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Eddie Mulder West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series Round 2: Paso Robles Fairgrounds (Above left) Marty Lewis won the Senior main event at the second round of the Eddie Mulder West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Serles. (Above right) Lauren Wallace won the Youth 80cc class and then surprised the crowd at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds by removing her helmet. STORY AND PHOTOS BY JAMEY BLUNT PASO ROBLES, CA, SEPT. 2 ound two of the Eddie Mulder West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series took place on a warm Sunday afternoon. With over 12,000 in attendance for the California Mid-State Rally, this was to be the final night's entertainment. Some 4,200 spectators took advantage of this opportunity to witness some of the best Vintage racing on terra firma. The deep-cushion fifth-mile oval was prepared by Danny Ritchie. As the sun set, the first of the 172 entered riders rolled to the start line for the first of the 15 five-lap heat races. At the start of the A&A Racing/ ARD Ignitions Senior main event, Marty Lewis took the ,lead going into turn one and stayed there until lap eight, when Dan Phillips took over. Lewis charged back past up the front straight to retake the lead, and he held on for the win over Philips and Joey Brown. The Barnett/Dodge Brothers Racing Super Senior class featured the hardest and most spectacular crash of the night. Ron Moreno, running in third, was being hounded from behind by Dave Cheney. The two connected on the back straightlon lap four, sending Moreno over the bars; his beautiful 650cc Triumph somersaulted six feet in the air and landed right on top of him. The race was redflagged and Moreno was checked out by medical personnel. While being helped to his feet, Moreno received his first standing ovation! After the restart, Ron Gould went on to win. In the C&J Racing Vet class, Greg Wilburn led Jeff Johnson until lap seven, when, going into turn one, Johnson took over. "Never Say Die" Wilburn returned the favor on lap eight, putting a wheel under Johnson and pushing him high, thus regaining the lead. At the checkers, Wilburn R 38 OCTOBER 3, 2001 • cue (Left) Paul Herman (88) battles Greg Wilburn (32A) in the Modern 750cc main in Paso Robles, California. Herman won and Wilburn was runner-up. (Right) Ronnie Brown (2) rode his 1940 Indian to the Dlno victory, but the bike didn't make It through the Classic 250/500cc main event, the 250cc portion of which was won by Jeff Lessley. held on by half a bike length over Johnson, with Keith Bradford coming through the pack to take third. Cheers greeted the 50cc Youth class as they came out on the track for the Berkeley Yamaha/JRC Engineering main event. Michael Avila was the class of the field, lapping the entire class. In the Works Performance 65cc main, National Champion Andy Wood led every lap but the one that counted. With one lap remaining, Lauren Wallace got by Wood in traffic and took a hard-fought victory. Only when she removed her helmet for the victory lap did the crowd realize Lauren was a girl, and they went wildl In the Nesbit/Maxima Oils 80cc main, Stevie Bonsey put it to Justin Jmaev and Sean Jones. Ronnie Brown had the worst mechanical woes of the night. His 1940 Indian expired, with pieces of piston falling on the track in the I • n • _ so In the Oregon Cascade/Rod Lake Racing 250cc Open event, Daniel Bro,,":n led the pack through turns one and two. On the second trip down the back straight, Chris Canepa took over and checked out. Brown finally succumbed to pressure from Bradley Spencer in the final corner and slipped back to third. The Bartels' Harley-Davidson/ Motion Pro 500cc Support main had 13 warriors line up. Bradford led from the start, only to lose the position to Joe Carrera coming out of turn four. With Dan Waller in third pressuring Bradford on the ninth of 10 laps, heat-race winner Jay Gosyenor went down. At the checkers, it was Carrera, Bradford and Waller. In the Saddlemen Racing/The Shop Open Amateur main, the only thing John Larson wasn't ready for was young Alex Wood. Having lost the heat race, Wood came out fighting. Larson led off the line, but on lap three Wood drove deep into turn three, squared it off to get a drive and shot past Larson and was never challenged again. Larson finished second, with Jermaine Bacosa third. The K&N Filters Pro main had a total purse of $1000, courtesy of race promoter Eddie Mulder. Fifteen Pros lined up on three rows for a 15-lap main. Danny Ritchie, the pole sitter via the fastest heat-race win, led the pack into turn one and disappeared. Randy Bereman, Rick Hocking and Jeff Johnson sprayed dirt allover each other fighting for second, but the order stayed the same. After 15 laps, Ritchie won on the track he had prepared. eN Paso Robles Fairgrounds Paso Robles, California Results: September 2, 2001 [Round 2J YTH 50: 1. Michael Avila; 2. Billy Myers; 3. Logen Johnson; 4. Vincent Cllnepa. YTH 60: 1. Lauren Wallace; 2. Andy Wood: 3. Brown's Cycles Classic 250/500cc main as he tried to keep Jeff Lessley's Bultaco in sight. The Shelly Ward/Progressive Suspension Modern 250cc main gave Lessley a second shot at Mike Gonzales after his heat-race loss. Lessley passed Gonzales on lap two and never looked back. Gonzales settled for second, with Cary Buck taking third on the final lap. In the Maxxis Tires Modern 500cc main, Greg Wilburn led from the getgo and never looked back, beating out Ken Thiebaud and John Lundgren. Paul Herman came out swinging in the Megacycle Cam Modern 750cc main. Greg Wilburn just couldn't get by. Tyler Bereman; 4. Jordan JmtJev; 5. Teylor Wright. YTH 80: 1. Stevie Bonsey; 2. Justin Jmllev; 3. Sean Jones; 4. Chris Potter; 5. Joey Iffett. VET: 1. Greg Wilburn; 2. Jeff Johnson; 3. Keith Bradford; 4. John Larson; 5. Hurshel Myers. SR: 1. Marty Lewis; 2. Dan Phillips; 3. Joey Brown; 4. Cliff Nagatani; 5. Phil Brown. SR NOV / S/SR: 1. Ron Gould; 2. Sam Gray: 3. Dave Cheney; 4. Allan Girdler: 5. Larry Madrigal. DINO: 1. Ronnie Brown. ClSC 250: 1. Jeff Lessley; 2. Dave Cheney. CLSC 500: 1. David Brown; 2. Larry Madrigal: 3. Matt Campbell. MORN 250: 1. Jeff Lessley; 2. Mike Gonzoles; 3. Cary Buck: 4. John Lundgren: 5. Charles Petty. MORN 500: 1. Greg Wilburn; 2. Ken Thiebaud; 3. John Lundgren; 4. Dan Phillips; 5. Trapper McDaniel. MORN 750: 1. Paul Herman; 2. Greg Wilburn; 3. Jeff Lessley; 4. Marty Lewis; 5. David Brown. 250 OPEN: 1. Chris Canepa; 2. Brad Spencer; 3. Daniel Brown; 4. Alex Wood; 5. Rod Spencer Jr. 500 SUP: 1. Joe Cerrera; 2. Keith Bradford; 3. Dan Waller; 4. Jeff Gonzales; 5. Jimmy Rader. OPEN AM: 1. Alex Wood: 2. John Larson; 3. Jermaine Bacosa; 4. Mike Smith; 5. Johnny Costarella. PRO 600: 1. Danny Ritchie; 2. Randy Bereman; 3. Rick Hocking; 4. Jeff Johnson; 5. Rod Spencer; 6. Mearl Barnett; 7. Clay Chambers; 8. Brandon Inderbitzen; 9. A.J. Herrera; 10. Josh Ritchie.