Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128155
Gene Rome....o's West Coast Flat T ....ack Se....ies Round 2: Califo....nia Mid-State Fai ....grounds By SCOTT ROUSSEAU PHOTOS BY KAREN GOULD PASO ROBLES, CA, MAY 4 oing into the Open Pro A main \UJ event at the Paso Robles Short Track, the second round of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series, all in attendance knew that it was going to take a Herculean effort to derail defending event champion Rod Spencer's drive toward a second consecutive Open Pro A main event win. And when the smoke cleared, it was just such an effort by a former series champion that did the trick. Lonnie Pauley, who won the inaugural West Coast Flat Track Series title in 1998, showed the brilliance that made him a legitimate Grand National campaigner in the mid '90s by ripping the holeshot and devastating the rest of the field on his Bill Fagundes Racing/Tuff Plates/Turbo Blue Wood-Rotax. After struggling all night, Pauley made a few changes just before the main event. Those changes vaulted him from relative obscurity to dominance, as he led every one of the 16 laps on the challenging bullring on the California Mid-State Fairgrounds to notch his first West Coast Flat Track Series victory of the season. "I guess I just got sick and tired of everyone taking my money," Pauley joked. "I told some of my buddies before the night started that the rest of the guys might as well pack up, because I was going to win." ~ 46 MAY 22, 2002 • cue • • Pauley did just that by rocketing around the bottom groove and winning the race by over a straightaway. "We just put two more teeth on the back before the start of the race," Pauley said. "We had wanted to run the cushion, but we couldn't make that work. When we changed the gear, it made all the difference." Pauley'S win served to make it two for two for the Wood -Rotax brand on a night that proved tough for Hanford TT winner Mark Corsetti; the District 36 champ failed to even make the A main event. Even so, Pauley admitted that he was hardly relaxed as he attacked the tight, gnarly Paso circuit. "I wasn't thinking it was a cruise because I knew that Rod Spencer was back there somewhere, and he was going fast all night," Pauley said. n • _ s Following Pauley was a group of four riders, including Spencer, who battled in tight quarters for the entire distance. Late in the race, Yamaha YZ426F-mounted John Hlebo III of San Jose worked his way past CCM rider Tony Souza in turn three to take second place on his Augustine-Aspenwall/Engines Only/Rod Lake Racing-backed Yamaha YZ426F. "We struggled during the first part of the night," said Hlebo, who wears the AMA Grand National number 70 on his numberplates. "We made a lot of changes, and we learned some stuff. We have put a really big flywheel on this thing to get it to hook up, and it is working well. As soon as the inside line brushed off in the main event, I just started running it into the berms like a motocrosser. It was handling really good." CCM/Souza Racing/Tuff Platesbacked Souza wound up third, ahead of Hanford TT runner-up Kevin Bricker and 2001 Paso Robles doubleclass winner Spencer. "I was really disappointed after Hanford," the 20year-old Souza said. "We have been working on this new bike and we are finally getting it dialed in. I want to thank [CCM's] Bob Swanson for helping us out. John [Hlebo] was the only guy who really passed me all night. Nobody else showed me anything. It's pretty even again, and I'm confident that we can run for the championship. We all have bad nights, but I had too many of them early last season. I'm off to a better start this time." By virtue of his consistent finishes, Bricker has assumed the series points lead heading into round three. He may have only gotten fifth in the Open Pro A main, but that was the only time that 41-year-old Rod Spencer, of San Martin, California, failed to cross the finish line first all evening. Spencer was the man to beat right from the start, setting fast time in both divisions aboard his Fox Racing/Spears Enterprises Yamaha TT500, then went on to win his heat races in both divisions as well as the Open Pro cash and the Oregon Cascade Water Open Vintage Dash for Cash. Spencer's mojo continued at least long enough for him to repeat his Open Vintage victory of a year ago. Lining up on the pole for the eight-lap main event, Spencer grabbed the holeshot after a restart and never looked back, securing the win ahead of the man who may prove to be his chief rival in the class championship chase, Donnie Harrell of Visalia. The finish meant that the two swapped positions from their Hanford TT battle of two weeks ago. "Paul Herman got off the line good in that first start, and I knew that he and my brother [Rod Spencer] and Donnie Harrell were all going to be fast," Spencer said. "Then we got the restart, and it went our way. I love