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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128125
Gene Romef"o's E-Moola.com West Coast Flat Tf"ack Sef"ies Round 1 1 : Kings Speedway pionship. The Paso Robles, Californian came into the last race with a commanding but not insurmountable points lead over Souza and needed only to finish eighth or better to land the championship. Souza did his part - at least early in the main - but then slowed with brake problems. Brown, meanwhile, rode steady enough to get the job done regardless. "I'm not used to riding like that, to protect points," Brown said. "But I'm starting to get an idea of what Scott Parker felt like after winning nine Grand National Championships. This is my third championship in a row, and it is definitely the sweetest because I basically gave up bikes I've been riding for 10 years and started with an all-new motorcycle." And Brown made it clear that he also he also had other motivation for cinching up title number three. STORY By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS By KAREN GOULD HANFORD,CA,SEPT.22 rett Landes made his trip to the season finale of Gene Romero's E-Moola.com West Coast Flat Track Series at Kings Speedway worthwhile, as he scored his second Open Pro main event victory on a night that was light on attendance but heavy in the drama and emotion departments. The night was marred by a heavy crash in one of the Open Vintage semis, when Danny Ritchie, Bob Cobb and Donnie Harrell were involved in a horrific chain·reaction pile-up that started when Cobb tried to wedge his way into the pack from the second row as they hit the first tum. Bikes and riders seemed to go flying every which way, with Cobb getting the worst of it. He was airlifted to University Medical Center where he was treated for a concussion, a dislocated shoulder and a broken thumb. He was released the next day. Ritchie and Harrell walked away from the incident, but Ritchie did not make the restart. After struggling with his Audiovox/ Quaker State CCM all night, Landes suddenly put together the type of ride that confirmed his abilities as a former Daytona Short Track winner during the IS-lap main. Tony Souza finished'second, and Don Howard finished third. But the night was equally as sweet for Brown's Cycles/Rod Lake Racing's Ronnie Brown, whose fourthplace finish in the Open Pro main event netted his third consecutive West Coast Flat Track Series Cham- B 54 OCTOBER 10,2001 • cue I • n • _ os "I knew Danny Hart pretty well, and he was a great kid with a bright future," Brown said. "And Rob Damron was a close personal friend of mine. I just want to dedicate this championship to his family, his wife, his sons. We're going to miss him a lot. Racing is never going to be the same without him." Souza grabbed the holeshot when starter Bryan Bergen tripped the green light, leading Don Howard, Dash For Cash winner Lonnie Pauley, Brown, Landes and John Hlebo III. Landes quickly stepped it up to challenge Brown for fourth, beating the champ into tum one on the second lap, only to lose the spot when Brown got a better drive off tum two. A lap later, Landes moved to the inside of Brown again and took the fourth spot. On lap four, Landes slid under Lonnie Pauley off tum two and move into third place. He repeated the move to displace runner-up Howard on lap five. Then it became a question as to whether or not Landes could run down Souza. Landes answered by pulling to within fiv~ lengths of Souza when they started the eighth lap. Landes was set to have his work cut out for him, but then Souza slipped off the groove in turn one, and all but handed the lead to Landes, who responded by quickly pulling a gap on Souza before putting it on cruise to the finish. Souza could do no better than to soldier around the track and hope that the gap he had on the rest of the field would be good enough. Ultimately, it was. "I had a mjshap with my brakes, and I couldn't use them," Souza said. "Still, we did all right. I'm happy with what I got. Next year I'll be back, and I'm sure that I'll be right up there. I felt really comfortable running with Brett." For Howard, the run to the finish was a lonely one. "I was concentrating on Tony [Souza] so much that every time he made a mistake I would make a mistake," Howard said. "We were a little under-geared and way under-tired. We had worn out.tires tonight, but we did the best we could with it. I just want to thank all my sponsors, all the people that are behind me. The track was smooth, a little dusty, but it was hooked up. I think we had a good race tonight." Pauley hung on to fifth, while Hlebo was sixth. Landes was the man again, however, scoring his second win in as many attempts in the Romero series. "Tony slipped off the groove and kind of gave it to me, but I had to work to get everyone else before that," Landes said. "It was an awesome ride. After the way that I qualified and then got spanked in my heat race, we changed everything on the motorcycle. It was like night and day. We came from a long way back. "But I defmitely think that Tony is on the move," Landes continued.