Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Northwest Castrol Challenge Arenacross Forster Livestock Pavilion o ~(jJV@O 0 0 G SALEM, OR, DEC. 29-30 ~op Northwest Arenacross Professionals Tony Graves and Ryan Leach finalized the year much the way the Oregonians had started it by waging battle in the Pro class. However, this time it was the second annual Castroi Challenge, and on the line was a $ 1500 purse. It was Graves who dominated two consecutive nights of racing inside the Forster Livestock Pavilion to pocket more than $600. Former multi-time AMA National number-holder Graves proved that, despite turning 30, the Eugene-area rider hasn't lost any speed. Coupled with his Friday night win over Leach and Mike Storm, Graves' dominating performance on Saturday evening (he won by more than half a lap, again ahead of Leach and Storm) in the 40lap finale was just what he'd needed to top off one of his finest years of racing since retiring from a full-time AMA National schedule several years ago. Leach was the second overall finisher, placing second to Graves both evenings. He had to come from well behind on Friday; it took Leach 15 laps to catch Storm, and then several more laps before he could narrow the gap on Graves, although lapped riders thwarted Leach's progress late in the final. Graves got out in front of the field at the unleashing of the 16rider final on Saturday and remained there to the finish, amassing a lead of more than half a lap ahead of Leach to cap off his 1-1 sweep. Graves pulJed the trigger fastest to lead Saturday's final, followed by Intermediate rider Keith Kadell, Leach, Pro riders Storm and Terry Hamness, and Intermediate rider Devin Connaghan. By the end of lap two, Graves had built up a large lead. It took his nemesis Leach, who perhaps had the best chances of beating Graves, several more laps of following the up-and-coming Kadell before he could move into the number-two slot. Once past the impressive Kadell, Leach placed Graves in his sights. Leach then narr~wed the gap on Graves, closing to three seconds at the midway point, but after that lapped riders again hindered Leach's progress. Leach had to be content with a distant second, as Graves' lead ballooned to well over half a lap. Behind Leach was a multiple-rider third-place swapfest between Kadell, Storm and Hamness, but Storm placed a lock on that position from U JANUARY 24,2001 • cue (Above) Tony Graves trounced the competition in the Castrol Challenge, taking home $630 for his efforts. The Yamaha rider also won the 250cc Pro class both nights, netting nearly $1000 for his weekend's work. (Left) Mike Storm was the winner of the 125cc Pro class during two consecutive nights of CMC-sanctioned arenacross action at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. (Below) Joshua Hill had four class victories in the Amateur ranks, picking up the aOcc (9-11) and Superminiclass wins both evenings at the Forster Livestock Pavilion. Graves' Friday night overall win came ahead of Hamness, also a former National number holder, and VielJe in motos one and two, respectively, although neither rider could post a similar performance in their other moto and Leach nabbed second overall with a 3-3 tally, ahead of Vielle (7-2). On Saturday night, Graves clobbered the competition in the class to finalize the weekend on a perfect, unbeaten note. Leach trailed Graves in both contests, but there was no denying Graves in his 1-1 decima· tion, ahead of Herb's Cycle Townbacked teammate Leach (2-2). Vielle (3-3), Hamness (4-4) and Gary Terlecki (5-5) rounded out the top five overall. Josh Hill, 11, hammered the competition in the 80cc and Supermini ranks, nabbing four overall victories with 1-1 sweeps. Hill's closest competition came from Washington's Kenny Webster, although Webster couldn't stay at Hill's pace in the later stages of the Supermini-class motos. Other riders who were equally dominant throughout the weekend included local KTM rider Jared Wood and Honda-mounted Huege. The two Oregonians matched Hill's tally with double-class wins both nights in the 6Qc<;,.Junipr (6-8) and 60cc Open • e n e "'" s Friday P/W (4-6): 1. Cody Mecham (Cob); 2. Justin Hill (Cob); 3. Justin Spink (KTM). P/W (7-8): I. David Paschke (Hus); 2. Kevin Kayl (Hus); 3. Ashley Smith (Han). 50 OPEN: 1. Justin Hill (Cob); 2. Justin Spink (KTM); 3. Andy DiBrino (Cob). 60 BEG: 1. Cody Mecham (Kaw). 60 JR (6·8): 1. Jared WOOd (KTM). 60 SR: 1. Trevis McClinton (Kew); 2. Kyle Hlimmontree (KalN'); 3. Tyler McClinton (Kaw). 60 OPEN: 1. Jared Wood (KTM); 2. Travis McClinton (Kaw); 3. Tyler McClinton (Kaw). 80 BEG: 1. Aaron McClinton (Yam); 2. Tanner Mitchell (Yam); 3. Erik Meusling (Hon). 80 (9-11): I. Joshua Hill (Kaw): 2. Nick Randklev (Han). 80 (12·13): 1. Kenneth Hammontree (Yam). SIMINI: 1. Joshua Hill (Kaw); 2. Kenny Webster (Hon): 3. Kenneth Hammontree (Yam). 125 BEG: I. Jake White (Kaw); 2. C.J. Baxter (Yam); 3. Justin Rice (Hon). 125 JR: 1. Ryan Huege (Hon); 2. Ryan Brubeck (Han); 3. Anthony CelTUti (Vam). 125 INT: 1. Joey Mancuso (Hon); 2. Keith Kadell (Hon); 3. Aaron Tunnell (Yam). 125 PRO: 1. Mike Storm (Hon); 2. Matt Williams (Yam); 3. Eric Roth (Vam). 250 BEG: 1. David Berkey (Yam); 2. Bill Graves (Yam); 3. Mitchell Robbins (Kaw). 250 JR:l. Tyler Fitzsimons (Yam); 2. Wes Morgan (Yam): 3. Shawn Huege (Hon). 250 INT: t. Eric Rogers (Yam); 2. Devin Connaghan (Yam); 3. Ben Morgan (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Tony Graves (Yam): 2. Ryan Leach (Yam); 3. J.R. Vielle (SU2). OPEN AM: 1. Ed Smith (Yam). OPEN PRO: 1. J.R. Meusling (S02). BTH JR: I. Ryan Huege (Hon); 2. Pete Sannan (KTM); 3. Colton Waibel (Hon). BTH INT: 1. Ben Morgan (Vom); 2. Will Wallace (Kaw); 3. Brody Baxter (Yam). OTH BEG: 1. Kelly Hammontree (Yam); 2. Bill Farrell (Hus); 3. lack Mclain (Yam). Oni JR: 1. Bill Graves (Yam); 2. MichBel Mowdy (KTM). OTH INT: 1. Ken Romero (Vam). OTH EX: 1. Ed Smith (Vam). 40. AM: I. Bill Graves (Yam); 2. Scott Bergren (Suz); 3. Dan TrBmmell (Kaw). 40. MNY: 1. Mike Taylor (Yam). 50.: 1. Steve BBze (Kaw); 2. J.R. Meusling (SU2). WM.N: 1. Rochelle NeimBnn (Yam); 2. Jennifer Waibel (Suz); 3. ShBnnon Crouch (Yam). 4-STRK: 1. Ken Romero (Yam): 2. Bob Meadows (Yam). CASTROL CHAL: 1. Tony Graves (Yam); 2. Ryan Leach (Yam); 3. Mike Storm (Hon); 4. Devin Connaghan (Yam); 5. Joey MBncuso (Hon). Saturday P/W (4-6): 1. Justin Hill (Cob): 2. Justin Spink (KTM); 3. Andy DiBrino (Cob). PfW (7·8): I. Nick Gubser (KTM); 2. David Paschke (Hus). 60 BEG: 1. Tyler Wells (Kaw); 2. Chad Wright (Kaw); 3. Tariq Truax (SU2). 60 JR (6-8): I. Jared Wood (KTM); 2. Steele Angel~Davidson (Kaw). 60 SR (9-11): 1. Kyle Hammontree (Kaw); 2. Travis McClinton (Kaw); 3. Tyler McClinton (Kaw). 60 OPEN: 1. Jared Wood (KTM); 2. Danny Gubser (Kaw); 3. Kyle Hammontree (Kaw). 80 BEQ: 1. Aaron McClinton (Yam); 2. Matt Wilson (Yam); 3. Ryan Hauck (Yam). 80 (9·11): 1. Joshua Hill (Kaw); 2. Greg Fouts (Han); 3. Nick Randklev (Han). 80 (12-13): 1. Kenneth Hammontree (Yam); 2. Travis McMackin (Hon); 3. Brock Chapelle (Yam). 80 (14-16): 1. Heidi Korschgen (Kaw). S/MJNI: I. Joshua Hill (Kaw); 2. Kenny Webster (Yam); 3. Travis McMackin (Hon). 125 BEG: 1. c.J. Baxter (Yam); 2. Jake White (Kaw); 3. Jonathan McGillivray (Kaw). 125 JR: 1. Ryan Huege (Hon); 2. Pete Sannan (KTM); 3. Ryan Brubeck (Hon). 125 INT: 1. Keith Kadell (Han); 2. Joey Mancuso (Han); 3. Will Wallace (Kaw). 125 PRO: 1. Mike Stonn (Han); 2. Matt WIliiams (Yam); 3. Eric Roth (Yam). 250 BEG: 1. Justin Kivett (Hon); 2. Mitchell Robbins (Kaw); 3. David Berkey (Yam). 250 JR: I. Tyler Fitzsimons (Yam); 2. Jason Franz (Hon); 3. Jack Meadows (Yam). 250 INT: 1. Devin Connaghan (Yam); 2. Eric Rogers (Yam); 3. Brody Baxter (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. Tony Graves (Yam); 2. Ryan Leach (Vam); 3. J.R. Vielle (S02); 4. Terry Hamness (S02); 5. Qary Terlecki (Yam). OPEN AM: 1. Ed Smith (Vam). OTH JR: 1. Gerald Knifong (Yam); 2. Greg Harmon (Hon); 3. Matt McCrea (Yam). BTH JR: 1. Ryan Huege (Hon); 2. Pete Sannt.m (KTM); 3. Chris Berg (Vam). Bni INT: 1. Ben Morgan (YtJm); 2. Brody Baxter (Vam); 3. Will Wallace (Kaw). OTH BEG: I. Leonard Scharf (Han); 2. Dell Williford (Hon); 3. Dave Kobemik (Yam). OTH JR: 1. Tim Harmon (Hon); 2. Jay Loudagin (Hon); 3. Art Martinez (Kaw). OTH INT: 1. Ken Romero (Vam). OTH EX: 1. Ed Smith (Vom). OfT AM: 1. Bob Meadows (Yam); 2. Lay Loudagin (Hon); 3. Curtis Paulson (Kaw). EX: 1. Bee Teasdale (Yam); 2. Steve Baze (Kaw). 50.: 1. Steve Baze (Kaw); 2. Randy Layne (Yam); 3. Dave Davis (Yam). WMN: 1. Rochelle Neimann (Yam); 2. Heidi Korschgen (Kaw); 3. Shannon Crouch (Yam). 4-STRK: 1. Ken Romero (Yam); 2. Bob Meadows (Yam); 3. Michael Kivett (KTM). CASTROL CHAL: 1. Tony Graves (Vam); 2. Ryan Leach (Yam); 3. Mike Storm (Hon); 4. Devin Connaghan (Yam); 5. J.R. Vielle (Suz). HUSKY CHAL: 1. Justin Spink; 2. Justin HiIJ;3. Andy DiBnno; 4. David Paschke. @ the midway point to the finish. Kadell maintained the fourth-place position, although down a lap to Graves, to finish ahead of Pro rider J.R. Vielle, Connaghan, Hamness, Eric Rogers, Brody Baxter and Ryan Huege, who was the top-placing Junior-ranked rider at 10th. Overall, Graves led the way via his two-day combination of 1-1 performances, followed by Leach (2-2), Storm (3-3), Connaghan (4-6), Vielle (6-5), Kadell (4-9), Rogers (8-8), Baxter (10-9) and Huege (11-10). Graves' weekend total of nearly $ 1000 was padded by his wins in the 250cc Pro class on both evenings. STORY AND PHOTOS BY CLAY LIGHT 38 Forster liYesbIc:Il hvilion Setem. Oregon Results: Decembe, Z9-3a, zaaa classes. Wood wasted little time jumping out front of all four motos and finished well ahead of the competition. Travis McClinton finished second to Wood on Friday night, while Danny Gubser trailed Wood to the finish on Saturday. Huege continued his current dominating streak with his wins in the 125cc and Before The Hill Junior classes. Huege went four for four on both nights, with KTM-mounted Pete Sannan staying closest to Huege, netting second overall in both classes on Saturday night. Honda-mounted Storm has been the only rider this season to put the clamps on Graves in the 125cc Pro class, but in Graves' absence in the class, Storm posted 1-1 wins both nights to capture two overall wins, ahead of Yamaha riders Matt Williams (2-2) and Eric Roth (3-3). CN orr

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