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Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series Round 6: Willow Springs International Raceway Old as ILeft) Gordon Menzie was the King of the Dinosaurs at the sixth and final round of Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series. IBelow) Jeff Johnson won the Vet A contest at Willow Springs International Raceway. By FRED WINDUM PHOTOS BY JAMEY BLUNT ' Y ROSAMOND, CA, OCT. 14 he sixth and final round of Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series topped a great season of old bikes and not-so-old riders at Willow Springs International Raceway's half-mile dirt oval. The good weather and track conditions topped off a great season of running at some of the West Coast's finest dirt tracks. With Willow's gentle breezes returning for Sunday's race, it took a bit more work to keep the track in-good shape, but it made for some close, exciting racing. Dave Cheney took off ahead of the Dodge Brothers/Works Performance/ Rod Lake Racing Dinosaurs on his Classic 250cc Sprint, but Andy Dodge quickly passed with the power of his old, reliable 1937 Indian twin, with Gordon Menzie pulling in behind on a 1951 Royal Enfield 500. Menzie took the high line through turn two, but the Indian was working well on the pole and carried the lead through three and four. Menzie kept his momentum up, grabbing the advantage on the back straight. Dodge stayed inches from Menzie's rear tire for the next several laps, pulling up along the inside as the white flag came out. Side by side through one and two, Menzie hooked up coming onto the back stretch, giving him enough of an edge to pull Dodge at the finish by two bike lengths. With the throttle pinned on his little Harley 250, Cheney had the best seat in the house. Back before 1967, Class C dirt trackers had no brakes and little suspension. This is now the ARD Ignitions/Shelly Ward Enterprises Classic 500cc race, and the field at Willow had more diversity than a current AMA National. Clark Edgington got the jump on the field with his 450cc twin Honda, but his lead only lasted into turn two. Chris Rudy put his 1957 Harley-Davidson KR750 in the lead, with the Menzie's '69 Royal Enfield 500 on his tailpipe. Matt Campbell fell into fourth on a '66 Tri- umph 500. Menzie tried a low line through turn four in an attempt to take the lead, but Rudy shut the door on him as the pair shot out onto the front straight. Menzie had the speed through the corners, but in the end it was the big twin with the drive as they crossed the stripe for the final time. Rudy earned the win, with Menzie close behind and Edgington third, ahead of Campbell. Bill Blythe brought up the rear on his 1953 650cc Triumph twin. Jim Rosa, riding Jim Grant's Yamaha 250cc "Evil Twin," led the Progressive Suspension/K&N/Saddlemen Modern 250cc main into turn one, screaming onto the back chute followed by Jim Steet and Steve Ferguson, on a pair of 250cc Hondas, with Tom Sahli and Marc Lyons in tow. Cliff Nagatani dropped Lyons a spot to close on Sahli. Up front, Rosa had the twin set on "scream," pulling away from Steet, who had his left side full of Ferguson, trying a low line to get inside for second. Nagatani passed Sahli, taking Kenny Malaguarnero and leaving Sahli sixth. By now, Rosa had built up a straightaway lead over Steet and Ferguson. Malaguamero passed Nagatani but wasn't quite fast enough to surprise the race for second. Ferguson was still pulling alongside Steet in the comers, but he never quite had the steam to make the pass. Rosa took the win and the championship with more than a straightaway lead, with Steet holding second over Ferguson. Malaguarnero came home fourth, over Nagatani. Donnie Harrell, John Lundgren and Paul Herman led the Maxxis Tires/ A&A Racing/JRC Engineering Modern 750s through the first corner. Herman turned a hard left in the middle of turn two to steam past both Lundgren, now second, and Harrell as the pack hit the back chute for the first time. Marty Lewis and Bob Graves fell in behind to give Triumph twins a stranglehold on the front of the race. Herman's SBframed Triumph had the warp drive on, pulling a 20-bike lead down the front straight, while Harrell dropped Lundgren back a spot and tried to reel in the leader. Jeff Johnson started to IRight) Jim Rosa 188) won the Modem 250cc event; Alex Wood 167) took the runner-up laurels in the 250cc Open contest: ILeft) Frankle Garcia 124G) leads Andy Wood 149) in the aocc Youth main event in Rosamond, California. Wood won and Garcia _s second. 46 NOVEMBER 21, 2001 • eye I e n e _ s , WiII_ Springs IlIIIlrUtionalllllcewllY . . . . . .d, CeJifomill Results: lIctlIlIer 14, 2001 (Round 1 lit IJ YTH 60: 1. Logan Johnson (CEM); 2. Tyler Smotherman (Suz); 3. Andre Ochs (Yam). YTH 80: 1. Andy Wood (Yam); 2. Frankie Garcia (Kaw); 3. Devin Booher (Hon); 4. Jess Garcia (Kaw); 5. Stacy Kn;ght (Hon). VET A: 1. Jeff Johnson (W·R); 2. Steve Fortune (W-R); 3. Dan Waller (Yam); 4. Keith Bradford (Yam): 5. Gary Wh:te (H-D). VET B: 1. Jim Ottele (ATK); 2. Elliott Iverson (Yam); 3. Bill Kolkman (Yam); 4. J;m Dufner (H-D); 5. Lloyd McGregor (Yam). SR: 1. Ron Moore (Tri); 2. Marty Lewis (Tri); 3. Mike Boal (Yam); 4. Bob Thomas (Yam). S/SR / SR NOV: 1. Ron Gould (BSA); 2. CHIf Nagateni (Bul); 3. Marshall Jennings (Hon): 4. Guy Duckett (Hon); 5. Dave Cheney (Tri). CLSC 250: 1. Dave Cheney (H-D). DINO: 1. Gordon Menzie (R-E); 2. Tony Dodge (Ind). ClSC 500/750 SIDE-VALVE: 1. Chr;s Rudy (H-D); 2. Gordon Menzie (R-E); 3. Clark Edgington (Hon); 4. Malt Campbell (Tr;); 5. Bill Blythe (Td). MDRN 250: 1. Jim Rosa (Yam); 2. Jim Steet (Hen); 3. Steve Ferguson (Han); 4. Kenny Malaguamero (Hen); 5. Cliff Nagatani (Bul). MORN 500: 1. John Lundgren (Hen): 2. Brian Coakley (Yam); 3. Bob Thomas (Yam); 4. Bob Gerberich (Hon). MORN 750: 1. Paul Herman (Tri); 2. Donnie Harrell (Trl); 3. Jeff Johnson (Tri); 4. John Lundgren (Tri); 5. Marty Lewis (Tri). OPEN SPTSMN; I. N;ck Moore (W-R); 2. Marc Lyons (Yam); 3. Michael Smith (Yam). 250 OPEN: I. Ian Foulds (Yam); 2. Alex Wood (Yam); 3. Brad Rudy (Yam); 4. Steve Ferguson (Hon). 500 sap A: 1. Rob NoHn (Yam); 2. Ian Fou;ds (Yam); 3. Ron Hinton (Yam); 4. Alex Wood (Yam); 5. J;m Wood Jr. (SUI). 500 sap B: 1. Keith Bradford (Yam); 2. Dan Waller (Yam); 3. Ray Hensley (Yam); 4. Jeff Gonzales (Yam); 5. Robbie Lee (Hon). 600 PRO: 1. Marco Morello (W-R); 2. Jeff Johnson (Han); 3. Donnie Harrell (W-R); 4. Shawn Raggio (Rtx); 5. Steve Fortune (W-R).