Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

W e s t C o a s t F la t Track S eries R o u n d 6 : Southern O re g o n Speedway Anderson strikes oregon Gold! Rick Hocking (1 1 puts a wheel ahead of the Open Vintage main event at round six of Gene Romero's West Coast Flat Track Series, held at Southern Oregon Speedway. Hocking easily won, followed by Steve Hall (261. A nd e r so n wasn' t th e only Or eg o n i a n to earn a c lass w in o n t he eve n ing , as f ormer Na t i on al number 76 J eff Ha rsha sc ored a clo se win i n the Honda 450 T op Gun f inal. H arsha, who wa s inj u re d in 1997 at th e Castle Ro c k , W ashlnq ton , 600 c c Nationa l , hadn 't ridd en sinc e a seri o u s head inj u r y forc ed his ret i rem en t si x y ea r s ago. Har sh a got t he bug t o try it ag ain , bor ro w ed a Ho nd a CRF450 R fro m a fr iend and spe nt t h e enti re .m a i n even t locked in a heated du el w ith a n ot he r form er AMA E xp er t , Rob ert H orban . Ho rb an f ini she d a wh ee l t o th e rear o f Har sh a in the 13 -rid er , ei g h t- l a p m ain eve n t , S T O RY AN D PHOT O S BY C LA Y L IGHT W HITE CITY, OR, AUG. 23 aci ng on th e ro ugh oval tr acks in Ka nsas and Nebraska proved to be a good m ove for O regon' s Ryan And er so n , but at the time he d idn 't even know it. On his re turn hom e , Anderson aga in fo und himself c o m peting o n a rough , quarter-mil e ov al , although this time ba ck in the North west. The form er Nat iona l number 4 7 plate holder was th e top performer in the Open Pro ma in ev ent at round six of Gene ' Ro m e ro ' s W est Coa st F la t T rack Series , held at Southern O regon Speedway. Anders on, who was making h i s series debut, wo n th e third o f th ree Open Pro -cla ss h eat ra c es an d also won the six -rider, three- la p Dash for Cash and sat on the fro nt row for the 15 -r id er , 16 - lap Op en Pro m a in ev ent. The 29 -year- ol d from Portland sp ent a sm all portion of the o pening lap vy in g for positions then took the lead co m ing out of turn four on the same lap . From that point on , Ander son was never head ed , bea ting Ca li forn i an Kenn y Ca r l ott a a nd Ri ck Hocki ng to pock et the top pa yoff. Spea ki ng of Hock in g , th e fo rme r AMA Natio na l TT sp ecia lis t had an in cr ed ibl e eveni ng h imsel f. Ho ck in g set th e evening 's overall fast est tim e duri n g time tr ials (17.6 9 ) , wh ic h ca me d ur ing Open Vint age qualifying, t o pped t he fi rst Open Pro heat ra c e and also the first of two Vinta ge heat ra c es . A d d a w i n i n t h e t h re e - l a p Op en Vin tag e Trophy Dash , and th at pretty much sum m ed up how we ll the nigh t w ent for th e rid er from liver m o re, Californ i a. Ho ck ing m anh an di ed t he Open Vintag e m a in eve nt, pu tting nearly a qu art er of a stra ig htaway o n th e second-p lace fi n ish er , fellow Yam ah a-mounted Ca lif o rn ian Steve Hall . R 42 S EPTEM BER 10, 2003' cue Orego n 's B e au Br o wn wa s th e fastest qualifier of th e Open Pro con tes ta nts, slightly off Hock in g's pace at 17.81 , but Brown had Hocking to deal w ith in th e first of th e three Open Pro heat rac es. Hock in g narrowly edged th e 22 -year-old fr o m Newbe rg , Oregon, to transfer directly to the main. with N ev ad a 's J ami e N i c el y n ettin g Bro wn , though , w ould later come back to capture a win in th e fi rst Open Pro semi to k eep h is c ha nc es for a second win of the series (aft er earlie r w inning the Ch ico round ). Carl otta , who m ade th e tr ek from Gilroy , Cali fornia, and Anderson were vi ctoriou s in the seco nd and third heats , resp ec tively. Tony Souza , th e series' numbertw o rider, to pped sem i two . T he t op two riders fr om the three third . heat races li ned up to do battl e in th e Ric k Hocking w on th e Open Vintage Trophy Da sh at Southern Oregon Sp eedw ay. Hocking a lso finished a strong third place in the Open Pro main event. • e n e vv s Open Pro T ro p hy Das h. Hoc k in g did bac k -to -b ack duty , stepping off of his Ya ma ha TT 500 -b as e d ma c h i ne (after a win in th e Open Vintag e D ash for Cash) and right o nto his Knight . Racing Rotax . If was Carlotta, thouqh, putting his Honda out fr ont; Ca rlo tta saved wha t co uld have been a nasty get off, al though in the mayh em , it allowed A nd ers on t o swe ep past th e 17 -y ear- o ld. Anderson kept th e po int posit ion to the fini sh , tr ail ed by Ca r l o t t a , Ho cking , Washington 's J . P. S i m o n se n , Brown and the ser i es ' nu m ber-one rid er , Kevin Brick er. Har sha sat on the po le position for. th e evening 's firs t " A" m a in , the Ho nd a T op Gu n 4 50 final, but un li k e in hi s heat rac e, Harsha ran thi rd at the st art of the final. Ho rba n an d Ca lifo rnian J oh n Rand o lp h got th e j ump o n Har sh a and the rest o f the fi eld . Har sha was quick to d rop Rand o lph to third , bu t getting aro und Horban , o ne of Harsha 's to ughest compet it ors in the late 1980s , was an other st ory . Harsha pushed Horban fo r many laps , using a var iet y of lines before he pounc ed upon Horban on lap th ree. While Harsha did t ak e the lead, Horba n stayed g lu ed to his rear fender t o th e check ered flag in the night's closest fin ish . " I loo k ed ba ck and didn't see any body back th ere," a stunned Horban said . "I didn 't see him down low, so I decided t o sw itch li nes, and there he w as. W e bumped each othe r three ti m es, but that was a fun race ." Harsha agreed : "It was go od ra cing aga in st him [Horban ] again ," he sai d . " We had a lot of goo d races tog eth er in O reg on and Wa shington , so this w as ano ther one t o add to th e m emory ban k . I reall y like raci ng ag a in st Rob ert."

• Cover