Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Hawkins controlled the next two heats. winning both. Dave Clark got the holeshot and went outside. and Hawkins got by on the inside coming out of two. On the next lap, Hawkins spun it out going into one. Dave rode to victory. In the Support B class. there were three separate winners in the three heats. In heat one. Bob Bruzek started 40 yards back but pushed hIS way up to first. Fellow 40-yarder Mike Rought made his way up front all night; he took the second-heat win. Casey Donholt started back the farthest, on the 50. Off the handicap start, Donholt rode around everyone on the outside to win the third and finai heat. In the maIO, Henry Hanzo led the first lap, but soon Rought got by on the outside. Donholt gave it all he had to catch Rought on the outside, but it wasn't enough. Results 0-1: I. Cam Rafferty: 2. MJkey Robinson: 3. Tom Sephton; 4 Warren Diem: 5. John Cook SUP A. I. Da.. . e Clllrk; 2. Keith Hawkins. SUP B: I. Mike Rought: 2. Casey Donholt: 3. Mike Buman Jr.: 4 Henry HtlOlO: ,. Carl VlIn Horn Mesa Marin Raceway Honda Mania By JOSH O'NEAL BAKERSFIElD, CA, AUG. 31 Mesa Marin Raceway, the fastest Super TT track in California. hosted round six of the Mesa Marin's Championship Series. The racing was awesome, in front of a full stadium of spectators. Points leader Leonardo "Pucho" Bagnis returned to contest the event. and EI Cajon and Donner Ski Ranch winner Gary Trachy came to race with the top boys - but neither one of them won the Open heat race. Roseville Cycle's Rider Casey Yarrow took the win, followed by American Honda/Goat Eyewear's Rick Pearce. sporting the CR500 two-stroke. Pucho was third. David Hopfe placed fourth. The Sportsman heat race was intense. Team Arlen Ness' Bruce Sellars built an extreme lead on the field, but halfway into the heat race he slid out in tum two, sliding all the way up to the wall. His Yamaha's front wheel was now tweaked bad. "Red" Ed Coffey took the win. followed by Cliff Sullivan and Ernie Lyles. The Terminator Trophy Dash featured the top five finishers from the Open heat race Yarrow. Pearce, Pucho, Hopfe and Red. Each lap, one rider's eliminated until three are left for a two-lap dash. Red went out first. Hopfe was next. The final two-lap sprint went to Pearce. Sellars' team manager, Billy Bad, worked to get the bike ready for the Sportsman main. Sellars got a big holeshot over the field. Lyles took the lead by lap two, with Red closing in on Sellars. Red worked by Sellars on lap four and set up leader Lyles for an inside pass while squeaking his brakes into the pit row hllirpin. Red put five bikelengths on Lyles. but Lyles, on his Lyles Fiberglass CR500. moved up 4 1/2 bike lengths to the checkered flag, though Red did take the win. Sellars got the final podium spot. Cliff Sullivan had the best results out of his career, placing fourth and beating his good buddy Scott Kennedy. The Open main had Yarrow on the pole and Pearce in two, with Pucho. Hopfe and Red on the front row. Pucho got the holeshot. with Yarrow and Hopfe following him into the first tum. Pearce got off the line a little late, so he had to play catch-up. A few laps later, Pucho and Yarrow had stretched it out big time over Hopfe. Pearce got around Hopfe for third. Pearce was catching up to the top runners, Bagnis and Yarrow, when he hit an out-of-place tire going through the chicane and hit the ground. Pucho took his CHM Exhaust/Carmichael Honda Motorsports CRF450 to another Open win and also put a good stretch in his points iead. Yarrow settled for second. Moss Architectural Specialities' Hopfe worked his Honda into third. Pearce had worked his way up for a drag race with Trachy to the finish. Trachy got it. Results SPTSMN: 1. Ed Coffey (KTM); 2. Ernie Lyles (Hon); 3. Bruce Se.llal"l (Yam); 4 CUff Sumvlln (Hen); 5. Scott Kennedy (Hbg). OPEN: 1. Leonardo B8gms (Hon); 2. Casey Yarrow (Hon); 3. Devid Hopfe (Hon); 4 Gary Trachy (Hen); 5. Rick Pearce (Hen). Champion Speedway Rafferty Wins the Championship! By JAfIIES MCCOLLUM OWEGO. NY, SEPT. 1 Rafferty won the U.S. Open Speedway Championship! Tom Sephton went into the second night of the championships With the points lead. Division One ran four mains: each rider would have to come out of each of the four gates. John Cook was the fastest rider in the heats. He won all four of his heat races and advanced straight into the main. Sephton only lost one heat race, to Cook. Cam Rafferty also won three heats, oniy losing one to Cook. This set up a run-off between Sephton and Rafferty. Sephton got the holeshot and won the race. Rafferty took the hoieshot in his semi and rode away with it. In the second semi. Mikey Robinson had a great gate, but Diem was too fast on the outside, riding around Robinson for the victory. Robinson did get into the last-chance race. Off the first gate in the main, Rafferty took the lead. with Sephton right behind. Rafferty rode incredibiy smooth. holding off Sephton and the rest. In the second main. Cook took the holeshot. Despite Rafferty's pressure. Cook continued to pull ahead. Warren Diem feli in the fourth comer. giving Sephton third. In the third main. Sephton hit the tapes and was sent back 20 yards. Cook got the holeshot. with Diem right on his tail. and that's the way they'd finish. In the final main, to win, Sephton needed to get first and have Rafferty finish third or iower. Off the gate. Cook got the hoieshot, with Sephton and Rafferty foliowing. Sephton gave it everything he had, but it wasn't enough - Cook was too fast, and he took the checkers. This meant Rafferty was the overall winner, over Sephton and Cook. Rafferty is the U.S. Open Speedway Champion! The Support A event (run in a Scratch format) was won by Smith Racing's Brian Holienbeck, who won two heat races. beating out Keith Hawkins and Dave Clark. Hawkins won the first heat but didn't have enough in the main. Hawkins took the main-event holeshot. Clark spun out in the first comer and Hollen· beck got right on Hawkins' taii. Hollenbeck stayed low in the fourth corner and Hawkins went outside. Holienbeck pulled into the lead and pulied away from Hawkins. Holienbeck took the checkers. It was "Mike Buman Jr. Night" in Support B. In the first heat. Carl Van Hom went down in the fourth comer and riders had to dodge him. Mike Rought took the lead and the win. In the second heat, Buman stuck low to get the victory. In the third heat, Burnan again made his way up to first for the win. In the main, Buman got into second on the first lap and was already putting the pressure on Lesniak Nadler. Buman made a spectacular pass on the inside to take the lead and went on to take the checkers. Results 0·1· 1. C.-n Rafferty; 2. Tom Sephton; 3. Jam Cook; 4 Warml Diem; 5. Mlkey Robimon SUP A; I. Keith Hawkins: 2. Dave Clark; 3. Brutn Hollenbeck SUP B: 1 Mikey Buman Jr' 2. Mike Rought: 3. Bob B~k; 4 Casey Donhok. 5. Lesniak N.&er Rainbow Canyon Motocross Park Parr for the Course By DICK GOODWIN ELGIN, NV, SEPT. 1 When the dust settied after two energy-sapping duels in the Rainbow Canyon loam, Yamaha-mounted Austin Parr emerged clearly victorious, snaking big wins in both motos of the 85cc Stock (12-15) class. He had to work for them, though. When the gate dropped for moto one. Parr was nowhere to be found. Instead. Kyle Kellett was leading Colton Isom, Jena Ellis and Justin Wallis as the pack came down the first-turn hill. Wallis carved his way up into second and then blitzed by Kellett for the lead in one of the RaInbow Canyon Motocross Part<: Jason Ellis was the winner of the 125cc Novice class In Elgin, Nevada. back· section sweepers. Parr was coming on Sweney Cycle Park like a runaway freight train. raging up into second by the conclusion of lap one. Wallis and Parr went bar to bar for a whole lap until Parr finally shot by and into the lead. Isom raced solidly in third. Parr kept cranking it up and crossed the checkers with a commanding lead on Wallis. Isom went down hard in the whoops on the last lap and. despite breaking an arm, remounted to salvage fourth, follow~ ing Levie Jones in the third spot. Kellett rocked the field with his second Atkins Afire in Brush! By DAWN WINCZEWSKI BRUSH. CO. SEPT. 1-2 The second annual Rocky Mountain Amateur Nationals was hosted by Sweney Cycle Park in Brush. Colorado. over the Labor Day Weekend this year. Fast Company. the promoters, once again did an excelient job of puliing the event together. The title sponsor was Mental Flossing, and a big thank-you goes out to additional sponsors Acerbis. Advantage Electric. Answer. Big T Performance. Colee's Decorations, Donnie Hansen Motocross Academy, Ecker and Associates, EVS. Fay Myers. Fisher Landscaping. FMF, Fox. Go Fast. Garnsey Wheeler Ford, Grand Drywali, HE! Construction. JLJ Transportation. John's Collision Center. JS Proformance, MX Photography, Neff Rentals, One Industries, Privateer Racing Corporation, Pro Circuit, Pro Motorsports, Scott USA, Silkolene. Spy. Sun, Tag Metals. Tri-City, Vickery Motorsports, VP Fuels and Willy's Concrete Foundations. With nearly 700 riders on hand, there was plenty of racing action going on during the two-day event. A large S12,000 Pro purse enticed top riders from all over, including Isaiah Johnson, Mike Lander, Steven Bennett. Jared Carlson. Josh Kellogg, Matt Karlsen. Jeremy Hinrichs, Shawn Morgan and Andy Atkins. Ironman Atkins was the Pros' star again this year, with three first-place overalls out of four classes raced. In the 250cc A class on Monday. tough battles continued for Atkins. whose sponsors include Vickery Motorsports, Cortez Auto Transport, PRC and Spy. When the gate dropped for the second 250cc A moto. Atkins found himseif toward the back of the pack. He swapped positions with Morgan and Lander and was able to sneak by Isaiah right at the end of the mota! "I was way back at the start," Atkins recounted. "Then, with two laps to go, I was in second place. I don't know if everyone else got tired, but they seemed to slow down. I took an opportunity to come up on IsaiZlh, and I couldn't believe it when I took over first place! it just all came together for me at the end. The promoters realiy worked hard to put on a great race, and I enjoy racing at the Brush track. The folks behind the scenes don't get to hear enough compliments. Congrats to everyone who worked on it." The Rocky Mountain Amateur Nationals will be held again on Labor Day Weekend next year. For additional info, check out www.rockymountainmx.com. straight holeshot as moto two roared into action. Parr was tucked in tight behind him in second, which was bad news for Wallis and the rest. Parr quickly blasted into the point and Wallis sliced past Kellett into second in the back hairpin turn. mounting a charge to try to run down the leader. Parr kept his speed up on the physically demanding course, increasing his lead with each lap. Wallis was not threatened in second. Parr cruised to his second straight win. and the overall 85cc Stock (12-15) crown. besting Wallis. Jones mounted a late·race charge on Tyler Thomas that came up just a Iittie short, leaving Jones fourth and fourth overall. Thomas was third overall. Charley Rennie was also ripping it up at Rainbow Canyon. As the only Pro in the combined 250cc race, Rennie demonstrated why he is a Pro by winning both contests with ease. He shot off the line to lead Jeff Cemensky. Shawn Moore and Kyle Cox as race one opened up. While Rennie built a huge cushion, Brian Lopez was the man on the move, rapidly passing his way up into third before going down and out of the race. Rennie nailed his second holeshot. leading Cemensky and Brian Sweeney. as the second half started. Cemensky surprised Rennie with a pass at the back tabletop. but Rennie dug deep and zapped him back a few tums later. Rennie soon kicked the hammer down and headed for the bam, taking his second straight win. Cemensky flashed through the pipes to win the 250cc Novice class and the class overall, besting Cox. Sweeney and Moore in the final results. Results P/W: 1. Clayton Isom (KIM); 2. Brendan Beigel (Pol); 3. Chrlltopher DeFalco (tITM); 4. Jarl Mcintyre (Lem). 65 STK: 1. Brett Proctor (tITM): 2. PlItrlck Hinners (Kalil): 3. Ryan Fulwider (KIM). 65 OPEN: 1. B~ Proctor (tITM); 2. Patrick Hinners (Kow). 85 BEG: 1. Curtis Bradley (Yam): 2. Taylor Ste.. .ens (KlIw); 3. Nh:hole Durllne! (Suz); 4. Clint Bradley (Yam); 5. Mott Menchen (Suz). 85 STK (12-\5): I. Austin Parr (Yam); 2. JustJn Walils (Suz): 3. Tyler Thoma, (Hon); 4. Leslie Jones (Hon); 5. Jena Ellis (SUl). 85 OPEN: 1. Austin Parr (Yam): 2. Justin Wallis (Suz); 3. Curtis Bradley (YlIm); 4. Clint Bradley (Yam); 5. Andrew Iovino (Yam). \25 BEG: 1. Jacob Pool (Han); 2. Bryce Menzies (Yam): 3. Travis Milne (YlIm): 4. DIne Roney (Hon). \23 NOV: J. Jason Slis (Suz.); 2. Jason Lopez (Yam); 3. Kyle Kellett (Hen). 230 NOV: 1. Jeff Cemensky (KlIw); 2. Kyle Cox (KIM): 3. Brian Sweeney (Kaw): 4. Shllwn MClOt""e (Yam); 5. Brion Lopez (Hon). 250 PRO: 1. Charley Rennie (!

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