John"Jack" Warren, owner/operator of
First Class Glass Motorcycle Supply of Millington, Michigan, put his single-cylinder Rotax
into the lead and led the first two laps of the
Senior contest. Atherton, riding an XR750
Harley, was tight on Warren's rear wheel and
as the pair entered tum four on the third lap.
Atherton went under Warren and took the
lead. One lap later, Warren followed Atherton
through turns three and four before executing
a perfect draft-pass at the start/finish line.
Atherton stayed with Warren for the remaining
three laps, but Warren rode flawlessly and
held Atherton off to the finish.
deserved checkered flag, followed by Strong,
Greene and Parsons.
The Division One main had Estelle breaking outside from post four, Ermolenko next to
him in three, Sephton in the two hole, and
Argentina's Carlos Villar on the rail. The field
hit tum one together, but as they exited tum
two, Sephton edged away as Estelle tried
every trick in his bag to catch him. Villar continued to have trouble, parking briefly in tum
three on lap two. At the checkers, it was
Sephton with the win, Estelle in hot pursuit,
Ermolenko third and Villar fourth.
R.sults
Results
D-J: I. Tom $ephton; 2. Craig Estelle; 3. Oukie EtmoI~ko; 4.
Caries VllJllr.
0·2: 1. Brion Hollenbeck; 2. Chris Strong; 3. Joe Greene; 4. Joel
eo..,.
OPEN ,,"0, ,.
1'I<
into the lead and led all eight laps of the Open
Pro feature. Following McDermitt for the entire
distance were Jeff Landrum and Cory Roth.
Landrum came back in the 600cc Expert
class and scored a runaway victory over Cory
Roth and Pat Behrle.
McDermitt and Nick Cummings made it a
Michigan one-two in the 250-505cc Pro Sport
class. Cummings challenged McDermitt for
the first half of the race before McDermitt took
Sisemore
Sizzles Again
By
!AN C,
BLAIR
OWEGO, NY, AUG. 24-25
Earlier this summer, a truckload of Califomian
speedway stars dominated the proceedings at
the AMA King of U.S. Speedway series at
Champion Speedway in Owego. This time,
only Jim Sisemore and Ryan Fisher represented the Golden State, but at the 2001 U.S.
Open, two aces beat a full house of East
Coasters.
In the final round, Fisher repeatedly blew
the doors off his eastern rivals with perfect
gates, while defending U.S. Open champ Sisemore used his familiarity with Champion to
exploit any mistake made by the locals.
In his first heat of the finals, Sisemore
squared off against veteran Bruce Nelson, the
always-dangerous Jerry Harman Jr., and rising Division Pne star Jeremy Parsons, who
took the early lead, with Sisemore tracking
him like a bloodhound. It's hard to be patient
in a four-lap speedway race, but Sisemore got
what he was looking for: In turn two on the
final lap, Parsons went slightly wide, and Sise-
control on lap six.
K.C. "The Coyote" Knodel gave McDermitt
and Cummings a lesson in cushion-track
technique when he ran away and led all eight
laps of the 600cc Pro Sport main event.
Bill Weese put his Triumph into the lead
through the first turn and led all six laps of the
Open Vintage main event. Behind Weese,
Merlyn "Skip" Wertz, on a Triumph, and Dave
Atherton, on a Norton, were waging the battle
for second. At the halfway point, Wertz took
command of second and never gave Atherton
an opportunity to pass.
The 100cc Vintage class is actually a club
of riders who compete on vintage motorcycles
of less than 100cc that are based on streetlegal models. Rich Long led the first three laps
of the six-lap main event before being passed
by Rick Hoffman.
more seized the moment and was gone, taking
the win and making a statement.
While veteran local stars such as George
Lazor, Frank Watson and Gene Bonsignore all
put in smooth, consistent rides in thejr finalround heats, it was clear they didn't have the
sheer grunt necessary to match the Californians. New Yorker Tom Burge was riding with
all-out aggression and looked like a darkhorse contender for the main event, but he
couJdn't amass quite enough points to make
the big dance.
As the main approached, it looked like just
about the only one who could really run with
Sisemore and Fisher was "Cowboy" John
Cook, by now a familiar face to Northeast
speedway fans. Cook was in fine fettle, cutting
perfect gates to rack up heat wins while entertaining the crowd.
Meanwhile, 200 I Division One track
champion Tom Sephton was having an off
night. When he needed points the most, it was
Sephton's misfortune to find himself up
against Quebec's Nick Fafard, whose time on
the ICE circuit has given him newfound confidence in tight quarters.
In one of the last heat races of the finals,
Fafard lined up with Nelson to his inside and
Sephton on his outside. On cue, Sephton
rocketed to the lead, with Fafard glued to his
rear wheel. At this point, Fafard achieved what
many thought impossible: taking the lead after
a Sephton holeshot. Tracking out of tum four
after one lap, Sephton took a slightly wide line
and Fafard muscled through coolly on the
inside and then stayed on the lead for the win.
The U.S. Open main had Fisher in post
one, Sisemore next to him in two, Cook in
three, Gene Bonsignore in four and Nick
Fafard all the way outside in the five hole.
Cook cut the gate perfectly, the tapes missing
his visor by a hair's breadth. Sisemore and
Fisher were soon in hot pursuit, but Cook was
golden, riding a smooth, mistake-free line. At
the checkers, it was Cook, Sisemore and Fisher, with Fafard a well-fought fourth and Bonsignore fifth.
Results
O/A: I. Jim Sisemore; 2. Ryan Fisher; 3. John Cook; 4. Tom
Burge: 5. Tom Sephton; 6. Nick Fefard: 7. (TIE) Gene
Bonslgnore/Jel"f:my Plllrsons: 8. (11E) Jason BonslQnore/George
1.lu:or, 10. 8N« Nelson: 11. Craig Lallf:: 12. Cam Rafferty: 13. (TIE)
Frank Wauen/Jerry Harmllin Jr.: 15. (TIE) DavKl OakdenfTed Fey;
17. Joel Monell; 18. Casey Frank: 19. GaetM Carlgnllln.
81 Speedway
A Slam-Dunkin' Hinds
By JIM V'NCEl'fT
Allen County Fairgrounds: Cory McDermitt won both the Open Pro and 2SD-SOScc Pro
Sport finals and finished second in the 600cc Pro Sport final in Lima, Ohio.
56 OCTOBER 17,2001 • c: U
c:
I
•
nevvs
WICHITA, KS, AUG. 24
The National Flat Track Racing Association
held their season-ending Half Mile, and this
was the sixth time in the 14-event season that
they have raced at 81 Speedway.
Cyle Toler and John Hoch, both 16-yearold 500cc Amateur riders, put on a good
show. Hoch was holding the low line and Toler
the high line through the corners, trading the
lead numerous times in the six-lap final. On
the last lap, Toler got a better drive off tum
four and beat Hoch by inches at the checkers.
Joe and Mike Klingler, a father-and-son
racing team, provided plenty of excitement in
the Vintage 30-49 final. Each one led for three
laps, but Joe led when jt counted most - at the
checkered flag. Chris Jacobsen was third.
Retired NFL Pro football player T.J. Gaughan,
formerly of the Atlanta Falcons, raced his
500cc Yamaha to fourth.
In 250cc Pro action, Will Sawhill put his
Rotax out front in a comfortable lead until the
sixth lap, when a radiator leak caused his engine
to seize, giving the win to Ryan Cheatum.
Tom Carlisle got the holeshot in the Amateur 50-59 class and led the first five laps,
with Joe Klingler right on his rear wheel,
learning Carlisle's lines. As Carlisle entered
turn one at the start of the last lap, Klingler
dived under him and held the lead all the way
to the checkers.
Open Twin Over 30 rider Jim Strome was
leading Russ Briggs in a very close contest. As
the two entered the front straight off tum four
to end lap seven, Strome brushed the outside
wall and went into a tank-slapper that he
managed to control, but Briggs now had the
lead, and Strome followed him across the finish for second. Finishing a close third was
David Lee Coats Jr.
The feature event of the evening, Modem
Open Pro, had 10 riders. The bikes ranged
from a 250cc KTM to a 1000cc Suzuki twin.
When starter Randy Koster waved the green
flag, Mike Hinds put his 600cc single-cylinder
Rotax into the lead. Brandon Hancock wlls
second, with Chris Armentrout third. Tulsa,
Oklahoma's Joe Duvall had his TL 1000
Suzuki in fourth. The race order stayed the
same until lap three, when Jeff Gariach
passed a slowing Duvall for fourth. On the
sixth lap, Cheatum moved into fourth after
starting in seventh. As Hinds and Hancock
were running one and two on the seventh lap,
Armentrout and Cheatum were battling for
third. With three laps to go, Hancock's Rotax
lost its spark and he pulled off the track.
Cheatum managed to pass Armentrout for
second and started to gain ground on Hinds,
but with only two laps remaining, Hinds' lead
and the win were ensured. Finishing fourth
was Will Sawhill, who had followed Cheatum
through the pack.
Results
P/W 50: I. Tyler Swysgood (Han); 2. Jorcilln Covert (Hon): 3.
N.1hon Po",,", (Hon); 4. Jerel T..... (Yom): S. Jo/1n CNS»b
