. Canet was mired in about 10th. The points standings were such that if Pearce won and Canet got B Buttonwillow Raceway Park: Don Howard (4X) placed third in the Premier class but came in first in the Middleweight contest at the final round of the Super IT Series. fourth, Canet would have the title, and with Hlebo showing great power and riding ability, the outcome was in doubt until the second lap. At the start of lap two, Pearce still maintained a great pace, while Hlebo went a bit wide in the fast left-hander on the pavement. Hlebo kept the lead, but Pearce was much closer at the start of the next lap, as were Miller and Howard. Miller then made a bold move to the inside of Pearce to take second. Miller then took the lead from Hlebo, who had made a gear change after the heat and was down on top speed. The race developed into a fiverider freight train, with Miller leading Pearce, Hlebo, Howard and Hart. On lap five, Pearce pressed harder, and when the road racer missed the infield entry by an inch or two, Pearce pounced. On the very next circuit, Pearce missed the same sort of line, and Miller found himself leading. Pearce made the final pass stick at the TT jump in a side-by-side thriller, then moved out to a three-bike-Iength lead. It was all Canet could do to get back up to fifth after Hart had bailed, but the championship was sealed with Pearce's win. Once past the checkers, Pearce performed his patented stand-on-the-seat wheelie. Miller took second and Howard was third. Hlebo was not happy about placing fourth, but he was serious about returning to the series next year. "I learned a whole bunch of things," stated the TT/short-track specialist who visited the dirt track victory stand a few times this year. "Even though the gear change was wrong, it's just one of those things you have to do. I like this; it's almost like the Enduro-thons at San Jose, except the pavement is totally cool." Pearce was obviously elated about winning the championship. "I have a lot of people to thank for this effort, including American Honda, Bill Wright Toyota, AGV Helmets, and Goat Goggles, and especially my family," Pearce said. The only other championship battle was in the Sportsman division, in which 20-year-old Casey Yarrow and his dad, AI, were only a point apart. Casey cleaned house in the heat but ran up against Miller in the main. Casey took the lead, ahead of his dad, with Miller third, ahead of Mike Foster, Jim Kesler and Ed Stovin. Miller took the win, while Casey took second and the title. Kesler finished third, followed by AI Yarrow and Andre Castiano. eN Buttonwillow Raceway Park Buttonwillow, California Results: December 12, 1999 [Final round! PRE"': 1. Rick Pearce (Hon); 2. Mark Miller (Han): 3. Don Howard (Han): 4. John Hlebe (Han): 5. Don Canet (Hbg); 6. Paul Hart (Hon); 7. Mark Cemicky (Hon); 8. Brok McAllister (Hon): 9. Andre Castiano (Hon); 10. Clark Blake (Hbg). KNBY: 1. Pete Carroll (KTM); 2. Eric Niva (Hon); 3. Eli Ohlhausen (KTM). XR I 00: 1. Mark Cernicky (Hon); 2. Antonio Nunez (Hon); 3. Brok McAllister (Hon). SPTSMN: I. Mark Miller (Hon); 2. Casey Yarrow (Yam); 3. Jim Kesler (Hon); 4. AI Yarrow (Yam); 5. Andre Castiano (Hon). M{W: 1. Don Howard (Hon); 2. Mike Miller (Hon); 3. Mark Cemicky (Hon); 4. Brok McAllister (Hon); 5. Andre Castiano (Hon). eye I e n e _ S • JANUARY 19, 2000 31