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/128238
Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series Round 7: Del M ar Short Track Jeff W The J e st er" Johnson returned after a h iatus of m ore than a year and topped the M odem 7 50cc main event at round seven of Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Se ries. B y J AMEY B LU NT P HOT OS BY D OUG K A RCHER DELMAR, CA, OCT. 3 ~ n all-time record num b e r of ~ entries - 248 riders - ca me to the fam o us Del Mar short trac k for th e K&N Filter s three -day extravag anza. Thank s to Cle ar Ch annel's Mike and Gar y Kidd. so me 32 heat ra ce s and 20 ma in eve nts made up Eddie Mul de r's West Coast Vintage D irt Tra ck prog ram. Cos ta Mes a Speedway guru Brad Ox ley handled th e track prep all around , and all wa s well. as he stayed gl ued to Wallace's rea r fender. Garcia was on the move, tak- So me 26 riders bum ped , bang ed a nd fo u g ht for o ne of the 12 spots av ai la ble in th e A &A/Barnett Ve t A ma i n event. At t h e f i rs t wave o f st a rt er Sonny A nde rso n 's na g, Greg W ilbu rn took th e p o i n t , over Rod Sp en c er , Do n n ie Harrell , M ik e Vit a l a nd Ri c ha r d Po ll o c k . On l a p two , W ilburn , on the he a v ie r Tr iumph , bo bbl ed ex it in g tu rn two . and Harrell pounc ed , shooti ng into th e front, with Sp en c er followi ng him into second . O n lap three. Vital exite d th e scen e. a n d Po llo ck mov e d up to fo u r th . Sp en c er , doggi n g H a r re ll , p u she d both of th em to tu rn a 12.84 -sec ond lap . A t th e w hi te flag , Sp en c er h ad one m or e shot at Harr ell bu t wa s not within st rik i ng distance. Th e final o rde r was Harrell , Spence r, Wil burn and Poll ock . In th e Sad dle me n/Bro wn 's Cycles Super Seni or m ain , Bu lta c o -mounted A I Lu dw ig se n got the j u m p off t he lin e , on ly t o have forme r Nati on a l nu m ber I I , J im McMurren , ta k e ove r o n th e f ir st t ri p d own the b a ck 56 OCTOBER 29 , 2003' eye straight. By th e co m plet io n of th e firs t l a p , By ro n Boa z had a ls o k noc ke d Lu dw ig sen bac k a notch. McMu rre n , on the O zwa ld / Pro g res si ve suspe n sion T ri u mph , preva il ed , put t in g in 13 .80 -seco n d l a ps over B o az, and N ewha ll , Cal if o rn i a' s M i ck ey Alzo la m o ved Ludwigsen back yet another spot to take third. Is Lauren Wa llace going to be the next Jennifer Sn yd er? Or perh aps her te am m ate in the future? By vi rt ue of he r h eat - ra c e w in , Wa lla c e sat on pol e fo r th e Berk eley Honda/ Yam ah a Youth 80 c c main eve nt. Not wa nting to disappoint, Wa llace launched to th e fro nt , fo llowed by Fallbrook , Cali fornia's An dy Wood. Starting from the penalt y li ne , Frank ie Garci a had hi s work c ut o ut for h im , as he entered turn one in sixth . A t the co mpletion o f l a p o ne, W a ll ac e h ad t h e l ead , f oll ow ed b y W o od , D e v in Bo oh er and KLH Racin g 's Patrick McNama ra . Wood co uld match Wall ac e's 13.77 second lap times bu t not better the m , I e n e vv s nag for the Maxxis 750cc m ain , Tom Ho rt on got the initial jump, but John- ing over fourth on la p three and going after Booher, who kept working a high lin e, leaving the door open . At the checke red na g, W all ac e received a st an ding o va t ion for her victo ry . Wo o d was second by a bike le ngth , and Gar ci a got past Boo her fo r thi rd. I f y o u' ve n ev e r seen a v i nt a g e 7 5 0 c c t w in neg o ti at e a sma ll o nee i g h t h- m i l e o v a l . y ou'r e mi s s i n g so me t h i ng . F e w r i ders c a n th row these heavy m ach ines arou nd at wil l. On th is night. o nly tw o rac er s wer e c ap abl e of lap t imes under 13 sec on ds : Rialto, Ca l iforn ia ' s J eff " T he J est er" J ohnson , back after a yea r's reti rem ent , and Paso Rob les, Califor nia 's Paul " T ie Dye" Herm an, who is always a threat. A t the d ro p of t he son pus hed through on the inside to lead down the back straight. At the end of lap on e. the o rder was Johnso n, Ho rt on , Wil burn , Herm a n and Ke n T hiebaud . On lap two, Wil bu rn d i spl ace d H o rt on to t a k e second , while Herm an was try ing to m ak e the c ush io n w o rk for hi m w ay u p hi gh . Herm an wou ld gain, on ly to slide too hi g h a n d l o se it a ll aga i n . B y l a p three, J ohnson led by si x len gths and turn ed th e fas t est lap fo r a 750 , at 12 .96 seco nd s. B y th e white flag , Herm an was goi n g b a c kw ard . an d Thiebaud had m oved into fourth . The J est er went on to w in , w ith Wilburn alw ays sm ooth and co nsi st ent in sec ond , Horton th ird . and Th iebaud closing as time ran out in fo urth.