Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ch ec chin , M azzon i and Fo rt Wor th ' s Bu sb y . Sm ith aga in se t a p ac e nobod y co ul d match an d cru ised to an easy win Fran c esch i , Checch in , J o nes, Ma zzon i Houst on 's Todd T racy. J oe else ove r and Swa n Raceway P ark Tyler. Texas Res ults: October 12 . 200 3 0-200 AM: 1. T. Benolkin . 0-2 00 INT: 1. F. Kipp : 2. C. Serres; 3. D. Newmann. 0·2 00 EX I. J . Newmann. : 25 0 AM: 1. L Pechin: 2. P. lvie;3. T. Gerber. VINT 250 INT: 1. J. Gerber; 2. F. Relives; 3. R. Millard. VINT 25 0 EX: I . C. Keller; 2. J. Ncvero: 3. M. Brown. VINT 500 AM.: I. C. Fugate: 2. S. Webster: 3. B. Piske. VINT 500 INT: J. M. Howell: 2. S. Shope: 3. M. Thompson. VINT 500 EX: 1. J . Hill: 2. J . Anl oon: 3. R. Welch. VINT 25 . AM 1. G. Davis: 2. B. Piske: 3. J. Gowdy. : vim 25. INT: 1. R. Griffin; 2. M. Howell: 3. J. Gerber. VINT 25. EX: 1. C. Keller: 2. S. Anderson. VINT 45. AM: 1. P. lvie:2. B, Walton. VINT 45. tNT: I. F. Kipp: 2. R. Smith: 3. L Shope. VINT 45 . EX: J. Ed Zornes; 2. R. Clampitt; 3. D. Kedrovich. VINT VINT VINT VINT VINT PRO: 1. Furio Franceschi (KTM): 2. Kent Howerton (Hus): 3. Deen Lane (Pen): 4. Warren Reid (Han): 5. Ron Pomeroy (Bul); 6. Ed lomes (Vam): 7. Dennis Burnett (Hon) ; 8. Gary Jones (Yam ): 9. Mike Laqer a (Cl ): 10. Billy Grossi. EVO 0·200 AM: I . S. Allgood. EVa 0-200 EX I. M. Brown; 2. S. Anderson. : EVO· I AM 1. S. Kirby : 2. L Morgan; 3. J. Stercher. : EVO- I INT: 1. R. Snyder; 2. R. Sm ith: 3. D. Hair. EVO· I EX 1. C. Richardson: 2. J. Acklin . : EVO-2 AM: 1. M. Ryan: 2. C. Cillus; 3. T. Wilson. EVO· 2 INT: I. J. Mosbacher; 2. F. Grossi: 3. L Shoup. : EVO·2 EX 1. J. Novero: 2. B. Under: 3. S. Knaack . EVO-3 AM 1. J . Edwards: 2. J. Crawley; 3. B. Coleman. : EVO·] INT: I. L Shope: 2. R. Griffin: 3. J . Danhaki. EVO-) EX: I. B. Burnie; 2. D. Gamer; 3. S. Knaack. EVa PRO: I . Marty Sm ith (Mal): 2. Furio Franceschi (SUl); 3. Roberto Checchin (Suz]: 4. Gary Jones (C-A): 5. Luigi Mi'Ju oni (Ma i); 6. Joe Busby (Mai). WMN: I . K. Lane: 2. T. Haase: 3. T. Gerber. SOP 50 : I. T. Stone: 2. l . Lane: 3. C. Lene. SOP 60 : J. A. Kerby: 2. B. Vernier; 3. A. Pteatote. SOP 60 : 1. B. William s: 2. D. Howerton; 3. E. Abel. SUP 125: 1. E. Clevenger: 2. G. Full er: 3. T. Cureton. SUP 250 : 1. J. Hardin: 2. D. Huckabee: 3. B. Smith. SOP 25+: I. J . Hardin; 2. E. Reed: ) . C. Lee. SOP 45+: 1. P. Watson; 2. D. Huckabee: 3. H. Hodes. Clawson Motorsports/C MACalifornia S upercross Day 1:Grizzlies Stadium Swan Raceway Park: Th e Vintage Pro wi nne rs (left t o rig ht) - run ner-up Kent Howerton, vic to r Furio Francesch i, and third- placed Dean Lane - ce lebrate on the podium at the t hird ann ual ProC lean 1ODD/Ron Carte r Autoland Vintage Pro-Am in Ty ler, Texas. ProClean 1ODD/Ron Carter Autoland Vintage Pro-Am Swan Raceway Park Smith, Franceschi Top Vintage Pro-Am By H. no re. Benolkin m o v ed fr om 10 th t o thi r d in one lap, pa ssin g so me serio us talent along the way . By lap tw o, Franc eschi's lead had grown to abo ut fi ve sec onds. Beno lkin had trouble ge ttin g past Reid , bu t once he d id, he pick ed up hi s already bla zing pace an d bega n to close on Fra nceschi. Th e crowd co uld see th is was going to be goo d. Over one o f Swa n 's m assi ve uphill jum ps. B en o lkin su rpr is ed th e It ali an and ma de th e pass fo r the iea d , and then he st arte d to pu Ji aw ay , do ing h eel -cli ck er s o ff th e bigg est j umps - yes . on a 1973 El sin or e. " I wa nted him to kn ow I was m uch faster tha n him," Benolkin said of hi s anti cs. " I was planning on a Superman -Ai r bu t did a cl ick er in stead . This is my kin d o f trac k. I wa nted to just kili 'ern ." In th e turns , Ben olkin wou ld turn around and point at th e Italian, wavi n g him on. Ho w eve r, bein g the fastes t rid er also m ean s yo ur eq u ip me nt takes a beat i ng ; o n l a p fo ur , Ben olkin 's rear br ak e-ar m bro k e, end ing his day . Franceschi no w had a big lea d over Reid and fast -clos ing local legend Dean Lan e. T he n ca me Howerton and Zo rnes . By the chec ke red fl a g, L an e and Ho w er t on had wo r ke d past Reid. Gro ssi got pa st Zo rnes , only to have his Husk y expire on the la st lap , handing th e spot back to Zorn es. In mota t wo, Zo rne s got o ut front aga in , foll owed by Pomeroy , Howerto n, J im Pomero y and Reid . How erton m o ved to the front before lap tw o . foll ow ed closely by Fr an ce schi. Lan e m o v ed t o t h ird. ah ead of Reid . Jim 's bik e expired , leaving him on the sideli nes. Th e two leader s put a big ga p on thi rd as th ey battl ed, never more th an a bi ke length ap art . "T h at It ali an r ider was rea lly agg res sive, " said How erton. "H e was always bumping and pushing; h e n eve r backed off. H is KTM was rea lly fast , too. I had a blast. " Positions remaine d th e sam e all the way to t h e check ers: Howerto n, Fr an c eschi , La n e , Reid, Ron and Gro ssi. T he Eva-Pro class wa s ano ther star-s tu dded affa ir. Smith nail ed a m assiv e ho leshot on an Ad am s/R ag e Raci ng 490c c M a ic o . followed by F r an c eschi , on a 19 8 0 Vi llacaro Racing RM4 0 0 . Sm ith looked v ery comfort able , an d not eve n Fr an ceschi co uld m atc h his spee d. S m it h w on by 15 se co n ds ove r F ra nceschi, It al ian Rob erto Chec c h in, J on es, and Luigi Mazzoni. Mo ta tw o was a c arbon co py: a m assiv e hoi esh ot by Sm it h, foll o wed by F ra nceschi , MU SHMAN TY LER, TX, OCT. 12 With three cha mpions hips apiece, Kent Ho w erto n, Gary J ones and Mart y Sm it h all want ed t o show eve ryone at the thi rd annua l Vint age Pro -A m . prese nte d b y Pro Cl ean 1000 and Ron Carter A uto lan d , that th ey stil l h ad "the right st uff." Smith proved he hadn 't lost m uc h s kill o r spee d si nce his last m o t ocross c ha m pl o ns hip in 1977 b y win n ing b oth Evo- Pro rn ot os by big m argins. W inn ing both rnotos on a Don A dam s/Rag e Raci ng 4 90 M ak o was o nly pa rt of the s to ry : He had to be at Tea m Italy 's Furia Fr an c esch i , one of th e fastes t rid - ers all day. Form er GP co mpetitor an d mult itime Italian cha m p Fran cesch i went 2- 2 in the E v a -Pr o e ve nt and 1-2 in t h e Vinta g e Pro cl ass, losing to Howert on in m ot o two. "The on ly guys t o b eat m e all day were tw o for me r t h ree - ti me AMA m o to cr oss c hamps," Franceschi noted . Smith, who has only ridden a vintage bike once a few y ears ago , was a d ifficu lt co nve rt. "I rea lly had a lot of fun ," said Sm ith . "T hat Maic o i s rea lly c o m pe titi v e. Those guys a t Rag e Racing d id a gr ea t job setti ng the bi ke up. I started to get m ore c om fort able laun ch ing it off the jumps." For Ho wert o n , it was a reun ion w ith th e 19 74 360 Husky (o wne d by Dr. Rick Hili) th at he rode to grea t succ ess at th e 20 00 Vintage Ir on Ch ampionshi p s. T he "Rhin eston e C ow boy " suffered a p oor gate in the 17- ri de r field in m ot o one and co uld only work up to third by th e end o f th e six- la p mota. His sec ondm ota win wa s a c ro wd- pleaser. J o nes aiso did do uble duty , riding a 1974 He r ita g e C y c i es YZ250 t o 6 -9 f in ish es in th e Vintag e Pr o even t and going 4-4 o n a 1978 Robert s Racin g Can- A m in th e Evo Pro contest. "T h at was so co o l; I had a bla st! " sa id a av smi li ng Jones. " I J ed th e tr ack , seein g the gu y s again an d rid ing the old bikes. It doesn't get better th an this." Seventeen Vintage Pros lined up for m ota o ne. A rizon a ' s Ed Z or nes to ok a c l e a n hol eshot , fo llow ed closely by Ho nda -mounted W arren Reid , Ro n Pomeroy, Fra ncesch i an d Bill y Gross i. Howert on was stuc k ba ck in 11th , an d J one s was 13th. By the end of lap one, F ranc esch i had m o v ed p ast Reid, Pomeroy and Zo rnes t o take th e p o in t. Also on th e move - and turnin g th e fastest lap times - was T om B en ol k in, o n an all- wh ite Hon da El si - 30 DECEMBER 10, 2003' cue e n e vv s Fresno Fireworks By EDDIE GRAVEUNE FRE SNO . CA, NOV. 1 W ith on ly one y ear o f h istory in th e b ooks, Cla wso n Mot orsp orts and th e Ca lifo rni a Mot orcycl e Associa tion com bine d fo rces t o ma ke th e Ca liforn ia Supe rcross one of the o ff sea so n 's p r emier ex h ibit io n r ac es. T he re wa s a l r ea dy a goo d r e cip e fo r succes s - th e nation ' s best AAA baseb all sta d ium, a large Pro pu rse , and ded icat ed indu stry suppo rt - in pl ace after the inaugura l even t, but it seemed like so mething was n eeded to elevate it to th e n ex t lev el. W he n you're t alk ing supe rc ross , th ere' s nothin g li k e ad d ing a little bit of .Jere m y McGrath t o the m ix , and th a t' s exact ly w hat th e y d id . Aft er a n nou nc i ng th at th e undispu t ed k in g of supe rc ross would be riding, th e eve nt was much m o re v isible th rougho ut th e m ot or c y cl e c om m unity . Th e fac t t hat he wo uld be j oi ned by a c ast of pr os that in cl ude d Eri c S orb y , D a vid Pin gree , T yl e r E v an s , Mic hae i You ng and Rusty Holl an d ju st add ed th at much m or e excite me n t. From th e drop o f th e gate In th e fir st ra ce of th e wee ke n d, it was appa re nt that Pro Cir c uit Ka wasaki 's So rby would be th e m an to beat, at least in th e 125cc cla ss . T he Fr en c h m an topped Youn g and Vince B lair en route to th e first heat -r ac e vic to ry . T im W eig a n d w on t he se con d qua li fi er aboa rd th e highly tou t ed Hon da CRF250 R. He had so me toug h co m pe ti t ion fr om Jere my Cha ussee and Mach 1 rid er Eric N ye. Clawson M ot o rsport s' top pro, Holl and , g ra bbe d the hol esh ot in the fi rst 250cc hea t but was soon passed by Mc Gr ath , wh o went on to t ak e the win. M cGra th ap pea red to be finding hi s o ld fo rm . bu t he k n ew t ha t t he ma in -event win wouldn 't co me ea sily after w at c hi ng Ty ler Ev an s and Brad Hag seth go 1-2 in the secon d heat. Sum m ing up Saturday 's 125cc m ain eve nt is pr etty easy: So rby took th e lea d on th e fir st lap , progr essi vely increased it and won by a m il e. C haussee , Youn g an d W eiga nd gav e c h ase, but th e fa cto ry st ar wa s sim pl y o n a differ en t lev el. In th e 25 0cc m ain , a pa tte rn co ntinued to de velop: Holland got anothe r hol esho t, and he wou ld m ak e a habit of do ing so th roughout th e weekend . McGrath stru ggl ed off the start but found hi s rh ythm an d started co m ing up thr o u gh th e pack . T he prob l em w as t h at Evans was ri ding e xc eptionally well , and he put himself in a better position in th e early going . Ev an s m ade th e pa ss on Ho lland for th e lead an d h el d o n fr om ther e. M cGrath eve ntua lly m o ved by Holl and as well , but he ran out of laps and settled fo r secon d. Th en th e to p ri der s from th e 125cc and 25 0cc m ain events were seeded according to t h eir fi nishes f or th e Bou n ty Hunter m ai n eve nt . It was a sing le -file: inverted sta rt , whi ch m eant that th e fastest riders went to th e ba ck. Ev an s h ad th e hon or of be ing sent all the way b ac k , w ith McGrath an d Holl and in front o f him. Wh en th e g ree n flag w a v ed, m a yh em ex plo de d as rid er s scram bled towar d th e fir st turn . McGrath got a ho rrible sta rt and was la st aft er th e fir st lap. To m ake matter s worse , he c ras hed all by himsel f in a slick c orne r. Th e fa ll must hav e helped shake th e cob webs out, Gr izzlies Stadium: He's still got it! Jeremy McGrath sh ook the cobwebs out after p lacing second In t he 250cc main and ma de a spectacular charge th rough th e pa ck t o w in th e Bounty Hun te r main even t on da y one of th e Clawson Mot or sportslCMA California Superc ross event in Fresno , Califo rnia.

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