Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128108
,--- - -- - - - - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - ---, w w ~ 8 >- '" ffi ID .. • 8 ~ Monster Mountai n: Shane Lu s k was the big winner at the Loretta Ly nn 's qualifier In Tallass ee, Alabama, top ping the 125cc A, 250cc A and 125 (12-15 ) Stock classes. Loretta Lynn's Qualifier Monster Mountain Lusk, Millsaps Top the Mountain Bv STEVE AND P E G GV C O RL EE TAU.ASSEE, AL,MAY 5 ond a - m ou nt ed Shane Lusk was on ce aga in the man to be at at Monster Mounta in , as he swept no t only the 125cc and 250cc A divisions but the 125cc (1 2- 13) Stock class as well . This race served as an area qua lifier for the Loretta Lynn 's Amateur Classic , and Lusk faced a number of serious challe ngers eager to sec u re a sp o t on the l ine in Ten nessee thi s summer. Mo re tha n 400 ri ders turned out to try th eir hand at the Mountain , and the crowd certa inly got th eir m on ey 's worth of ba r-banging action. Prom ot er Gary Bl ackwell and his st aff did an outstanding j o b of putt ing on thi s qualifier , and the day 's program went off w ithout a h itch , as usua l. Greg Co le 's Southern Dirt c re w had th e H 38 J UNE 13, 2001 • cu e I e track prepared perfectly, with a few new obstacles to make th ings int eresti ng and plenty of w at er to keep down the dus t. Lusk put on an amazing show as he overcam e first -lap tra ffi c as we ll as fellow r iders d et ermine d to beat h im no matter what, and he man aged to win every moto he entered on the d ay. In 125cc A action , Lusk was fol lowed home b y Mississippi 's Chris Craft, aboard his YZ 125. Craft is an offshore oil wo rker with lim ited time to train and over 30 ye ars old as well, whic h m ak es his i m pre ssive rides even m or e remarkable. In th e 2 50 cc cla ss, Lu s k also swept both races, followed by Suzuki rid er Ke vin Cagle and CR-m ounted J osh ua Roger . Lus k 's fi nal wi n on the day came in th e 125cc Stock class . He easily n • VII' S bested M ississi p pi 's Na than D av en port and Georgia's Michael Graham. An extremely strong Daven port was unfazed by his loss to Lusk in the 125cc St o c k cl ass , and he ca me back to swee p the 125cc B St o c k clas s, ahea d o f S u zu k i ' s B l ake Kennedy and, aga in, Graham. Daven port's win strea k ended , however, in th e 250cc B class , as he settl ed for se c ond , b eh ind fel l o w K awas aki T eam Green ri d er Rya n Sip es , who swept bo th motos. Probably the hottest action all day came in th e M in i classes, as several of the top riders in the South were on hand. Honda 's Brian Zachary mad e t he t ri p f ro m A lv in , T ex a s , to the Mounta in, and th e long rid e paid off, as th e Te xan swep t t h e Superm ini class , ahea d of Georg ia ' s B rett Lee and Andrew Gaddis. In the 85cc ( 1213 ) Stock co ntest , Da vi Mi llsa ps, fresh from multiple class wins at the World Minis, took th e win ov er Florida ho tsho e Co le Boutwell and Kawasaki Team Green 's Justin Sip es. Bou twell took t he 85cc (9 - I 3 ) win , ahea d o f Jes se Van Patten , wh o came back to win the 85 cc (7 -1 1) con t est . T he 50 cc cl asses were am ong the la rgest of th e da y . Georg ia 's Jason McCurdy swept the 50cc (4- 6) Shaft cl ass, and Alabama 's Michael Mims put his Cobra in front of the field in th e 50cc (7 -8) class. The Women 's division provi ded so me intere sti ng raci ng as well. Fastest on th e da y in the I05c c-and up g ro u p w a s Ge org i a ' s Leah Cantrell, w ho dominated her cla ss, putting her RM in th e top spot ahead of Heath er Williams and an injured Jessica Patterson. Br ianna M ill saps , als o aboard an RM, t ook th e win in ' th e Wo m en's 85cc clas s. Finally, in 60cc ac tion, Louisiana 's T y l er Gl asc o c k took h i s K TM t o a two-moto sweep , ahea d of th e KX s of Preston T homa s and Wesley Eth rid ge in the 60cc (7 -9 ) contest. Th e 60 cc (10-11) class saw KTM riders takin g the top seven spots. Florida 's Colten Maynard took the overall via 1-1moto fi nishes. eN MDnster MDuntain Tallassee, A1abaJM Results: May 5, Z 01 50 SHAFT; I. J ason McCurdy (v em ): 2. Byro n Dillard (Yam ): 3. Shelby Dorsey (Yam); 4 . Austin Bea rden (Kaw); 5 . Jackson Friday (Yam) . 50 ( 4· 6 ) ; I. Zacha ry Bell (Co b) ; 2 . Michael Norri s (Co b) ; 3. Byron Dillard (Co b) ; 4 . Bro ck Barrows (KTM); 5. Alexander lejeume (Cob) . 50 ( 7 - 8 ) : I. M ichae l Mim s (Cob ) : 2 . Lu k e Hobson (Co b ) : 3 . Cody Grog g ( KT M ) : 4 . Je sse Turner (Pol) : 5. Cody Reinhardt (Cob) . 65 (7 -9): I. Tyler Glascock ( KTM) : 2. Preston Thomas (Kaw ); 3 . Wesley Eth ridge (Kew ); 4. Luk e Davi e (KTM) ; 5. Forrest Lane (Kl'w). 65 ( 10 - 1 1) : I. Co tten May nard ( KTM ): 2. Kyle Gill s (K T M ): 3 . Ty le r B egu e ( KT M ) : 4 . Ja cob Patterson (KTM); 5. Lucas Crespi (KTM) . 60 -80 ( 7- 1 1) : 1. Preston Thomes ( Kaw) ; 2 . Gage Hart man (SUI) ; 3. Heyden O'Kell y (Kew) ; 4. Wesley Ethridge (Kaw); 5. Tyler Covi ngton (Suz). 85 (7-11): 1. Jesse ve n Patten (Kaw) ; 2. Lucas Crespi (Suz ) ; 3 . Kend all Mason (SUI) ; 4. Aryton Dunke l (Kaw); 5. Ty ler Begue (Kaw ). 8 5 ( 12- 13 ); I. D a ~l d Mill sap s (Suz) : 2 . Cole Bou twell (Yam) ; 3 . J ust in Sipes (Ka w) ; 4. Bradley Wrig ht (Kaw); 5 . Chase Borders (Kaw) . s /MINI 85 - 105: I. Bryon Zac ha ry (Ha n) : 2. Brett Lee (Hon): 3. Andrew Gaddi s (Vam) : 4 . Garrett West (Kow): 5. Mi cah Gregg (Kaw). 16 ·24 : 1. Ja mison Ma nn ( Yam ); 2 . Adam Hancock (Yam) ; 3. Brandon Stampley (Hon ) ; 4 . Matt Lynn (Suz); 5 . Michael Gravette (Yam) . WMN 105 +: 1. Leah Cantrell (Suz) ; 2. Heather Will iam s (Yam) ; 3 . J essica Patterson (Kaw). WI'IN 8 0- 105: I. Brianne Millsaps (Sue} . VET NOV : I. T .C . Lightsey ( Vam) ; 2. Ma rk Leatherman ( Han) ; 3. M. chael Sh ippey (Kaw) ; 4. i J ames Bilderback (YG m); 5. DalTell Marsha ll (Yam) . 25 + : 1. Rodney Summers ( YGm); 2 . Patr i c k Fleming ( Yam); 3 . Craig Creft ( Yam) : 4 . Sta nley Pausina (Yam) ; 5 . Rodney King (Yam ) . 35 +: 1. David Redm ond ( Han); 2. David Crain (Kaw): 3. Steve Rush (Hon) ; 4 . Phillip .Jeweh (sUL); 5. David Thrash (Yam) . 3 0+: 1. Petric k Fl em in g ( Yam ); 2 . Sta nley Pausina (KTM ); 3 . Mike Morris (Han); 4. Jeff Crain (Kaw ); 5. Craig J ohnson (Ka w). 40 +: 1. Darrell Sim s (SUI) ; 2. Bo bby Sl aton (Yam) ; 3. Da vid Daniel (Yam) ; 4. Dav id Crain (Yam) ; 5. Dale WiUiams (Yam). 125 ( 12-1 5) : I. Shone Lusk (Hon): 2. Natha n Dav enp ort ( Kaw ) ; 3 . M.icha el Graham ( Ho n) ; 4 . Bryan Johnson (Suz) ; 5. Brand on Lee (Hon) . 125 A ; I. Shand Lu sk ( Ho n) ; 2 . Chri s Croft (Yam ); 3. Karl Sco tt (Yam) ; 4 . Kevin Cagl e (Kaw); 5. Timothy Castrone (Yam) . 125 B: 1. Nathan Davenport (Kaw ); 2. Bla ke Kenn edy (SUI); 3. Michael Graham (Han) ; 4 . Cody Watford (SUL): 5. Marc Rudolph (Hon ). 250 A: 1. Shan e Lusk (Hon); 2. Kev in Cag le (Kaw); 3. Jo shua Roser (Hon ); 4. Timothy Castro ne (Suz): 5. J on Boy Monk (s UL). 2 5 0 B : 1. Ry an S ip e s ( Ke w); 2. N athan Davenport (Kaw) : 3. Blake Kenned y (s UL): 4. Cody Watford (s UL): 5. Adam Bisso (Hon). 250 C: I. Br and on Stampley ( Hon) ; 2. Steven Swicord (Yam) ; 3. Robert Durk ee (Yam); 4 . Steven John son (Yam ); 5. Al ex Rayner (Suz) . CCS Southwest S rintSeries Round 4: Firebird Raceway Aprilias BIOV\T Firebird Away Bv M I CHAE L Ro ss CHANDLER, AZ, MAY 10 F R Pro Italia teammates Aa ro n Clark and Mark Le desma blew i nto t own Sa t u r day mo rn i n g w ith their 2001 Aprili a M ill e Rs an d dev astated the co m pe titio n b y w in ni ng eve ry t hi ng th ey ente red and sma sh ing t he nascent F ir eb ird East track rec ord set by Rory Palmer during the March race. Led esma broke the track record on tak e-off tires during the Unlimited GP rac e while c h a si n g down hi s fast - B starting teammate Clark , who w ent on to win the Unlimited GP race, with L ed esma in t o w . A s wo ul d b e t he case all we eken d, no body el se was eve n close . Led esm a 's tra ck reco rd now st ands at 0 :59.87 . In all, th e BFR Pro It a ia team won four races . Ledesma sco red his wins in Heavyweight Sup erbike , Supertwins and GTO, wh ile Clark reigned supreme in the prestigious Unlimited GP race. The on ly rider with any hope of combating the Italian interlopers was local hero Rory Palmer, but as Palmer