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Cooper took over second bu t was
u n a b le to catch C raddock. Kawasaki
rider Mike Sharp took third.
Series poin ts leader Jessica Mo rrison
continu ed h e r quest t o win every
Women's-elass rac e in th e 1999 season.
With Kawasaki jockey M o rrison far
ahead, Purpl e Power-ba ck ed Honda
r id e r H eath er G ree r b att led w i t h
Alpinestars-sponsored Kaw asaki rider
Christine Blake fo r se cond p lace. Durin g the fir st lap, Blak e turn ed off th e
co u rse a n d G reer scooted by for second . Gr eer w ed ged her bike o n a tr ee
co m ing d own a twist ed d ow nhill, and
Blake se ized second again. While Greer
was tu ggin g at the stuc k bike, Suzuki
rider Eli ssa Morton mad e up a twominute deficit off th e star t and passed
Greer to take th ird . Du ring lap th ree,
Mor ton .found Blake tu rn ed aro und on
a slick off-camber and worked he r w ay
b y to g rab s eco n d pla ce . Mo r to n
crashed o n th e last hill before the finis h, and Blake m ad e the fin al p ass to
tak e seco n d at th e barrels. Mo r to n
recover ed to ta ke th ird .
CN
Blue Ridge
Martinsville, Virginia
Resu lts: Se ptember 26, 1999 (Round 12)
O/A: Daniel Mo rrison (Ka w).
AA; 1. Stephen Edmon dso n (Kaw): 2. Ja son C ree r
(Yam); 3. Geo rge G ree r (Ho n); 4. To mmy Handy (H e n).
200 A: 1. Tommy Reynolds ( }(a w ) ,
250 A: 1. Wes ley Mo ran IKaw): 2. To ny Dea l (Ka w):
3. David As hle y IHo n): 4. Randa ll Ell iso n (KTM ); 5.
Travis WiJlif ord (Sm).
4-STRK A: 1. Glen n H olco m b (Yam); 2. Jeff Solin ger
(Yam); 3. Eric Hyti nen (Yam ); 4. Robert Wagner (H e n);
5. Tim Mu rton {Hen).
VET A: 1. Da vid white (H us): 2. Danny Morrison
(Ka w ]: 3. Montie Orr (Yam); 4. Darryl Camp bel l (KTM);
5. Ph i1lip Doyle (Suz) .
SR A: 1. Robert Jon es (KTM); 2. Robe rt Cox (KTM);
3. Larry Adame; (H us) : 4. Jerry Parke r (He n) .
200 B: 1. Bry a n H apple (Ya m) ; 2. Du s tin Sta to n
(Yam); 3. Warr en Stim pso n (KThH; 4. Keit h McQuid d y
(Kaw): 5. Da vid Sprin kle (Suz) .
2SO B: 1. Brad Ha ll (H o n): 2. C raig Randle (Yam); 3.
Michael Keesee (Yam); 4. Jeff Allgood (Hon): 5. Pres ton
Creech (Yam).
4-STRK B: 1. A lle n Sheffer (Kaw): 2. Jeff Woody
(He n ): 3. Chuck Han cock {Kaw): 4. Seth Da niels (Yam);
5. Richa rd Flippen (H on) .
VET B: 1. Andy Phillip; (Hou ): 2. Ch ris to pher Ma in
(KTM) ; 3 . John n y N u nley (Kaw): 4. Ernie H ost e tler
(Ya m); 5. Mike Bakken (Kaw).
S R B: 1. Wa lly Tur fbocr (Hem); 2. Bernie Lunsfo rd
(Kaw ): 3. Bob Wick ISuz): 4. Bobby Wilt (Hon ); 5. Robe rt
Bla ke (K aw).
200 C: 1. Bri nn Tho mpso n (Ho n): 2. Ma ti Wil ey
(K aw): 3. Bru ce M eye (K .1W 4. Jaso n H u ff man (Hon):
r
);
5. J <1Jll l~ Co le (K.1W).
250 C: l. Ric k Huffm a n (Ho n I: 2. Iust in Sto ne
(Yam); 3. Robe rt t..acks (Suz): 4. Eddie Sca rbe rry (K.. W);
1
5. Ste phe n Sa m uels IKaw ).
S / M IN J: 1. Timmy C ra ddoc k ( K,l W); 2. Chri s
Cooper (Kaw) : 3. Mike Sha rp (Ka w ): 4. Da niel Pa rker
(Hen ): 5. Chris Patt o n (Kaw).
WMN: 1. Jessica Mo rri so n (Kaw) : 2. Christine Blak e
(Ka w): 3. Elissa Morto n (Suz) ; 4. Ci ndy Bishop ( Kaw): 5.
Ca therine Creighto n (Kaw) .
MINI: 1. Ra y Fad d is ( He n): 2. Cha rley Ha rley
[Ka w); 3. Presto n Blake (Kaw ): 4. jeffrey Park er (Ho n):
5. Ta ylor Fad d is (Hen).
JR MINI : 1. ZlC C raddock (Ka w ): 2. Ben Phillips
(Ho n): 3. Pierce Blake (K.1W); 4. j.C. Reynolds (He n): 5.
Rva n Sorbito (Ka w).
" PIW: 1. Cart Aust in (Suz); 2. Bra dley Creer (H us): 3.
Michael Kidd (Hun); 4. Kel sey Hun eycutt (Yam) .
AMX Grand Canyon Stale Championships
Round 2: Verde Valley Molorplex
Morgan,
McRee the
masters
By Johnny Whiteboots
cs
COTIONWOOD, AZ, SEPT. 26
Mor ga n dominated th e Over 30
Vet Int er media te class w it h ba ckto -b a ck rna to wi n s a boa r d h is
Mota Soxx /Morgan Brother s H eatin g
and Coolin g /Go Huge-backed KX, an d
Todd M cRee u sed determin ation a nd
consisten cy to win the O ver 30 Pro class
at the Verde Valley Mo torplex on
his Piper Performance /Dirt an d
Street Unlimited Kawasaki.
At the start of the first Over 30
In term ediate mota, Mike Carroll
won the drag race to the first tum
with a bike-length lead over the
rest of the field , but he drove too
deep into the tum and handed the
h olesh ot o v er to M organ. Then
Morgan pinched off Hans Van Der
Waal o n the insid e coming out of
the fir st turn a n d led th e field
through the whoop secti on . David
My ers drove h ard through the
w hoops, passing Van Der Waa l for
s econd . At th e start of lap tw o,
M organ, M ye rs , Va n Der W aal,
Steve McFerrin and Carroll occup ied th e fir st five sp o ts . Robert
Olander put togeth er a spectacu lar
cha rge on th e second lap, passing
Ca rro ll, McFer ri n a n d Va n De r
Waa l to move in to third . McFerrin
took a bad spill in the hack sec tion
and wa s out of contention. Morgan
ha d th e fie ld covered and rod e
hard to the ch eck er s, w it h Myers
keeping him honest , thr ee seconds
bac k in seco nd . Olander ran thi rd u ntil
h e suffered a late-ra ce cras h . Ma tt
McGinnis and Cliff Piper ha d a seesaw
ba ttle going the who le race, bu t McGinnis was ahead at the checkers.
In moto two, Morgan again too k the
ho leshot, as Carroll co uldn't stop h is
CR after winning the drag race to the
first tu rn . McGinnis found himself in
second going into th e whoops , with
Olander hot on his tail. The pair powered by Morgan, and Carroll moved
Morgan back another place by passing
him over the big tabl etop. M organ
turned up the wick and regained thi rd
by pa ssing Carroll on th e uphill af te r
the rh y th m section . Then he put the
move o n Ol and er in the back sec ti o n
a nd se t sa il a fter McGinnis . M organ
moved int o th e lead on the se cond lap
and never looked ba ck, drivin g hard to
chec ke rs . Myers m ad e a valian t cha rge
on Piper but couldn't pass. Piper mad e
h is b id fo r a podium fin ish, pa ssing
Oland er for third o n the fourt h lap. As
the white fla g ca me ou t, Piper had a
so lid secon d af te r McGi nnis bo bble d
and fell bac k to fourth . Morgan cro ssed
the checkers first, clai mi ng the overa ll.
Piper was seco nd , securing his thi rd o ve ra ll positi on . Myer s was t hird fo r
second overa ll, w it h McGinnis fou rth,
for fourth .
The O ver 30 Pros w ere co m bi ne d
with the 250cc Pros, making for an exciting s how for th e spectator s. In m o ta
one, 250cc Pro Ryan Mortensen grabbed
the holeshot, with Rick Nagle second
a nd leading the Vet Pros. Ray Penski
poured it on through the whoops and
pinched Mo rt ensen and ag le coming
ou t of the quick right/left -hander afte r
the whoops to take the lead. Sam Weinbach passed Nagle and led the Over 30
Pros on the first lap. Mortensen set up
Penski for a pass coming out of the first
tu m, but he couldn't find the grip needed an d washed out the fro nt tire. Weinbac h took advantage of the young Pro 's
mis fortune, and went after Penski - and
the ove ra ll win.
Pen s k i ja m med h is wris t in some
b r a ki n g b um p s , an d the numbn es s
caused him to lose his gri p on the thro ttle tw ice during la p th ree.
" I think a w rist injury is one of the
wors t for a motocrosser, " Pen ski said.
" It tak es so long to heal. I tried to maintain a pace that would keep Mortensen
behind m e to th e finis h, but my hand
kep t comi ng off the throttle . I was leading, so I had to continu e."
W ei n b ach p a s sed P ens ki for the
overa ll lead . Coming u p throug h the
pack was Todd McRee, w ho was the victim of a terrible start. On la p three, he
moved past Nagle and into third overall, second in class. Nagle had to back
off the pac e, due to his rear tir e.
"The upper shock bolt fell out," he
revealed later. "I've only had th is 500
for two weeks, and I haven't had much
time to go over it. After the bolt fell out,
it bent the upper mount, the su bfra me,
s m a s h ed th e pipe into the tank and
m elted it - it 's a real m ess . If I would
have kn own, I w ould have sto pped , but
I tho ug h t it was a ru ptured bladder or
something."
.
W einba ch ha d a co mfo rta b le lead
over Penski as the w hite flag came ou t,
and McRee was charging hard on Pen ski. A t th e checkers, it w as Wein b ach
with th e Over 30 Pro w in, McRee se cond , and Pen ski leading the 250cc Pro s.
In moto two, Mortensen on ce again
nailed a perfect hol esh o t, with N ag le,
Pen s ki, M cR ee an d the field in tow .
Pen sk i m ad e quick w ork of Nag le to
take over seco nd . Nagle pulled o u t a
s lig h t le a d o ver M c Ree a s th e p a ir
p u lled awa y fr om Karl A da ms a n d
We in bach . Ad ams , who w as ma kin g a
comebac k after suffering a bro ken arm
ea rlie r thi s year, faded off the 'pace by
la p th ree, gi vi ng Wein bac h thir d in
cla ss. Wei nb ac h was experienci ng bike
w oes a nd was well off hi s first-m o ta
pace.
"I su ffered a complete shock fail ure,
blew all the oil ou t of the shoc k," Weinbach sai d later. " It w a s like ridin g a
spring on a stick."
U p front , Penski had noth in g fo r
Morten sen , who led fro m wire to wire '
fo r th e w in and th e overall. N a gl e
brought his KX hom e thi rd o vera ll, first
O ver 30 Pro. McRee was right beh ind
him for second Over 30 Pro. Combined
with his second from the first mota, he
was cro wned wi nner of the Over 30 Pro
class, show ing that determination pays
off.
" I fe lt rea ll y good o ut th ere , a n d
didn't make too man y mistakes," McRee
sa id . "I'm happy to come away wi th the
wi n. It would have been nice to ge t better starts and really challenge for a mo ta
win, but I can't com plain."
CN
Verde Valley Motorplex
Cottonwood, Arizona
Results: September 26,1999 (Round 2)
50 DEG B: 1. T yler N e a s ha m (KTM) ; 2. Br y ce
Bruma gi n (H u s }: 3. Matth ew Fo x (KTM ); 4. Cody
Thoma' (Poll; S. jace Murphy (ATK).
.
50 (7-8 ): 1 . Paul De So to III (KTM); 2. ja cqueline
Stro ng (Cob) : 3. Tyler McHugh (KTM); 4. Co le Martinez
M).
(Co b); S. Kyl. Henry (J