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Eastern U.S. Spring Series
Round 9: Rolling Hills Cycle Park
Neese, Martin, Day
Battle in the Hills
S/MlI'tI: I. Josh ThorT\lls: 2. Tnly Dobson: 3 Jert!my Retd: 4
By MARK NEUENS
~Smith.
REIDSVILLE, NC, MAY 11
On a great day of racing at Rolling Hills Cycle
Park in Reidsville, North Carolina, Jim Neese,
Michael Martin and Aaron Day battled it out in
the A classes.
In the 250cc A class, the Husqvarnamounted Neese was making great time but
slipped up in a corner, allowing Day to take
first in the first moto. Neese took fourth after
getting up and trying to reel in Day. Martin
took second, and Mark Wagner was third.
Neese didn't make the same mistake in
the second mota; instead, he took the top
place, but he had to settle for second overall,
due to his earlier mistake. Day took first over·
all, with Martin third and Wagner fourth, followed by Aaron Stancil in fifth.
In the I 25cc A class. Neese took the class
overall with no mistakes, followed by Day and
Martin. Stancil gave Martin a battle; the two
switched up third and fourth. Fifth went to
Chad Newton, who held off Wagner, in sixth.
Neese, Wagner and Martin had another
close battle in the Over 25 A class. Neese
swept the class. and Wagner and Martin
swapped the second and third spots, with
Martin taking second overall and Wagner
third.
The 20-rider 125cc C class is always a
great race. Brad Haar and Myles Dunlap bat·
tied over first overall. Haar took first in the first
moto, but Dunlap took the first spot in the
second moto for first overall. Third went to
Gary Dinges, followed by Luke Sutphen and
Adam Bray.
Scottie Shipley swept the Over 30 A class,
followed by Ricky Joyce and Steve Stroupe.
Joyce and Stroupe swapped second and third
place. Russ Pickett took'fourth overall. followed by Randy Beasley and Andy Mitchell,
who swapped fifth· and sixth-place finishes.
Shipley also swept the Over 35 class, with
Joyce and Pickett close behind.
The Over 40 class was 16 strong. Vann
Gibson swept first place. Chet Malito and
Chris Brewer battled for the second spot. Malito took second in the first moto, but Brewer
took it in the second moto for second overall.
Shelton Hines took fourth, and Jim Ley took
fifth.
In the smaller· bike classes, a 14-rider 50cc
(7-8) class was swept by Cooper Webb.
Jacob Knabb swept second. Dylan Carringer
and Matthew Ritch swapped the third and
fourth spots, with Carringer taking third over·
all. Fifth went to Timothy Timberlake.
In the 65cc (7-9) class, Joe Bean had no
problem sweeping first overall. After several
shake-ups behind Bean, Knabb took second.
followed by Webb, Jeremy Wendelkin and
Joel Small.
In the 13-rider 85cc D class, Cody King
swept first. David Barker swapped spots with
Brandon Smith for second overall. Corey Scott
took fourth overall with a 6-4 finish. Brent Patterson took fifth overall with a 5-5 tally.
Skylar Payne dominated the Unlimited Mini
class. Brandon Griffin swept the second spot.
Kris Rabon and Glen Balfour battled back and
forth, with Balfour taking third overall with a
4-3 score. over Rabon's 3-4 finishes. Thomas
Neuens took fifth with a solid 5-5 showing.
125 A: I. Jim Neese; 2. Aaron Day; 3 M.chad Martln; 4 Aaron
Stllncil; 5. Chad Newton.
125 B: 1 Paul Hint:S; 2. Ronnie Ung; 3. Joshua Schmitt; 4 CIms
Cooper; 5. Jonathan Balfour.
125 C: I. Myles Dunlap; 2. Bnw:l H&ar; 3 Gal)' Dinges; 4. Luke
Sutphen: 5. Adam Bray.
125 0: I. A.J. Bowling; 2. Tyler Brewer, 3. Ryan ~m; 4.
Justin Ingle: 5. Jonllthlln Shoat.
250 A: I. Aaron DlIy; 2. Jim N~se; 3. Michael MartJn; 4. Mark
WlIgner; 5. Allron 5tllncil.
250 B: 1. Paul Hines.
250 C: 1 Brad Hickman; 2. Adam Bray; 3 Mike Spradlin: 4
Adllm Umblerger: 5. Hilton Davis.
250 0: I. Leon Harri$; 2. Nathan Briggs: 3. Thomas Bl)'an: 4.
Tm Hontc1; 5. .Jeff Manuel.
OIL AM: I. Devid Garrison: 2. James Shirley; 3. Justin Carr; 4
Chm Brewer; 5. l.t!Ofl Hams.
WMN: 1. Holly Ann~: 2. ~ie Ma~: 3. Brooke Joyce; 4.
Rebeka Hom: 5. ClIrolyn Hom.
SCHBY: I. JoshlJll Schmitt; 2. Brad Haar; 3. Justin McBray; 4
A11~ Thompson; 5. Jonathan Balfot.r.
CLCiBY: 1. Rooolt! Ung: 2. Chos Cooper: 3. Myles Dunlap; 4.
W"lU~m Bryant
15.. A:. I. Jim Neese: 2. Mike MartJn; 3. Marti Wagner: 4 JIII'ne5
Jdmar; 5. A.nay Mitchdl
25. B: I. Roben ctartle: 2. Ron Jones; 3. Dev,d Jotdan; 4. Tony
Tumer.
15.. C: l. Gary Dirges; 2. Keith ClftCh; 3 Bruce Hughes; 4
Mark Ne.Jens.
30. A:. 1. Scottte Stupley; 2. Rkky Joyce 3. ~~ Stroope: 4.
Russ PIckett; 5. Randy Beasky-.
30.. B: 1. Robert Clarke; 2. Tony Tumer, 3. Jerry Robertson; 4.
Fnlnk Cook; 5. David Jordl:In.
30.. C: 1. Scottie Balrett; 2. WilliGm Keams: 3. Randy Smith: 4.
David L.ewis: 5. Keith Creech.
35.. : I. Scot1l~ Shl~: 2. Ricky Joyce: 3. Rusl Pickett; 4. Jim
Ley; 5. Chris Brewer.
40.. ; 1. Vann Gibson; 2. Chris Brewer: 3. Chet MaUto; 4 Shelton
HInes: 5. Jim ley.
4-SrRK: I. Luke Sutphen; 2. Tim Simpson.
Harley-Davidson Buell Blow-Out
Costa Mesa Speedway
Harleys Share Stage
with Faria and
Ermolenko
By ELAINE JONES
COSTA MESA. CA, MAY 17
It looked like every Harley in California was at
Orange County Fairgrounds on Saturday night
for the Harley-Davidson Buell Blow-Out. A
large number took part in the riders' parade in
the bullring, and a few really brave souls raced
their very expensive toys around the small
oval for fame and glory. They had full
dressers, vintage racers and Sportsters, and
the bikes were as individual as their owners.
They even had a sidecar with a passenger
brave enough to wave to the fans while the
driver was involved in some serious racing.
There was a full race program, and it was
"Flyin' Mike" Faria, fresh off his win at Auburn
the night before, who won the richest race of
the night. the Scratch main event. "Dukie"
Ermolenko liked his Handicap win last week
so much that he did it again.
To get to the Scratch main, it's necessary
to get through the semis. The first semi had
Randy "The Rocket" DiFrancesco on the poie.
Ermolenko was in two, with Scott Brant and
Andy "The Enforcer" Northrup in three and
four. Brant made a statement, cutting the gate
to perfection and saying goodbye to the rest of
the field. DiFrancesco stayed low on the pole
and was able to hold off Northrup for second.
The top two were headed for the main, while
Northrup and Ermolenko geared up for the
last-chance qualifier.
Bobby "60ogaloo" Schwartz was on the
pole in the second semi, with Shawn "Mad
Dog" McConnell in two and Faria .nd "Gorgeous" Gary Hicks on the outside. It was gate.
race and transfer for Faria, with a very determined Schwartz a close second. They had
their spot in the main, while McConnell and
Hicks had one more shot in the LCQ.
•
Ermolenko drew the best gate, the pole, as
they lined up for the LCQ. Hicks was in two,
with Northrup and McConnell in three and
four. On the first start, Hicks slipped off the
groove and took McConnell with him. The red
flag came out, and a restart was called. On
the second try, it was Ermolenko, from the
pole, who got the gate - and the last spot in
the main.
The riders pushed out to the line and drew
for their start positions. The pole went to
Faria. DiFrancesco and Brant were in two and
three. Schwartz and Ermolenko were on the
outside in four and five. Faria launched off the
line and put some big space between himself
and the rest of the field. Brant, running sec-
Rolling Hills Cycle Park
Reidsville. North Carolina
Results: May 11, 2003 (Round g)
50 SHAFT: I. Bubbe Stone; 2. Justin Branch; 3. Tanner Hill; 4.
Kyle Mitchell; 5. Kalie &rTt!tt.
50 (4-6): 1. Matthew Bl..Ili