Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

60cc (0-8) Beginner class by coming out on top in both motos. Two class victories meant that the three-hour trip from Pismo Beach was worth it for the Thinger family. David Fee has been making a habit of winning the 65cc Novice division, and he did so again on this night in convincing fashion. Behind him, Charles Sotelo and Dustin Moody were in a battle for second place most of the night. Moody finished second in the first heat but fell to fourth in the second. That gave the nod for second overall to Sotelo, who went 3-2. Moody exacted revenge in the 60cc X race, which he won over Fee and several other riders. Tyler Bereman went 1-1 to win the 60cc (9-11) Beginner class. The 80cc Beginner class was the first one to feature some good backand-forth battling for the win. Kevin Wells and Chris Potter waged two motos' worth of dirt warfare in front of a 15-rider pack. Potter rode his Yamaha to victory in the first race, but Wells came back and won the second, taking the overall victory. Meanwhile, Michael Dunnagan and Corey Jordan were locked in a tight battle for third the entire night. They swapped third-and fourth-place moto finishes, with Dunnagan taking third in the second and final moto and thus taking third overall. Kyle Zarr swept the Novice class and Jake Osborne did the same in the Intermediates. The 125cc classes were some of the biggest of the night. The Beginner class was especially large, but Woodlake's Drew Gordon was up to the task. He blew the entire field away and raced to perfect finishes in both motos. The real drama took place behind him. Kyle Zarr battled with Brent Williams, Eric Ralls and Clay- ton Peck for the second step on the podium. Peck finished second in the first moto, f?lIowed by Nick Maxwell, Williams and Zarr. Peck and Maxwell were in good position going into the second heat, but both of them had trouble. Maxwell fell all the way back to 16th, while Peck fell to 11th. Williams improved on his first moto I:ly one position and finished third. But it was Zarr, with a breakthrough second-place finish, who ended up taking second overall with 5-2 finishes. Williams was third, followed by Ralls (6-4) and Peck in the final standings. The 125cc Novice class featured some good racing from front to back. Matt Shellhammer came out and won the first race, followed by Brett Markarian, Steven Bates and Jesse Mobley. Mobley rebounded to win the second heat but surrendered the overall to Shellhammer (1-2). Steven Bates stayed consistent and took third overall via 3-3 finishes. Robby Baptista did double duty as he usually does - and raced the 125cc and 250cc Intermediate classes. He didn't have any competition on this night in the 125cc class, but it didn't really matter. He set a blistering pace and was clearly the fastest 125cc rider in the field. The same was true when he switched to his 250. Though Coarsegold's Matt Gaines kept him honest, Baptista was the runaway winner. Other notable performances of the night included John McCracken's rare sweep in the 250cc Novice class, Blake Barnes' similar performance in the 250cc Beginner division, and Jason Hearn's flawless rides in the Vet Beginner ranks. eN Hanford Fairgrounds: Robby Baptista was the fastest man on a 125 or 250 at round four of the CMA Anaheim Express MX Series in Hanford, California. (Yam); 3. M;chael Dunnagan (Yam): 4. Corey Jordan Hanford Fairgrounds Hanford, California Results: October 6, 2001 [Round 41 (Kaw); 5. Wes F1ippon (Vam). 80 NOV: I. Kyle ZarT (Yam); 2. Daniel Atencio (Kaw); 3. Sherri Cruse (Vam). 80 INT: 1. Jake Osborne (Hon); 2. Dustin Pipes (Kaw). 80 X: 1. Jake Osborne (Hon): 2. Daniel Atencio (Kaw); 3. Corey Jordan (Kew); 4. Steven Faris (Hon). 125 BEG: 1. Drew Gordon (Hon); 2. Kyle Zarr WMN; J. Sherri Cruse (Vam).. so F{T: J. Nicholas Templeton (KTM). 50 (0·6); I. Logan Poisall (KTM); 2. Jerrick Merrell (KTM); 3. Brandon Coneley (KTM). 50 (7·8): 1. Jesse Nelson (KTM); 2. Daniel Licon (Pol): 3. Dustin Connell (KTM): 4. Andrew Rodriguez (KTM); 5. Brandon Orr (Lem). 50 OPEN: 1. Jared Thinger; 2. Zach Summers (Cob); 3. Paul Nelson (Cob); 4. Jacob Atkins (Cob); 5. Josh Pllg (KTM). P/W 80: 1. Taylor Toole (Vam). 8!W: I. Steven Faris (Hon). 60 (0·8); 1. Jared Thinger (Kaw); 2. D.J. Montgomery (Kaw); 3. Sean Slaven (KTM); 4. Matt Hopson (KTM): 5. Josh Hay (Kaw). 60 (9·11): 1. Tyler Bereman (Kaw); 2. Jerry Cox (Kaw); 3. Robby Baker (KTM); 4. Allen Licon (Kaw); 5. Bohdi Sharp (KTM). 60 NOV: 1. David Fee (Kaw); 2. Charles Sotelo (KTM); 3. Dustin Moody (Kaw); 4. Zach Summers (KTM); 5. Christian Kinney (KTM). 60 X: 1. Dustin Moody (Kaw); 2. David Fee (Kaw); 3. Tyler Bereman (Kaw); 4. Zllch Summers (KTM); 5. Christian Kinney (KTM). 80 BEG: 1. Kevin Wells (Han); 2. Chris Potter (Yam); 3. Brent Williams (Yam); 4. Eric Ralls (Yam); 5. Clayton Peck (Su,). 125 NOV: I. Matt Shellhammer (Yam); 2. Jesse Mobley (KTM); 3. Steven Bates (KTM); 4. Brett MlIrkerian (Suz); 5. James Leon (Yam). 1251NT: 1.. Robby Baptista (Hon). 250 BEG: 1. Blake Barnes (Hon); 2. Nick Fisher (Hon); 3. Clay Lyons (Vam). 250 NOV: 1. John McCracken (Suz); 2. Eric Pina. (KTM); 3. Aaron Ambrister (Hon); 4. Paul Keil (Su,). 250 INT: I. Robby Baptista (Hon); 2. Matt Gaines (Hon). VET BEG: 1. Jason Hearn (KTM); 2. Ed Tedeschi (Yam); 3. Frank PHg (Yllm). VET NOV: 1. Steven Atencio (Kaw); .2. Alex Rouch (Vam). VET tNT: 1. Rick Sottile. VET PRO: 1. Rick Hollenbeck (Su,). OIT NOV: 1. Mark MansHeld (Hon); 2. Mark Hllwkins (Yam). Midwest Challenge Series Round 5: Henry County Fairgrounds Orr, Murphy Show No Mercy By and slid out. This minor miscue was all Crick needed to squirt back into the lead. Within a few turns, Kissiar was back in the lead and riding even harder than before his incident. Meanwhile, Orr, in third, was patiently waiting for the opportunity to go for it. On lap four, Crick was the second front-runner to make a miscue, allowing Orr to blast past into second. This obviously irritated Crick, as he tumed up the wick, and for the next lap and a half an intense battle between Orr and Crick ensued, which also allowed the duo to make up time on leader Kissiar. The KX-mounted Kissiar carried more speed into the corners than his rivals, but the duo seemed to select better lines through the stadium whoops and kept lower over the rhythm-section doubles to maintain their margins at the finish line. On the next lap, Orr muscled his RM past Kissiar in the first turn to pass the KX rider. Kissiar immediately retaliated through the stadium whoops but again took an inside line, and that proved to be his undoing, as he once again took a brief soil sample. As the white flag came out, Orr maintained his lead over Kissiar, who in turn had a two-second margin over Crick, who in turn had about eight seconds over fourth-placed ·rider Andy White. One lap later, Orr took the win over Kissiar, Crick, red rider RANDY SANSOM PARIS, TN, OCT. 6 C old temperatures and the threat of torrential rain affected the fifth round of the Midwest Challenge Series, held at the Henry County Fairgrounds in Paris, Tennessee. Nonetheless, nearly 200 riders from six states braved the elements and arrived at the facility ready to do battle. They were not disappointed: The hard-working Paris Dirt Trackers ensured track conditions were perfect, possibly the best of the sevenround series to date. RM80-mounted Brady Orr was one of the many new faces at the front of the pack, and he made the most of the ample traction to charge to the win in the highly competitive 85cc (12-15) class. Orr later competed in the Supermini class but ran into a little bad luck. Thumper pilot Kevin Murphy also was psyched, cruising to an easy win in the 250cc B class and carding a third in the highly competitive 16-24 class. After carding a solid third place in his qualifying heat earlier in the evening, Orr was riding with newfound intensity. YZ speedster Dennis Allen Crick grabbed the 85cc (12-15) holeshot, followed closely by Orr, who was hot on his heels. Perennial frontrunner Steve Kissiar was motoring around in fourth place on the first of eight laps, intending to take the lead and check out, as he has done in previous rounds. By the beginning of lap two, Kissiar had made a few aggressive moves and found himself in the lead. On lap three, Kissiar decided to take the muddy inside line entering the corner following the finish-line tabletop but got on the gas too early cycle n White, and Kawasaki rider Nick Dilda. Orr also competed in the Supermini class but was the victim of poor starts and a few mistakes throughout both the qualifier and the main event, which kept him from making inroads in the lead group. He eventually finishing in eighth overall. e _ S • NOVEMBER 21,2001 51

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