Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Suzuki Top Gun Showdown At lhe Suzuki Top Gun Showdown in Blountville, Tennesse e,Ben Riddle (41) let Matt Walker (40) get this close in the 125cc A race, but it was mostly Mall and Kevin Walker banging bars for runner-up. By Barbara Williams Photos by Loren Williams BLOUNTVILLE, TN,OCr. 17 he Su zu ki Top Gun Sho w dow n, the gra nd fina le of the AMA ProA m M X Me gaSeri e s , is a b o u t champions. It's abou t a sea so n of growing and changing. And it' s a bou t movin g on. Case in po int: Ben Rid dl e, who w on the 125cc A class, pl aced second in the 250cc A con test after a hea ted ba tt le with Matt Wa lke r. (He also wa lked off with the AMA Fall Classic titles in both the 125cc A and 250cc A di visions .) O nly a month ago, Rid dl e was a B rider. Currently, Rid d le is a Kawasaki rider ; soon he'll be aboa rd a Suzu ki. T his year's Top Gun turnou t was impress ive . Friday's entries (for practice) tota led over 400. Sa turday's qu a lifyi ng race d rew almost 750 en tra nts, and Sund ay's entries we re nearly equal to tha t, for a total of almost 2000. Perfec t autu m n w eather brou g ht out a full g randstand of spec ta to rs fo r Sunday's event. Surprising ly, there we re very few injuries . "We try to See that the track is safe, bu t still technica l e no ugh to be fu n," commented Victory Sports promoter Sam Gammon . "If any sectio n of the track needs attention during the da y, we fix it." The 1999 MegaSeries has produced seven Amateur MX Na tional Championsh ips, wit h two ri ders taking two a piece: Ben Riddle of Ca m p be lls ville, Kentucky , w on th e 125cc B Modified and 250ccB Mod ified classes, and Kevin Wa lker w on the Ov er 25 a nd FourStroke classes. Ian Tre ttle took the 50cc (4-6) ch a m pi o nsh ip , Au stin Stroupe took the 50cc (7-8) title, and Steve Lewis won the Ov er 40 crown. Th e 50cc Sha ft class looked like a rematch, featuring Top Gun Showdown wi nne r Cody Robbins ( w ho wa s second at Loretta' s), Top Gu n runner-up Kalen Fitzpatrick , and third-placed To p Gun rid er Randall Tay lor. Other Na tio nal Champions ra ced at Mudd y Creek this weekend , too, notab ly James Stewart and Gavin Gracyk. Team Green's Stewart ran off an d left the 85cc 02-13) class beh ind and comp let el y lapped th e 85cc 0 4-15) fie ld , which had stagger-s ta rted ahead . Th en he headed the Schoolboy class, stom pi ng three of the top five 125cc B riders (Josh Summey, Tro y Adams and Matt Barnes), as well as an A rider (John Penrod). Yama ha of Kingsport's Kevin Walk er had a relatively ligh t da y, electing no t to rid e the O v er 25 A cl a ss (wh ic h Ji m Ch ester w on ha ndily ). Un fo rtu na tely, Walker's w orkload w as lig h ter th an he anticipated, as his YZ400 fou led a plug on the sta rting line for the second 250cc A round and he wa s left behind as 30 o ther riders blasted up the hill toward turn one . -oi, w ell," Walker com m en ted . "At least I fini sh ed third in the first moto . That ough t to be good for so mething." Walker also placed runner-up in the 125cc A contest and earned third overall in the Four-Stroke Pro event with a 2-3 sco re by trading pla ces wi th Jim Neese, w ho we n t 3-2. This year, Walker has successfully defended his three MegaSeries championships 0 25cc A, 250cc A, Over 25 A ), m aking h im th e w innin g est Mega Series rid er since Mike Brown. Ch est er absconded with the holesh ot in the Over 25 A event, ahead of Sha w n Prather, Billy Liles , Ben Ru tl ed ge a nd Ch ad Lou gh . W hil e C h e s ter put h is RM25 0 o n cr uis e co n tr ol o u t front , Prath er held off Lo u g h a nd Liles fo r ru nn er -u p. [arn ie Mc C o y of Kin g spo rt , Tennessee, go t the ho lesho t in th e Ov er 30 A class, in whi ch he leads the MegaSeri es points ra ce. But he was soon swarme d by Kevin Blal ock , Billy Liles a nd Alan Alford . Eve n w he n Alford un expected ly d rop ped his YZ400 a t the top of th e stairsteps, the pressure didn't let up - if anything, it intensified . Duane Ba iley came fro m about four positions back to blow past McCoy an d tak e third , finishing beh ind Blalock and Liles. Althoug h the lap s hee ts s how that Bla lock led every lap, Liles was rig ht on his fender the whole wav, read v to take over if Kevin mad e a ~istake: " T ha t wa s fun, " gri n n ed Liles. " Blalock wore lI)e ou t, though." Riddl e is no t in co n ten tio n fo r a n y MegaSeries titl es this yea r. In fact , he did n't run enough races to be eligible. Ins tead, he w as off rid ing (and winning) the B clas ses on Amateur Da y at the MX Na tio na ls. He came back long enough to qu alify for Lore tta's, and th en aga in for th e Kaw asaki Vo lu ntee r Sta te C hampions hip in Ju ly. When the AMA Fall Classic Serie s began a little over a mo nt h ag o, Riddle moved up to the A classes, to go play in the d irt wi th the big boys. For all practica l purposes, the Top Gun Showdown wa s Riddle ' s last rid e this yea r on a green machine, and he made sure everyone w ould remember it. Riddle took the win in the 125cc A class after a spirited battle wi th th e Walkers - Kevin a nd Matt - and tr aded 250cc A m ot o wi ns with Matt Walker . Matt ended up with the 250cc A overa ll w ith his 2-1 pl acin gs, spo iling Riddle's in ten ded sweep. 'TVI' signed with Suzuki for next sea so n," Ben rep orted . "They came up with a mu ch be tter offer." Riddle has rid den only Kawasa kis in h is s h o r t ra cing ca re er , so it will be in teres ting to w at ch what d evelops. An oth e r Lo re tta's cham pio n, Ian Trett el of Graham, Nort h Carolina, easily won th e 50cc (4-6) class a t th e Top G u n Sho w dow n, ju s t ahead o f 50cc Shaft " inner Cody Robbins. Zach Osborn e, aboard th e Ch ampion Cycles KTM, turned in a perfect per formance to wi n the 60cc (7-9) even t over a hu ge field of 36 riders. Osborne also ra n in th e Junior Mini class and fini sh ed eig h th, th e fir st 65 cc machine in th at pack of 30. Zach is fas t, bu t Junior Mini winner Josh Lichtle of Rochester Hills, M ichig an , took th e h o les h ot and checked ou t co m p letely . Matt Boni of Ovied o, Florida, occupied second, lea vin g Jus tin Sipes , Chris Osborne and Madison Hambright to argue overthird. Owane Mitc hell of Honea Path, South Carolina, lost tile 125cc C battle to Jacob Saylor of Middlesboro, Kentucky, but he managed to hang on to the MegaSeries championship in that class by a fe w p oin ts . N ei the r Mi tch e ll n or Sa ylor pulled the 125cc C holesh ot; that ho no r w ent to Nick Wolfe, wh o sa t fourth in the points, with Brad ley "Bus ter" Robertson o f Burnsville, N orth Caroli na , beside him . Ch esnee, Sout h Carolina 's Terrell Collins (fifth in the 125cc C po ints a nd leader in Unlimited C / O) and Mitchell ca me nex t. For half a lap, W o lfe a nd Robertson pl ayed tug-of-war w it h th e lead, and com ing pa st the tow er, Robert. so n grabbed it m omentarily. However , Buster 's emergence in to clean air lasted only a few turns. Going into the woods, he and Wolfe bumped, and Bust er went do wn. By the time Robertson had recovered , hal f .the field had blown past. Saylor had sta rt ed so m ew here below fifth, and he patiently worked his way up to jus t behin d Mit chell. The pair then di spatch ed Collins and Wolfe to ta ke the front, and the real battl e ensued . Saylor ca me past the checkered flag fi rs t, cove red b y Mitchell. Tho u g h Mitchell d ro pped three p o ints o f his very thi n cu shion of a lead to Saylor, he w:ill unofficially still be the MegaSeries 125cc C king. Sav ior also w on the 250cc C eve n t in a sq u ea ker over Robertson, Wol fe an d Kyl e Shoun, amid a ga te of 30. Saylor took home the M e ga Series cha m pionshi p in that class by a he althy margin over Wolfe , Ma tt Gr eene and Sho un. CIII Muddy Creek Raceway Blountville, Tennessee Results: October 17, 1999 50 (4-6 ): 1. Ian Trettel (Cob); 2. Cody Robbins

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