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but well back of the leaders. On lap six, Idon went down entering the dirt section; he got going again still in fourth spot, but this gave Drew about three seconds of breathing room. Yarrow, who had worked his way back up to ninth, went down exiting the dirt section and rejoined the race at the back of the pack. On lap eight, Kopp swung wide entering the dirt section, forcing Chandler to lead. "I had thought Chandler caught me too fast: Kopp later said, "and I wanted to follow for a while." Follow he did, as Kopp glued himself to Chandler's rear wheel, the two never more than three bikelengths apart. On lap nine, the leaders began to lap riders. However, lappers never came into play in regards to the outcome of the race. At the white flag, Chandler led Kopp; the general consensus was that Kopp needed to make his move in the dirt section, for how could he out-road-race a current road racer? However, Kopp couldn't get by Chandler in the dirt; Chandler is also an accomplished dirt-tracker, and he does everything superbly! So when the two entered the asphalt section for the last time, most in attendance thought Chandler had it except Kopp. As they entered the final right-hand turn, Kopp got a drive and pulled alongside Chandler. Now it was a game of "Who Brakes Last?". Kopp won the game and took the checkered flag by half a bikelength. Kopp had outbraked the road racer! When asked what he was going to do next, a very excited Kopp replied, "I'm going to Disneyland!" This race was definitely an E-ticket ride. eN Chandler was fast on his Honda CR450F, finishing second in the Premier main event. the broken handlebar and was now positioned in the back row. Cernicky had his work cut out for him to try to catch heat-race winner Joe Thomas, backed by Cycle Pro of Santa Rosa, and Arai/Roseville Cycles/Bate's Paul Orlandi. At the drop of the flag, Orlandi wasted no time and shot into the lead, followed by Pirelli's Mike Ulrich, with Thomas third. Entering the dirt section's left-hand turn, disaster struck for Thomas, who went down. He rejoined the race in the 18th position. At the end of two laps, the order was Orlandi, Lyles' Fiberglassbacked Ernie Lyles and Cern icky. Three laps in, Cernicky took over second and then set his sights on Orlandi. Lyles ran third, and five machines were bunching up in the battle for fourth, with Thomas at the back of that pack. In one fast lap, Thomas went from eighth to third, and on lap five of eight he was 22 seconds behind Cernicky and charging. At the checkered flag, Orlandi was victorious over Joe Rocket's Cernicky and Phoenix Entertainment's Thomas. The Mini-Motard championship was still undecided. Shell Racing's Bob "Crazy" Cobb still had an outside shot at the overall: If the heat-race winner, CHM Exhaust/Arai/Alpinestars' Garrett Willis. did not finish, Cobb could win. Willis knew what needed to be done, so he jumped out front and proceeded to check out. However, Focal Point Racing's Cameron Beaubier had other ideas, and he jumped in behind Willis, with Hank Mazzotta third. Cobb was away in fourth. Willis and Beaubier would not be challenged for the rest of the race, both riding flawlessly; Willis turned a respectable 1:53.8 lap time. The battle, meanwhile, was between Cobb and Mazzotta, with Moto WRX of Livermore's Scott Magann joining in the hunt. These three swapped positions all the way to the end, with Cobb winning the battle for third, but not the championship. As Willis won the main and the title, Beaubier finished a solid second and put on quite a show on the little Suzuki RM, not shutting off all the way through turn one and putting many a spectator in awe of his talents. In the Sportsman main event, as the pack made the first transition from asphalt to dirt, front-runner Ed Coffey of Kern KTM went down, leaving Thomas, Thor's Cole Cates, and Vincent Guisande to fight it out for the lead. By the completion of one lap, things were sorted out somewhat, with Thomas taking the front spot, followed by Guisande, Cates and Cobb. Four laps in, Thomas pulled a disappearing act, and Cates took over second. On lap four, Bobby Inness did some soil testing in the dirt section, as did Cobb, but both got up and were okay. At the finish, Thomas won, over Cates. A last-lap charge by Scuderia West's Matt Dawson let him take third at the stripe by less than half a bikelength over Guisande. From the first wave of the green flag in the Premier heat race, everyone knew that come time for the main event, this was going to be a war. Casey Yarrow won the heat, but coming through from row six were former Grand National Champion and factory KTM pilot Joe Kopp, who finished second, and dirt-track great and former Superbike Champion Doug Chandler. Not to mention Vertemati's Steve Drew, or Cernicky. In the front row, Yarrow sat on pole, with Kopp, Chandler, Drew and Cernicky lined up to his right. The flag flew, and WP Suspension's Kopp put the KTM up front, followed by Yarrow and Drew. As they entered the dirt section, Avon/Moto Master's Drew took over second. Over the first jump, Chandler put his Honda 450 into third. Cernicky ran fourth. On lap two, Chandler, not wanting Kopp to get away, put a move on Drew in the back paved section to take over second. Lap three saw Motion Pro's Kopp turn the fastest lap of the day. at 1 :39.4. Chandler, meanwhile, had shaken Drew and set sail after Kopp. Drew had his own worries, in the forms of East Hills Motosports/MXI Factory Vertemati's Christian Idon and KTM/Suomy's Aaron Howe. Cern icky had dropped back to seventh, with heat-race winner Yarrow now in 12th. By lap five, just 1.2 seconds separated Kopp and Chandler, with Drew and Idon swapping places for third, Buttonwillow Race Track Buttonwillow, California Results: December 15, 2002 (Final Round) 50: I. Sean Dodenhoff; 2. Bronson Peerce; 3. Nathan Howard. MINI·MOTARD: I. Garrett Willis; 2. Cameron Beaubier; 3. Bob Cobb. NOV: I. Matt Dawson. 2. Cole Cates 3. Hank Mazzotta. L/W: 1. Armando Miranda; 2. Mall Foster; 3. Cameron Beaubier. M/W: 1. Paul Orhmdi; 2. Mark Cemicky: 3. Joe Thomas. SPTSMN: 1. Joe Thomas: 2. Cole Cates; 3. Matt Dawson. OPEN: l. Joe Kopp: 2. Leonardo Sagnls: 3. Paul Hart. PREM.: I. Joe Kopp: 2. Doug Chandler: 3. Steve Drew. Garrett Willis (69) leads Cameron Beaubier (16):) In the Minl-Motard class. Mark Cemlcky (2) won the class championship. cue I e n e _ S • JANUARY 8. 2003 45