Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Brian Gray won the 250cc B Stock class. (Right) Taryn Covington came away with a win in the Women's 65/85cc (7 -15) class. first corner and got into third and started charging. I caught Donnie in the woods on lap three, but he was doing good, and I couldn't get a block pass on him, and that's when he moved back around me." The battle continued into the final lap when Casillas tried again for the lead. "I got around him [McGourty] about four or five turns before the finish: Casillas said. McGourty took the holeshot in the second moto, with Texan Ty Conner, Casillas and Josh Hansen, of Colorado, in tow. Casillas got around Conner on the first lap then went after McGourty, as Hansen chased down Conner to take third away in the whoops near the end of the second lap. "I knew Josh was behind me," said Casillas. "I knew I had to pass Donnie if I wanted the title." However, Casillas went down on the last lap. Hansen got by Casillas, who quickly remounted and got back into the race to finish third for second overall. McGourty took the overall win with a 2-1 showing. Hansen finished out the podium in third with a 5-2. California came to Texas and busted out the four top spots in the 125cc A Pro event, led by Billy Laninovich. Laninovich took the holeshot twice in the three-moto format starts, winning all three motos for the overall crown. Turbo Reif went 8-5-3 for second, while Steve Mertens finished 10- 7-4 for third, and Jeff Northrop 3-2-20 for fourth. Austin Squires, of Texas, rounded out the top five on the 44rider gate. Laninovich returned in the 250cc A Pro class to take his second win of the event with a 2-3-1 to Mertens' 45-2 and Northrop's 12-2-3. Jesse Casillas won the 250cc B Modified with a 1-3, followed by Brian Gray and Gene Stull. Gray countered back in the 250cc B Stock class with the win over California's Tim Weigand and Michael Blose. Blose was the top-ranked rider in the 250cc Combined BIC category. California's Alessi brothers took two wins each. Younger brother, Jeff, spent the better part of the week battling with Florida's Ricky Renner, while older brother, Mike, tried to stay one step ahead of Georgia's Davi Millsaps and Kansas' Dennis Jonon. Mike Alessi also debuted the new Yamaha minibike in the newly formed 150cc Four-Stroke class. Jason Lawrence led off the start of the first 85cc (12-13) Stock class, with Mike Alessi in second. Alessi made the pass for the lead in the first lap, while Dennis Jonon and Millsaps both made their way past Lawrence for second and third_ Millsaps closed in on Jonon and passed him down the mountain in lap two to chase Alessi to the checkered flag. The second moto had Justin Keeney show the way into the first turn, with Jonon in second. Millsap5 raced in third into the second lap when his bike began to slow down. "The bike had bad race gas in it and it hot-seized on me," said Millsaps. Jonon stayed all over Alessi and at one point passed for the lead. "Alessi went a little wide on the turn before the uphill and I took the inside," Jonon said. "He had more speed going up and more momentum into the next turn and passed me back. Alessi took the win by a 1-1 to Jonon's 3-2 for second and Keeny's 7 -3 for third. The 85cc (12-13) Modified had the tables turned, with Millsaps' bike remained in perfect order to finish 11 in front of Alessi's 2-2 for second. Jonon claimed third overall with a 44 over Washington's Ryan Villopoto and his 3-6. Millsaps was strong in the 85cc Open class, taking both moto wins for the championship, followed by Alessi with a 2-2 for second and Bob Kiniry with a 3-3 for third. The Supermini class housed 42 riders on the gate. Iowa's Teddy Maier grabbed the first-moto holeshot and never looked back, finishing a good 10 second5 in front of Mike Alessi. Florida's Matt Goerke finished third, followed by Kyle Chisholm and Jonathon Kerr. The second moto saw Goerke take the lead off the gate, but Maier caught him out of the first turn and took over the lead. Chisholm found his way to second by the end of the first lap, followed by Goerke, Kiniry and Justin Keeney. Keeney used the final two laps to make his way to third in front of Goerke, while Alessi 85 (12-13) MOD: 1. Oovi Mllisops (50<); 2. MIke Alessi (YlIm); 3. Dennis Jancn (KlIw); 4. Ryan Villopoto (YlIm): 5. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw). 85 (14-1S) STK: I. Bob Kiniry (Su,); 2. Charlie Morrison (Han); 3. Nicole:s Evennou (Yam); 4. Matt Goerke (Yam); 5. Joshua Gnmt (Han). 85 (14-15) MOD: 1. Matt Goerke (Vam); 2. Teddy Maier (Kaw); 3. Bob Kiniry (Suz); 4. Daryl Ecklund (Han); 5. Chettie Morrison (Han). 85 (7-15) OPEN: I. Davl Millsaps (Su,); 2. Mike Alessi (Yam); 3. Bob Kiniry (Suz); 4. Matt Goerke worked his way from a 10th-place position at the end of lap one to finish fifth. In the meantime, Maier checked out and went on to redeem his green stamps at the local trophy trailer. Jeff Alessi took the win over Dominic Izzi in the 65cc (10-11) Modified and Zach Osborne in the 85cc (7 -11 ) Stock class. Ricky Renner of Florida also collected two overall wins over the fourday event, topping the 65cc (10-11) Stock and 65cc (7-11) Open classes. Maryland's Colton Bailey battled fiercely in the 65cc (7-9) Modified class and came away with the overall win, with a 2-2 score. Ian Trettel's 41 gave him second, and Matt Deatley's 3-3 netted him third. Bailey took his second win in the 65cc (7-9) Stock class after Tyler Bowers (4-1) was disqualified. Bowers had raced at the helm of both motos, but a protest in moto two replaced his victory with a DQ. Blake Wharton took second-place honors with a 3-2, as Deatley, once again, finished out the class in third with a 2-3. The only other rider to collect double wins was John Lundy, of Florida, who gathered up the 35+ and 40+ titles. All three 51 cc classes had different champions. Texan Caleb Dowel won the (4-6) Stock class, North Carolina's Ian Trettle topped the (7-8) Stock class, and Colorado's Eli Tomac won the (4-8) Open class. eN (Vom); 5. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw). 105 (12-15) S/MINI: I. Teddy Maier (Kaw); 2. Kyle Chisholm (Kaw); 3. Molt Goerl

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