Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA U. S. Mega Series Finale Suzuki Top Gun Showdown Final Round: Muddy Creek Raceway (Far left) Red Bull KTM's Kelly Smith knocked off double moto wins In Four-5troke Pro competition at the 14th annual Suzuki Top Gun Showdown, which doubled as the AMA U.s. Mega Series finale. Save for a slight detour off the track, Smith could also have gone 1-1 In the 250Cc Pro-Am event, but his 2-1 tally was still good enough for the overall win. (Lett) Matt Walker was "on" at Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee, winning the 125cc Pro-Am event and eaming second in the 250cc Pro-Am and Four-Stroke Pro contests. Sooth &. Walkers By BARBARA WIWAMS BLOONTVIu.E, TN, OCT. 21 ft his track ain't big enough fer the two of us!" Red Bull KTM's Kelly Smith and Yamaha-mounted Matt Walker rode into Muddy Creek Raceway looking for action and faced off in 250cc A and Four-Stroke Pro competition. When the roost had settled (there is never any dust for the Suzuki Top Gun Showdown), Smith was top gunslinger, banking $1500. The KTM rider aced the Four-Stroke Pro event - incidentally winning his third Eastern Four-Stroke championship - and earned first overall in 250cc A racing (and locking up the Fall Classic 250cc Pro-Am crown). However, the 250cc A showdown was close. Smith earned the overall victory by a second-moto win after young Walker drew first blood by taking moto one. Michelin Tires' Kevin "Sky· Walker of Kingsport, Tennessee, had an up-anddown day - literally - winning one 125cc A moto and overcoming bad starts elsewhere. It hardly mattered, since he had already secured Mega Series titles for both I25cc A and 250cc A. The grand finale of the AMA U.S. Mega Series attracted close to 1900 riders from 16 states, forcing multiple qualifiers and making for full gates of 40 in nearly every class. Mountain Adventures Honda's Clark Stiles grabbed the first 250cc Amoto holeshot, covered by Jim's Motorcycle Sales rider Jon Boruff, Smith, and the rest of the herd of 29. Early on, Smith passed Boruff for second and went after Stiles. However, while Smith was chasing down Stiles, Matt Walker was doing the same to him. Halfway through the moto, the pair caught up with Stiles, and Smith took the lead, using Stiles to try to slow Walker. On the last lap, Walker also went around Stiles, and had Smith in his crosshairs. Coming into a comer a little hot, Smith went off the track, opening the barnyard gate wide for Walker to gallop through. Stiles, Josh Summey and Boruff followed to round out the top five. Smith dropped the hammer on the start of the second 250cc A moto, aiming to put ground between himself and anyone else, especially Matt Walker. Jeff Gibson gated second, Stiles third, Matt fourth and Gavin Gracyk fifth, with Summey breathing down his neck. Kevin Walker started like his Yamaha was tied to a stump, entering tum one dead last. He would finally blast his way back to seventh a 22-position improvement. Smith took the win, leading every lap with no detours. Meanwhile, Matt Walker closed in on Stiles, passing on lap four to take over third. However, Smith and Gibson had too much of a lead and Matt finished third, for second overall. Matt Walker ran away with the fIrst I25cc A moto, winning handily after dispatching holeshot artists Gracyk in less than a lap. Summey settled in third, with Gibson coming up behind him. Kevin "Mr. Perseverance" Walker worked his way up to fifth from a bad start but slid out in a sweeper turn. Then Summey took a spill on lap three. He scrambled up quickly, recovering in sixth. As Matt pulled away from the pack of 31, Gibson spurred his mount, trying to dislodge Gracyk from second, to no avail. Kevin worked his way back up to finish fourth, just ahead of Summey. Kevin took the second 125cc A moto hole5hot, leading every lap. Boruff got a good start, in second ahead of Matt Walker, Jon-Boy Monk, Summey and Nicholas Vaughn. Matt Walker quickly moved into second to pressure Kevin Walker (no relation, but both are fast), who stretched out a four-second lead before the checkers. "Kevin was going too fast to safely pass," remarked Matt. "He'd had a bad day and I didn't need the win to get Cunningham (Cob): 3. Fnmk Lettieri Jr. (Cob); 4. Shewn Rife (KTM); 5. Dekota Matthews (Cob). 65 (7-9): 1. Ian Trettel (Su,); 2. Sean Cunningham (KTM): 3. Colton Tickle (KTM); 4. Cody Robbins (KTM): 5. Ryan J. Currie (KTM). 65 (10·11): 1. Justin Weeks (Ka",): 2. Benjamin Denton (KTM); 3. P.J. Larsen (Ke..... ); 4. Adam Britt (Kew); 5. Andrew Murnane (Ke.....). a/L 65 (7-10): I. Ian Trettel (Su,); 2. P.J.l.orsen (Kew); 3. Adem Britt (Kew); 4. Ryan J. Currie (KTM); 5. oakoto Matthe",s (KTM). 85-1100 (7-15): I. Dustin Phillips (Ka",); 2. MlIck Mcilwain (Hon); 3. Chase Martin (Kaw); 4. Ben Ee.stman (Hon); 5. Jake Owens (Yam). 85 (7-11): 1. Zach Osborne (SUI); 2. Austin Stroupe (Yam); 3. Kyle Smith (SUl): 4. Broc TIckle (Hon); 5. Zachary Alvear (KTM). 85 (9-13): J. Austin Stroupe (Yam); 2. Colten Maynard (Suz); 3. Tyler Livesay (Yam); 4. Dustin Rowe (Suz); 5. Tyler Bowen (Kaw). 85 (12·13): I. Zach Ames (Su,); 2. Patrick Massie (Ka",): 3. Chris Osborne (Suz); 4. Taylor A. Reilly (SUl): 5. Tyler Uvesay (Yam). 85 (14·15): 1. Harris Altman (Kaw); 2. Jared Dean Tuten (Kaw); 3. Brandon Belcher (Hon); 4. Michael Rid90 (SUl); 5. Adam Hauther (Ka",). all /iIlNI 80-110: I. Zach Osborne (Su,); 2. Patrick Massie (Ke",); 3. Tyler Bow.... (Ka",): 4. Broc TIckle (Hen); 5. Chris Osborne (Suz). SCHBY: I. B.J. Huntsinger (SUl); 2. Hutch Lee (Kaw); 3. Matt Miller (SUI); 4. Jonethan Cemp (Yam); 5. Travis Flowers (Kaw). WMN 80-0PEN: I. Kassie L. Wilks (Yam); 2. Kasie Powers (SUI); 3. Stecy McKinney (Yam); 4. Nicole Caldwell (Kew): 5. Shelby Rolen (Yam). 125 NPRO: I. Matt Walker (Yam); 2. Kevin Walker (Yam); 3. Jeff Gibson (Su,); 4. Gavin Gracyk (Ka",); 5. Joshua Summey (Yam). 125 B: 1. Jacob Saylor (Yam); 2. Tyler Burnette (Yam); 3. Jason Wiley (Yam); 4. B.J. Huntsinger (SUl); 5. Alex Gaines (KTM). 125 C: I. Jeremy Allison (SUl); 2. Chase Whitten (Yam); 3. Jonathen Williams (Yam); 4. Jeremy Sounders (Yam); 5. Jonathan Camp (Yam). 125 0: 1. Daniel Coker (Yam); 2. Ryan Puett (SUI); 3. Grant Vickery (Hon); 4. Daniel Morris (Yam); 5. Jacob Thomason (Yam). 250 A/PRO: I. Kelly Smith (KTM); 2. Matt Walker (Yam); 3. Clark Stiles (KTM): 4. Joshua Summey (Yam); 5. Jeff Gibson (KTM). 250 B: 1. Matt Blevins (Yam); 2. Jason Wiley (Yam); 3. Shane Clampitt (Suz); 4. Clint Burkeen (Yam); 5. Thomas Epps (Yam). 250 c: I. Craig Childs (Hon): 2. Jeffrey Sparks (Hon); 3. Trey Meek (KTM): 4. Adam Ballenger (Hon); 5. Jeramine Duncan (Yam). 250 0: I. Fielding W. Morris (Yam); 2. Michael E. Sexton (Hon); 3. Steven Fassett (Yam); 4. Nick Best (Yam); 5. Richard Good",in (Hon). 25. A: 1. Steve Andrich (Yam): 2. Chad Lough (KTM): 3. Troy L Crisp (Hen); 4. WUliam Uies (SUl): 5. leslie Belcher (Hen). 25+ B: 1. Matt Summen (Yam); 2. Kyle Shoun (Hon); 3. Michael Nutter (Yam): 4. Chuck L Cooper (Suz); 5. Chad Perry (Hon). 25. C/D: 1. Tommy Davis (Yam); 2. Chris Shortridge (SUI); 3. Brent James (SUI); 4. Craig Greer (SUl): 5. David Owens (Yam). 30. A: 1. Jim Chester (SUI); 2. Albert McCoy (SUl); 3. William U1es (SUl): 4. Kevin Blalock (Hen): 5. Leslie Belcher (Hon). 30. B: 1. Gary Hinkle (SUI); 2. Kyle Shoun (Hon); 3. Timothy Camp (SUI); 4. Tam Topham (SUl); 5. Teny Bro",n (Hen). 30. C: 1. Chris Shortridge (SUI); 2. Robert Monast (Yam); 3. Lee Chapman (Yam); 4. Benny Stone (Hon); 5. Edward Johnson (Hon). 35.: I. Albert McCoy (Suz): 2. Jeffrey Dodgen (Yam); 3. David Farris (KTM); 4. Robert Monast (Yam); 5. Rick Cooper (Yam). 40.: 1. Chuck Palmer (Yam); 2. David Farris (KTM); 3. Tam Topham (SUl): 4. Kenneth Tedards (Yam); 5. Ronnie Ray (Hon). 48.: 1. Gary Baisden (Suz); 2. Kenny Lee Hall (SUI); 3. Johnny Gibson (Yam); 4. Ted Shortridge (Su,); 5. David Hayward (KTM). (IlL AM: 1. Matt Blevins (Yam); 2. Trey Meek (KTM); 3. J.T. Smith (Hus); 4. Clint Burkeen (Yam); 5. Dwane Mitchell (Yam). (IlL C/O: 1. Marcus John Thompson (Yam); 2. Brandon Smith (Yam); 3. Adam Ballenger (Hon); 4. Tyler Bailes (Yam); 5. Christopher Nelson (Yam). 4-STRK PRO: 1. Kelly Smith (KTM): 2. Matt Walker (Yam); 3. Clark Stiles (KTM); 4. Jeff Gibson (KTM): 5. Jon Boruff (Hon). 4-STRK BK: 1. Chase Whitten (Yam); 2. Trey '1~ek (KTM); 3. Jeremy Saunders (Yam); 4. Jeff Tomlinson (Yam); 5. Jeffery Fields (Yam). the overall, so I just stayed in second." For almost two laps, Gibson rode Summey's rear fender; then he found the opening and moved into third, but he ran out of time to catch the lead pair. The second moto finishing order was Kevin, Matt, Gibson, Summey, Gracyk. Smith owned the Four-Stroke Pro event. Like Kevin Walker's Mega Series standings, Smith had the Fall Classic Series championship wrapped up, but a winner adds the finishing touches. Smith was untouchable, capping off a perfect series with two more perfect motos. Mountain City Cycle's Matt Blevins will be crowned as Mega Series champ in 250cc B and Unlimited Amateur the two classes he waxed at this Showdown. Now on a Yamaha after a long career on Suzukis, Blevins snagged perfect motos in both classes. KTM-mounted Ian Trettel had a good day at the Creek, taking home wins in two classes - Unlimited 65cc and 65cc (7 -9). Champion Cycle-backed Suzuki rider Zach Osborne won the 8xc (7-11) and Unlimited Mini classes. A former Mega Series champion, Osborne has now widened his horizons to ride the biggest races he can find. CN MUddy CreellIlllceWllY IIIooIntville. r.ntiessee Resulb: October 21,2001 [fine! round) 50 SHAFT: I. Taylor Perry (Yam); 2. Tyler McSwain (Yam); 3. Colin Thomas (Yem); 4. Bryan Chesnee (Yam); 5. Colby Morse (Yam). 50 (4·6): I. Gavin Trettel (Cob); 2. Michael Hall (Pol): 3. Mason M. Gragg (Cob); 4. Tyler McS",ain (Cob); 5. Nick Gaines (Cob). 50 (7-8): I. Cody Robbins (Cob); 2. Sean (Left) Josh Summey (267) ended up second for the year In both the 125cc A and 250Cc A classes In the U.S. Mega Series. At the season finale, Summey notched fifth In the 125cc A contest and fourth In the 250cc Pro-Am. n eye' • _ .... s NOVEMBER 28, 2001 33

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