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was over. Joe DiSalvo finished on his big BSA but fried the powerplant, and he was done for the day. In the eight-lap final, Van linden again catapulted into the lead and was chased the whole distance by Spencer. This time, Spencer kept the Triumph a lot closer to the very quick Vanlinden. There were so many 50-yearsand-older racers in the Senior divi· sion that there were two heats for the class. Honda-mounted Jerry Winkelbauer worked his way to the front after a mediocre start to take the win away from Bultaco-mounted Joe Trethewey, who had to work quite hard to get to the front as well. In heat two, it was again all Vanlinden. Mickey Alzola spent the major portion of the morning working on his two motorcycles, and the effort and time were well spent. This personable veteran racer pushed hard to put his Triumph behind the winning mount of Vanlinden. This heat was a battle of the British brands, as Alzola was on the only Triumph against three BSAs. Finishing third and fourth were, respectively, Jim Peter and Richard Braquet. In the eight-rider, eight-lap final, it was the by-now-predictable Vanlinden who took an immediate lead, but by no means was the outcome certain. Seven racers all had designs on how to challenge. The quickest as well as the smoothest was Super Senior Alzela, who worked his way around all of the younger racers to end up in second. Very late in the final, Vanlinden's concentration momentarily faltered and got himself into a violent sideways mode in the infamous Oak Tree Corner and nearly unloaded. Luck, skill and perhaps a combination of both took him out of the problem nearly as quickly as he had gotten into it, and the end result was not more than five feet lost in the margin between himself and the hardcharging Alzola. At the checkers, Vanlinden claimed his fourth victory in as many races, followed by Alzola, Trethewey, Winkelbauer and then Alan Shaw, on a big Triumph. Most of the passing in this race was done by 360cc Bultaco-mounted Trethewey, who again got a horrid start and had to work his way through the pack for third place. Tom Horton exonerated himself from his earlier booboo and walked away with the heat race and the final for the Classic Open AHRMA-c1ass victory. His Triumph had no real threat from the other four machines in his class. Rodney Spencer and his fine-running Kawasaki put the 600cc Semi. Pro victory purse in his pocket after a race-long battle with Yamaha jockey Chris Canepa and CCM-mounted Tony Rose. Fourth place went to Steve Hlebo, who couldn't get his machine to give him the traction he needed to be more of a threat. Trapper McDaniel didn't fare too well in the final, as he ended up limping after a serious tank-slapper pitched him off his Yamaha on the front straightaway. Canepa was the hottest rider in the support Knobby class. He won one of his two heat races and both of the finals for his classes. His Yamaha didn't get the job done in the 250cc class for the Knobby bunch, and he settled for second place, behind Spencer, on another Yamaha. The finals for the 250cc and Open Knobby classes were both Canepa benefits. Chasing him home in the 250cc class was Bradley Spencer and then Rodney Spencer. In the Open final, Canepa was followed by Yamaha riders John Phillips and Danielle Garcia. eN Hallister Hills TT TI'IICk Hallister, Califamill Raub: Augast 26, 2001 60 SUP: 1. Damon Iwanaga (Kaw); 2. Danielle Caldeira (Kaw); 3. Tyler Beremem ~Kaw); 4. Jess Garcia (Kaw); 5. Bobby Caldein:l (Kaw . XRIOO STK SliP: 1. Jo Celin Hon); 2. Mike Gonzales (Hon); 3. Stu C8rdott (Hon); 4. Danielle Garcia (Hon) ; 5. C.O. Howell (Hon). XRIOO MOD SliP: 1. S.m Clark (Hon); 2. Rodney Spencer (Hon); 3. Ray Perez (Hon); 4. Stevie Bonset (Hon); 5. C.D. Howell (Han). AH~ VINT NOV 250: 1. ~.ndy Wilder (Cl); 2. Rolf Greenwill (Mon); 3. Donnie Wilson (Yam); 4. Bruce Brown (Yam). AHRMA V1NT SPTSMN 250: 1. David Dec.mp (Han); 2. David HellWig \Yam). KNBV sap 250: . Chris C.nepe (V.m); 2. Bradley Spencer Jr. (Yam); 3. Rodney Spencer (Yam); 4. Jo Celio (Han); 5. Yobie Jacobsen (Yam). '10s SGL SUP: 1. Roger Bowerman (Yam); 2. Jerry Grllham (Yam); 3. Rlchllrd Harrington (Han); 4. Robert Hzmsen (Yam). MORN SPTSIIlN 500: I. Bredley Spencer (Yam); 2. DZlnielle Garcia (Yam); 3. Jo Celio (Hon) 4. teny Graham IYam); 5. Michael Day \Yam). AHRJIIA V NT 600: 1. Jim Peter BSA); 2. Dave Cheney (Hon). SEJIIl·PRO sap 600: 1. Rod Spencer (K.w); 2. Chris Canepa (Yam); 3. Tony Rose (CeM); 4. Steve Hlebo (Yam); 5. Trapper McDaniel (Yam). AHRMA ClSC OPEN: 1. Tom Horton (Tri); 2. Stu Cardott (Tri); 3. Joe Trethewey (Bul); 4. Allln Shew (Tn). OPEN KNBV SliP: 1. Chris C.nep. (Vern); 2. John PhilliPsiYam>; 3. Danielle Garcia (Yam); 4. Joe Carrera (Yam; 5. Donnie Wilson (Yam). AHRMA ET 35+: 1. Robert Hansen (Han). AHRMA SR 50.: 1. Mike V.nlinden (BSA); 2. Mickey Aizoia (Tn); 3. Joe Trethewer. (Bul); 4. Jerry Winkelbauer (Hon); 5. Alan Shew (Tn). AHRMA S/SR 60.: 1. Mickey Ai,oi. (Tri); 2. Hank Cosio (BSA). AHR/IIA SPTSMN VI NT 601.: 1. Mike VanUnden (BSA); 2. Brad Spencer (Tri). his worst result of the season, his third-place finish was more than good enough to clinch an unprecedented ninth series title. Both riders seemed more relieved than happy. For Nesbitt, it was a combination of relief and disbelief. "I missed the kickstarter at the start and I knew that I was going to have a long day," he explained. "When I realized I had a shot at the win on the last lap, I tried to relax, but I think I was more shocked than anyone when I popped out of the woods first." Leivan, too, was in for a long day, but he charged all the way to the end and claimed his championship on his Scott/Tsubaki/Pro Clean/NGK/DH Racing-backed WR426F. "I had to fight the whole way," Leivan said. "This morning I was sick and started the race on 'empty.' I thought if I could get a decent start and drink a lot of water, I'd be all right, but like the saying goes, 'If "ifs" and "buts" were candy and nuts, we'd all be happy at Christmas.'" After a seventh-place start, Leivan moved up to fifth, only to do a big endo into one of the many ditches on the course. Leivan got up and going in e 10th, but he discovered that his water system had malfunctioned. After pitting for repairs, Leivan got under way in 28th position - more than three minutes off the pace. He then began a charge that carried him all the way up to third by the finish. Eight technical miles of singletrack laid out by the Old Son Racing Club challenged the riders for five dust-filled laps. Passing opportunities were limited due to the tough conditions' while the possibility of mistakes was high. Ryan Wuebbeling took full advantage of the clean air that comes with getting the holeshot, and he held the lead for the first three laps on his KTM. It wasn't Wuebbeling's day, though; he encountered front-brake gremlins and dropped out of the race. Aaron Shaw quickly took over. The Yamaha rider had been in second from the outset, and once in the lead he quickened his pace. Going into the final lap, Shaw held a lead of nearly 30 seconds - but that proved to be not enough. After starting in last, Dunlop/Pro Circuit/Alpinestars/Rentha l/Moosebacked Nesbitt methodically worked his way to the front. He completed lap one in seventh, then moved up to fifth on' lap two. Nesbitt was hard on the gas, attempting to reel in the leaders, and, at the completion of three circuits, he had done just that. While Wuebbeling was still leading and Shaw was a comfortable second, a five-man scrap for third was taking place. Bobby Duncan had held the position since the opening lap, with Brandon Forrester close behind. Nesbitt was next, and Chad Busenbark was sixth. Leivan had come from way back to catch this pack. Midway through lap four, Wuebbeling dropped out, Busenbark had pushed all the way to second, and Nesbitt had found a good line that put him up to third. Next came Forrester, then Duncan and Leivan, as the riders headed out for the final lap. Nesbitt quickly moved around Busenbark in the grass track and then set out after Shaw. Within four miles, Nesbitt had moved to Shaw's rear fender. When a lapper slowed Shaw's momentum, Nesbitt shot into the lead. However, two miles later, the same thing happened to Nesbitt and Shaw moved ahead. "I got back on him, hoping for a mistake," Nesbitt reported. "Then I remembered I could pass him in the same place I got Duncan the lap before, so I was right on him going into that turn. I just floored it and it worked." Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship Nesbitt's First, Leivan's Ninth Bv FRANK LEIVAN POLO, MO, AUG. 26 here were two stories at round 11 of the Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship - a long-awaited first win of the season for one rider, and a championship clinch for another. T 74 OCTOBER 10, 2001 • cue I e Team Green/J&W Cycles rider Chris Nesbitt put in his most impressive showing of the 2001 campaign with a fantastic, last-to-first performance and in the process collected his first victory of the year. And while the reigning series champion, SCR/ Yamaha-backed Steve Leivan, had n e _ s Missouri Hare SCrambles Championship: Chris Nesbitt won his first victory of the year in the Missouri Hare Scrambles Championship series at round 11 In Polo with a fantastic ride from last to first.