Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Gene Romero's E -Moola . c om W est Coa st Flat Track S eries Round 3 : K ings Speedway (Left) Bill Spencer (fa r righ t) Inte rv ie ws ru nne rup John Hl ebo III (7 0 ) after th e Opan A ma in at ro und th ree of Gene Romero's EMoola.com West Coast Flat Track Series at Kings Speedway, while winner Ronnie Brown (1) and third-placed Donnie Hanell discuss the race. Nobody knew It at the time, but the motorcycle racing community would lose Spencer to a heart attack less than two weeks later, on May 30. Spencer was a recognized personality in Ca lifornia racing circle s. PH OTO S BV DENNIS S UTER d it or 's Note: Cy cle New s cov erage of this even t was slated to be hand led by longtim e contrib u tor "B ig tim e " Bill Sp en c er, whos e s u d de n passing on May 3 0 l eft us wit hout text for this featu re. Sp encer was one of th e oldest and most fait hfu l contributors to this new spap er, and th e loss has h it senior memb ers of th e staff of Cycl e News very hard. Thus, it is our in ten tion to ru n this photo feature in h is honor and simp ly tell of on e sma ll i n ci de n t that took pla ce at King s Sp eed w ay , whi ch w e feel g r eatly illustrates Spencer's t remendous in fl uence. Th e dea th of West Coast Flat Track Series competitor Dan ny Hart at the prev ious roun d in Bak ersfi eld , California, had cast a h eavy p all ove r the Ha nford eve nt, b u t it was Sp en cer, w ho was calli ng t he ra ces that evening, w ho p ut every th ing back on track . Du ring the opening ceremonies, Sp en cer calmly and solemnly read th e me morial let te r t hat h ad be en written to Dann y in the race program, while Danny 's brother, Donnie, rod e Da n n y 's number 252 aro und the track for a lap In h is memory. Spencer provided the proverbial stea dy ha nd th at th e series needed in order to rig h t itself fro m th e tragedy and sta rt the heali ng process. If y ou 'd ha ve asked h im ab out the sig nifi cance of his con trib ution lat er, h e prob ably wo u ld h a ve told you t ha t i t was no big d ea l, but that 's what Bill Spen cer w as all about. He E 30 JUNE 13. 2001 • cue • .. was always someon e that you cou ld count on, and it was almost automat· tc that, when there was a big motorcy cle race som ewh ere in the state of California, Bill Sp enc er was the re to do th ejob, whatever it was . Motorcycle racing has lost one of its steady hands. eN Godsp eed, Bill. A MIN ( 15 rider s: 12 laps ): I. Rick Hocking (Yam ); 2. Brad Spencer (Yam) ; 3 . Donnie Harrell (Tri ); 4 . Paul Herman (Tri) ; 5. Steve Hall (Yam); 6. Robert Cunnington (Yem ): 7. Jeff S. Johnson (Yam); 8. Bob Cobb (Yam); 9. Jay Gosvenor (Yam) ; 10. Bill Flett {Tri ): 11. Joe Steffen (Yam); 12. Bob Graves (Yam) ; 13 . Jimm y Sanchez (Yam); 14 . Larry Hannah (Hon): IS . Mike Gonzales (Vom) . Suzuki Novice 250 A MA IN. ( 15 riders; 10 laps) : 1. Chris Canepa (Yam ) ; 2 . Josh Ritchie (Y am); 3 . Da niel Brown (Yam ) ; 4 . Brad Spe ncer J r. (Ya m ); 5 . Ric k Hollenbeck (Suz} : 6 . Jo e McC oy (T M) : 7. Dov i d Brown (Ya m); B. Jimmy Abram s (Yam): 9 . Frankie Lane ( Hon) ; 10. Woody Ca rlson (Suz); 11. Scott Watki ns ( Han ) ; 12. Frankie Eubanks (Ya m ); 13 Sc ott Shoup ( Hon ) : 14 . J ohn Fi ga s ( Ho n) : I S Manuel Jimenez (Han). GENE ROMERO' S E·MO OLA.COM WEST COASl FLAT TRA CK SERIES PONTS STANDIN GS ( Aft e, of 3 of 11 rounds): 1. Ronnie Brown (54/1 win); 2 Joh n Hlebo III (42 ); 3. J .P. Sim onsen (4 1): 4 . (TIE: Don Howard{Tony Souza Jr. (3 6 ); 6 . Rob Damror (32): 7. Donnie Horrell (29): 8. Danny Hart (24/1) : 9 Jim Roso (22 ): 10. Ja im e A guil ar (20) : 1 1. (TIE : Randy Beremen /Lonnie Pauley (19 ); 13. Billy Martir (17 ) : 14 . Kev in Bricke r ( 16 ) : 15 . (TIE ) Ro( Spencer/ Beau Brown (15) . OPEN VINTA GE: 1. Robert Cunnington ( 6 1 ~ wins); 2. Rick Hocking (42/1 win); 3. Bred Spencer (34): 4. (TIE) Joe Steffen/ Paul Herm an (32): 6. (TIE: Steve Hall/Jeff S. Johnson (29); 8 . Mike Gonzelea (24) : 9 . Rod Spencer (23) : 10. Bob Cobb (20): II (TI E) Joe Carrerlll/Jimmy Sanchez/Donnie Harrel ( 16) : 14. (TI E) Keith Br odford/Larry Hannah/Bet Graves (14 ). NOVI CE 250 : I. Jo sh Ritchie ( 58/1 win): 2 . Chris Canepa (54/1 win) : 3. Woody Carlson (39): 4. Woody Carlson (3 9) ; 4 . (TI E ) Scott Watkins/Bra e Spencer Jr. (3 5) ; 6 . Daniel Brown (3 1); 7 . Frankie Lane (29) : 8. Josh Chisum (27 /1 win) ; 9 . Davi d Brown (26) ; 10 . Rick Hollenbeck (24); 11. Joe McCoy (2 1); 12. John Figos ( 19): 13 . (TI E) Bryan Bern a/Ern i e L yl es ( 13 ) : 15 . (T IE) D ennI s Voll/Fronkle Eubonk s ( I S). Upcoming Rounds: Round 4 - Marysville. Calilomia , May 26 Round 5 - Paso Robles, Calilomia, June 9 (Left) Chris Canepa (2 ) and Josh Ritchie (54) f uele d their No vic e 250cc riv a lry w ith th is battle In the A main event. Canepa he ld on f or the w in, but Ritchie m ai ntained the class po in ts lea d. Kings Speedway Hanford, California Results: May 19, ZOOl (Round 3 of 111 E-Moola.com Open Pro FAST l1M.E: 1. Ronnie Brown (Rtx). DASH: 1. Billy Martin (W·R): 2. Ronnie Brown (Rtx); 3. J.P. Simonsen (W·R) ; 4 . Donnie Harrell (Rt x): 5 . Jo hn Hlebo III (Rtx) : 6. Shawn Ragg io (CCM) . A MAIN ( 15 riders: 16 laps): 1. Ronnie Brown (W -R) ; 2. John Hlebo III (Rtx) ; 3. Donnie Harrell (RlX); 4. Rob Damron (CCM): 5. J .P. Simonsen (W R): 6. To ny Souza (CCM ): 7 . Jim Rosa (He n): 8. Donnie Howard {Rtx ): 9 . Robert Cunnington (Rtx) ; 10. Jamie Aguilar (KTM): 11. Lonnie Pauley (W·R ); 12. Jesse Sanchez (Hbg): 13. Bill y Moron (W-R): 14. Danny Cosey (CeM) : IS . Beau Brown (CCM). H·D Dealers of Northern and Southern California Open Vintage FAST TIME: 1. RobertCunnington (Yam) . DASH: 1. Robert Cunnington (YlII m) : 2. Donnie Harrell (Tri ); 3. Rick Hocking (Yem): 4 . Brad Spencer (Tri) . nevws (Le ft) Rick Hocking (13) mixes it up with Donnie Harrell (5 4Z) In Open Vintage action. Hocking went on to claim victory In the Open Vintage A main event, while Hanell's third-place finish would ultimately give him two podium appearances on the night. Brad Spencer was second In the Open Vintage A main event.

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