Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Left) Steve Hengeveld skids to a stop at pit 11 near Luning, 380 miles into the race. He and Jonah Street physically led most of the race but ended up chasing IRONMAN EX: I. Christopher Blais (Han); 2. David Meek (Hon); 3. Hisahide Ueno (Yam); 4. Joe Meyer (KTM); 5. Jet Peery (Han). OPEN AM: 1. Craig Donkin/Deke Williams (Hon) 30. AM: 1. David Croat/James Embro/David Holbrook (NA); 2. Richard Parks/Steve Powelson/John Powers (Hon) 35+ AM: I. Lee Cunningham/Mike Rusiewski (NA) 40+ AM: 1. Gilbert AshdownfTom Gillum/Les Esposito/Grider Wmis (KTM) 48. Aft\: 1. Glenn A. Brown/Lou Monterone!Tracy to the finish. Wa~ers (Han) 4/~K AM: I. Damon Gill/Shanon Powell/Eric Shenberger (Yam); 2. Bill Clarey/Scott Clarey/Ash Vaughn (Hon); 3. Gordie McCarty/Kevin Parsons[Tim Parsons (Han) IRONI'IAN AM: 1. Donald Bird (Han); 2. Mike Dejohn (KTM); 3. Dan Lorenze (Yam); 4. Mike (Left) The David Fry and Kirk Stephensen duo finished fourth overall, the best they've done to date In Best In the Desert. BRIEFLY• •• (Above) Andy Grider (shown) and teammate Shane Esposito were the first team to cross the finish line, but that wasn't enough to win. Instead, they took second. Johnny Campbell didn't do much riding prior to the race after having minor knee surgery 28 days earlier. In fact. he didn't ride until four days before the race. "I had a tom meniscus, and they removed part of it." he said. 'It's been a pretty tough month for me . just a lot of stuff going on. more than normal activities. Knee surgery. new baby girl named Paris [the second child for Campbell and wife Faye!. and of course we had the national catastrophe· just a lot of things real· Iy eating at me. - Pit by pit, checks of the time differences revealed Koplan (Kaw): 5. Tom Schultz (Han). A reported double·fatality accident. which occurred some three hours before the start, shut down Highway 95 east of the turnoff to Pahrump and delayed many involved with the race. Several road crossing crews and many co-riders didn't make it to their planned destinations. resulting in last·minute changes of strategy for more than a few teams that spent the night in Vegas. Those who stayed in Pahrump were not affected. The accident victims were not believed to be connected with the race. that Campbell/Staab were indeed narrowing the gap, though at the rate they were going, it would certainly be tight and by no means guaranteed. While driving to the start. Bryan Folks and hiS crew reported seeing another single·vehicle accident in which a woman had flipped her car, though she was not injured badly. According to Folks. they stopped long enough to make sure she was okay and that help was on the way before continuing on to the start. About 15 miles before pit 14 at Fallon, some 467 miles into the race, Esposito got around Hengeveld and CN Team Hawaii made the trip to the mainland for the second BITD race in a row. Apparently. they've been practicing because the trio comprised of Matt Lyman. Daryl Hambleton and former Mauna Kea 200 Enduro winner Steve Trinies won Over 35 Expert and were 13th overall and first Experts on their Pflueger Honda/IMS/Dunlop-sponsored XR650R. Fellow Hawaiians Dick Alcu· ran, Dave Kribell and Winston Matsuura won the Over 40 Expert class on a similar machine. "The pineapple fields we've been practicing in are really small now. - Matsuura joked. Alan Pflueger raced a truck for the first time. though the Chevy he shared with Las Vegas resident Thomas Franczak in class 1200 (ProTruckl DNFed after reportedly rolling. O/A: 1. Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab (Han) 9:21 :49; 2. Shane Esposito/Andy Grider (Kaw) 9:22:20; 3. Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street (Han) 9:24:07; 4. Devid Fry/Kirk Stephensen (Kew) 10: 11 :20; 5. Dtlrrol Brown/Kevin Brown (Han) 10:15:41; 6. Danny Cooper/David Pearson (Yam) Team Green's Larry Roeseler shared the class 1500 Ford-powered "truggy- with Troy Herb· st. but their effort DNFed. "LA" planned to drive the last half of the race. Roeseler will also be racing the Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000 next month. again taking over from Troy Herbst and driving the last half of the race. at the finish, 129 miles later - and that 10:41 :07; 8. Todd Davis/Justin Drake (Yam) 10:42:27; 9. Ercn Boyer/Matt Burroughs (Hus) was after the sections he'd ridden ear- 10:49: 19; 10. Bill Maxim/Ross Williams (KTM) 11:22:36. Former series champs Destry Abbott and Brian Brown ran up front early on their Team Green/Dunlop/Castrol.backed KX500, but their day ended when the bike ran out of coolant. Brown reported feeling something spraying on his face before the bike qUit. The Montclair Yama· ha/Moose/Dunlop VZ426F of Ty Davis and Russell Pearson also ended up on the early trailer home after starting in the back of the Open Pro class and threading through the pack toward the front. set sail for the finish. At this point, they knew that Campbell and Staab ond and spoiling the worldwide race were closing fast, so the Kawasaki debut of the XR650R. This time, the frontrunners knew they needed to tables were turned. take advantage of the clean air they Vegas til Rena Las Vegas. Nevada Results: September 28, 2001 now enjoyed and try to pull away. But Esposito and Grider couldn't quite match the pace that Campbell set in his stint on the big thumper, a section that started at pit 12 outside of Hawthorne at mile 397 and ended lier in the day. Though Esposito/Grider was the first bike to cross the finish line, followed by Hengeveld/Street, all they could do was count minutes and wait to see when Campbell would roll up. When he did, both teams realized that they'd been relegated to the 10:35:13; 7. Bryan Folks/Wade Phillips (KTM) OPEN PRO: 1. Johnny Campbellrrim Staab (Han); 2. Shane Esposito/Andy Grider (Kaw); 3. Steve Hengeveld/Jonah Street (Hon); 4. David Fry/Kirk Stephensen (K8w); Eron Boyer/MeU Burroughs (Hus). 250 PRO: I. Danny Cooper/David Pearson (Yam); 2. Bryan Falks/Wade Phillips (KTM); 3. Sean Bradley/Mike Tyner (Han); 4. Dennis Gallagher/Gordon Keller (Yam); 5. Eddie Deanes/Kris Keefer (Yam). 30. PRO: 1. Darrol Brown/Kevin Brown (Hon); 2. Rick Bozarth/Daryl Folks (KTM). do about it, there's so many outside 40. PRO: 1. Bill Mllxim/Ross Williams (KTM); 2. Rick Burrus/Jim McCartney (KTM); 2. Scott Dunlaveyf[NJnny Malfatti (Han). 4/STRK PRO: 1. Todd Davis/Justin Drake (Yam); 2. Joe DesrosiersIBrian Sheakley (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Craig Carlson/Kurt Carison (Hon); 2. Clay Connelley/Clay Gremel/Blane Mortensen (Kaw); 3. Chris Dever/George Follis/Cody Gremel (Han); 4. John Conyer/Jason Keys/Adam Johnston elements in these races - and they (Han); 5. Anthony Grierson/Scott Herweg (NA). 250 EX: 1. Donnie Campbell/Eric Caudillo/lack just rode great. I congratulate them Danny Cooper got his second 250cc Pro win in a row on the Pro Circuit/DH 1 RacinglTsubaki·backed VZ250 he shared with David Pearson. Uke Staab, Pearson ran out of gas after getting lost before pit two. However, he and Cooper would soon pass the others in their ciass and finish first physically, beating runners·up Bryan Folks and Wade Phillips on their Pro Circuit/Sportsman Cycle/Dunlop-sponsored KTM 250 MXC by almost six minutes. 10:35: 13 to 10:41 :07. That put the first 250s at sixth and seventh overall. respectively. Dodson (Kaw); 2. Hide Hanawa/Noriko Hanawa lower steps on the podium. "They rode phenomenally: Grider said. "Everybody had little problems in these races there's nothing you can on it, an awesome job they did. "I do wish we could've been there; 31 seconds is a hard thing to swallow right now, especially when you add up the money we lost on it." Still, it marked Grider's best finish in a Best in the Desert event, though Esposito was actually the defending race champion, having won the '99 edition with David Ondas. (Last year, BITD ran the Nevada 2000 instead of Vegas to Reno.) And Esposito did it the same way - creeping up steadily throughout the race - thus relegating Campbell and Jimmy Lewis to sec- (Hon) 25. EX: 1. Aaron Osbome/JlIck Roberts (Hon); 2. Kenny Kimball/Roger Russell/DlIrrell Spilsbury (KTM): 3. Jeff Landers/William J. McKinley/Rabert R. WaltS (Han) 30+ EX: 1. Doug Clagg/Kurt Hintz/Mike McGregor (Hon); 2. Gary Cluff/Jim Jaquette (Han); 3. Mike Healey/OlinI' Jones/Eric Swanson (Hon); 4. Mark Goelz/Lenny Sheck (Han) 35+ EX: 1. Daryl Hambleton/Matt Lyman/Steven Trinies (Han); 2. Steve Pankas/Ron A. Purvines/Donald R. Tussing (KTM); 3. Cory Ayers/Mark Davidge/Kevin Kraft (KTM); 4. Steve LaRoza/Jesse Ochoa (Kaw); 5. Wayne Intermill/Kenny Perkins (Yam). 40+ EX: 1. Dick Alcuran/Dave Kribell/Winston Matsuura (Hon); 2. John Kareil/Bill Pellotto/Bruce Stiegleman (Hon) 48+ EX: I. Tom Holmes/David Kersting/Steve Thompson (KTM); 2. Jerry Allen/Tom Jesmer/Howard Lerson (Yam) 4/STRK EX: 1. Nick FainNosh Wilson/Shawn Wilson (Yam); 2. Glenn Myers (KTM); 3. Jamie Graham/Curtis Moon/Glenn Warren (Yam); 4. Marche Karger/Richard Purvines/Jason Trubey (Yam); 5. 80 Harris/Brian Pinard/Andy Stephens On chasing Cooper/Pearson. Bryan Folks said, "We knew we had to get in front of them and make up two minutes, [bull Wade [who'd gone down and twisted his knee earlier] fouled a plug in one of his sections. At one point we were 13 minutes down. and we were able to close the gap...but too little, too late. I feel like the last couple, three years I should dominate this class. because I feel like we're the fastest team always. We keep just having small problems· and it's not the bike. It's either rider error or [bad] luck.· At least Folks broke the streak of injuries suf· fered in consecutive races at two. making it through this one unscathed. David Fry and Kirk Stephenson ran alone in fourth place for most of the day on their Dollar LLC/MS Concrete/Nevada Readymix KX500 and ended up there in 10:11 :20. Their problems were limited to a front tire that started coming apart at the bead and losing the brakes in the final section. Still, it was the best they'd finished in BITD. ·We kind of pooped out at the end. I think,' Fry admitted. "I was getting a little tired. Brothers Darrol and Kevin Brown took the Over 30 Pro ciass win on their D&S Waste Removal/Big Valley HondalWiliis Guy. CPA-sponsored XR650R in an excellent 10: 15:41 to place fifth overall. It marked the first time this season they'd topped defending class champs Rick Bozarth/Daryl Folks. "Today. for some reason, we just clicked up a gear; everything clicked for us today, - Kevin Brown reported. ·We peaked today. and it was a good ride. I probably rode faster now than I had in months· so did my brother. My brother and I. we did goodl We had fun." Christopher Blais not only won the heavily contested Ironman Expert class. he also beat all but one of the multi-rider Expert teams. finishing 15th overall in 11 :40:48 on his Honda. Only the winning Over 35 Experts from Hawaii beat him. Damon Gill, Shanon Powell and Eric Shenberger took top Amateur honors, winning the FourStroke Amateur class in 13:04:39 (34th overalll on their Motorcycle Tire Center/Sports West Yamaha/In House Printers Yamaha. (Han). cue I • n _ vv s OCTOBER 1 7, 200 1 25

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