Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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PHOTOS BY BRETI SAUNDERS S upermotoUSA Nor Cal Championship Round I: Mesa Marin Raceway Bagnis Bags Big Bucks in Bakersfield By BRETI SAUNDERS BAKERSFIElD, CA, MAY 22 he Nor Cal Championship Series, organize d by Supe rmotoUSA, kicked off the 2004 season at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield with a full day of amateur and professional supermoto racing. The main event of the pro gram was the Unlimited Prestige class. Casey Yarrow got a superb start on his Fairfield Cycle Center Honda and led the pack into turn one. Behind him, Leonardo "Pu cho" Bagnis and East Hills Moto rsports teammate Jeff Harrington gave chase. Bagnis stayed right on Yarrow's back wheel, but Harrington bobbled at the end of the infield straight, letting Cory Call, Steve Ayler and for mer number -on e plat e holder Ricky Pear ce through . Yarr ow clicked off lap after perfe ct lap, guarding his line aggressively, and he and Bagnis beg an to pull aw ay from the group of riders behind them. At the midpo int of the race , Yarrow maintained the lead, but Bagn is as serted more and more pr essure . Finally on lap eight, Bagnis, riding a new Honda , CRF450R, tu cked in close enough behind Yarrow that he was able to draft past him at the end of the banked oval sec tion . Pucho's pass stuc k, and he ope ned a slight gap on Yarrow. Meanwh ile, Pearc e was working his way to war d the front , first dicing with Ayle r and t hen getti ng by Call to clinch the last spot on the podium. Local spo nsor Cal Spas provided a gene rous Pro purse , re ward ing th e Pros in both th e Prest ige and 450cc classes w ith prize mo ney back to seventh position. Seve ral of t he amateur classes that we re ru n earlier in th e program we re e xtremely T Judging fro m the reactions of those in attendance, the new tra ck was a big hit! The Bake r brothe rs from nearby Cheha lis serve d notice that they will again be a force to be recko ne d w ith in 2004 . Brad an d Scot t won two classes each . Brad set the to ne for the evening in the 85cc DTX class by.winning w it h a sizable lead ove r Maso n Se ybold in secon d and Alex Bergman in third . It was deja vu all over again in the 85cc Modified class, as Br ad dom ina te d t he co m pe t it ion whi le Seybo ld and Be rgman did their bes t to keep him hones t. Then it was time fo r Brad's big brother Scott to strut his stu ff. That he d id, by winni ng both th e 250 cc DTX and Mod ified classes. Chris Williams rod e well for seco nd in both classes , w ith Elliot O quist placing thi rd in th e Mod ified class an d Bre nto n Schn itze r placing third in the DTX class. Logan Seybold was unb eata ble in th e 65cc Modified and DTX classes. In the DTX class, Noah " C re a m So d a " Mill e r a nd Ja m e s " Honkin'" Bod kin ro de their heart s out but finished second and third, respectively. At the sta rt of the Mad Dog ma in, Ale x competitive as well . In the Vet Open class , perennial rivals Darrick Lucchesi and Don Blava went at it like there was no tom orrow. "I saw his shadow everywhere ," sa id Lucchesi. " [t was great: He was getting me in the infield, and I'd get him back at the other end of the track ." Lucchesi led every lap but t he last one, as he spun the bike in the tight right -hand er that ends the infield straight. Biava slipped by him for a wel l-earned w in. Lucchesi held on to second spot, with Mike Foste r finishing third . In the Open Novice race, Kern KTM 's David "D] " Lucas dominated the field. Lucas also fought to a fifth-place finish in t he Pro 450cc c1ass,on his stock KTM 450 SX , so his amateur days are probably numbered. The Lightwe ight 250cc class also pro vided great entertainment, as Americ an Supe rcamp's CD. Howell got the bcle shot and led the first two laps , only to be reeled in and passed by local bo y Nathan Flud, w ho eventually pulled away and took the checkered flag. The next round of the Supermoto USA series will take place o n June 26 and 27 in Medford, Oregon . Because t his se ries moves fro m track to tra ck in Calif omia and O reg on , it attrac ts a great mix of competito rs from all over t he We st C oast . Round one at Me sa Marin was a great crowd -pleaser, and racers and fans alike loo k forward to the next o ne. For mo r e inform ation , vis it w w w.super mo to usa.co m. eN M ESA MARIN RACEWAY BAKERSFIELD, CAUFORNIA RESULTS: MAy 22, 2004 (ROUND 1) U/L PRESTIGE: I. Leonardo Bagnis: 2. Casey Yarro w; 3 . Rick Pe arce ; 4. Cory Call : S. Steven Ayler. 450: I. "Bergy" Bergman came off the line like he was shot out of a cannon! The youngster fro m Eagle Creek, O regon , never looked back , win ning with a huge lead over Garret Lindema n. Ryan Stallman was third, and Sophia " Loren" Hayes finished fourth . At the start of the Ove r 40 main, Vince Holt had t he lead , and Tony "Supe r Unknown" Fo x had some gro und to make up. Make it up he did, bu t catch ing so mebody and pass ing him are two differe nt th ings. Lap after lap, Fo x ap plied pressure , waiting for Holt to make a mistake that never came . They finished in that order, with O regon rider James Torpey coming home th ird. Ageless vete ra n " Rocket Ray " Car ro ll showed everyo ne in the Vintage Twins class that he is on e o ld dog that can still hunt! Looking fast and stylish on the Lou Kinish Trium ph , Carroll won the race w ith roo m to spare over Mike Harritt in secon d, Greg Cox in th ird and Brock "B-Rock" Dunseath coming in fourth. Mitch Pierce wo n t he 505cc Pro class, but that doesn't begin to te ll the who le story. An allout w ar was waged for second, betw ee n Eric SO JUNE 23, 2004 • CYCLE NE WS Leonardo Bagnis: 2. Rid< Pearce; 3. Cory Call; 04 . Steven Ayler, S. David Lucas . OPEN NOV: I . David Lucas: 2. Travis Ellis; l . Kurt Chandler; -i. Cody Cates; 5. Bryson Hopfe . MOD MINI/65: I . Ja ke Thompson: 2. Ryan Kea rns ; 3. Bro nso n Pea rc e : 4. Jo nathan Keams . LJW 150: I . Nathan Aud; 2. C.D. Howell: 3 . RonnieJones; 4 . Garrett Willis; 5. Cameron Be a u b le r. VET OPEN: I. Don Biava; 2. Darric k Lucchesi ; l . Mike Foster; ... Allen . Yarrow; 5. Pal m e r Lan cast er. MINI -MOTARD : I . Frankie Gerce; 2. Sean Oodenhoff: 3. Joe AuleMe: 4. Dave Potter; 5. Colt Foster. S/L /W: I. C am e ron Beaubter; 2. Frankie Garci a: l . Chris Foster: .... Jake Thompson; 5. J Garda.. S/M IN I: I. Ryan ess Keams: 2. Jo sh Seme; 3. Gage McAllister: .. . Andrew Snow; 5. Tyler Sullivan. PROD MINI: I . Jo nathan Keams: 2. Justin Ford : 3. Jake Thompson ; .. . Shannon Shi r le y. SPTSHN : I. Josh Jackson : 2. Tyler Snow: 3. And rew He r ri ng: 04 . Bra nd o n Snow; 5. Lawrence Giardina. David "DJ" Lucas enjoys his first-place finish in the Open Novice class at Mesa Marin Raceway. Ric kman an d Christ ian Ve rno n. Th e se two traded pos it ions no less than five times in the last th ree laps! Neithe r rider was willing to give an Inc h , a nd it was fina lly dec ide d a t t he che ckered flag. wit h Ric kman taking a hard fought second and Verno n just inches beh ind him in third. RESULTS SO BEG: I. Cod y Nel son ; 2. Key shaw n Jordan ; l . Hunter De lgrange . 50 SR : I . Taylor Masse f; 2. Baile y Haines. 60 BEG : I. Noah B. Mitle r; 2. Brend an Delgran ge . 6S MOD: I. Logan Seybo ld. 65 DTX: I. Logan Seybold: 2. Noa h B. Miller : 3 . James Bodkin . 80 BEG : I. Garre tt Lindeman : 2. Gary Tuller; 3. Zach Blevins. 85 MO D: I. Brad Ba ker: 2. Maso n Sey bold; 3 . Alex Be rgman; 'I . Robe rt Ho lmes . 85 DTX: I. Brad Baker; 2. Mason Seybold ; 3. Ale x Bergman; .... Robert Ho lmes . MAD DOG: I. Ale x Bergman ; 2. Garrett Undem an; 3. Ryan Stallman; 4. Sophia Hayes . 250 MOD: I. Scott Baker; 2. Chris Willi ms ; 3. Elliot Oquet: .. . a Brady Mueller. 250 DTX: I. Scott Baker; 2. Chris Williams; 3. Bren ton Schnitzer; 4. Shelby Mille r. O PEN AM: I. Elliot Oqui st 2. Br ad y Muell er; 3 . Der ick Oqu in : 04 . Amy Pruczinski. 0450AM: I. Dustin Prucz inski: 2. Brady Mue ller. 505 PRO: I . Mitch Pierc e: 2. Eric Rickman: 3. C hrist ian Vernon : 4. Eric Beers. OPEN PRO : I. Ch ristian Vernon; 2. Eric Rickman ; 3. Jeff Annen ; .... Mitch Pierce . EVO : I. Joh n Kohl: 1. Shane Geiger. VINT: I. Garry Roller; 2. Greg Cox ; a. Nolan Hermens: 04 . Rod Stallman. 30+: I. TOflY Fox; 2. Garry Rolle r; 3. John Bred field: " . Fred Bracken bury. 4 0+ : I. Vince Holt; 2. Tony Fox; 3. James Torpey; 04. Allen Morinville . 50+ : I. Vince Holt : 2. Steve McCauley. TWo. I. Ray Carroll; 2. Mike Harritt; 3. Greg Co x: 4. Broc k Dunseath . Chase LivingstDn Challenge Georgia/Florida MX Spring Classic Final Round: County Line MX Stevenson Rules, Baker Duels By HUGH GATLIN FOUNTAIN, FL, MAY 16 ichael Steve nson ruled the Pro ranks at M Co unty Line MX. Rid ing a pair o f Big 4 0th A nniversary Bike Hon da fou r-stro ke s, t he Panam a C ity Beach, Florida, rider posted I- I finishes in the 12Scc A and 250 cc A classes. Tallahassee, Flori da's Rion Baker ( 1-2) d ueled with winne r Troy Balste rs (2- 1) in t he 25 0c c B class an d then