Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128230
• 85t h A nnual Miller G r eat A merica n Cham p io nsh ip H illcl im b - McGrath nearly topples Whitlock for Hillclimb Championship t o p p ed t he m on ey list, Whitlock's championsh ip co uld only come vi a a w in in th e shooto ut - a winner-ta keall run-o ff among th e top six fin ishers in th e 0 -600cc and Open ti re classes. To ti e a b o w n i c e l y o n the wh o l e e ve n t, Wh i tl o ck qu ali f i e d for th e champ io ns hi p run -off o n both of h is bik es th en ran quick er th an th e othe r nine riders to w in the cha m pions hi p his eighth event cham pi onship sinc e his first in 198 7 - and a fin al $ (000 . O nly 10 rid ers wer e in th e shoo to ut , si nce Whitl o ck and Harold W add e ll qualified ou t of both classes, A ft er producing resul t s lik e th at, yo u wou ldn 't b lame a guy for being a little bummed if th e whole plac e w as g oin g c r a zy over t h e ma n wh o S TO RY AND P HOT OS BY K A RE L K RAMER BilliNGS, MT, JULY 26·27 T ravis Wh itl oc k had a drea m we ek e n d at the B i ll in g s Moto rc yc l e C lub ' s Gre at Am eri c a n H il lcl imb . Th er e a re o n l y fo ur regu l ar m o n ey cl asses, and Wh itl o ck used his trusty Hond a CR 50 0R an d h om e - b r ew ed Yam ah a FJ 1200 -power ed ope n bik e to sco op $5 250 o ut of th e $35 ,00 0 purse vi a tw o w ins , a sec ond and a third. His str eak was so hot th at even in th e class in w hi ch .he finish ed th ird , he m issed sec ond by one fo ot ! B il lings is unique in how it deter m in es th e event cham p ion. Ev en with his scores and th e fa ct tha t he easi ly 26 S EPTEM BER 3 , 2003' eye I e nevws nabbed second . Wh itlock understood t he crowd and rid er re acti on , sin ce eight-ti m e AMA N ati on al Ch am p ion J erem y McG rath was th e rid er wh o fi ni she d on ly tw o -t enths of a secon d s l o wer i n t he' w e ek e nd · en d ing shooto ut. Wh itl ock act ually j o ined in with th e McGrath fe ver, claim ing , "I ne ver th ou gh t that I would be battl ing wi th J erem y McGrat h ! Whenever h ill cli m be rs start ben ch ra cing after an eve nt, someone always as ks , 'I wonde r wh at would happen if a champio n m oto cro ss or supe rcro s s ri d er lik e J erem y McGrath c am e to a hillcli m b .' Now we kn ow !" Whitlock, and every ot he r hillcli mb co nte st ant and fan in Montan a, were sincere in co m pli m enting McG rath for nabb in g sec ond. Ev en t ho se who b eli eve that m oto cros ser s a re t h e gre atest o f a ll rid e rs w ere a m aze d w h en McGrath bl ew ov er th e hill in his second-e ver attempt. You c o ul d t ell t h a t f a i t h in Mc G rat h 's ab ilities w asn 't un iv ersal by th e fo lks h o o tin g a b o ut h o w m u c h m on e y they j u s t won . We heard at least one set of friends wh o' fe l t t h e d iffer e n c e o f opin i on was wort h r isking $1 00 , Surely no ne of those p resent doubted that McG rath