Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

CMAlClawson Motorsports Bounty Hunter MX Series Round 6: Hanford Fairgrounds Running with the Big Boys B y EDDI E GRAVEUNE Two Rivers MX: Dave He n ne ssy and Jim Vietti came from New Mex ico to Mi lliken , Col orado, to contest ro u nd f our o f t he AMA Weste rn Natio n al S idecar MX Se r ies on t heir Wasp-Honda C RSOO (SX) . AMA Western National Sidecar MX Series Round 4: Two Rivers MX Upfield & Holmes Tackle Two Rivers guess as to how th e pai r would finish. Eventu ally. Borg £. Sk arpohl made their wa y aro und the Bog us brothers and then Henn essy £. Vietti to tak e th e third position overall . At th e co mpletion of m oto one. it was Upfield £. Ho lm es tak ing th e Cha m pionshi p-class win , fo llowed by the Wenzel brothers. then Borg £. Sk arpohl, and th en the now -uprig h t ed and c h a rg ing team of Hen nessy f., Vietti, who fin ished in fou rt h. Th e Bog us brothers rou nded o ut the field in fifth . but as both th e Bogu s brothers a nd Borg £. Sk ar p o hl had been allo wed to ente r beth cl asses. Borg £. Ska rpohl took th e win in the Heavyweight cla ss, with the Bogus brothe rs tak ing a well -deserv ed second . Mota t wo w as sim ila r , w ith th e outco m e mu ch the same . Upfield £. Ho lm es took the early lead . thoug h this tim e the Wenzel brothers had a much better run ning outfit and wer e able to gi ve chase, A s the tw o leading teams m ot ored awa y, th e pack sett led into a fam ili ar orde r, with Henne ssy fJ Vietti taking ove r thi rd , fo llowed b y Borg £. Skarpohl and t he n the Bogus bro thers . Two la p s into th e mo ta , t h e po sition s rem ained the same, but th e next lap saw some p o sit io n shifts in th e m id d le of th e pack . Up field f, Holmes still ma intain ed th ei r front posit ion , wi th the Wenzel brothers still withi n str iki ng distance. Ent ering th e lo ng , swee pi ng back section of th e Tw o Rivers track, Borg £, Sk arp ohl wer e du eling for th ir d place w ith Henn essy fJ Vietti. At the finis h. Upfi eld £. Holmes sco red th e win, with th e Wenzel br oth ers taking th e sec o nd spo t. and B org £. Sk arp oh l taking th eir hard -earn ed thi rd overa ll whil e also cl aim ing fir st pla ce in th e Heavyw eight cl ass. Henn essy £. Vietti finished in fourth place. and the Bogus br oth er s nursed their weary o ut fi t in fo r th e final po siti on o verall and sec ond in th e Heav y weight class. At the close of ra cing, th e Tw o Riv ers tra ck had experienc ed so me o utstanding Si de car MX racin g , the likes of which is not often seen in Colo rado . No w the stage is set for th e final ro und of the series , to be held at Hollis ter Hill s SVRA in October, which will decide the Champ ions in bot h cl asses. B y D UKE EARUMART MILUKEN . CO. SEPT. 20 Malco lm Upfield £. Pat Ho lm es dominated the fo urth ro und o f th e AMA W est ern Na tional Sidecar MX Series . hel d at th e Leah y fam ily 's T wo Rivers MX facil ity in Milliken, Co lorado . The pair teamed up on thei r EML Jumbo outfit to trounce all co me rs , landi ng a pe rfect sco re of two mo to wins in the Cha m pionsh ip class. T hey were n 't t h e o nly cl ass w inners wi th a perfect score. thou gh . as Ut ah 's Robert Borg £. M in n eso t a ' s M ar k Skar p o h l to ok t he i r W asp -N o r t on to a 1- 1 fini sh in th e Heavy weig ht class and th ird overa ll in th e Champ ionship class. Righ t from th e start of moto one. th e EM L Jumbo 's h or se p o w e r l a un c hed U p fi e ld £. Ho lmes in to th e lead. Exiti ng th e first tu rn, Upfi eld £. Holmes led Al len £. Br yan Wenzel. on their newly acq uired EM L ·H onda CR50 0. and th en New Mexico's own Dave Hennessy (, J im Viett i. on th eir Wasp -Honda CR500 . A littie further back were th e Bogus br oth ers. John £. T om. o n th eir Wasp -Yamaha . foll ow ed by Bor g £. Skarpoh l. Halfwa y thr ou gh th e first lap . Upfield £. Holmes had opened up some distan ce on th e Wenzel br oth ers, wh o had th eir hands full with Renn essy f, Viett i. A s t h e t ea m s en te re d t h e seco nd l ap , Up field £. Holmes had al ready checked o ut . with all the acti on taking pla ce behind th e flying p air , The W enz el br oth ers continue d t o ho ld on to seco nd place with their poorly running outfit. On th e back sec tion of th e track , th e W enz el br oth ers waved by Hennessy £, Viett i, who then took over second. Ev ery on e maintained th eir po sitions for an oth er lap , until th e New Mexi co -based team had an aw k ward m oment starting the third lap. Hennessy £, Vietti bobbled entering a q uick -transitio ning rlq ht-end -left co rner j ust after the fi nish lin e. T he res ults prov ed unfo rtu nat e, wi th a mild ti p -o ver of the o utfit. Further back, there was a pr ivate battle of t he fo u r -st ro k es in the Heavy w eig h t cla ss , Bor g f, Sk arpohl were c om ing to t erms with th eir new left -han d Wa sp -Nor ton . and Sk er pohl , in hi s fi rst atte m pt at passen gerin g an outfit , was start ing to becom e m ore at hom e on the rig . For those who hav e never tak en a ride on a m otoc ro ss sidec ar, the passenger is actua lly th e m o st phy sic al el emen t in th e team ; to be able to co pe with these dem and s o n t he fi rs t a t t empt is un u su a l. Sk arp o hl p rove d t o be m or e tha n fit eno ug h fo r t he cha llenge . As the Bogus broth ers and Borg £. Sk arpo hl tr aded positions, it was anyone 's 58 O CTO BER 29 . 2003' eye Two Ri vers MX M illiken. Colorado Results: Septem ber 20, 200 3 (Round 4 of 5) C' SHlP: 1. Malcolm Upr~ld/Pllt Holmes (EM!. Jumbo) : 2. Allcn Wenzel/ Bry an w enzel (EML· Hon) ; 3. R o~rt Borg /Mark Skarpohl ( Ws p- Nor); 4 . Dav e Hen nessy /Jim ViettI ( Wsp· Ho n ): 5 . J ohn BogusITom Bogus (Wsp· Yllm J. H/ W: ], Robert Borg /Ma rk Skarpoh l ( Wsp · No r) ; 2 . John BogusITom Bogus (Wsp·Yllm) . I e nevvs HANFORD. CA. SEPT . 20 If yo u' re ever in c entral California during the su m me r an d want to se e som e goo d m otocr os s racing , go to a dealership an d ask when and where the next Bo unty Hunter race will be . Without a do ubt, the Bo unty Hunter Serie s draws the best riders - yo ung and o ld of any series in the reg ion . Hea ding into th e hom e st re tc h of t h is year's schedule. round six was held at the po pular Hanford Fairgrounds tr ack . A tec hni ca l, supercross-style layou t greete d th e ride rs who sho wed up Satu rd ay afte rnoon . and they were up to th e ta sk . A solid m ix of establis hed Pros and hi ghl y regarded young tal ent co mbin ed to c reate an electric atm osphere and th e thrill -a-minute type of raci ng that has bec om e syn o nym ou s with the Bo unt y Hun ter Seri es. Th e fi reworks sta rted before dark . Ameri c an Honda 's A m ate ur ph enom, M ik e Al essi , was pres ent with a stable of ful l -sized Hon das. H e ro de a 12 5, and sp l it tim e betw een a CRF250R and CRF45 0R in the 250cc Interm ed iate class. He and th e top bou nty hu nter of the year. Rusty Ho lland. hooked up in pr actic e and acted like th e warm -up was th e decid ing m ota for a Na tional Cham p ionshi p. There was much bumping and aggression as th e tw o set th e pace . Those who are wondering wh y an Interme diate like Alessi and a Pro li ke Holland would be out on th e track together in th e first pla ce need to underst and how t he Bo u nt y Hunt er ra c es wor k . They are ope n to Pro s and Amateu rs alike. Basically , if a rider is fast eno ug h to qua lify thr ough th e 125 cc or 250 cc class, he ca n ride th e m ain event. In order to protect th e Ama teu r sta tus of ri de rs such as A lessi, Interm ediat es and Pros are sco red separately . Pro s a re p a id c as h o u t o f the purse , w hil e Amateurs rec eive " Dealer Do llar s," which are redeem abl e fo r parts and acc essor ies at loc al dealerships. Fo r all intents and purpos es, they are ridi ng sepa rate rac es wh ile racing on the track togeth er - bu t as any racer k nows, ra c ers are ridden on the tr ack , not on pap er, and no on e wa nts to get bea ten by any body else on the tr ack, Durin g 12 5 cc q ual if y in g . A less i led t he Interm edi ates and eve ryone else, w innin g both m o t os b y wid e m a rg i ns . Suz u ki - mo u n t ed Br ian Hulsey was th e t op 125cc Pro , win ning both motos in that cl ass. Nick M cBride and Zac Baxter c omplet ed th e Pro podium, wh ile J oel Roberts and Weston A rthurs did lik ewise in th e Amateur rank s. Th e first 250c c qualifier star te d th e way that anyone wh o 'd watch ed the practice would have ex pec t ed : Holland and Al ess i got out fro n t and left everyo ne else beh ind . For the fir st few laps, the duel wa s spirited . T hey set an u nbe l iev abl e pa c e , a nd i t see med like someone wo u l d have to m a k e a mi st a k e soo ner o r lat er. After a t iny bobble , Holl and b eg an t o sl ow d ow n co ns idera b ly . A l essi pull ed awa y b y a second or two b y m ota 's end , bu t Holl and 's decl ine was mysteri ous , He stil l beat all of the Pros. but th ose fam il iar with his style could tell som eth ing was up. Ho lland left sho rtly aft er th e fir st m oto . He had bee n fig hti ng off so me t y pe of bu g the pr eviou s week , and he'd st arte d to get dizzy and have bl urry vision during the first m ota, and th e sma rt thi ng to do was to pack up and live to fig ht anot her day. Holl and 's exit m eant that A lessi ran uncon tes te d through th e fi na l 2 50cc q ua lifier. By winn ing all fou r qualifyi ng m otes, he was th e top seed and posit ion ed at th e very bac k of the sin gle-file start for the m ain event . Wh en th e green flag c am e out , Al essi got up to speed quickly . but it looked li k e he was going to tak e h is time moving through the pack. A s c areful as he was , he had a m idair co llision with Josh Cox in o ne of th e rhyth m sec tions th at al most sent bo th ri de rs to the g r o und . Un d a un t ed , Aless i con t i n ued on . Robb y Baptista from nearb y Kerman. California, led m o st o f th e m ain. His perf orm anc e was rem arkabl e, c onsidering th e fac t th at he'd hurt his bac k prett y seriously during one of the qu ali fy i ng ra c es. W ith j u st tw o laps to go , Alessi wa s ab le to get by the Clawson Motorspo rts rider and tak e the vi ctory. Baptista still held o n for second. and Billy J urev ic h co m pleted th e to p thr ee. Alessi m ay not have walked away with a chun k of th e Pro purse. but there will be ple nty of that in h is fu ture, Wha t he ga ined in Han ford was something m uch more valuabl e: the co n fi denc e th at co m es w ith k nowing yo u' re fast eno ugh to run with the big boys. Hanford Fa irgrou n d s Hanford. C a lifo r n ia Re s u lt s : S e p t e m ber 20, 2003 [Round 6) 50 FIT: 1. Chase McCulloug h (KTM); 2. Tommy Stevens (Hon); 3. Anlhooy De La Mora (KTM); 4. Collin Mark le (KTM): 5. Tommy Battelle (Hon). 50 (()'6): I . Logan Baker (KTM) ; 2. Callion McHaney (KTM). y 50 (7.8 ): 1. Jose ph Reynol ds I KTM) ; 2. Rormo Miramontes (Pol): 3. T yler Hjortlllnd (KTM). 50 O PEN: 1. Joseph Reynolds (KT M) ; 2. Romey Mirllrnontes (Pol) : 3. T yler Hjortland (KTM,; 4. CaUion McHaney (KT Ml . 50 ADU LT : I . Ty lf"t Boeddeker (Hon) : 2. Dustin Boeddeker (Hon} : 3. M.ichael Orr (Hon) . OTHER SM BKS: 1. M.lso n G....rete ( Hon ): 2. KaUiM AnIle'S (Han); 3. Collon Gama (Han) ; 4. Renae Boggs (Yam ). 6 5 (0· 8) : I. LIen Leach (K" w ): 2. Romey Mir amon te'S(Stu) : 3. Javier Tobar (KTM): 4 . O" nlCl De La Marll (Ka w) ; 5. Logan Baker (""I. 65 (9- 1 t): I. Tyler NtehoJson (KTM) : 2. Brandon Orr (KTM); 3. Justin Brown (Kaw); 4 Tenner Simons (KTM ); 5. Jon athan Githens . (""I. 65 NOV : I . .Jeeoe Culbertson (Stu ): 2. Landon Sullivan (KTM); s 3. JoMoph Reynolds (KTM): 4. Travis Bachman (Stu ); 5. Robby Baker (""). 65 1 : I. Tyler ~rtman (KTMI . NT 65 X: I. James Culbert50n (Sw); 2. Landon Sullivan (KTM); 3. ~ph Reynolds ( KTM); 4. Tyler N)cholson (KTM.I: 5. Tyler Wymore (""I. 85 BEG D -I : I . Jadue IVC'S (Yam); 2. Tyler Boeddeker (ya m) ; J. Evan Spano; 4. Ryan Worth (Yam); 5. Jak e H,iOrtlllnd (Yam ). 85 BEG 0- 2: I. Philo Farnsworth (Hon); 2. Robby Baker (Suz); 3. Michael Furlin (Hon) : 4. Trav is Bachman (Sur ); 5. ..Jordan McCul- lough (""). Hanford Fairgrounds: Mi ke A les s i came f ro m the back of the pa ck to d efeat h is fell o w A ma teurs as w ell as the Pros in the Bounty Hu nter main event at round s ix of the CM AlClaw s o n Mo t ors p orts Bou nt y Hunter M X Series i n Ha nford , Ca li fo rn ia . 85 B/W : 1. Kylt! Hogan (Hon); 2. Nick Muel1 (Hon ); 3. C~ P.r Hepner (Hon): 4. Jethro Prince (Sul) . 85 NO V : I . T y ler Beremen (Hon): 2. J .B . B ulle r ( Yam ): 3. Michll el OTT (Yam) . 85 INT: 1. Nicolas Baker (Yllm); 2. Dustin Pipes (Hon) . 85 X: I. Jeff AlessI (Hon ): 2. Dust in Pipes (Hon ): 3. Nico las Baker (Yam) ; 4. J .B. Buller (Yam) ; 5. Kyle Hoglln (Hon) . S/MINI: 1. JcfJ Alessi (Hon); 2. Nicolas Bak er (Yll m) : 3. Dustin Pipes (Hon ): 4. Ryen Worth (Yam ): 5. Robby BIlker ($w). 125 BEG: I. Wesley Flipp in (Yam); 2. Chris Poner (Hon) : J. A.J. Maul (Suz); 4. Seth Hickma n (Suz); 5. Cody Andcrson (Yam ). 125 NOV : 1. Steven Hem bree (Yam ): 2. Brent Merrick (Sw ): 3. Kevin Wells (Hon) : 4. Ryan Bush (Hon): 5. LIlrry Va'-quez (Yam ). 125 YTH: I. Mikc Ale ssi (Hon): 2. Jeff Ale1Isi (Hon); 3. Ronnie Vllsquez (Yam); 4. LIlrry Vasquez (Yam ): 5. Michael Dunn agan (Yam) . 125 INT : 1. Mik e Alessi (Hon); 2. Jot!l Robf-rts (Yam) : 3 . Weston Mhurs (Hon) ; 4 _Cas.eyHinson (Suz) : 5. Mit h Bragdon (Sul ). c 125 PRO : I. Brian Hulsr y (Sw ): 2. Nick Mc6ride (Yam) ; 3. lac Baxter (Yam ).

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