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Ou Quoin Vintage Flat Track Ou Quoin State Fairgrounds STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAN MAHONY DU QUOIN, IL, MAY 31 heckered Flag Productions' Ed , Beckley brought together the three most influential flat-track entities in the country - the AMA, AHRMA and the VDTRA - for one glorious day on the famed Magic Mile of the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Du Quoin, The Big Kahuna of the AMA show was Illinois' own Brian Thomas, who put his Jim Wagner Harley Supertracker in front of the Open Pro class and was never headed. Robert Buffington was runner-up, ahead of Harley 883 rider John Faulkner and Jacob Latimer, Thomas also led all laps of the Expert 505cc race, over Kentucky's Jason Goodwin and Indiana's Joe Walton. Buffington finished fourth, and Kurt Boehlke came home fifth. Scott Beckley scored a convincing win in the Pro Sport 505cc class. Tuner Rusty Bond found and repaired a broken exhaust pipe on the Vor after Scott's heat-race win, and then young Scott shot into first place and never looked back, triumphing over Steven Hartzel in the final. Oklahoman Jeremy Hinkle finished third, ahead of Coty Bowland. Gary Maloney jumped to the front at the start of the 451 cc-Open Amateur class, only to be replaced at the point by heat-race winner David Feggestad. Two laps later, Travis Sprong pulled past Feggestad's Harley and led to the checkers. Michael Grieff came on strong on the final lap to nip Maloney for third. Sprong also took the gold in the 250-450cc Amateur division. Clint Collier kept his Yamaha right on Spring's fender, but he just couldn't power around the Honda. Kyle Noliborski finished third, ahead of Skeeter Williams. Mike Connell rode his beautiful Harley Sprint to victory in the AHRMA Classic 250cc event. Ohio's Barry Baker led the Ohio Bultaco brigade in second place, ahead of Terry Waite, John Bova and Larry Gillespie, all on Senor Bulto's twostrokes. The AHRMA Dinosaur-class win went to George Wills and his immaculate side-shift Harley. Christopher Clark and Dennis Clark put their 64 JULY 9, 2003' cue I e Harley-Davidsons into second and third, while Bruce Argetsinger rode the day's lone Royal Enfield to fourth place. Wills won again in the Classic 500cc/750cc event with a flag-to-flag run over Triumph rider Craig Beckman, Ron Atherton and Scott Fluck. Dan Baher rode a Ducati to fifth. The AHRMA Sportsman 251 ccl 600cc class, comprised of two Hondas, was combined with the Sportsman 250cc class, comprised of all Can-Ams. Jimmy Zeigler got the holeshot but soon gave way to Twisp, Washington's Jim Monegan. Heatrace winner Monegan led until he blew on the final lap, giving the race win to Honda-mounted Larry Weiss. Zeigler, Weiss and Jeff Metzloff shuffled positions around for the duration, but the Can-Am-mounted Canadian, Metzloff, took second place at the line for the 250cc-c1ass win. Zeigler finished second in class, over Larry Bishop and Pat McDermott. Sportsman 601-750cc honors went to David Weicht, on a Yamaha twin. Florida's Thomas Cheever finished second. Monegan loaded up the blown Can-Am and unloaded a rocket ship for a feel-good win in the AHRMA Senior division. Heat winner Mel Brown zapped Weiss for second on lap two, while Jimmy Zeigler kept distance between himself and Chris Jacobsen to the checkers. Monegan again claimed victory in the '70s Singles final, leading all laps on his Honda, ahead of a dozen other riders in the largest AHRMA class of the meet. Latecomer Mark Hawk took second, over heat winner Robert Adams and Mike Caves. In VDTRA action, Dick Ford and Dan Rowland went at it like n e vv 50 Ali and Frazier, with Ford's horsepower edging out the corner-handling ability of Rowland's Yamaha. The two combatants drew almost a straightaway ahead of Rowland's teammate Chuck Ruiz and Mark Rand. The same two riders duplicated their battle in the Over 40 Senior event, with the same results. Ruiz was again third, this time ahead of Dan Maloney. The Over 50 Masters win went to Triumph rider Ruiz, over Chris Jackson. The VDTRA All Stars lined up for the 600cc Pro final. Monegan didn't disappoint, making it a f1ag-to-f1ag romp over Steve Nichols, Paul Covert and Frank Hardman. In the Big Show - the Open Pro Twin final -it was Monegan again I This time, he had to race his butt off to pass early leader Hardman, and then he got into a dice with heat winner Covert and Texan Willard Kelley, but in the end his trusty Yamaha prevailed. Hardman, Kelley, Covert and Rod Hartzel rounded out the top five. With his third VDTRA victory of the day to add to his two AHRMA wins, Monegan was indeed the "King of the Hill" at Du Quoin. eN George Wills from Manhattan, Illinois, won the Dinosaur and Classic 500cc1750cc classes. Jim Monegan of Twisp, Washington, topped five classes at the Vintage flat-track extravaganza at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois. Du Quain State Foirgraunds Du Quain, Illinois Results: ~y 31, 2DD3 AMA Classes 250-450 AM: I. Travis Sprong (Hon); 2. Clint Collier (Yam); 3. Kyle Noliborski (Hon); 4. Skeeter Williams (Yllm). PRO SPT S05: I. Scott Beckley (Vor); 2. Steve Hartzel (Rot); 3. Jeremy Hinkle (Hon); 4. Cot)' Bowland (Rot). EX 505: 1. Brian Thomas (H·D); 2. Jason Goodwin (Rot): 3. Joe Welton (Rot); 4. Robert Buffington (SUl); 5. Kurt Boehlke (KTM). OPEN AM: 1. Travis Sprong (Rot); 2. David Feggestad (H·D); 3. Michllel Grieff (ATK); 4. Gary Maloney (W-R); 5. Darre Carter (W-R). OPEN PRO: 1. Brian Thomas (H·D); 2. Robert Buffington (Hon); 3. John Faulkner (H-D); 4. Jacob Latimer (H-D). AHRMA Classes ClSC 250: I. Mike Connell (H-D); 2. Barry Baker (Bul); 3. Terry Waite (Bul); 4. John Bova (Bul); 5. Larry Gillespie (Bul). . ClSC 500/750: 1. George Wills; 2. Craig Breckon (Tri); 3. Ron Atherton (Tri); 4. Scott Fluck.. (Tri); 5. Dan Beher (Due). DINO: 1. George Wills (H-D); 2. Christopher Clark (H-D); 3. Dennis Clark (H-D); 4. Bruce Argetsinger (R-E). 250: 1. Jeff Metzloff (C-A); 2. Jimmy Zeigler (C-A); 3. Larry Bishop (C-A); 4. Patrick McDermott (C-A). SPTSMN 251-600: 1. Larry Weiss (Hon). SPTSMN 601-750: 1. David Weicht (Yam); 2. Thomas Cheever (Tri). VET: 1. Dennis Williams (Yam): 2. Bill Allen (Yarn); 3. Albert McRoberts (Hon). SR: J. Jim Monegan (Yam); 2. Melvin Brown (Tri); 3. Larry Weiss (Tri); 4. Jimmy Zeigler (C-A): 5. Chris Jacobsen (Tri). S/SR: 1. Melvin Brown (Tri); 2. Steve Boggs (Yarn); 3. Larry Bishop (Tri); 4. Sam Gray (Yarn); 5. Charles Pickren (Yam). '70s SOL: 1. Jim Monegan (Hon); 2. Mark Hawk (Yam); 3. Robert Adams (Hon); 4. Mike Caves (Hon); 5. Simon Kelly (Hon). VDTRA Classes 600 AM: 1. Dick Ford (Hon); 2. Daniel Rowland (Yam); 3. Chuck Ruiz (Yam); 4. Mark Rand (Yam). 30. 250·400; I. Bill Snyder (Hon); 2. Roderick Williams (C-A); 3. Dan Maloney (Hon). 30+ M.DRN OPEN PRO: I. John Faulkner (H·D); 2. Curt Boehlke (BSA); 3. Frank Hardman (Yam); 4. Bill Berger (Hon). 40. SR: 1. Dick Ford (Hon); 2. Daniel Rowland (Yam); 3. Chuck Ruiz (Yam); 4. Dan Maloney (Hon). 50 ... MSTR: 1. Chuck Ruiz (Tri); 2. Chris Jackson (Tri). 50. PRO MSTR: 1. Jim Monegan (Yam); 2. Roger Johnson (Yam); 3. leo Ostanowski (H-D); 4. Michael Rudolph (Yam); 5. James Henry (Yam). 60+ S/SR: 1. Tony Rodriguez (Yam); 2. Jerry Kocinski (BSA). 600 PRO: I, Jim Monegan (Yam): 2. Steve Nichols (Yam); 3. Paul Covert (Yam); 4. Frank Hardman (Yam); 5. David Coats (Suz). OPEN TW: 1. Bill Allen (Yam); 2. Patrick Ball (Yarn); 3. Mark Rand (Yarn). OPEN PRO TW: J. Jim Monegan (Yam); 2. Frank Hardman (Yam): 3. Will Kelley (Yam): 4. Paul Covert (Tri): 5. Rod Hartzel (Tri).