Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

CMA Bounty Hunter Series Round1: SalinasSports Complex Holland Tunnels Through to the Win B y J OHN BETH EA SAUNAS, CA, MAY 12 u s t y Holl and ri pp ed throug h a t ou gh c o n t in g e nt o f wa n n a b e s a nd won the 20-l a p m a in e ve nt after comi ng from th e ba c k of the field in the CMA's first Bou nt y Hun te r Series event of the ne w m ille nn ium befor e an enthusi a sti c c rowd at th e S a linas Sports Co m plex. The Honda -bac k e d ra c er fr om Fresno de stroy e d th e field in the fo ur Pro -Am qualifiers, winning eac h , thus th row ing down th e ga u nt le t to bot h th e ra c er s a nd CMA offici als . When it came to stacking up th e ha ndicapped fie ld for th e main eve nt, no t o nly was Ho lla nd p la ced at th e back m arke r, he was penalized even more ya rda ge a nd t o ld he cou ld n 't pass a n y o n e unt il at least th e sec ond co rne r - R whic h , fr om his p ersp e c t ive , was ne a rly half th e first la p! Despite th is handica p , Holla nd st ill came o u t as t h e rid e r g etting th e h igh e st b ids in the p re -e vent Mo toCu tta , in whi ch a ll 10 ra c e rs were a uct ione d off to the crowd for m or e than $10 00 , to be s h are d e q ually between the ra ce winner and the purcha s ing fa n. Da vid Boothe, a S uzuki rider from Clovis , California, was put back in the n umbe r- n ine starti ng posi t io n , th us m ak in g him Holl and ' s c losest fo e . Earlier in th e day, during Pro ra c ing for rid er s to c onditionally qual ify for the e ve ni ng p rogram , Billy Jurevi c h ha d de fe ated a ll c ome rs in both th e 125c c a nd 2 50cc Pro s ess ions a nd wa s clea rly g ett ing dia led in to ta ke on Holl a nd . How e ver, a bad s pill in his first 250c c evening qualifier sent the Suzuki rider fro m ne a rby Hollis ter to th e h o s p it a l t o b e c hecked out , c re a ting a void in the final line up . Wh en th e ma in e ve nt got under wa y , G e or g e S c h ne ider o f S a n Miguel , Cali fornia , took the ea rly lea d fro m t he fron t ro w but w as s oon za p ped b y the fie ld . The first rider w it h an y real sh ot at victo r y t o e merge from the pac k wa s C ra ig Tru glio from Atwat e r, Californ ia, who h ad bro ugh t his Ya m a h a from s ixth and wa s push ing hard . Wh ile Holland was pic king off ride rs , Boothe fina lly m a naged to take over th e le a d by th e seve nt h lap a nd a c tua lly s t arted to pul l away from everyone, kn owing he ha d to bu ild a b ig le ad to fe n d o ff Holla nd , who had moved into s ec ond p lace by lap nine . For seve ral tr ips aro u n d t he co u rse , it looke d li k e Bo oth e ju s t mi ght p ull it off, bu t t ha t's when HoIla n d k ic ke d o ut th e jams an d ro de like a m an poss ess e d . As h e had du ring the qua lifie rs , Ho lla nd go bb led up all kinds of ya rda ge between tu rns on e a nd t h re e , an d c o m in g o ut o f tu rn three on th e 12th la p he c a ug ht an d pa s s ed Boothe , Onc e in fron t - cu e I e ex cept for one he a rt- sto p ping bobble - Holl a nd bu ilt h is le ad a nd wo n going aw a y. Truglio m a de the best showing in the handi ca p sy stem, ho lding off Jeff Pestana and Ha ro ld Hagema n for the e nti re race to ma nage th ird ove ra ll. Pesta na , starting e ighth , cou ld o nly plac e h is Hond a in fou rth . Suz ukim o u nted Hagem a n s tarted seven t h and finished fifth . Sportsmen riders were th e sta rs of th e daytime portion of the event that fe a tu re d stadium -s ty le ra c ing on the t ig h t , u ndu la t in g co urs e th at pro duced lap tim es of about on e mi nute fo r the le s s - e x p e r ie n c e d r a c ers , th ough t he faste s t ri d e rs c lo c ke d time s in the low 50s, Rob by Ba pt ista of Ke rm an , Californ ia, brought a pa ir of Hond a s to the he a d of t he listings , ta kin g s econds in the first ro u nds of bo th 125cc and 2 50cc Intermedi a te com petitio n, and th e n ba ck ing up t ho s e re su lts wit h victo rie s in th e second m atos , eac h tim e aci ng ou t ride rs who wou ld late r make it to the Bo unty Hunte r main . As usual , th e Ca s ey Hinso n-Dustin Pipe s battl e con tinu ed . This tim e out , Hinson preva iled in th e 80cc Inte rm e - n e vv S • J UNE 20. 200 1 57

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