Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

California State C'ship Hillclimb/NAHA C'ship Hillclimb Series Round 1: Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area STORY AND PHOTOS By MARK KARIYA ~ORE,CA,APR.1 M ontana's Dusty Beer snatched victory and the biggest chunk of the $20,000 purse from Utah's Mel Kimball by setting the day's fast time on his second Tun to win the Open Exhibition class at the 13th annual California State Championship Hillclimb at Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area. Travis Whitlock of Colorado rounded out the top three, while Pete Krunich was the best Californian at eighth place. The event not only served as the state championship but also round one of the North American Hillclimbers Association (NAHA) Championship Hillclimb Series. Four rounds remain in the western statescentered series, with its emphasis on rough, technical hills as well as speed. "The hill was getting those big ledges, and I didn't think that (you could go faster on the second runs]," the 1428cc Kawasaki-mounted Beer admitted later. "Mel laid down that first fast time, and I didn't think anybody was going to pick that off. Everything just went to plan [on my second run]; I cleaned the ledges and didn't lose any momentum. I've probably got a little bit of horsepower on most of these guys. That helped out, making up a little bit of time at the bottom." This marked Beer's third straight California state championship and, by his recollection, the sixth or seventh Golden State title in its 13-year history. However, Kimball set a sizzling pace with his 12.917 -second first run up the 475-foot Exhibition hill on his Honda CB1219cc-powered machine. The majority of successful runs seemed to average in the 16- to 20second range, so Kimball's time set a high standard. Still, Beer's 13.06 was within range. Also in the hunt was Ken Kimball at 14.521, Brandon Whitlock with a 14.585, and Travis Whitlock's 14.800; all rode Yamaha FJ1200engined creations. The second set of runs went better for some and worse for others. Ken Kimball enjoyed a slightly smoother ride, improving to 14.454, which would be fifth best for the day. Brandon Whitlock also found a quicker way up the hill, posting a 14.085 that would earn him fourth. Travis Whit- Despite this little freestyle maneuver in his first run, Dusty Beer came back in his second round to nail a flawless run up Camegie's hill and capture the Open Exhibition class and his third straight Califomia state hillclimb championship. lock improved markedly to 13.286, but he felt he could've done better. "I wish I would've geared up one more on the countershaft to go a little faster," Travis said. "I felt like I was topped out [in second]. It was as fast as I could make that thing go - and it was scary at that speed!" That was enough to put him on the podium at third place, though. Mel Kimball was one who suffered with a worse run, clocking 13.468, but his first run was good enough to retain second, after Beer's 11.508. That sealed the win for Beer. "After not riding a lot this winter, I felt pretty good," Travis Whitlock offered. "We worked a few bugs out; I think we'll be more fine-tuned for next time. This hill here was more of a horsepower hill, so those with more horsepower - with a straight-up type of run like it is - the bigger-horsepower bikes shine. I'm happy with it. If I can place in the top five in each class [I ride], I'm real happy with that." And he did defeat Beer in the Open Pro Altered class, which was run on a different slope. eN Carnegie Slate Vehicular Recreation Area livennore, Califomia Results: April 1, 2001 [Round 11 OPEN EXHIB: 1. Dusty Beer (Kaw): 2. Mel Kimball (Hon); 3. Travis Whitlock (Yam); 4. Brandon Whitlock (Yam); 5. Ken Kimball (Yam). 700 EXHIB: 1. Dusty Beer (KTM): 2. Mike Reesor (Kaw); 3. Travis Whitlock (Hon); 4. Mel Kimball (Han); 5. Nolan Martin (KTM). OPEN PRO ALTO: I. Travis Whitlock (Yam): 2. Dusty Beer (Kaw); 3. Robie Peterson (ub); 4. Mike Reesor (Kaw); 5. Ken Kimball (Yam). 250 EXHIB: 1. Dusty Beer (KTM); 2. Wilson Ornelllls (Hon); 3. Pete loomis (KTM); 4. Pete Krunich (Han); 5. Travis Whitlock (Hon). OIT OPEN PRO: 1. Barney Hilton (Kaw); 2. Dennis Spencer (Kaw); 3. Russell McCoy (ZDb); 4. Leroy Eberling (Zab); 5. Jeff Barger (So'). OfT 600 PRO: 1. Barney Hilton (Kaw); 2. Darrel Holmquist (Han); 3. Leroy Ebeling (Han); 4. Duane Hughes (Han); 5. Jeff Barger (Han). SR 600: 1. Lefty Frueh: 2. Scott Specht (Jaw); 3. Olde Scott (KTM); 4. Marc Smith (Han); 5. Don David (Yam). STK 500: I. Mike Reesor (Kaw); 2. Scott Bums (Han); 3. Mr. Perry (Yam); 4. Kevin Riggs (Han); 5. David Mllson (Hon). STK 50: I. Thunder Olsen (Han); 2. Cory Beal (KTM); 3. Garret Duarte (KTM); 4. Jake Casey (Lem); 5. Melissa Arra (Hon). STK 60: 1. Tony Gera; 2. Shane Smith: 3. Shane Speed (Kaw); 4. Cory Beal (Kaw): 5. Hydan Jackson (Kaw). STK 80: 1. Pete Krunich (Hon); 2. Matthew Coleman; 3. Kent Keener (Hon); 4. Nathan Hollister (Suz); 5. David Lucas (Han). P/W 80: ]. Trevor Besse (Yam); 2. Kaylyn Crump (Yam); 3. Chivon Crump (Yam). STK 125: 1. Travis Simmons (Hon); 2. Kraig Keener (Hon); 3. Matt Hahn (Hon); 4. Henny Leire (Hon); 5. Pete Krunich (Hon). STK 250: 1. Chris Cravens (Yam); 2. Mark Henderson; 3. Keith Thomas Jr. (Han); 4. Brandon Anderson; 5. Travis Simmons (Hon). WMN 80: 1. Kacy MlIrtinez (Hon); 2. Brittany Bums (Hon); 3. Crystal Hise (Yam); 4. Tessie Barger (Yam). WMN 100: I. Hannah Barger (Hon). WMN 125: 1. Kimberly Russell (Kaw): 2. Jennifer Hise (Suz); 3. Christina Chamorro (Yam); 4. Stacy Thompson (Yam). WMN 200: 1. Carrina Sullivan (Hon). WMN 250: 1. Angela Thomas (Han); 2. Ruby Grisso (Yam). 100 4·STRK: 1. Jason Meyers; 2. Dean Roblee (Hon): 3. Mark Ranche: 4. Derrick Rhodes; 5. Alan Senrano (Yam). 200 4-STRK: 1. Nathan Lemas (Han). 250 4-STRK: 1. Lyne Weem (Hon). 350 4-STRK: 1. Brock Thompson (50'). 500 4·STRK: I. James Perry (Yam); 2. Ron McDaniel (Suz); 3. Doug Olsen; 4. Paul Zischk; 5. Jerry Bowsers. 600 4-STRK: 1. Phillip Lucas (Hbg); 2. Dale Cope; 3. Wes Kennedy; 4. Dana Henke (Yam); 5. Gary Clark (Yam). OPEN 4·STRK: I. Kevin Smith (Hon); 2. Allen McKinley (Kaw). VET STK 250: I. Fred Blair (Han); 2. Denny Stolie (Suz); 3. Paul Hollister (Suz); 4. Kevin Sorensen (Han); 5. Kevin Pipkins (Han). VET STK 500: 1. Kevin Riggs (Hon); 2. Keith Thomas (Hon); 3. Scott Bums (Hon); 4. Steve Ritter (Kaw); 5. Paul Hollister (KTM)... OfT 250: 1. Denny Storlie (Suz). O/T 600: 1. Charlie Kriboriama (Han); 2. Erik Schaffer (Han); 3. Alan Besse (KTM); 4. Sam Aquino (Yam): 5. Mike Mape (Han). ALTD STK 600: 1. Scott Burns (Hon); 2. Scott Peterson (Hon); 3. Kevin Brea (Hon); 4. Pat Johnson; 5. Dustin Sullivan (Han). ALTO STK OPEN: J. Scott Peterson; 2. Jeff Higgins (Suz); 3. Mike Hartwell. VET ALTO 600: 1. John Holden (Hon); 2. Scott Bums (Han); 3. Scott Peterson (Han); 4. Kevin Riggs (Hon); 5. Gino Valente (Han). VET ALTO OPEN: 1. Ron McDaniel (Kaw); 2. Jeff Higgins (50'). OfT 600: I. Gary Clark (Han); 2. Erik Schaffer (Hon): 3. Jeff Young (Hon); 4. Mick Jensen (Han); 5. Darrell Cope. Orr OPEN: 1. Leroy Eberling; 2. Dennis Spencer (Kaw); 3. Mick Jensen (Kaw): 4. John Deer. SR: 1. Cbarlte Kriborian (Hon); 2. Richard Howe (SUl); 3. George Sauer (Han); 4. Don David (Yam). (Above) Travis Whitlock powers up the 475-foot Exhibition hili en route to third in the Open Expert class. He was the only other rider besides Beer and Kimball to get into the 13-second range. (Left) Montana's Mel Kimball - shown here in the 700cc Exhibition class, where he got third - set the fast Open Exhibition time on his first run, a time that Beer would better in the second round. Thus, Kimball settled for second in Open Exhibition. ... U ....... n ... _:IS • APRIL 25, 2001 29

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