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with one win to his credit, was looking for two. The 30 riders worked hard for one of the 12 spots in the A main, and Wilburn wanted to be the best of the best. Right off the start, Wilburn took the lead, followed closely by Paul Her· man and Ben Meyer. On lap two the ment, pulled in a lap early, moving Jeff Apple to second and brother Chris to third. Rob Nolin, from Ramona, California, pulled off a rare feat wining two main events, the first coming in the JRC Engineering Megacycle Modern 500 class. John Lundgren pressured Nolin the entire distance, even taking his turn in the lead on lap five, but just couldn't make it stick. Finishing front three remained the same, but Slusher displaced Cobb to move into fourth. Two turns later, Cobb returned the favor, putting a wheel under Slusher to regain fourth. Meanwhile, Herman stayed three bikelengths back of Wilburn, with Meyer a distant third. Wilburn held on for his second win of the day. Former AMA Grand National number 42 Steve Morehead turned the fastest lap of the day, at 40 seconds flat, en route to his victory in the Maxima Shelly Ward Open Amateur A main. Morehead, aboard Kenny Coolbeth's Corbin Racing TLlOOO Suzuki, toyed with the other riders, but they were flat out-classed. A.J. Herrera ran a distant second before pulling off with mechanical problems. Averaging two seconds per lap faster, Morehead easily won. Travis Petton finished second, and Jimmy Abrams third. The event finished at 4:17 p.m., close to on time and without a single incident. With many number-one plates in various classes still up for grabs, there will be several title battles (Left) David Atherton, the father of GNC star Kevin Atherton, carried on the family racing tradition with a big win on his Immaculate BSA Goldstar In the Classic 500 class. Fox, Bob Graves, and Gary Pettis hit turn one side by side in the Barnettpresented Senior Class. In turn two, Fox took control at the front, followed by Pettis, Graves, and Dick Slusher. By the completion of the first lap, Slusher had moved up to third. Graves took over the front spot on the second trip down the back straight, and then exiting turn four, Slusher got by Graves to take the lead. Meanwhile, Marty Lewis, who had gotten away in sixth, was moving up. By the forth lap, he'd gotten around Graves for second, but time ran out for him to make a run at Slusher. At the checkered flag, Slusher prevailed over Lewis, Graves, and Fox. The Brown's Cycles Dinosaur main may have only had three machines survive to the main event, but nonetheless the race went all the way to the wire. On the line were a 1939 Triumph ridden by Gordon Menzie, Tom Hensley on a 1940 Indian, and another '40 Indian ridden by David Duvarney. Menzie shot to the lead over Hensley and Duvarney, and proceeded to check out, or so he thought. By the end of one lap, Duvarney got by Hensley, who had broken a seat mount (due in no small part to a lack of rear suspension), and set his sights on Menzie. At the white flag, Duvarney had caught Menzie, and he took over the lead in tum two. Menzie, caught by surprise, had an answer for Duvarney, as he used the draft to his advantage. Exiting turn four, Menzie was in second and timed the draft perfectly to beat Duvarney to the stripe by two tenths of a second. Some 28 riders fought bar to bar for one of 11 spots in the Bartels' Harley-Davidson Vet A main event, with the remaining 17 going to the C&J Racing Frames B Main. Greg Wilburn, fresh off of two victories at Sacramento, led the A main into turn one. Tom Horton, also Harley-mounted, gave chase in front of Steve Fortune, who was on a single-cylinder Rotax. Charging through the field, riding a flawless race, was Travis Petton, who worked his way up to the second spot. Lap five saw Horton finally succumb to an engine problem and call it a day. At the finish, Wilburn picked (Above) Chris Rudy (87Y) Is followed by David Brown (S1Z), and Chris Apple (9SA) is blowing smoke as he trails Jimmy Abrams (31Y) out of tum four during the Classic 500 main. Ultimately, Chris Apple finished third, behind brother Jeff Apple. (Right) "You guys had better watch out next year": Promoter Eddie Mulder (center:! sacrificed his chances at Del Mar glory to ensure that his event went off without a hitch. According to most In attendance, it did. up the win, turning a 42-second-flat lap time, over Petton and Fortune. The Vet B Main was a runaway for Joe Steffen, the hardest ride coming from Jim Ottele, who would end up second, but well back of Steffen. Danny Perez, on a beautiful blue C&J Suzuki DR-Z, finished third. The Works Performance Classic 500 was a riding lesson, with David Atherton (yes, Kevin's father) playing the teacher. Jimmy Abrams, from A&A Racing, led the pack of 12 into the first turn. Exiting turn two, though, Atherton ran away and left Abrams, David Brown, and Chris Rudy to fight it out. At the end of one lap, Rudy took third away from Brown, but his Harley-Davidson was blowing a lot of smoke, and by lap two got the black flag (and being the sportsman he is, pulled in). By lap four, the Apple brothers, Jeff and Chris, had moved into third and fourth, respectively. With a 46.2-second final lap, Atherton picked up the win. Abrams, caught up in the excite· a distant third was San Diego's own David Earhart. Nolin's second victory came in the highly contested Saddlemen 500 at the final two rounds to be held at Tulare Cycle Park, October 12-13. CII Oel Mar Fairg18unds Oel Mar, CalifDraia Results: lIcIDber 5, 2002 [Round 5 at 71 Support A main event, to accomplish this feat, Nolin had to best 28 riders on the day. Nolin shot to the front with Jim Ottele and Bob Cobb in tow. SR: 1. Dick Slusher; 2. Marty Lewis; 3. Bob Graves. DINO: 1. Gordon Menzie; 2. Devid Duvarney; 3.Tom Hensley. SR NOVICE/SOPER SR: I. Mel Stoner; 2. MlIrshall Jennings; 3. Sem Grey. VET A: 1 Greg Wilburn; 2. Trllvis Pettan; 3. Steve Cobb drafted past Ottele down the back straight, while Nolin was already six lengths gone up front. By the second lap, Jimmy Abrams moved into third. Then, on the fifth lap, Cobb caught Nolin, and Abrams caught Cobb. It was anyone's race as they started the final go-around. Nolin chose to lead the trio out of turn four, which proved a wise decision, as he was victorious Abrams. Fortune. VET 8: I. Joe Steffen; 2. Jim Ottele; 3. Danny Perez. CLASSIC 500: I. David Atherton; 2. Jeff Apple; 3. Chris Apple. MODERN 500; 1. Rob Nolin; 2. John Lundgren; 3. Danny Giguere. MODERN 750 A: 1. Greg Wilburn: 2. Poul Herman; 3. Ben Meyer. MODERN 750 B: 1. Rick Brewer; 2. Bob Graves; 3. Tom Ferguson. 500 SOPPORT A; I. Rob Nolin; 2. Bob Cobb; 3. Jimmy Abrams. 500 SUPPORT B: I. RtJly Hensley: 2. Jim Steet; 3. Brian Coakley. OPEN AM.ATECJR A: 1. Steve Morehead; 2. Travis Pettan: 3. Jimmy Abrams. OPEN AMATEUR B: l.Motthew McCoy; 2. Rick Gill; 3. Gory Pettis. over Cobb and Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Tulare, California, October 12 Round 7 - Tulare, California, October 13 When the Motion Pro Modern 750 main rolled out, Greg Wilburn, already cycle n e _ "" • OCTOBER 23, 2002 47