Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

North Carolina Hare Scrambles Association Championship Series Round 3: Silver Creek Earl Steals Treasure at Silver Creek lap two and was unable to continue. Experience would give way to youth on this mountainous track, with three of the Masters class (for riders aged 50 and up) pushing into the top 25 overall. Wayne Beatty and Johnny Kirby battled hard all day, with Beatty winning by less than five seconds after two long hours of racing. Bruce Triplett finished a strong third but was unable to match their pace. Senior Mini-class rider Seth Miller proved to be the fastest Mini rider of the day, edging out Supermini-class winner Brent Painther by just eight seconds for the overall win. Women's class winner Shannon Keeter also found the right lines to take her second win in a row. Tammy Mattox and Merideth Cooley rounded out the top three in the Women's By JOHN JORDAN MORGANTON,NC,MAY5 ack on top, Alco Yamaha/Moose Racing-sponsored Vance Earl claimed his first victory of the year at Silver Creek. The sky opened up on Saturday for some much-needed rain, giving way to clear skies for Sunday's race. Silver Creek is likely the toughest track on the circuit, with seemingly endless hills that seem to get steeper and longer with every turn. Just when you reach the top and catch your breath, you begin a downhill descent that's long enough and steep enough to cause arm pump in even the most seasoned veterans. Earl jumped to an early lead on lap one, finding his way through more than two miles of new trail. Pro rider Chris Hicks stayed close, but Earl pulled to a 30-second advantage by the end of lap two. By lap three, a seemingly bottomless mudhole had opened up around the 4-mile marker that became nearly impassible. Riders continued to move to the right of the mud until the once-3-foot-wide trail was more than 15 feet wide. Earl, however, found the right line lap after lap, staying out of trouble. Unable to close the gap, Hicks finished a strong first place in the Pro class, with Earl taking the overall win by nearly four minutes. Dale Brown fought his way back from a fifth-place start and nearly two minutes down on lap one to second place in the Pro class and fourth place overall. Lee Thornburg proved once again to be the rider to beat in the AA class, leading the pack at the end of lap one. Running into trouble on lap four, Thornburg gave up valuable track position to second-placed Steve Henson. By lap five, Henson began making up ground, and by lap seven we was within striking distance. With less than five miles to the finish, Henson proved too strong, making the pass on Thornburg to take the class win. The intense battle pushed them both high into the overall rankings, with Henson finishing third overall and Thornburg fifth overall. Thornburg went on to finish second in the AA class, with David James nearly eight minutes back in third. In the 250cc A class, Matt Moorefield found his first win of the season, edging out Mico Borsuk and William Stevenson. Second-round class winner Dustin Marshall led the class through lap one but found trouble on B 80 JUNE 5. 2002' .. U .. I e class, each posting their best finish of the year. eN Silver Creek MO'llanton, North Cunlliaa Results: May 5, 2002 [Round 3 at 14J O/A: Vance Eor!. PRO: I.Chris Hicks; 2. Dale Brown; 3. Patrick HllYes: 4. C.W. Pitsenburger; 5. JeffVealey. AA: 1. Steve Henson: 2. Lee Thornburg; 3. David Jllmes; 4. Ricky Loftin; 5. Matthew Pressley. 250 A: 1. Matt Moorefield; 2. M.ico Borsuk; 3. Willillm Stephenson; 4. Stephen Webb; 5. Clay Steele. 200 A: 1. Lonnie Rtder; 2. Bry~m Herrington: 3. Michael Teeter; 4. Jeff Silvers; 5. Brandon Keeter. OPEN A: 1. Tommy Pettitt; 2. Ben Fowler; 3. Mllx Whitley: 4. Bill Rink; 5. Richard Cooley. VET A: 1. Devid Sheehen: 2. Mike Anderson; 3. Chris Daniels. SR A: 1. Merk Yonjof; 2. Buster Yerborough; 3. Bllrry Lee; 4. Mike Culler; 5. Brien Childers. MSTR: 1. Wllyne Beatty; 2. Johnny KIrby; 3. Bruce Triplett; 4. George Yount; 5. Wlliter Jllmes. 4·STRK A: 1. Paul Wlliker; 2. David Boylston; 3. Chris Dorlln; 4. Mike Utz; 5. Jllson Peyne. 250 B: I. Eric Leonllrd; 2. Richllrd Sykes; 3. Chris James; 4. RllY Short; 5. Matt Brewer. 200 B: 1. Justin Lee; 2. Clint Frier; 3. Josh Jllmes; 4. Evan Veness; 5. Shene Owens. OPEN B: 1. Harvey Wiggens; 2. Jeff Burrell; 3. Peter Johns; 4. Brien Farris; 5. Todd Sechler. VET B; 1. Terry Slater; 2. Rend)' Nichols; 3. Rendell Mitchiner; 4. Jllson Errente; 5. Keith Bennett. SR B: 1. Gary Moore; 2. Ken Pllinter; 3. Ricky Alexender; 4. Mike Hampton; 5. Tim Huffman. 4·STRK B: I. Christian Hendly: 2. Ricky Upright: 3. Chris Hogston; 4. John Giles; 5. Chris Reel. HVY 1. Mike Thompson; 2. Jeff E1kJns; 3. Mett Moorefield; 4. Ja)' Cherles; 5. Jod)' Rope. LT C: 1. Ryan Intres; 2. Casey Miller; 3. Kllrl Golinski; 4. Nick Pllul; 5. Nethen Cross. WMN: 1. Shannon Keeter; 2. Tammy Mettox; 3. Merideth Cooley: 4. Wendy Charles. S/MINI: 1. Brent Palnlhe:r. SR MJNI; 1. Seth Miller; 2. Justin Sifford: 3. Jon Holt; 4. Che:s Dllvicbon; 5. Bradley Merrill. JR MINI: I. Dylan Pope: 2. David Yarborough: 3. Trey Kee:ms: 4. He:yden RhinehBJ't; 5. lack Howell. c: AMA USA MegaSeries Round 5: Muddy Creek Raceway MudJIy Creek Race-.y BI••ntville, Ten_. Results: May 5, 2002 [Ruaad 5 at 1&J Leadbeater Forges Wins By BARBARA WILliAMS BLOUNTVILLE, TN, MAY 5 amaha pilot Chris Leadbeater Jr. hammered out double victories at round five of the AMA USA MegaSeries by nailing down the 250cc B and Unlimited Amateur victories. Ohio's Leadbeater added more length to his 250cc B lead and became the new point man for the Unlimited Amateur class. For good measure, Leadbeater earned second in the Four-Stroke Bike class and holds that position in the MegaSeries points chase. In addition to Saturday's practice attendance of 400, on Sunday just over 600 riders gathered at Muddy Creek's l.3-mile circuit on a perfect spring day, eager to practice for the upcoming Loretta Lynn's youth qualifier there. In fact, there were two full-gate divisions of 85cc (7-11) riders, and the two 65cc classes ran separately. Although Leadbeater neither took the holeshots of the 250cc B contest nor won a moto, his 2-2 finishes overcame Matt Miller's 1-3 placings. Yamaha-mounted Chase Whitten gaineil the early advantage in the first 250cc B moto, with Miller covering his rear fender like a sponsor sticker. Y n e _ s both motos. Leadbeater and class MegaSeries points leader Jonathan Williams traded second- and thirdplace moto finishes. One of the more exciting races of the day was in the 125cc C class, headed in the points chase by Marcus John Thompson. Early on the first lap of moto one, holeshot artist Thompson came blasting across the bottom section of Muddy Creek. Suddenly his Yamaha's front wheel crabbed and Thompson went down in front of a 40-bike freight train. The Yamaha landed crossways on the track, collecting several more of the front-runners in a gigantic tangle of elbows, swingarms, boots and bars. Thompson was shaken up but able to continue; his ride, however, had to be sidelined for the day. Thompson still holds the 125cc C points lead, and also the lead in the Unlimited C/O points, which he strengthened with convincing twin-moto wins over a 32-rider field 'including Kentucky's Edgar Robinson and Corey Rankin, Josh King of Seymour, Tennessee, and rookie 125cc racer Jeffrey Coates of Weaverville, North Carolina. CN Florida's Zackary Lundy came up to challenge Miller for second on lap three of five but dropped his Honda in the woods section. Almost a lap later, Whitten slid out in the tower sweeper, handing the lead to Miller. Leadbeater was in the catbird seat and had a good run going to take over the lead, but he ran out of time. Whitten made a great recovery to hang on to third. Lundy was first to turn one on the start of moto two, with Whitten, Miller and Leadbeater closer than the time it takes to tell you they were there. This time Lundy stayed up and took the moto win. Whitten crashed again, taking himself out of contention. Leadbeater capitalized on Miller's timing error in the woods whoops and took over second, leaving the final podium spot for Miller. Leadbeater dominated the Unlimited Amateur contest with both moto wins, consigning Todd Wilcom and Trey Meek to argue over runner-up. Wilcom (3-2) earned second overall, while Meek's 2-3 scores placed him third, ahead of Randy Newsome (4-8) and Jeremy Hill (8-5). Lundy denied Leadbeater a sweep for the day by being the hammer man in Four-Stroke Bike. Also the winner of the 125cc B class, Lundy chiseled his #111 on the starts and finishes of 51 SHAFT: I. Cooper P. Webb (Yom): 2. Forrest Trent (KTM): 3. Matt H. Cox (Cob): 4. Jeff Burgess (Yom): 5. Taylor Perry (Yom). 51 (4·6): I. Tyler McSwain (Cob); 2. Mason Grogg (Cob): 3. Forrest Trent (KTM); 4. Malt H. Cox (Cob); 5. Jesse Barfield (Cob). 51 (7·8): 1. Dakota Matthews (Pol); 2. Gavin Trettel (Cob); 3. Brandon Rowell (Man); 4. Grent Ransdell (KTM); 5. Will Castleberry (Pol). 65 (7·9): 1. Ion Trettel (KTM); 2. Ookola Matthews (KTM); 3. Colton Tickle (KTM); 4. Sean Cunningham (KTM): 5. Garret Toth (KTM). 65 (10-11): I. P.J. Larsen (Kow); 2. Adom Britt (Kaw); 3. Zachary Alvellr (KTM); 4, Ryen J. CurrIe Muddy Creek Raceway: Chris Leadbeater Jr. of Columbus, Ohio, took the overall 250cc B victory in Blountville, Tennessee, without winning either moto. Leadbeater owned Unlimited Amateur with double-moto wins and came In runner-up In the Four-Stroke Bike class at round five of the AMA USA MegaserIes.

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