Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events Skip Van Leeuwen Short Track from Perri, with Rod Lake splitting the two of them up. Spencer and Lake d ropped Steffen to third , while Pe rri shook off Carrera and looked for a way aro u nd Steffen. Spencer kn ock ed Wolf wid e through tum three, taking over the lead and opening the door for Perri and Lake . Wolf finally conced ed third. Carrera proceeded to pass for fou rth and th en pa ss ed Lake fo r third. Lake returned th e favor, grabbing third and ho ld in g it by hugging th e ins id e. Spencer continu ed on for the win , with Perri on his tail, while Lake held off Carrera, Wolf and Steffen. Oxley jumped the gun at the start of the By Fred Windum Phot o by Matt Chapman • m m m - co? ~ E CD > o Z 40 DEL MAR, CA, ocr.9 intage Racing is alive and weIl in Southern Cali fornia , with packed pits and grands tands at the fourth annual Skip Van Leeuwen AHRMA Na tional Short Track. Mo re than 230 entries showed up to run the San Diego Rat Track Association' s yearly even t at the Del Mar Fairgro unds, run in conjunction with the Vin tage Concourse and Chris Agajan ia n ' s AMA National Mile. Don Fraue nbe rger left the line on his Yamaha with the holeshot in the Sportsman Vintage 250cc main. Joe Steffen tucked inside him comi ng out of turn two and passed to take the lead in tum three . Ken Netto put h is Can-Am in third , followed by Nick Nozzis i and Manny Crummett on a pair of Bultacos . Netto d ro p p ed Frauen berger back a spot and took Steffen wide through the corner, and Joh n Gennai jumped in to challenge for the lea d . Jeff Lesley and Gen nai went into turn one together and went down. Steffen retook the lead, with Netto being pursu ed by No zzisi and Cru mmett. Fraue nberger dropped back, while Mitch Perri and Maurice Ortega moved up and battled for fiftli. Steffen hel d o n for th e win . N ett o he ld off Nozzisi for second, and Cru mm ett took fourth, ahead of Perri and Ortega. In the Classic 250cc event, Lesley and his Bultaco took the lead , chased by fellow Bultaco rider Vince Graves a nd Harley S print rid er Jim McMurren. Bruce Reyn olds, Ortega and Chris Rudy followed . McMu rren closed on Graves on the third lap. Rudy and Ortega both fell, hand ing fifth to Rich Trait, on the lone Ossa. McMurren d r ov e around Graves for second, bu t Lesley now had a straightaway lead . Lesley took the w in and McMurren was second , foIlowed by Graves, Reynolds and Trait. Marty Lewis and Sal Peluso put their .T r iu m p h twin s o u t in fro n t o f t h e Sp o r ts ma n Vinta ge Open clas s, but Lewis slid right out of the race, leavin g Ken Thieba ud in second . Ortega, John Proto and Rick Reed joined in. Thiebau d push ed insid e Peluso to take over th e lead on lap four w hile Reed pa ssed a slowi ng Ortega and Proto. Reed puIled int o second . Proto a lso pa ssed Peluso for third . Thiebaud held on for the win, wit h Re ed clo sin g in, whil e Pro to cruised to third, ahe ad of Peluso an d Larry Earh art, wh o took fifth from Ort ega on the wh ite-flag lap. Brad Spe ncer's Yam ah a led th e Sp ortsm an Vinta ge 600cc cl ass fro m start to finish, followed by BSA rid er Kit Farley and Honda -m ou nt ed Mark Aragon. Matt Roh r, Brad Holt, Ortega and Jim Connolly fell in behind on a quartet of Bultacos. Adam Sabedra came ou t of reti rem ent to win th e Cla ssi c Vinta g e 500/750cc side-valve class on a showquality Ariel. Jeff Apple was second on a Harl ey, with Rud y third, trailed by Ed Stovin and Dave Miller. Greg Wilbu rn led th e Modern 250s off the line on a Ho nda XL350, ahead of Dan Young, Frank Ara gaki , Brad Wooten an d Nick Cu mmings . Jer emy To ye moved th rough th e pack, dropping Cummings back a spot but towing him past Wooten . James Wood moved up on Cummings, running up the inside of the seasoned 13-year-old to take fifth a w a y from h im o nce a gain. Ara gaki chaIlenged Young for second, but Toye passed both of them . Wilburn continued ou t front, lap ping ba ckm arker s, while Aragaki closed back in on Toye. Young ra n in to trouble, allowing Wood pa s t a nd tak in g Cummings up to the w all, where Young end ed u p on the gro und and Cummings managed to sta y u pright and continue, keeping fifth . Rohr took the top spot in the Mod ern 600c c Amateur class af ter a pil eup caused the only single-file restart of the night. Phil Wolf and Elliott Iverson followed throu gh the first tum as Joe Car- Atthe fourth annual Skip Van Leeuwen AHRMA National Short Track, held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, Sal Peluso (GR) raced to fourth place in the Sportsman Vintage Open class. John Proto (83) passed him for third, and Martylewis (0) s lid right out of contention. Triumph riders Ken Thiebaud and Rick Reed took . first and second. re ra pull ed in to se co n d, wi t h Br ad Spencer in tow . Dante D' Ambru o so pushed his wa y through the field from the back row , whil e Wolf dropped back to sixth. Rohr held on to the win, with Carrera second and D' Ambruoso snaggi ng thi rd , ahead of Spencer and Iverson. Wayn e Warrington, on his 750cc Triumph, jumped ou t to the fron t of the Se n io r cla ss . McMu r ren p u ll ed i n behind. Gary Pett is, Co nnoIly and Lewis ba ttled for thir d . Tim Wolf made a move on Lewis, looking for a n ins ide pa ss. Connolly ran around the outside of Pettis , tryi ng for third , w ith Lewis right be hin d . McMurren pull ed in be hind Warring ton, bu t Warri ng ton h eld on tigh t to his line. On the next go-around. McMurren too k the lea d away fr om Warrington on the back straight. Lewis ran up alongside Pettis as both clos ed on Warrington . Lewis went inside a nd Pettis took the high line and lost traction, d ro pp in g his bik e, but he kept it running and rejoine d at the back of the p ack . Lewi s got secon d, and Connolly took third away from Warring ton with tw o laps to go . McMurren took the che cke red flag wi th a lO-bike-length ad vantage over Lewi s, with Connolly and Warrington close behin d . Wolf held on to fifth. w hile Pettis salvaged sixth, ahead of Bud Riddl e and Cecil Oswald. Joe Steffen lunged out ahead of Phil Wolf, Dana Pe rri an d Brad Spencer in the '70s Singles class. Phil Wolf ra n ' his Honda u p the insi de of Steffen on the back chu te, pu lling in to the lead wi th six riders hot on his tail. Spe ncer stole .third Pro 600cc race, the only rider to be sent to the back row, spoiling his chance of a top finish. On the secon d start of the final race of the nig ht, John Dupree took the lead , ahead of Anthony Gia mmanco and Rand y Ber eman. Whe n some one tagged him coming off the line, Jim Steet took a soil sampl e and brough t o u t th e red fla g . Befo re t he ri de rs ca me aro und to see the flag wa ving , Dupree and To m McGrane tang led runnin g dow n the back ch ute and head ed int o the wa ll. Then Richard Pollock and Brandon Ken t tried to imitate freestyle jumpers, get ting major air, consid ering there was no jum p . Everyone lined up for a complete restart. A fired-up Dupree took hi s WoodRota x in to the lead a head of Pollock's YZ400 and never looked back. Bereman ran third, ahead of Allan McClellan and Giam manco. Joe Duvall pulled into the top five, w hile Bereman pu t a move' on Poll ock. Ox ley and McClellen ta ngled and w en t down, leaving th e top five Dupree, Berernan , Pollock, Giammanco and Duvall. Bob Cobb and McGrane raced for sixth, but McGrane's megaphone came loose after the carnage on th e firs t start, knocking Cobb off line and d ow n . McGrane made it a no the r half-lap to tum two and pulled it out to th e h a y ba le s . Duva ll ran up on Gia m ma nco and push ed him back to fifth, and then closed on th ird -pl aced PoIlock. Dupree ended the night with a good lead and the wi n. Bereman was next, way ahea d of Pollock and Duva ll, with Giammanco an d Scott Scherb in CN the final paying spots. Del Mar Fairgrounds Del Mar, California Resul ts: October 9, 1999 S PTSM N VI NT 250; 1. Joe Steffen (Yam); 2. Ken Netto (C-A ); 3. Nick Nozzisi (But); 4. Manny Cru mm ett (Bull; S. Mitch Perri (Bull . S PTS M N VINT 6m 1. Brad Spe ncer (Yam); 2. Kit Farley (BSA); 3. Mark Arago n (He n): 4. Matt Rohr (Bul); 5. Brad Holt (Bul) . S PTS MN YlNT O PEN, 1. Ken Thi eb aud (Tri ); 2. Rick Reed (Tri); 3. Joh n Proto (Yam); 4. Sal Pelu so (Tri ); 5. Larry Earha rt (T ri ). ClSC V INT 25 0, 1. Je ff les ley (Bu l); 2. J im McMur ren (li- D); 3 . Vince G raves (BuD ; 4. Bruce Reynolds (BuD; 5. Rich Trai t (Oss). CLSC Vl"IT SOOI75<), 1. Ada m Sabed ra (Ari); 2. Jeft Apple (H-D); 3. Ch ris Rudy (Tri ): 4. Ed Stovi n (Hus) : 5. Dave MiUcr (Tn). DI NO: I. Go rdo n Men zie (R-E). SR 50+: 1. Jim McMurren (H · D); 2. Ma rt y Lewis (Ya m); 3. Jim Co nnolly (BuD; 4. Wa yn e Warring ton (fri); 5. Tim Wolf (Yam). S/S (t, 1. Ron Gould (BSA); 2. Jim Co nnolly (Bull; 3. M icke y Alzola (Tri): 4. Hank Casio (BSA); 5. William Buff (Tri) . '1 0s SGl: 1. Brad Spe nce r (Ya m) ; 2. Dan a Perry (Yam); 3. Rod Lake (Yam); 4. Joe Carrera (Yam); 5. Phil Wolf CHon) . 250 AM : 1. Greg W ilb urn (Hen): 2. Jeremy Toye (Kaw): 3. Frank Arag aki (Hus): 4. James Wood (He n): 5. Nicky Cummings (Hen). 600 AM : 1. Matt Rohr (Yam); 2. Joe Ca rrera (Yam); 3. Dante D' Ambruoso (W- R); 4. Brad Spencer (Ke w) : 5. Elliott Iverson (W-R). 600 PR O: 1. John Dupree (W·R); 2. Rand y Bereman (W-R); 3. Richard Pollock (Yam); 4. Joe Duvall (W-R); S. A ntho ny Giammanco (W-R).

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