Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Ser ies Round 8: Willow Spr ings Int ernational Raceway Lap aft er lap , th ese t wo w ent at it , J im my never more than a bikelength away , b ut he j u st co ul dn ' t make a clea n pass. A t the chec k ers, Fo ul ds and Jimmy w ere a full stra ightaway ahead . J ohnson pus hed pas t Barnett fo r th ird, and Ba rn ett was fourth . T here w ere on ly 14 berth s avai l able for the I S-la p Di gg er Helm Pro 600 cc m a in . Ro n n i e B r o wn c a m e th rough the sem i wi th Joe Steffen to sta rt from t he th ird row . Wh en the g r e en f l a g fle w, J im m y . t h is t ime Hon d a - mo u n te d . q uic k ly t o ok th e p o i nt , f o llo w e d b y Harr ell , Ju st in Felice, Alex Wood , Poll ock , Vit al and B rown . The n B rown fl ew past Vi t al and Pollock to tak e fift h . Afte r t wo laps . J im my had four lengths on Harrell, w ith F el i c e eight bikeleng t hs ba ck . O n la p th ree , Brown pus he d past Alex for fourth . On lap five . Vital passed Pollock for fifth , and Alex wa s rea lly beginning to fade. Back at th e front , Jimmy was tu rni ng faster and fa ster laps, p ulling away. On lap nine, Jimm y put in t he fas t est la p at th e W ill ow Sprin g s oval, at 21 .74 secon ds. By lap 10, Fo ul ds had worked Ian Foulds (45) won the Open Amateur A main event, over Jimmy Wood, at round eight o f Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vi ntage Di rt Track Series and in the proc es s set the fastest lap tim e 1 22.27 sec onds) at Willow Springs Inte rnational Raceway du ring the h eat - a time that W ood would best in the Pro m ain. S T O RV A N D P H O T O S BV J A ME V B LU N T ROSAMOND,CA ,OCT. 18 • •ost p eople th in k o f t he W ill ow . . - sp rin g s ra c in g c omp le x as an asphalt venu e. Well , that' s mostly true ; however , just east of the b ig road c o u r se l i e s a t h ree -e ig h t h s - mile , banked dirt oval , entitled Walt James Stadium, that 's on a par with any track in the c oun t r y . Fo r rou n d eight of Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Tra ck Series, track prep started some fo u r days prior to th e event. T ruckloads of d.g. were brought in, and not one but two water tr ucks kept m oistu re in the surfa ce on this 90-plus -degree day, giving th e 181 entrants in atten dance the best racetrack possible! By 12:30 p.rn ., 22 heat races had be en c ompl e t ed, a nd r i d er s had eamed th eir sta rt ing positi on s in th eir respectiv e ma in events. In the Sh oei Helm ets 50cc ma in , 7 -year -old And r e O ch s from F allbrook, Ca lifornia , go t h is very first win by holding off Logan Johnson. In the JRC Eng ine er ing 60cc ma in , D ust in Phar es t urned an im p ressive 26.57 -second lap to top th e fiel d. In the Motion Pro 80c c ma in , all ey es were on Lauren Wa llace afte r her victory at Del Mar, but Southland Racing's And y Wood and F rank ie Garcia w ere ready for h er this t ime and picked up fir st and second. Eighteen rid ers wrestled for position i n t he A&A Racing Vet ma in . Greg Wil bu rn and Donnie Har rell had both won the ir heats , but it was Jeff "The Jester" Johnson who got the initial jump, onl y to have Harrell take it awa y through turn o ne. Down the back straight, th e ord er was Harrell, John son , Wilburn , Mike Vital and Richard KTM-mounted & 2;0_.... OChs 14R) scored the very fi rst victory of h is y oung career, over Logan Johnson in the 50cc main event in Rosamond, California. Pollock. Wilburn displaced Johnson at th e start of lap two. On th e next tr ip do wn the back stra ight, Keith Bradford an d J ohn Frank did som e som er saults, bringing out the red flag. On th e restart, Harrell flew t o the front , with Vit al and Wilburn sid e by side and Johnson righ t beh ind them. A lap and a half in, Wilbum made a m istak e and slipped to fi fth, making th e ord er Harrell, Vital, Johnson, Pollock and Wilb u rn. Harrell c h ec k ed o ut. Wilburn wa s charging ha rd , using a lower line that was beginning to payoff. On lap four, Vital bobbled in tum tw o, and Wilbum po un ced , taking second , with Vital third , Johnson fourth and Pollock closi ng. On th e white-flag lap , Pol lock passed Johnson for fourth , wh ile th e front three rema ined th e same . Torrance, Californ ia 's St ev e Miller t ried to g et an early st a r t i n the Maxxis Ti res /Barnett Modern 750cc ma in . On th e real start, Wilburn led the hungry p ack int o turn on e, fo l lowed by Jim Wichert , Marty Lew is and M ill er . Exiting turn tw o , Mill er sho t pa st Lewis for third . Go in g into turn three, both Miller and Lew is fl ew by Wi ch ert for sec ond and th ird . Greg Wilburn won the 500cc Support A main and the Modern 750cc main. hi s way up to sixth, but he tuck ed the fr ont end ente ring t urn on e; he was quickly up and back in the rac e. but in last p lace. Th e front four rema ined the same at the end. On lap IS, Pollo ck took fifth from Vital. CN Miller turned 23 .33 -second lap times and w a s two b ik e l e n g t h s b ehind Wilburn , but Lew is was closing. Ba ck a t th e fron t , Wilburn , sm o o t h and consi ste nt at 23.3 second s pe r la p , was sl owly pulling away . Miller li k ed th e h igh lin e, wh ich loo ked st y l ish and fun , but Lew is, rid ing down low, closed the gap. Entering turn three with a lap and a half left, Lewis took ov er s econd. W ilburn won b y 12 l en g t hs over Lew is , Miller, Wichert and Be ll Fleet, who came from wa y bac k to finish fifth . Th e fastest time of the day (so far) was held by KLH Racing 's Ian Foulds , at 22.2 7 seconds, but th e Works Perform ance / Red Bull Open Amateur A m ain was stacked with talent. Foulds, how ever, seemed up to the task , as he launched his Rotax from th e outside of th e front row to lead into turn o n e . J i m m y W ood , a board a Jim K elly Har l ey , settled i nt o sec ond . M earl Barnett ran th ird , w ith John Perez fourth and J ohnson fifth . By lap two , Foulds and Jimmy had distanced th emselves from Barnett and the rest of th e field. Cl early , th e war at the front would be fought to th e very end . cue I e n Willow Springs International Raceway Rosamond, Californ ia Results : October 18, 2003 (Round 8 of 91 VT H 50 : 1. Andr e Och s ( KT M) : 2. L o gan John son (Cob) . YTH 60 : 1. Dustin Phares (Ka.....); 2. Je ss Garcia (Ka w): 3. Larry Sm ith (Kaw). YTH 80 : 1. An dy Wood (Han ); 2. Frank ie Garcia (Han); 3 . lauren Wll lla ce ( Kaw). DlNO: I . Terry Salsma n (Tri ) . CLSC 2 50: I . Ro n Les sley (B ul ) : 2 . J i m MeMurren (H· D) : 3. Malcolm Roe (Tri· BSA) . CL SC 500 : 1. J e ff L e s sley (B u1) : 2. J i m MeMurren (H· D): 3. Jeff Apple (Tri) . MO RN 250 : 1. J i m St eet ( Ha n) ; 2 . Cra ig Johnson (Yam); 3. Marc Lyons (Yern) . MDRN 500 : I. J eff L e ssle y ( Bul ) : 2 . Todd Vaugh n (Hon); 3. Keith Bradford (Tri ). MDRN 750: I. Greg WilboJm(Tri) : 2. Marty Lewis (Tri) ; 3 . Steve Miller (Yem }. 250 O PEN: 1. Dan n y Per ez ( Hon); 2 . T od d Vaug hn ( Yam); 3. Sean J ones (Suz). 500 SOP A : 1. Greg Wil burn (Yam) ; 2. Dan iel Brown (Vam) : 3. Je ff App le (ve rn) . 500 SOP B : 1. J ay Gosvencr ( Yam) ; 2. Brian Coak ley (Yam ); 3 . U oyd McGregor (Yem) . O PE N A M A : 1. Ian Fo u ld s (Rot ); 2 . J imm y wood (H-D): 3. J eff John son (Hon) . O PEN AM B : I. J ay Gosveno r (Yem) : 2. Frenkle Garcia (Rot); 3 . Rob Perez (Yo12m) . PRO 600: 1. J immy Woo d (Ha n ); 2. Do n n ie Harr ell (Rot ); 3. J usti n Felice (Han) . VET : 1. Do nnie Harr ell (Rot) ; 2. Greg Wilb urn (Tri): 3. M;ke V;' al (Hon). SR: 1. Mo12rty Lewi s (Tri) ; 2. J im Wichert {Tri }; 3. Joe Brown. SR NOV / S/SR : I. Clark Edg;ngton (Hon): 2. Ken Barro w (Yam ); 3. Mel Stoner (Trl ) . e vv S • N O V EM BER 12,200 3 47

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