Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events • Matthew Stephens (193) snared the holeshot but fell back to second place, and then repassed Brent Denton (3) on his way to his second moto win and the 125cc Intermediate overall victory at the Ocotillo Raceway round of the AMX Grand Canyon State Championship series In Elo y, Arizona. "Bikes we re everywhere," he said. "I tried to go around but somehow ended up sid e down and under the bike. I got arou nd the bottl eneck, but it cos t me four points at the next check." Gravi tt had no probl ems and , along with Veator, he man aged to finish the section with a two. "I came int o th e chec k o n a n '01:" Gravitt said. "I figured that pretty much cos t m e the race . Then I foun d o ut Tomm y was the only rider to drop a two, and I knew he burned the going-in check. I got lucky there and jus t tried to rid e smooth and careful the rest of the way." Brewer had trouble passing and Posted a three. "I had trouble getting around stuck riders:' said Brewer. "That cost me a point and probably the race." The check crew easily won the best dressed award - and maybe the leastd ressed award : a ll worn-en a nd all in bikinis. There were a lot of smiling riders at the next reset. Check three was an easy zero for the AAs, but it claimed points from almost everyone else. Check four, at the 28-mile m a rk, claimed a p o int a piece from Gravi tt , Brewer a nd Vea tor . The trail was faster now , a nd less w hooped , goi ng from ope n trail back in to the wood s. Check five was the gas stop and a known con trol - an easy zero for the fast guys, but a points-taker for others. After the gas , th e flavo r of the race cha nged . The fi rst 11 m il es of tr ail meandered up an d down the sides of a limestone pit, filled wi th exposed roo ts a nd good-size d rocks . It was a slic k, nasty trail that claimed more po ints than any of the race, but Brewer and Gravitt found it to th e ir li kin g a nd eac h d ropped a fou r. Masencup and Veator each got a five. "I got lost a couple of times in the section after the gas," said Gravi tt. "Maybe some arrows got tom down - it happens. It may have cost me some lime. I know I wen t into this one clay pit two limes" At a check-in at 72 miles, riders were s till in the pit. They finally saw sa nd again a t check nine, at 82 m iles. Once again, it was a Brewer/Gravitt tie, both wit h a one. Veator and Masencup settled for three each. The race was over, except for the lO-mile section to the park. Allen su mmed up the race up. "The trails were perfect: ' he said . "T hey cou ld have u sed a few more arro ws, but in my mind , [it was] the best Florida race I've ever ridden." CIII en en en ,...: .21 E CD > o Z 24 Orang e,State End uro Brooksv ill e, Florida Results: Oct ober 10,1999 (Round 4) O/A : Allen Gravitt. AA: 1. As hley Brewe r; 2. Tom my Yeater . 250 A: 1. Ru ss ell Epley ; 2. Don Baxl ey: 3 . lee Step he ns. 200 A: 1. Travis Hayes. 2. Scott Moun t; 3.u-e Daley. O PEN A: 1. Mi tch McRtc'e 2. Larry G riffi n; 3. Stev e ; Hardema n . 250 8 : 1. Scott Spittle; 2. Ivan Ha ynes : 3. Cui Brown. 200 8 : I. Micha el Cox ; 2 Sean WaIL ce; 3. Steve Lewis. l 125 8 : 1. Joh n Fran klin ; 2. Jim Yarla no ; 3. Jason C ro ley. OPEN B: 1. Mel Smith; 2. Eddie Roya l..; 3. Forrest Ha rde man. 250 C: 1. Jeff Quee n: 2. Craig Broombcrg; 3. Hu gh Moo re; 4. To nv Newma n. 200 C: 1. 'Ste ve Alle y; 2. Robert In gr am; 3. Tyl er Coody. 125 C: 1. Debbie Brod erick; 2. Terry Dre w . O PEN C: 1. wade Walker; 2. David Herbi n: 3. Scott Presnell . 4-ST RK A: 1. Ceoffe Pool e; 2. Frank Anello; 3. Cliff Eva ns. . 4-STR K B: 1. Aa ro n Ma jor; 2. Karl Tayl o r; 3. Robbi e Brantley. 4-STRK C: 1. Chris Johnson; 2. Duanne Wellin gton ; 3. Wayne Stark cy. VET A: 1. Johnny Simpki ns : 2. Kim wa tso n: 3. Fra nk Erickson . VET B: 1. Geo rge Edward s. 2. Joh n Nu tt; 3. Steve Kantarjia n. VET C: 1. jess Co nway; 2. Denny Ltegeroc 3. John Fisher; 4. Scott lee. S R A: 1. Stan Chantt; 2. Cli n t Io hnson: 3 . Carv Williams . • S R B: 1. Kenneth King; 2. John Strange; 3. Greg Tindel l. SR C: 1. Do nnie Kirby ; 2. Harry Mas ters; 3. Ray w ilson . SlSR A; t . Mike Shank; 2. Mike Reynolds; 3. Craig Wa llace . SlSR B: 1. Bra d Min nix. S/SR C: I. Stuart Brad ow; 2. Mike Preslar; 3. Robert Da h lma n. MSTR A: 1. Lloyd Widen er; 2. Joe VanSc.-eters ; 3. Joh n Watts . MSTR B: 1. Wayne Mered ith; 2. Ga tes Pelletier ; 3. Jack Terrell. M STR C: 1. Sonny Roberts; 2. Buddy Ga illard ; 3. Kenny Hard ee. GLDN MSTR: 1. Dick Smith; 2. Fred Ha mmond ; 3. Joe Halev . VINr: 1. Dave Arn ett. S/V INT: 1. Ke vin H od g e ; 2 . Eric Ha rr tso n: 3 . Dorsey Bennett. SPTSMN (0-200): 1. jerry Knotts; 2. Dale Wilco x. 5 PT5MN OPEN : 1. Richard Napo litano; 2. Darren Fowler; 3. Bria n Ma thews. WMN: 1. Tw ilah Sewan 2. Lori Cra ig. AMX Grand CanyonState Championship Series Round 5:Ocotillo Raceway Stephens darin' at Ocotillo By Johnny Whlteboots ELOY, AZ, OCT. 17 ou thern Arizona's Ocotillo Raceway played host to rou nd five of the AMX Grand Cany on St at e Ch ampionship Series, a nd Matth ew Stephens assumed th e starring role in 125cc Intermediate competition, putting together a pair of moto wins in his qu est to be crowned series champion . Justin Myers grabbed the holesh ot, with Brent Denton, St eph en s, Bryan Allen and the rest of the field in pursui t. Myers pulled out a slight lead over Denton du ring the first lap, as Denton was working o n ke eping Stephen s' YSA / Bent Clothing-sponsored Suzuki back in th ird . Stephens rode stro ng and pu t a clean pass on Denton ha lfway through the first lap to move into second. Myers suffered a major bobble during lap two, and le t St ephens, Denton a nd All en pass, dropping back to fou rth. Stephens was te d little time d ur ing la p two S pulling ou t to a nice, com fortable lead on Denton, who was also pu lling away from Allen slightly . With the top three race rs rid ing u ncontes ted up fron t, the focus shifted to the great racing action goi ng on back in th e pack. J.R. Sche ll was bu sy mak ing up for a back-of-th epack sta rt, cha rging hard to pass Bran don Schlensig during lap thr ee and Jerem y Las tovica b y lap fi ve. Ste phens maintain ed his quick pace an d greeted the checkers first to win moto one, followed by Dent on in second, Allen in third, Myers fourt h and Schell fifth. Stephens nailed a perfect jump out of the gate to start moto two and showed the way out of the first tum to lead the field. Denton was hot on his tail in second, and he found himself wit h the lead after Stephens' 'front tire grabbed a large braking bump co ming into turn two, causing Stephens to perform a handstand. Stephens recovered to maintain second p la ce, wit h Allen a nd Jason McTygue all over his rear fender. As the white flag came out, it looked as though Denton had the race in the bag, until he missed a shift coming up to the trip le, allowing Ste p hens to sail by a nd ta ke the lead . Allen was a couple of seconds behind Den ton, and McTygue was busy holding off Myers to maintain fourth . My ers kep t th e pressu re on , fo rci ng McTygue to make a mistake so he could pass a nd ta ke four t h pl ace away . Stephens claimed the moto an d overall win at the stripe, followed by Denton, Allen, Myers, McTygue and the rest of the field . Step hens wasn 't con ten t winni ng just one class, so he we nt out in the Big Bike Open class and bested all comers, making for a nice pair of bookend trop hies. In the first moto, he started out in fifth place and managed to wor k his way u p to third by mote's end. The second moto was all Step hens ', as he na il ed t he holeshot and drove wire to wire to capture the overall. Ted Ca mpbell claimed the lion 's share of the available Suzuki conti ngency by winning both motos of the 250cc Pro race aboa rd his YSA /ProAction /Go Huge-backed RM, showcasing the skills that earned him a two-digit AMA Pro number for next year . The Cinderella story for the day was that of Ta ylor Vand erpool, who put together back-to-back moto wins to garner the overall in the 250cc Intermediate class . Vand erpool was making a comeback of sorts, thi s being his first rac e back after a bad get-off last year . Van d erpool led a stro ng field from wire to wire to win the first moto , ahead of Josh Wagne r, John King, Danny Shealy, Kory Taylor and the rest of the pack. Starting th e second moto in third, Vand erpool had to dig deep to work his way into the lead posi tion . Shea ly grabbed th e ho leshot and took off, with Wagner in tow . Vanderpool put the pass on Wagner on lap four, moved Shealy behind him on lap five and never looked back on his way to the win, Wagner got the job done on Shealy on lap seven, and took his seco nd -place position to the finish line. Shealy ended the moto third , chased to the end by Phillip Curry and King. CIII Oco till o Raceway Eloy , Arizona Results : Octo ber 17, 1999 (Round 5) 50 BEG A: 1. Wya " He ater (Yam ); 2. Chad williford (Ya m). 50 BEG B: t. [a c e Murph y (AT K); 2. Bryce Brumagin ( H us) : 3 . Cody Th oma s (Po l) ; 4 . T re y McHUGh (Kl"Ml; S. Jacob Be cchina (Kl"Ml . . . 50 (?'-8 ): I. Co le Martinez (Cob); 2. Paul DeSoto HI ; (KTM); 3. Brodie Prat her (Cob); 4 . Mike Le vy OCTM) 5. T\'ler Neasham (KThU. • 50 OPEN: 1. Brodie Pr ather (C o b) ; 2. Mike Levy (laM); 3. Jacq ueline Strong (Cob); 4. Cody Thomas (Pol). 60 BEG: 1. Tyler McHugh (KdW); 2. Cod y Brown IKa w): 3. Curtis Sm ith (Kaw); 4. Chad Mc Hugh (Kaw); 5. Cory Sibley (Kaw). 60 (9-11): 1. Rhett Urseth (Kaw): 2. An dy Strai ght (KTM); 3. Brent Davey OaMJ; 4. Michael Loder (Ka w); 5. Dani el Wilb u rn (KTM ). 60 O PEN: 1. Rhett Urscth (Kaw): 2. Brent Davey (KTM); 3. Mike Loder (Kaw ): 4. Mitch wise (Ka w ): 5. Chad McHugh (Kaw). 80 BEG: 1. Cory Butliner (Yam); 2. Robby Delancey (Ho n);. 3. Rod Ha il (Hen): 4. Slew Wihlbur g (He n): 5. George Cyru s (Suz). 80 (9· 11) : 1. Sleven Sc h w a r tz (S uz): 2. Je re m y Johnson (Suz): 3. Tyler Jo hn so n (Suz); 4. N ick Riley (Kaw): 5. Kirk Payne (Honl . 80 (12-13): 1. Jake Alexa nd er (Suz): 2. Mike Beaver (5uz ); 3. Drew Murphy (He n): 4. Michael Falls (Ya m); 5. Todd Miller IHon ). 80 (14-16): 1. Eric Rami rez (Ya m); 2. Chad Winton (Yam); 3. MOt." Fuller (Ka w) ; 4. Ryan Btan (Ya m); 5. Josh Moni gold IKaw). 80 O P EN : 1. Eric Ra m ire z (Yam) ; 2. Steven Schwartz (Suz): 3. Jere my Johnson (Suz); -I. Nick Riley (Ka w);5. Ryan Blan (Yam). WM N: 1. Tarra h Jo h nso n (Yam); 2. Je nn v Cla rk (Yam); 3. Tas ha Moon (Hon); 4. Bt..-th Cunninghan\ (Yam). 125 BEG: 1. Jared Decker (Hon): 2. Ben Dickman (SUZ); 3. Jason White IHo n): 4. Ta lmadge Ryan (Yam); 5. David Moskat (He n). 125 N OV: 1. Na than H o ff m a n (5uz); 2. Ada m Ha mma n (Hon); 3. Na than Rivera (Yam); 4. Adam Bode (Yam) ; 5. Baron Ho lly IKa w). 125 INT: 1. Ma tth e w Step he ns (Su z) : 2. Brent Denton lSuzl; 3. Bry an Allen (Suz); 4. 1 Sch ell (Yam); .R. 5. Justin M yers (Yam). 250 BEG: l . G reg Grasham (5uz) ; 2. Dyno Kriske IHon): 3. Jay w ym an (Suz); 4. Ma tt Cu tli p (Ya m) ; 5. Bria n Sch lit (Yam) . 250 NOV: t. Jeff Pa rr (Ka w ): 2. Aa ro n Herman (Ya m ); 3. Tr oy Armstro ng (Yam); 4. Jes se Att a wa y (Hon): 5. Steve McFerri n (Kaw) . 250 INT: 1. Tay lo r Vand erpool (Ya m) ; 2. Jos h Wa gner (Ya m ); 3. Da nny Shea ly (Ka w): 4. John Kin g (Suz); 5. Phillip Cu rry {Hon). 2SO PRO: 1. Ted Ca mpbell (5uz) ; 2. Erik Anderson (H on); 3. Ryan Mortensen (Yam); 4. Jus tin McM urrich (Yam) ; 5. Ray Pcnski lSuz). 25+ VET BEG: l , Dav id Perez (Ho n): 2. John Barr (Honk 3 . Billy Barr Il-ion) . 30+ V ET BEG: t. G reg Gres ha m (Suz ); 2. Dav id Mit chel l (Ka w ): 3. John Ryan (Ka w); 4. Cha d Sims (Hon) . 25+ VET NOV: t. k H Parr (Ka w); 2. Dan Townsend (Hen): 3. Edd ie No rds tro m (Kaw): 4. Frank Victorin e (Y am) ; 5. John Widd ows (He n). 30 + V ET N OV : 1. T. Ca rl s o n (Ka w) : 2. Ste ve H en drix IH on ): 3. Bria n Las tovica (Ya m ): 4. Rich Schauweckcr (Suz ); 5. Sa m Hernandez IKaw }. 30 + V ET INT : I . John Ja n sse n (Ya m); 2. Matt McGinnis (Ya m) ; 3 . A . Ja y Harry (Ya m) ; 4 . Ste ve Mcferrin (Ka w) : 5. Greg Brydl e (Yam). 40+ AM: 1. Dyn e Kriske (Hen ): 2. Bria n Zimmer (Suz); 3. Paul DeSoto Jr. (Yam); 4. Ed Roland (He n): S. Stacey Miller (Yam). 40+ MSTR: 1. Rick Nag le ( Ka w ): 2. M ic hael Goodrich (Kaw l. U/UK OP EN : 1. Matthew St ep he ns (Suz ); 2 . Brandon SchJensig (Yam); 3. Ta ylor Vanderpool (Yam); 4 . Troy Kalina. (502); 5. Joshua Schuetta (Hon ). BMBR A: 1. Kevin Wallin (Yam); 2. Ted Mink (Yam) . BMBR B: 1. Dan Sheperd (Yam!. Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship Series Round 13:Plattin Creek HS Leivan 'em up the Creek By Frank Leivan FESTUS, MO, OCT.17 t round 13 of th e 1999 Missou ri Hare Scrambles Champio nship Series, SCR /Yamaha rid er Steve Lei va n con tinued hi s winning wa ys, claiming his 10th overall victory of the season. Leiv an , who clinched his seventh series title back in Aug ust, moved into the lead ea rly in the race and pulled A

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