Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Frozen Ocean Motorsports Park place and two third places, making it a double tie in points and finishes. Polish Power at Frozen Ocean The overall championship was awarded to Fredette, based on his betterround six finish. By IAN C. BLAIR "I think it all comes down to luck," Fredette said. "Joey could have just as easily won [the overall series championship]. We must have had nine or 10 [position) changes between the two of us, and I happened to come out on top. None of them were flat-out passes but problem passes, when one of us would make a mistake and the other would get by." That last pass came just a few miles from the finish. "I had just crashed pretty hard," Fredette explained, "and Joey was in second. At that point, I figured it was over, and I was just trying to finish and hopefully salvage third for the day. Then I entered the second-to- Victorville Motocross Complex: Rookie Pro rider Justin Mace won the Pro class at the opening round of the VMC Fall Series in Victorville, California. the-last tree section and there was Joey, and I just went by." "It seemed like Jeff and I fought it out all day," Ambrosini said. "If I made a mistake, Jeff would get by me. Then he'd make a mistake and Victorville Motocross Complex I'd get by. It was like that all day. I Mace Bludgeons 'em guess I made the last mistake. I went down hard [in a multiple log crossing] By ROBERT MODICA VICTORVILLE. CA, OCT. 20 and twisted my knee pretty bad. I got What a great day for a race - mild tempera- myself up, but I wasn't in the mood to tures, great track conditions and a full field of riders were the order of the day at the opening round of the VMC Fall Series. On the line are 10 snowboards, provided by series sponsor Powder and Sun Sports. Even with the large rider tumout, the schedule was short and the racing was long. Just turned Pro, 18-year-old Pro Circuit rider Justin Mace showed up to compete in the Pro class. Also on hand in the Pro class were Chris Thompson, Danny Guernsey and Larry Roeseler. Having just made an appearance at the Race For America event at VMC a week earlier, Roeseler decided to come out and play before heading to Baja and test with the Herbst Team in their Trophy Truck for the Baja 1000. Roeseler nabbed the holeshot in both motos and was able to hold on to the iead for a lap or two, but Mace was on a mission. With this being just his second Pro race, he was simply on fire once he got out in front in the seven-lap race. He quickly put a 15-second gap between himself and Thompson. In the second moto. Mace was pushed to the outside on the start and had some ground to make up. Within two laps, he was able to overtake Guemsey and Roese-Ier. Try as he might, leader Thompson just couldn't hold off the hard-charging Mace, who took the second-moto win and the overall class victory. The Vet and 250cc classes had great turnouts as well. Both of the Vet motos featured fast, aggressive starts and light racing action as the riders barreled down the 1.2-mile course. This series is definitely going to add some heat to the cooling fall weather. give Jeff a run when he went by me. It's real disappointing to lose the overall by making the last mistake." Two other riders in the 16-rider Pro class stayed with Woodford before falling off his pace. Both Honda rider Jesse Bloomberg and Husky man Phil Converse were able to run with Woodford before both of them experienced mechanical problems. Early on, Bloomberg took the lead in the first woods section. "I had a good start and was able to make my way up to first within a couple of miles," Bloomberg said. "I held the lead until Woodford passed me about a mile from the end of the first 9-mile section. I hung with him until I threw it away down a riverbank about five miles from the end of the first lap. I eventually worked my way up [to eighth place) but then lost my front brake before pulling out." Converse also hung with the leader and finished the first lap just 14 sec- WM.N: I. front tire;finishing eighth overall. 1:11 "The IIlIce" Morrison, Illinois Results October 28, 2001 [Round 6 of 61 O/A: I. Chuck Woodford (Kaw); 2. Jeff Fredette (Kew); 3. Joey Ambrosini (GG); 4. David Stickel (KTM); 5. Charlie Deutcher (Hus); 6. Ryan Moss (KTM); 7. Ron Whipple (Kaw); 8. Phil Converse JR VET: I. Vito ValentJ: 2. Rich CllIrk. VET BEG: I. Sc:ou Burroughs: 2. Michael Merslng; 3. Brian Mc:CorkJe; 4. Mike Crippen. VET NOV: 1. David Delong. SR BEG: I. MIke Boekovic:h: 2. Randal tc;wak: 3. Carl Theobald. SR NOV: I. Chudt Tuey; 2. Fred BertIett. SR EX: I. Brian Otto: 2. Gene Dickenson. (Hus); 9. Larry Burqulst (VOR): 10. Tim Tabor (KTM). 54 NOVEMBER 28, 2001 • cue Undo~. 6.5: I. M@i) Franklin; 2. Cede Crippen; 3. 0eYtn TrutCOf11. 80: I. Dillion Jones; 2. Cody Conzalez; 3. Jake Moen; 4. Antho· ny Gould. 125 BEG: I. Daniel ~ps; 2. Kyle Boboth; 3. "'4I'On Heldreth; 4. TIm WaldKhmldt. 250 BEG: 1. JOIh Staggs; 2. Eddy Raisch: 3, Ken Weir: 4. Bran· don Floyd: 5. RUliell Raven. 250 NOV: 1. Wade Phillips; 2. Jacob Phillips: 3. Jay Kelley. PRO: l. JusUn Mace (Kaw); 2. Chris ThompSOfl (Yam): 3, Lorry Roeseler (Kaw): 4. Danny Guernsey (Yam). rock and rode the remainder with a flat I • n Results SP'TSM/"t: I. Josh Chltum (Yam): 2. Oov\d Hopfe (Yam): J. Ray Crumb (KTM): 4. Ernie Lyles (Hen); 5. Btuce Sellal'1 (Yam). PREM: 1. Rick Pearee (Hon): 2. Casey Yarrow (Hbg); 3. Don Cenet (Hus): 4. Joah ChillUm (Yam): 5. Herrera (Hon). FInal Point! Standings SPfSMN: I. David Hopfe (148): 2, Emle: Lyles (126); 3. Bruce Sellars (120); 4. Ed Coffey (114); 5. Josh Chisum (95): 6. David Lopez (79); 7. Kyle Leuley (75): 8. Bryan l.e:e (5.5); 9. Nk::k "'gum (33); 10. Josh Pee.rce (32). PREM: 1. Rick Pearce (175); 2. Cuey Yarrow (105): 3. David Hopfe (99); 4. Marie Cemicky (91); 5, Ryan Glfford (SS); 6. Emle: Lyles (82): 7. Don Cenet (SO); 8. Bruce Sellal'1 (79); 9. Ed Coffey (66); 10. Jooh Ch_ (63). "'.J. Results 0·1: I. Cnaisl f.IteBe: 2. Cam 1Ulferty; 3. .Jur8. 1"'oofdIet; .... David Oekdon. 0·2: 1..loth ClIfT; 2. U!t 8IIi&ey; 3. Ruu ComeI: .... DeYe Smith. -- D-3: I. o.Md Oarlt: 2. .kony Gnenga; 3. Mike: Wal1iama: ..... Mike Mesa Marin Raceway Pearce the MM Champion By JOSH O'NEAL Results onds behind Woodford, but he hit a AUBURN, NY, OCT. 20 The East Coast speedway season began back in April with a team of New York riders touring Poland for two weeks, so it was only fitting that the season should wrap up with a reciprocal visit of a Polish squad to New York. The Polish team consisted of riders from second-division team Lubleski Klub Zuzlowy (LKZ). Jurek Mordel, Jaroslaw Brus, Darek Stenka, Bartek Brzozowski and Marcin Kondratowicz nfade u the visitors' roster. The tour was organized and presented by the Northeast Speedway Racing Association, and the first stop on the schedule was Frozen Ocean Motorsports Park in Aubum. New York. Binghamton's Tom Burge, a past U.S. Open champion and a mainstay of New York speedway for years, has been a late-season standout this year. At Frozen Ocean, he con~ tinued to showcase his speedway mastery with a number of outstanding heat races. In his first race of the afternoon, Burge faced off with Polish ace Brzozowski and used a tight, on-the-pipe line to pass and then hold off the Polish gunslinger for the win. However, LKZ captain Mordel returned the favor in a later heat, passing Burge on the outside for a win. The most spectacular heat race of the evening found Joe Greene facing off with Chris Strong and Brzozowski. Greene and Brzozowski diced for the lead for two laps, with each rider testing inside and outside lines. Heading into tum two on the third lap, Brzozowski went extremely wide and couldn't save il He rocketed off the track through an open chute gate and bounced Wildly into the weeds. He managed to tum himself around out in the rough and re-entered the track through the same open gate, but by that point Greene had the win well in hand. Burge's evening finally came to an end with a mechanical failure, and by then the Division One top guns had emerged. Craig Estelle, Cam Rafferty, David Oakden and Mordel would make up the Division One main. Estelle started in post number four, with Mordel alongside in three and Oakden in the number-two slot; Rafferty broke from the rail. Estelle took the early lead but was under immediate pressure from Rafferty. Estelle was drawing consistent speed from the track, while Rafferty only found bursts of acceleration and couldn't seem to string them together into one steady run. At the checkers, it was Estelle, Rafferty, Mordel and Oakden. The Division Two main consisted of Josh Carr, Lee Bailey. Dave Smith and Russ Cornell. Carr nailed the holeshot and the field fell into a processional behind him, with Carr winning, Bailey second, Comeli third and Smith fourth. in the Division Three main, Mike Rought cut an alert gate and looked like he had it in the bag, but his low-side crash in tum three of lap two enabled Dave Clark to take the lead and the win, followed by Jerry Grenga and Mike Williams. In the Sportsman heat race, Josh Chisum took another win aboard his Generation Next/Action SportsfWhite Brothers Yamaha YZ426F. Hopfe pulled in a good second. Hopfe didn't have to worry about Chisum, because Chisum had missed out on a few races and was nowhere close to the points lead. Pearce shot in front of the Premier heat race. Yarrow followed. Yarrow had been absent from Mesa for the past two races, so he was only in contention for second place in points. The Sportsman main was sort of "all shook up." All the racers were lined up and a few rolled forward; while they were rolling back, the flagman threw the flag to go. Bruce Sellars, who was only four points behind second place, stalied his bike on the line. Chisum and Hopfe started puliing away, just like in the last few races. Pro motocrosser Ray Crumb, who had come out to try Super TT for the first time, was running third, with Ernie Lyles and "Red" Ed Coffey right with him. Sellars rode so hard that he caught back up to Coffey and Lyies, though Chisum and Hopfe had checked out by that time. There was a nice gap between Lyles and Crumb, while Sellars had moved up to Coffey's rear tire. Chisum took this third consecutive series win, Hopfe had to settle for second, though he would win the Sportsman-class championship. Crumb, Lyles and Sellars rounded out the top five. Pearce and A.J. Herrera battled for the Premier-class holeshot. Both were riding Honda two-strokes: Pearce on the CR500, Herrera on the CR250. Yarrow soon passed Herrera for second. Herrera and Canet put on a nice battle for third. The top two in the Sportsman contest, Chisum and Hopfe, were coming up to challenge Herrera and Canet. Yarrow and Pearce battled for a lillie bit until Yarrow overshot a turn, and from then on Pearce was gone. Canet had gotten past Herrera, and Chisum was the next to get Herrera. Hopfe would also try to get past Herrera, but Herrera was not about to give up another position. Pearce began to do his usual one-footon, one-foot-off wheelie down the main straightaway while celebrating his victory. Yarrow crossed the line in second in the main and second in points. Chisum caught Canet, and they put on a great four-stroke race for third, with Canet getting the nod on his uptight Husqvama. __ S BAKERSFIELD, CA, OCT. 20 Another exciting race was held at Mesa Marin Raceway. It was one of the biggest races at the track, the last race of the series. Defending Mesa Marin champion Rick Pearce didn't even have to race the October Classic, but he wanted to show off in front of the fans. David Hopfe, the Sportsman series leader, only had to place in the top 10 to win the series. Pearce started the night off by taking the Tenninator Dash win. Don Canet and Casey Yarrow gave him a run for his money, but they didn't have enough cash. Mesa Marin Raceway: In Bakersfield, California, Rick Pearce celebrates with his dad (and tuner) and the trophy girl after winning the main event and also the Mesa Marin champlonship_

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