Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I District 11 Motocross Marysville Moto Park t he width of a t ire. Venegas and DiFrances co ro unded out the field. Watkins Wastes 'em in Marysville RESULTS BY RUPERT X. PELLETT MARYSVILLE, OH, APR. 24 D illi on Watk ins appeared w it h a couple of new Hondas an d im me d iate ly w en t t o work in Mary sv ille . Th e you ng Pro loo ke d refre shed and fast after Oh io's long winte r. The Kento n, Oh io, rider w as tea ring up th e new ly altered circuit deep in the farm co untry of wes t central O hio . W ith some incr e dibl e riding , Watk ins would take home the majority of the Pro purse. Promoter Matt Eastman and his wife, Amy, had been worki ng the track for days, trying to scra pe th e mud off after a wet sp ring a nd a tte m p ti ng t o p r e pare t he m o st ly nat u ral cou rse (or a fine Sat urday motocross. With a light turn ou t o f a cou ple of hundred ride rs, SCR: I . Chris Manchester (G M); 2. Bo bby Schwartz (Jaw); 3. Scott Brant (G M); 4. Charlie Venegas (Jaw); 5. Randy DiFrancesco (Jaw ). SUP: I. Nate Perk ins (Jaw ); 2. John Stu nkard (Jaw ); 3. Steve Murra y (Jaw); 4. Daria GaMn (Jaw). SUP B: I. Brian StarT (Jaw); 2. Carl Gazaty (Jaw ); 3. Mike Boyle (Jaw ); 4. De wayne Stark (Jaw). 0-( JR : I. Jaso n Ramirez ; 2. Ricky Wells; 3. Sk)ier Gre yson ; 4. Tamara Krips. SUP JR: I. Gino Manzares; 2. Nathan Galvin; 3. Joe y Bolt; 4. Ricky Valdez. class, winning the first mot o and th en crawling home thi rd in mot a tw o fo r sec o nd overall, behind w inner Richard Cu stard. Th e oth er Vet classes were mostly abo ut Mark Roop, who was simply on top of his game in Marysville, topp ing the Over 2S A and Over 30 classes, wh ile anot he r fast vet, Brian Gonser, struggled to stay on pace . Washington , West Virginia's Lex Curry was hard on the gas all day and had some incre dible rides . Cu rry t o o k second in t he Sch o olbo y division , beh ind Jordan Marlin, but he snatched both the I25cc and 250cc B ove ralls in style. The Novice classes belonged to newcomer C a m e r o n Reagan. Th e yo u ng ma n from Granville was unstop pab le in all four C motos on the day. ther e wa s some gre at raci ng. and a fun ti me RESULTS was had by all. Though he blasted off to a I- I victory in the 125cc Pro class, Watkins had to sweat a litt le harde r in 250cc Pro contest, as the very quick Scott Kuchler sailed his Yamaha YZ250 in with the first-mo ta win. Watkins was inspired by a talk with his dad, Scott, between motes , and he went out and stor med off with the moto-two w in and, ultimately, the overall victory. Kuchler finished second. Scott Watk ins saw action in t he Over 40 125 P RO : I. D illion Watkins (Han ); 2. Derek Stu rge ll (Suz); 3. Scott Kuchler (Yam). 125 B: I. lex Curry (Yam); 2. Lee Hask ins (Yam); 3. Tommy Cun ningham (Suz). 125 C: I. Cameron Reagan (Yam); 2. Je rrod Gibso n (Suz); 3. joel Smith (Yam 2 50 PRO: I . Dillion Wa tkins (Hon ); 2. Scott Kuchler ). (Yam 3. Jar ed Grabiel (Suz). 25 0 B: I. Lex Curry (Yam); 2. ); Jordan Mart in (Suz); 3. Edm und Moore (Hon). 2 5 0 C: I. Cam e ron Reagan (Yam) ; 2. [e rre d Gibso n (Suz); 3. Aaro n Browne (Y am). SCHBY: I. Jordan Martin (Suz); 2. Lex Curry (Yam); 3. C hris Manning (Hon ). 25+ A: I. Mark R.oop (Suz); 2. Brian Go nse r (Ho n); J . Scott Marenberg (Hon) . 2 5 + B: I. Mike Zizz o (Hco) : 2. David Romo (Han); 3. Randy Wight (Yam). 30 +: I. Mark Roop (Suz); 2. Brian Gonser (Ha n); J. Edmund Moore (Ho n). 4 0+ : I. Richard Custard (Hon ); 2. Scott Watk ins (Han): 3. Edm und Moore (Han). Spring Classic Costa Mesa Sp eed way COSTA MESA, CA, APR. 24 hris "The Kid" Manc hester has t hrown down th e gau nt let , win ni ng t he Spr ing C lassic at Costa Mesa Speedway on Saturday night . He has se t his sigh ts on the Na tional Champ ionship, and he looks like he's going to be a strong contender. He will have to deal with Bo b by " Boogaloo " Sc hw a rt z and c urrent Nat ional champ Scotty "The Dominator" Brant, as bo t h we re o n th e ir game . It wa s an allScratch program, with three rou nds of racing. Points were awarded 3-2-1-0 , with the top 10 going to two sem is, and the top two from eac h se mi getti ng a direct tra nsfer to the main event , while third and fou rt h transferred to the lastc ha nce qu alifier, fr o m w hic h the winner advanced to the main. T he players appeared as early as the first rou nd . Bobby "Cowboy" Krips put in a great ride in the first heat. Brant outgated the field to w in t he second he at. " Fast " Ed Castro and Manchester came home first in th ree and four. In round two, Schwartz we nt wire to wire in the opening heat . Brant wo n the secon d heat . Randy "The Rocket" DiFrancesco topp ed the th ird heat , and Manchester eas ily wo n the final he at . Two ride rs had gone cle an: Brant and Manchester. Th e final ro und was cr unch t ime . Cast ro opened up with a win. Schwartz wo n his heat, getting a spot in the semis and wrecking Brant's pe r fec t score . C harlie "The Edge " Ven egas C Scott USA Motocross Championship Se rie s Round J: Delta Raceway Bracken, Thomason Spring into Actionl BY ARTHUR MABRY The Kid Wins the Spring Classic BY ELAINE JONES Richard Black topped the 16-24 Open class at round one of the Scott USA Motocross Championship Series in Delta, Ohio. wen t wire to wi re in heat three. It wa s all Manchester in the final heat , and he still had his perfe ct score. The first se mi had Brant on the pole, with Venegas in two, Mar k Carrillo in t hr e e , an d Krips and Schwartz in four and five. Schwartz got a perfect start , with Brant right on his tail. Venegas got by Carrillo and Krips to take th ird. Carrillo was fourth. The second semi had Manchester o n t he pole, wit h DiFrancesco in two, McCon nell in three, and Cast ro and Shaun Harmatiuk in four and five . It was ga te, race and tran sfer fo r Manchester, with DiFrancesco moving with him to the main. Castro and McConne ll headed for the LCQ. The po le in the LCQ went to McCon ne ll, w ith Ca rrillo and Venegas in t hree and fo ur. (Castro didn't get to th e line fast enough and had to watch from the pit gate.) It was short and sweet: Venegas would fill the final spot in the main. The y ro lled to the line and d rew for t he start. Schwartz drew the pole, with Manchester in two and DiFrancesco in three. Venegas and Brant were in fou r and five. Venegas got too anxious and got into the tapes. This put him on the 20, and they loade d in again. This time is was a dean sta rt . Schwartz got the best gate , but Manchester put the move on him as the white flag came ou t and took th e win. It was a photo finish be tw e en Schwartz and Brant , with the nod going to Schwartz by DElTA, OH, APR. 24-25 xpe rt racers Scotty Thom ason and Joshua Bracke n rode to t he ragged edg e to take mo to win s and the ove ra lls a t the Scott USAlSu zu ki/ Tec h-Care Sp r ing into Actio n event, t he first race of t he 2004 Scott USA Motocross Championship Series, held at De lta Raceway. This even t featu red a two-day, threemoto champio nship format, and it opened the 36th season of actio n at the famed race track near Toledo, O hio. Th e e xtra-long trac k setup cove re d a ll sections of the prope rty, with an equa l amount of natu ral terrain and man-made obstacles. The long, sandy se ctio ns prov ided excellen t racing for the large r four-st roke bikes, as the dee p, we t sand ma de t he o therwis e wide- o pen sec tio ns a tec hnical challenge. Ove rnight rain showers made t he track a bit slippery during practice on Sunday morning, but the sunny and windy weather made the t rack extremely tacky, and racers repo rted IOO-perce nt tract ion by th e start of racing. In the 125cc Expert class, Thomason took all three moto wins. He and his high-flying TechCare-backed YZ2S0F charged the doub les and triples with ease. Thomason was exceptionally smoo t h, eve n t hough the mostly hard-packed groun d be c a m e inc r e asi ngly challe nging . Tho maso n was the top money winne r, taking home $480 of the 200-percent Expert payback. In the 250cc Expe rt class , Bra cke n was unable to get great starts, but he got faster as the races pr og re ssed . He won t he first two motos, powering his C RF4S0R fro m midpack starts to victory. Bracken showed his expertise on an up hill, o ff-cam ber ho rseshoe se ct io n, E www.cyclenews .com where he was a ble t o pass others on the outside. Most other racer s had difficulty wit h the section, but Bracke n made several clean passes ther e . Tho mason, Mercer and Shue gave Bracke n a challenge during the longer-than-20min ut e motos. Br ac ke n's excepti o na l conditioning came into play, as the 18-year-old Belleville, Michigan, race r fought his way to the front, winning the race and $475 of t he 200perce nt Exp e rt pay ba ck . Lo cal rac er Mike Mercer took third in the first moto and secon d in the second mo to but aggravated a previous injury, which prevented him from racing in the third mota . In 250cc Four-St ro ke Novice action, Nick Peiron took all three moto wins, over upcoming star Jo hn Black. Racing for the first time on a 250 after mov ing up from the SScc Advanced class, Black was able to get the ho leshot in each rnoto , and he finished seco nd overa ll. In the offseas on, Black to ok time to condition himsel f bo th me nta lly and physically to race t he fullsized bike. His increased ability ena bled him to execute the man-made jumps and increase his e ndurance in the grueling motos. This year at Delta Raceway, the track will be run in the same directio n rather than reversing direction every other month. This facilitates the cha nging and addition of sections fo r the weekly Saturday night racing. RESULTS 50 EX H IB: I. Se t h Ha rn ish feg er (KT M); 2. Je re m y Unge< (KTM) ; J . Jacob Ed'''''' (KTM); 4. Kyle Kell er (KTM); 5 . Au stin Laderach (KTM). 50 S (4 -6) MOD : I. Jacob Edison (KTM); 2. Aust in G ilson (KTM); 3. Je remy Murphy (KTM); 4 . Dominik Sell (KTM); 5 . D.J. Chris tie (KTM). 50 5 (7 -9) MOD: I. Austin Laderach (KTM); 2. Je re my Unger (KTM); J . Wyatt Cook (KTM) ; 4. Lucas Buck (KTM) ; S. Ryan Pieterows ki (KTM). 65 (7 -9) : I . Andr ew Keller (Kaw); 2. e Mike Mist opoulos (Kaw); 3. Kyle Keller (Kaw) ; 4 . Jacob Mill r (KTM ); S. Kyle Teagan (Suz). 6S (10 -11): I. Dylan Bowman CYCLE NEWS . MAY 19, 2004 69

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