Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Motocross West Coast Youth Nationals, Perris Raceway Simon (Ya m); 3. Robbi e Woods (Ho n) ; 4 . Donald Chollar IHon): 5. Cas Swift (Suz) . 80 MOD (12-13); 1. Scorr Si mc n (Yam); 2. Robbie Woods (Hon); 3. Ty Morrow (Suz); 4. Dona ld C ho llar (Ho n); 5. Joshua Grant (}(aw). 80 STK (14-16): 1. Dy lan Lord (Suz); 2. J""" Ca sillas (Yam); 3. Ca lc Wallace (Yam); 4. Sha ne Kelly (Yam); S. Kevin Breid (Yam). 80 MOD (14-16): 1. Jesse Casillas (Yam); 2. Dyla n Lord (Suz): 3. Tyl e r Dun can (Ya m) ; 4. Ke vin Breid (Yam); 5. Sha ne Kelly (Ya m). 125 BEG: I. Ryan Campbe ll (Yam) ; 2. Chad Erl (Hus). Jesse Casillas (75) took top honors In the 80cc (14-16) divis ion at the West Coast Youth National at Perris Raceway. By Ton y Alessi PERRIS, CA, NOV. 13-14 he Hemm e Mot orsports' Wes t Coas t You th Na tional drew hundreds of you ng mo tocross racers, a nd their fa milies, fro m all across the United States to Perris Raceway, and they all came with the same intentions: to take hom e so me of the man y prizes up for g rabs that w e re valued in excess of D $100,000. Twelve sepa ra te race d ivisions were run for the vari ou s age and skill-level events, with comp e tit ors required to co m pe te in both Stoc k a nd Mod ified di visions each d ay. Points were earned on a per-mote basis, wi th overall cha mpionships determined by the total number of points accumula ted th rough ou t the two days of compe tition. Tw elv e H on da XR50 mo torcy cl es we re also awarded to the top 12 d ivision cha mpions, and four more motorcycles, in clu din g tw o Yam aha PW80s fr om Th ousa nd Oak s Yamah a, we re raffled off for riders finishing on the pod ium . 'This is the bes t year yet. I think we hit a thousand entries," said event promoter John Hemme. In addition to 16 motorcycles given away, riders finishing in the top five also earned custom Red Line race bicvcles, skateboards, snowboards, tons ;'f toys and product awards from various aftermarket companies. DIVISION 1, 50Cc (4-6) Reigning NMA Grand National Champion Dakota Gamer scored six out of eight victories for the class championship. Hot prospect Chris Plouffe on a KTM 50 scored one moto win and finished many other races inside the top three for runner-up honors, while Eli Tomac, the son of world class mou ntain bike racer John Tom a c, ma de the trip fro m Colorado worthwhile by finishing third overall . DIVISION 2, 50cc (7-8) East Coast racer D.J. Ellis had the chips fall his way, as he scored the class championshi p after heavy favorite Nik Palu zzi wa s injured prior to th e fir s t mot o of compe tition. Paluzzi's teammate Michael Hall picked up the gauntlet for his fallen foe and came to within one point of the championship bu t ultimately settled for second overall, whi le Blake Bagger took the final podium position in third. DIVISION 3, 60cc (4-8) 24 Team Malcolm Smith-backed Donnie Kearney scored six separate moto victories bu t ha d to overcome some challenges en rou te to the class title. Kearney had one mo to w here bike problems held him back to a ninth-place finish , which gave Eas t Coast racer Colton Bailey a serious shot at the cha mpionship. In the end, th e title was decided in the final rnoto, where Kearney jumped his KTM 65cc over the top of Bailey then roosted away for the moto and championship crown . DIVISION 4, 60cc (9-11) Mik e A lessi a n d h is R&D KTM 65cc m a ch in e ran a way a n d h id in every moto, includ ing a moto where he had to borrow a bike. "In my first 60cc Stock race, I borr o w ed a KTM 65 from Cha m pion Cycles, because my bike wo uld n' t start," Alessi said. Alessi, however, found him self in a precari ous position for the second mo to w he n su d de nly the bik e he used in t he fi rs t mot o w as n o longer available. "The rul es say tha t you have to race the same bike in both motos. Since the gu ys at Champion Cycles denied me the bike in the second mota, I lost like, 25 poi nts. It was really uncool since we are teammates an d all." In the end , Alessi's string of victories was good enoug h to get the job done regardless of team tactics, and he scored the title over Champion Cycles-backed Zach Osborne and team Pomona Vallev Kaw asaki' Travis Christensen. • Dylan Lord battled down to the wire in every mo to, The tw o mini sta rs pro vided the closest and most exciting racing action of the weekend, w it h Camillas and Lord s p litting mo ta v icto ries in every ot her race, wi th Cas illas win ning the all-im porta n t fina l

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