Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

day night races each less than 50 miles away, you'd think the entry lists would be smaller than that, but the fast track, perfect racing conditions and well-run racing are dependable week in and week out. Double K Trailers/Neeley's/Hinkle's Billfold-backed Thomas tucked in behind the Axo/HJC Helmets/ Bridgestone Tires/Paw Paw/MX Eastsp'onsored McSwain on the start of their 65cc (7-9) qualifier. Letting McSwain show him the hot lines on her way to the win, Thomas dogged the Kawasaki jockey for the whole three laps. Local hotshoe Austin Ropp of Shelby, Hager Kawasaki/ Watercraft Motorsports-backed Brandon Greene, and Jake Leatherwood of Waynesville, North Carolina, filled out the top five. On the 65cc (7-9) main-event start, Thomas grabbed the holeshot, squeezing out McSwain to second and making sure she stayed there for the whole five laps. McSwain made a hallelujah charge at the finish, but Thomas had too much momentum rocketing up the final slope and stayed ahead by the length of a Dunlop. Leatherwood had a fine ride in third for the whole race, staying ahead of the purposeful pursuit of Shelby Outdoor Power Equipment's Ropp and Suzuki-Kawasaki of Gastonia's Nick Newton. Skyler McMahan finished wel1 in sixth - a pretty good lick for a four-stroke Yamaha. Newly advanced to the 125cc C ranks, Piedmont Auto Glass of Gaffney's Jeff Davis of Bessemer City, North Carolina, owned that class over a field of' 11. Davis sits second in 125cc C points to Barr's Competition/Cool Cycle/Dad-backed Josh Brady of Cherryville, North Carolina; Driver Equipment Co.'s Darrell Driver of Iron Station, North Carolina, is not far behind in third. Davis won the 125cc C qualifier, with Brady and Driver all over him. On the mainevent start, Davis again pulled the holeshot, accompanied by Brady. However, Driver got tangled .up in a starting-line crash and, after taking more than a lap to power up again, he simply cruised the course to salvage a finish. With only one bogie to watch for, Davis stayed cool and took the win on autopilot, with Brady on his tail but still safely behind him. Shelby's Bryan Beattie, Iron Station's Stephen Kepley, and Safelite Auto Glass of Gastonia-backed Scott Davis rounded out the top five. Unlimited C also belonged to Davis; incidentally, he leads the points in that class, but Driver is less than five points behind in second. The results got scrambled from qualifier to main event, owing to some unforeseen get-offs. Davis notched 48 OCTOBER 3, 2001 • I: U a •• another two wins to take the class victory. Driver got a good start in the qualifier, but on the last lap he took a bad hop in the whoops and went down hard. The Suzuki of Gastonia rider recovered to finish well back in the pack of a dozen. The main event was kinder to Driver; he finished third, behind the Honda-mounted Kepley. Beattie, who fmished second in the Unlimited C qualifier, was a crash victim, with Brady, in the main event; they finished ninth and 10th. Chris Gantt rode consistent fourthplace races aboard his Norman Signs-backed Yamaha; RKA Used Cars/Pro Motion Suspension's Randy Moon of Taylors, South Carolina, handled his Suzuki to third in the qualifier but was swarmed by Driver, Kepley and Gantt in the main event, finishing fifth. eN Shelby Supen:l'OS$ Shelby, Nortlt Carolio. Results: August 25,2001 (Round 121 50 SHAFT BEG: 1. Brandon Holland (Vam); 2. Chase Vodry (Vam); 3. Sawyer Vodry (Vam): 4. DiUon Harris (SUI); 5. Brandon Ropp (Vam). 50 SHAFT C: I. Matthew Burgan (Vam); 2. Cody Tyler Bridges (Yam); 3. Dillon Burks (Yam); 4. Benjamin Genn (Hon); 5. Russ Davis. 50 SHAFf: 1. Tyler McSwain (Yam); 2. Brandon Wollenhaupt (Yam); 3. Adam Bowen (Yam); 4. Bryce Mullis (Vam); 5. Cody Griffin (Hon). 50 (4·6): I. Tyler McSwain (Vam); 2. Adam Bowen (KTM); 3. Cody Cornwell (Vam); 4. Zack Brown (Hon); 5. Cody Griffin (Hon). 50 (7-8): 1. Lucas Helms (KTM): 2. Chelsea McSw8in (Cob); 3. Tripp Smith (Pol); 4. Brandon Wollenhaupt (KTM); 5. Dylan Nash (KTM). 50 OPEN: 1. Lucas Helms (KTM); 2. Tripp Smith (Pol); 3. Dylan Nash (KTM); 4. Cody Moore (Pol); 5. Derrick Shuda (Hus). 65 (7-9): I. Cody Thomas (Kaw); 2. Chelsea McSwain (Kaw); 3. Jeke Lelltherwood (Kaw); 4. Austin Ropp (Kaw); 5. Nick Newton (Kaw). 65 (10-11): 1. Michael McQuay (KTM): 2. Jesse Lawing (Kaw); 3. Ryan Parkerson (K8W); 4. Carlos Short (Kaw); 5. Paul Horton (Kaw). 65 OPEN: 1. Jesse Lawing (Kaw); 2. Cody Thomas (Kaw): 3. Carlos Short (Kaw); 4. Jeremiah Driscoll (KTM); 5. Ryan Parkerson (Kaw). 80 C: 1. Roy Frick (Kaw); 2. Jeremy Price (Yam); 3. Mack Mcilwain (Yam); 4. Gery Johnson (Vam); 5. Matthew Duncan (Hon). 80 0: 1. Brandon Moose (Hon); 2. Men Mllrtin (Kaw); 3. Todd Ray (Hon); 4. Matt Ramsey (Hon); 5. Louis Caruso Jr. (Hon). 85 (7-11) JR MINI: 1. Michael McQuay (KTM); 2. Matt Huss (Vam): 3. Jay Bynum (Vam). 85 (12-15) SR MINI: I. Brad Hinson (SUl); 2. Justin Hopson (Kaw); 3. Roy Frick (Kaw): 4. Chad VInson (Kaw): 5. Gary Johnson (Vam). S/I'IINI: 1. Brad Hinson (SUI); 2. Justin Hopson (Kaw): 3. Chavis Poole (Hon). 125 AlB: 1. Jeremy Davis (Kaw); 2. Matthew Davis (SUl). 125 C: I. Jeff Davis (SUI); 2. Josh Brady (Vam): 3. Bryan Beattie (Kaw); 4. Stephen C. Kepley (Hon): 5. Scott. Davis (So2). 125 D: 1. Justin Gardner (Yam); 2. Tim Christian (Yam); 3. Jonah Cloninger (Yam); 4. Michael Meushaw (Yam); 5. Jeremy George (SUl). 250 A/B: 1. Shane Clampitt (SUI); 2. Rodney Scott (Yam); 3. Shannon logan (Yem); 4. Scott Smith (Kaw); 5. Jeremy Davis (Kaw). 250 C: 1. Darrell Driver (SUl); 2. Randy Moon (SUl); 3. Andy G. Williams (SUl); 4. Chris Gantt (Vam); 5. a. Clayton Weeks Jr. (Kaw). 250 0: 1. Stuart Link (Yam); 2. John Setzer (Vam); 3. Jason Volk (Hon); 4. Elliott Newton (Vam): 5. Curtis Correll (Vam). 25. A/B: I. Rodney Scott (Vam). 25. C/O: I. Darrell Warwick (SUl): 2. Ray Lambert (Hon); 3. Reagan Perry (Suz): 4. Brian Bartlett (SUI); 5. Bryan Loncaric (Kaw). 30+ AlB: 1. Shannon Logan (Yam); 2. David Shugart (Vam). 30. C/O: I. Mike Wyatt (Vam): 2. Darrell Warwick (SUl); 3. Ray Lambert (Hon); 4. Steve Abernathy (Vam); 5. Carl Adolphson (Vam). 35+: 1. Travis Bell (Suz); 2. Mark Parkerson (Kaw); 3. David Shugart (Vam); 4. Sam Reece (Hon); 5. David Evans (Kaw). all AM: 1. Shane Clampitt (Suz); 2. Reagan Perry (SUI). aIL C: 1. Jeff Davis (Suz); 2. Stephen C. Kepley (Hon): 3. Darrell Driver (SUI); 4. Chris aantt (Vam); 5. Randy Moon (SUI). all 0: 1. Justin Gardner (Yam); 2. Joneh Cloninger (Yam); 3. Jason Volk (Hon); 4. Stevey Zimmennan (Suz); 5. TIm Christian (Yam). n • _ S lronman Endurance Challenge: The blue member of the overall winning team, Vance Earl, gets ready to charge during the secC?nd hour of rain in Danbury, North Carolina. lronman Endurance Challenge McLevy & Earl: a Winning Combo! Bv HEATHER GREER DANBURY, NC, JULY 29 technical track and a two-day downpour conspired to make the Ironman Endurance Challenge live up to its name_ The Ironman is set up to be motorcycling's answer to relay racing, with two riders switching off during a six-hour race. When it was time to switch, the relief rider would be waiting in a staging area and would take off when their team member came off the track at the scoring tent. In the rain, just running to the bike for the Le Mans-style start gave riders a slippery preview of things to come. Hills that would have been challenging if dry turned downright ugly after a weekend of rain. Josh McLevy was the first to reach his bike and get going at the Pro-class start. McLevy set the pace with fast, 25-minute laps. Not far behind him were Jason Gilleland and Jason Greer. After three laps, McLevy was relieved by Vance Earl. Meanwhile, Greer was relieved by Daniel Morrison, who passed Gilleland's teammate, Tim Luckadoo, who was hung up behind a lapped rider on a slick hillside. By the time McLevy rejoined the race, Earl had opened up a fiveminute lead ahead of Greer and Morrison. After re-entering the race for his second segment, Greer fell in behind another rider 'on a fast fire road and missed a turn that wasn't bannered. A Not realizing the mistake, Greer found himself in front of McLevy at the end of the lap and then realized his mistake on the following lap. Greer notified the promoter of the mistake and was docked four minutes. When Earl came on, he was in the position of having to chase down Morrison. While Earl was battling with Morrison, he bent his shift lever on a stump-infested uphill. Although slightly debilitated, Earl caught a break when Morrison slid out on a root during an uphill charge. Earl had just passed Morrison when he realized he had a rear flat. Morrison passed Earl right at the scoring tent. Earl had to exit the course a lap early to repair the shifter and tire, catching McLevy by surprise. In less than a minute, McLevy sprinted to the tent, threw on his gear and got back out on the course to chase Morrison. Charged up, McLevy passed Morrison toward the end of the lap, and Greer came on to give chase to dose the gap to within two minutes of the leader. However, in the fifth hour of the race, the skies opened, turning the steep trails into cascading waterfalls. With two laps to go and lap times reaching past the 3D-minute mark, the race was called off and the checkered flag came out to greet McLevy as he came around. The McLevy/Earl team took the overall win and the prize money of

• Cover