Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

top spot, lappmg the course in 1:24.172. Corey Sherman was second on the grid with a 1:24.375, and Stuart Nadell was third with a 1:24.897. Jeff Chen was the sole American on the front row at 1:24:915. Row two was comprised of Gonyou. Jim Struke, Ken Morrison and Darren Womack. Corey Sherman grabbed the holeshot and led the field through tum one but ran wide in tum two and handed the lead to Gonyou, but Gonyou would hold the lead for only three turns before Chen took the lead away going over "The Jump" and into tum five. Chen held the lead for a lap but then tucked the front in turn eight, know as "The Bowl." Chen remounted and finished the race as the last rider on the lead lap. With Chen out of the way, it became a three-way battle between Gonyou, Wright and Nodell. Gonyou led the trio down the 3000- foot front straight. Gonyou was using his custom-designed aero bodywork to maximum advantage throughout the race, as he had 4 to 7 mph on the field down the straight. Wright, though, would try to stay in Gonyou's draft and then banzai past into tum one, apparently not using his brakes at all. Wright found a race strategy where he could slow Gonyou enough midcomer so that he could not exploit his topend advantage. Gonyou did challenge Wright, though, and was able to pass on the long front straight, but he would let Wright go back by to save his tires for the end of the race. Nadell was sitting in third all this time, watching the two leaders battle it out and waiting for his opportunity to take the lead. Nodell had the steam to stay with the group but, try as he might, could not get around the lead pair. As they took the white flag, Gonyou was glued to Wright's rear wheel. Wright made a mistake in the blind, downhill, off-camber tum three, and Gonyou was able to pull even. Wright, however, had the better line through the turn and held off Gonyou's advances. Gonyou continued stalking Wright throughout the lap, waiting for him to make a mistake. As they went through the sweeper, toward the tum-nine bus stop. the lead trio encountered lapped traffic. Wright made the banzai braking maneuver under traffic Into the bus stop, while Gonyou tried to go around the outside. Nadell, still sitting in the catbird seat, saw his ·chance to pounce and went under Gonyou as well! With Gonyou and Nadell battling it out, Wright was able to just pull enough of a gap through the uphill esses and onto the front straight to take the checkers by three bikelengths. Gonyou got the better drive out of the final comer and put the draft and pass on Nodell to take second. A solid fourth-place run was put in by Dark Arts Racing's Ken Morrison. A first-year Expert, Morrison has picked up his pace tremendously in the past year. Morrison was lapping in the 1:26 range, three seconds faster at the track than last year. "That was a fantastic race," said Wright on the podium. "I had so much fun out there. The last time I was here was a few years ago, on a vintage bike, and it's so much more enjoyable on a 125. This is a great track! Mark gave me all I could handle. I feel very lucky to win today." With his win, Wright takes a solid lead in the championship. With his two wins and two poles, Wright has 120 points. Nodell is second with 83. Corey Sherman Is third in points with 76, Mark Gonyou is fourth with 74, and Jim Struke is fifth with 56. Round three of the series will be held July 19 through 21 at the historic Mosport Raceway, in conjunction with the Canaclian Superbike/F-USA round. Grattan Raceway Ann Arbor, Michigan Results: June 19, 2002 (Round 21 QOAl. ANAL: 1. D,,~ Wright; 2. Mario: Gonyou: 3. Stuart N*II; 4. K~ Moniton; 5. Cort:)' Sherman: 6. Jim Struk~: 7. Dal'ml Womac:k; 8 Mitch BaghdoIan; 9. John Trautmann; 10. logan Myers: 11. Matth~w D~nnl~: 12. Rob Rawlins; 13. Larry Coh~~; 14. John Dempsey; 15. Mark Whit~; 16. Larry DeVor~; 17. Dawn Van Kampen: 18. Ang~la Hibll; 19. Andrew Hittle'; 20. Doug Root. Loretta Lynn's Regional Qualifier Echeconnee MX Park Florida Riders Dominate in Macon By CRAIG JOHNSON MACON, GA, JUNE 22 The Loretta Lynn's Amateur Nationals are only a month away, and the competition is the toughest anyone has ever seen. Riders go to more than one Regional in order to try and get the best qualifying spot they can. In Macon, Georgia, Florida riders won 11 out of the 17 classes that were qualifying. Alabama riders placed second in wins, with three. Finishing in the top five and qualifying for Loretta's, Florida riders put a hurtin' on the rest of them. Thirty-six Florida riders placed in the top five in those 17 classes. Georgia came in a clistant second, with 13 riders in the top five. Alabama and North Carolina tied for third with 11 each. Most classes had more than 30 riders in each class, with a total of 665 entries. Forty-nine riders showed up for the 125cc C Stock class, so qualifiers were run as the first moto. Georgia's Auston Albers won one moto, and Florida's Brandon Abell won the other moto. Two Florida riders, Jonathan Camp and Ryan Luke, placed second in both of their first motos. Then two more Florida riders, Levi Sammons and Kyle Levalley, placed third, and It looked like the riders of Florida were here in force. The top riders were ready to do battle in the second mota. Albers won the mota, making it two wins going into the final moto. Camp ran second, and Sammons was third. Florida's Dane White, who qualified from the Consi, ran fourth. Georgia's Jordan Gooch rounded out the top five. Camp won the final moto, and all Albers had to do was finish behind Camp in second to get the overall. It was not to be, though, as North Carolina's Greg Junge played spoiler, beating out Albers for second. Georgia's Chip Weatherup was fourth, and Sammons was fifth. The 125cc C Modified was even larger, with 56 riders. Camp placed second in each of the first two motos. Luke won the first qualifier, and Albers won the other. Albers won the combined second moto and seemed to have a chance at another overall, but it just wasn't his day. A DNS knocked him way out of a qualifying position in the third and final moto. Camp was in control of the third mota and could hove placed back as far as 10th to get the overall. This was Camp's day, as he won the mota, over Sammons. New York's Joseph Merrill finished third, and Luke finished fourth, which was good enough for second overall with a 10th-place finish the second mota. The 250cc/Open C class was a walk in the park for Camp, as he ~on all three motos. Fifty-two riders showed up, and Tennessee's Justin Lewis won the other first-mota qualifier. Lewis couldn't get around Camp in the other two motos and settled for second for the runner-up spot. Alabama's Shane Mills finished third overall with a 3-4-6 score, and Florida's Brook Thorpe finished fourth overall with 5-7-3 scores. North Carolina's Andrew Alsup rounded out the top five with a 4-11-5 score. Another Florida rider to take a couple of wins was Troy Adams, in the] 25cc and 250cc/Open A Pro Sport classes. National rider 53, Alabama's Clark Stiles, won the first 250cc/Open A Pro Sport moto, followed by Adams. Florida's Kyle Farnell placed third and North Carolina's Joshua Summey was fourth. A four-stroke speedster from Florida, Jeremy Shuttleworth, rounded out the top five. Stiles won mota two and was another rider in control of his own destiny. Adams followed in second, and Summey moved up to third. John Boy Monk was fourth, and Florida's Michael Stevenson was fifth. This was not to be Stiles' day, either. Adams won moto three and Stiles needed to be in second at the checkered flag for the overall. Summey placed one better for second, and New Hampshire's Paul Lamb placed Echeconnee MX Pari<: Jonathan Camp was the only rider to win three classes - the 250cclOpen C, 125cc C Stock, and 125cc C Modified classes - at the Loretta Lynn's Regional Qualifier in Macon, Georgia, third. Stiles could only manage a fourth, and Tennessee's Jon Boruff was fifth. The 125cc class is Adams' specialty. Adams won all three motos in the 125cc A Pro Sport class. Summey was a close second in the first two motos and was hoping to pull off an upset in the third mota, as he has in so many other classes. Summey followed Stiles in third. Boruff beat out Stevenson for third overall with a 9~3-5 score over Stevenson's 5-4-8. Monk rounded out the top five with a 7 -11-4 score. Alabama's Monk was one rider who broke the Florida riders' stranglehold. Monk won the 125cc A and 250cc/Open A classes. Echeconnee MX Park Macon, Georgia Results: June 22, 2002 125 A: I. John Boy Monk (KTM): 2. Hans N~~I (KTM): 3. Charles ElJls (Suz); 4. Jordan P~eples (Yam): 5. Mlk~ L~avltl (KlIw). 125 A PRO SPT: I. Troy Adams (Yam): 2. Joshua Summ~y (Yam); 3. Jon Boruff (Hon): 4. Micha~1 St~v~n50n (Yam); 5. John Boy Monk (KTM). 125 B STK: I. J&Cob Saylor (Yam): 2. Dr~w A,k~w (Yam); 3. Chu~ Whitt~n (Yam): 4. Jason Tuck~r (Suz): 5. Matth~w McGraw (Kaw). 125 B MOD: 1. U1ckary Lundy (Hon): 2. Chriltoph~r McCork~1 (Yam): 3. Dan Truman (Kaw); 4. Drew Ask~w (Y"m): 5. Jason Tuck~r 15<,,)· 125 C STK: I. Jonathan Camp (Yam); 2. Auston Albers (SUl): 3. Levi Sammons (Hon): 4. Gn!g Jung~ (Yam): 5. Chip Weath~rup I....)· 125 C MOD: 1. Jonathan Camp (Yam); 2. Ryan Luk~ (Sta); 3. Odom (Yam): 4. levi Sammons (Hon): 5 Kyle LevaJl~y (Sul). 250/OPEN 1>.; 1. John Boy Monk (tITM); 2. ~y Shuttleworth (Hon): 3. Hans Neel (KTM); 4. Paul P~reblJnos (Yam): 5. William KyI~ Bryant (Yam). 2SO/0PEN A PRO SPT: 1. Troy Adams IYam): 2. Clark StHes (Yam); 3. Joshua Summey (Yam): 4 Paul Lamb (Kaw): 5. John Boy Monk (KTfIt'). 250/0PEN B STK; 1. Justin Appl~whit~ (Hon): 2. Zackary Lundy (Hon): 3. Dan Truman (Kawl: 4. Christopher McCotkel (Yam); 5. Kyle Hochsted~r (Hon). 2SO/0PEN B MOD: I. Zackary Lundy (Hon): 2. Dan Truman (Kaw); 3. Justin Applewhite (Hon): 4. .Jeffrey Sparlu (Yam); 5. Quin. Ion Bigalow (Yam). 2SO/0PEN C: 1. Jonathan C"mp (Yam); 2. Justin Lewis (Hon); 3. Shant: MiHs (KTM): 4. Brook Thorpe (Suz): 5. And~ Alsup (!

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