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California Racing Club Sponsorship Series Round 3: Edwards Air Force Base Sand Track STORY AND PHOTOS BY GREG ROBERTSON EDWARDS AFB, CA, NOV. 3 ound three of the 14th annual . : California Racing Club/Galpin FordfThousand Oaks Yamaha/Sinisalo-sponsored Sponsorship Series traveled northward to the Desert Wheels MC-prepped sand track at Edwards Air Force Base. One rider who found the demanding layout to his liking was YZF-mounted Blake Runestad, who won three out of four motos entered to top both the 125cc and 250cc Novice classes. When the gate dropped for the first 125cc Novice moto, it was Runestad leading Adam Lane, Benny Breck, Jess Drake and the rest of the pack out of turn one. Drake went down on the opening lap, moving Sterling Zepeda up into fourth. Lester Varnum now controlled fifth. Lane, in his first race out of the Beginner ranks, did a good job of keeping Runestad honest throughout the moto to fmish a close second. Zepeda put a last-lap move on Breck for third, with Daniel Hendrix coming from his 10th-place start to slip past Varnum for fifth. Runestad and Lane were running one-two out of the gate in moto two, with Ryan Gee, Breck and Hendrix giving chase. The track was pretty whooped out by this time, and Runestad's experience was evident as he put 10 seconds on Lane with a couple of laps completed. Runestad continued on uncontested for the I-I sweep. Varnum and Hendrix hooked up together to pass Lane at the midway point. Lane hung on for fourth, which was good enough for second overall. Varnum (6-2) came out on top of a three-way points battle with Hendrix (5-3) and Zepeda (3-5) for third overa II. YZ250-mounted Eric Anderson absconded with the 250cc Novice first-moto holeshot, ahead of the Honda-mounted trio of Tony Russo, Steve Hoover and Brian Gluck. Runestad gated out of the top 10, but by the end of lap one he was running fourth. Russo and Hoover traded second place back and forth until Rune- stad got by them both at the halfway mark. Anderson held a 10-second advantage at one point, which Runestad sliced in half by the time the checkers flew. Varnum and Robert Clark both came from way back off the start to finish third and fourth, respectively, ahead of Brett Bennett and Bill Smith. Round two was all Runestad's, as the SVC/Axo/Torco/Arnette-backed Yamaha rider turned his holeshot into a wire-to-wire win. Anderson gated in second place, where he would finish. Varnum again came from out of the (Left! Jeff Elde won both the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes at the sand track at Edwards Air Force Base. (RIght) Rlciq< Parks finished second In the Schoolboy class and won the 125cc Intermediate contest. 26 DECEMBER 4, 2002' cue • e n e ... s depths to go 3-4 for third, over the 6-3 tally of Smith and the 5-6 finishes of Bennett. There were numerous double-class winners on the day. Thousand Oaks KTM-backed Colby Raha went 1-1 for the win in the Super Pee Wee (7-9) class, over the 2-2 finishes of Shane Emerson and the 3-3 rides of Dane LaTorre. Raha returned to use consistent 2-2 finishes to top the 65cc Beginner class as well. Tomas Hernandez went 4-3 to top Emerson (3-5) and Kyle Prince (1-7) for second overall. Armando Aguilar has been on fire throughout this series, and this day was no exception, as he ran away with both moto wins in the 65cc (9-11) class and then split moto victories with Tyler Sjoberg for the 85cc (7 -11) overall honors. Sammy Ortiz and Kyle Smith finished second and third, respectively, in 65cc action, with Sjoberg placing runner-up in the 85cc class, ahead of Chandler Quimette (3-3) and Smith (5-4). Jeff Eide went home with the firstplace payback in both the 125cc and 250cc Pro classes on a pair of Mid Cities/So. Cal Pipe Trades/Jardine/ Answer-backed Hondas. Lars lindstrom split moto wins with Eide in both classes for second overall, with rookie Pro Josh Bagge collecting a pair of thirds. Ricky Parks led every inch of the first 125cc Intermediate moto to earn the win over Bruder Camille, Darin Chisholm and Justin Reese. Parks and Camille, who is visiting from France, went at it over the lead in moto two, with Camille dogging Park relentlessly. Camille finally railed around Parks at the end of the long Edwards back straight on the final lap for the well-deserved win. Reese went 4-3 to round out the top three. Parks returned to run away with both Schoolboy motos on his Na-