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
_ ~. I G ene R o m e r o 's E -Mo o la .= m W e st C oast F la t Track S erie s R o und 4 : Twin C it ie s S peedw a y Rob Damron sco red his fi rst c a ree r West Coast Flat Track Series Open Pro A feature win during round f o u r of the se ri e s at T w in C ities Speedway In Marysv ille, Ca lifornia. With the w in, Damron c losed the poin ts gap between him self and d efend ing champion Ronnie Brown. S TO RY BY R O N A LBRIGHT P HOTO S BY E .W. D OMIN E MARYSVILlE, CA, MAY 26 ro fe s s io na l moto rc yc le rac ing was staged a t Marys ville ' s Twin Cities Speedwa y for the firs t time , as Morgan Hill's Rob Damron scooted to victo ry in the 16 - la p Open Pro A ma in event d uring round four of Gen e Romero 's E-Moo la .com West Coast Flat Track Series . Oth er A ma in e ven t wins went to Robert Cunn ington in t he Ha rle y -D avid s on De a le rs of North e rn a nd S o u th e rn Ca lifo rn ia O p e n Vin t a ge c la s s , and Ch ris Ca nepa in the S uzuki 250cc Novic e class . The event, which was p rese nte d by Guide ra 's Ha rle y-Da vid son of Yuba City, play ed to a n enthusiastic c rowd . Damron , a 17 -yea r ve ter a n of profes s io na l moto rc ycl e raci ng o n fla t trac ks , is a ta len ted ride r with many accomplishm ents in AMA Distri ct 36 c o mpe ti t io n over the year s . But a ltho ugh he ha d co me close befo re , he had never won a Wes t Coa st Flat Track Se ries feature until tonight. Riding a CCM 600cc single, Da m ron started the Ope n Pro A main in the middle o f t h e front ro w and dash ed ahead to lead the op e ning circu it, with Visalia 's Donnie Ha rrell a nd Ba ke rs fiel d 's Lonn ie Pau ley in hot pursu it. Th e sta rt prov ed to be crucial for series points lead e r a nd defending cha m pio n Ronn ie Brown of Paso Ro bles , who started from the ins ide of the front row a nd didn't find much trac tion while comple ting la p one in fifth P 28 J UNE 13. 2001 • II: U II: • e p la ce , b e h in d F r e s n o ' s Donn ie Howa rd . Ta s ting victory , Da m ron proceed ed to ride with passion and det e rm ination while ga ining a good lead ove r Ha rr e ll, who o pened u p som e d is tance over Pauley . Mea nwhile , Brown wa s n't a ble to ree l in t he lea ders , a lth ough he did thr ottle pa st Howa rd for fou rth near the ha lfwa y mark . The finish proved to be exciting , as Harrell ca ught Damron on the last lap a nd nearly made a winning pass on the ou tsi de as the c he ckered flag wa ved . Still, the Df,R Racing/ Buffa lo Number Plates/ Puccio Welding -backed Damron to ok the win, with Ha rre ll finish ing a very close second, followed by Pa uley, Brown and Danny Case y. Damron 's win was an emotional one . [Below) Robert Cunnington (14), Rick Hocking (13) and Canadian inv ad e r Royal Adderson (28) launch off the line In the Open Vi ntag e A m a in event. Cunnington got the best start and held the l ea d , nailing down h is third w i n of the series. Hocking was sec ond, and Adderson third. n evvs "This is a big win be ca us e I fin ish ed s econd to Ro n n ie Br o wn in poin ts last yea r, and I've finished sec ond , t h ird an d fou rth in p rev iou s races in th is [20 0 I ] se ries - bu t I've nev er won one of these: Damron sa id. "It's about time, and man , I love itl" La ter , Damron e xp lained wh y he fe lt th e finish was so clos e . "I kne w th e ra ce was about ove r, a nd saw th e flagman wa ving a flag when I went by on the front stra ightawa y," Da m ron s a id . "I ass umed it was t he wh ite fla g and didn 't lo o k that clo se to see what it was. No w I kn ow it was a blue flag for a slower rid e r. An ywa y , when I s aw wh at I thought was the wh ite flag , I cooled it o n th e last la p and ex pecte d to see th e checkered flag next time a round. Bu t th ere was no c h eck e re d flag . T he n I took a peek ba c k an d sa w num ber 54 [Harre ll) co m in' on , so I kne w something was really wrong . At th at po int, , gra bbed th e th rottl e a nd rode hard, and everyth ing turned out oka y - ba re ly. " Cunnington 's win in the Open Vintage A main e ve nt was we ll-earned , as he had to fen d off the advances of former AMA Gra nd Nationa l ace Rick Hocking of Livermore, Although Cunnington led th e e nt ire distance , Hocking hounded him consta ntly an d tried e verything in th e bo ok to get by. But [Below) Brown (1), shown here battling Beau Brown, struggl ed with a bad start and h a d to fight hard j u st to finish f ourth i n the A main.