Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

CMC Northwest Winter Arenacross Series ~ Round 6: Forster Livestock Pavilion Ryan Leach continued his winning ways with a pair of overall 250cc Prociass victories at round six of the CMC Northwest Winter Arenacross Series. STORY AND PHOTOS BY CLAY LIGHT SALEM, OR, JAN. 4·5 rothers Sam and Matt DeAtley made the lengthy trek from their hometown of Lewiston, Idaho, to the Oregon State Fairgrounds payoff by virtue of class-winning performances during the first of two consecutive nights of racing inside Forster livestock Pavilion. On Friday, the younger of the two brothers, Matt, won three classes after sizzling performances in the 60cc Senior (9-11), 60cc Open and aocc (9-11) contests aboard Kawasaki and Suzuki machinery. Matt also placed third in the highly competitive Supermini class which was won by Matt's brother Sam, who was also victorious in the aocc (12-13) event. The Kawasaki-mounted Sam DeAtley won both Supermini classes to lead local Honda rider Jesse Wuori (2-3) and Matt DeAtley (4-4) into the top three overall. Another of the brigade of Idahoans, Kyle Evans, trailed Sam in the second Supermini mota, but a seventh-place first-moto finish dropped him to fifth overall. Matt DeAtley had pressure from fellow Kawasaki rider Danny Gubser in the 60cc Senior (9-11) and 60cc Open classes, but things went in Matt's favor throughout the evening. Matt led both 60cc Open motos from start to finish, while Gubser (2-2) finished sec- 34 JANUARY 30, 2002' cue • and overall, ahead of Tyler McClinton (3-3), Travis McClinton (4-4) and Dakota Smith (5-5). Sam sna red the holeshot in the first aocc Age Group mota and hammered the competition aboard his Kawasaki. Local Yamaha rider Travis McMackin trailed the elder DeAtley to the finish in the mota, followed by Evans, Nathan Whitlow, Matt and Wuori. Sam did much the same in mota two; McMackin stayed within striking distance to finish second, but Sam scored the win in the aocc (12-13) class. McMackin placed second in the class, followed by third-place finisher Whitlow, Matt (the aocc 7-11 overall winner) and Evans. Saturday's top performers included KTM-mounted Pete Sannan, who polished off a sweep of the weekend in the 125cc and Before The Hill Intermediate classes, and Honda rider Mitchell Robbins, who roosted the competition all weekend long in the 250cc and Before The Hill Junior classes. KTM- and Yamaha-mounted Jared Wood jolted all comers in the 60cc Senior (9-11) and aocc (9-11) classes on Saturday to also stand among the select few double-class winners. In Saturday's opening mota of the combined Before The Hill Junior/ Intermediate contest, Yamaha YZ426F-mounted Jeremy Mickelson pulled the trigger fastest to lead Ryan Brubeck and the rest of the field. Brubeck, though, took command less than a lap later after an aggressive pass in the gnarly whoop section. Robbins, however, was the fastest rider in the field of 16 and he overtook Brubeck midway through the mota to snare the win, ahead of Brubeck, Mickelson, Jimi Blackwell and Sannan, who crashed on the opening lap but forged back to fifth by mota's end. Mota two was all Sannan's; he finalized his four-class decimation with his overall win in the Before The (Right) Jeremy Mickelson won the Four-5troke class during two consecutive nights of racing at the Oregon State Fairgrounds in Salem. (Below) Pete Sannan was the dominant rider in the 125cc and Before The Hill Intermediate classes at the Forster Livestock Pavilion. • n • _ s Hill Intermediate class, while Robbins was again the dominant rider in the adjoined Before The Hill Junior class, leading Brubeck and Mickelson into the top three overall. Yamaha-mounted Ryan Leach has only met defeat once thus far in the series, at the hands of former AMA National and Supercross star Ryan Huffman. This weekend, though, it was all Leach. He trounced the competition in the combined 250cc Pro/Intermediate contest on both nights, leading Washington's J.R. Vielle and local Kawasaki rider Eric Roth to the finish on Friday. Leach did much the same on Saturday, pulling away from Vielle and the top placing 125cc Intermediate, Sannan, to finalize a sweep of the weekend's Pro-class festivities. The Open Pro/Over 40 contest featured nearly a full gate of riders. Suzuki-mounted Dean Johnson demolished the competition, bolting to the head of the pack in both motos to earn the 45-year-old from Albany, Oregon, the Open Pro-class' win. Another Suzuki rider, Jamie Claassen, trailed Johnson in both motos and won the Over 40 Money class overall, ahead of Honda CRF450-mounted Dan Kauffman, Cannondale rider Bruce Wallin and Dave Shepard. In the adjoined Over 40 Amateur class, Yamaha rider Grant Brown used a 2-1 tally for an overall win. Terry Hamness Sr. won the first mota but didn't show for mota two. This greatly aided in Brown's come-from-behind mota-two win; Husqvarna rider Bill Farrell used consistent 3-3 placings to garner second overall, ahead of Glenn Gorst and Zack McLain. In the Husky 50cc Challenge race, Blake McMackin and series points leader Brandon Barber went wheel to wheel for nearly the entire six-lap race. McMackin led every lap of the

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