Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

S heboyga n County Fairgrounds Plymo uth, W I Dairyland Classic Short Track By BERT SUMNER PHOTOS BY GORDON luNDE he Dairyland Classic presented by Revolution Perfor mance concluded with for mer National Champion Joe Kopp schooling the Halbert brothers on the fine art of spraying victo ry champagne . Unfortunately for Kopp, he was celebrating a fine runner-up finish between two brothers , winner Jethro Halbert and third -placed Sam Halbert. Jethro Halbert once again showed his prowess on short track events - he finished fourth at the 2003 Dairyland Classic and sixth in the Cow Pal ce GNC earlier this a year - by claiming his first Pro short track win as an Expert rider on his David Zanottituned Honda. Jethro 's win was even more special as he got to share the podium celebration with his younger brother Sam, a Pro-Sport rider who scored a popular podium finish in front of a very talented field . Twenty-nine pro riders participated in one-lap time trials on the perfectly prepared one-third-mile clay oval that would determine the heat race line-ups. After a few shaky moments as some riders struggled with the concept, Kopp claimed the $125 Revolution Performance Fast Qualifier bonus on his Travis Smith-prepped factory KTM, with a lap of 17.025 seconds (70.484 mph), quite a bit shy of Kenny Coolbeth's 2003 lap record of 16.249. J.R. Schnabel claimed the pole for the second heat on his Memphis Shades-sponsored BaJbe Demaytuned factory Yamahawith a 17.OB5-second lap. The Honda-mounted trio of Jethro Halbert, Rob "Bugs" Pearson, and ProSport rider Jesse Janisch filled out the top five qualifiers. Scott Scherb, the 2003 AMA Harley-Davidson Sportster Performance Series Champion, was the fastest Rotax, in sixth, while Mark Gruber was the fastest Vor, in ninth. Other notables include Jen Snyder at I Ith fastest on her Suburban Motors H-D-sponsored Rotax , and Sam Halbert at 18thfastest on his DavidZanottiwrenched Rotax. Dirt track historians should note that David Zanotti is the son of Mario Zanotti, the man who propelled Steve Eklund to the 1979 AMA Grand National Championship. The top three in each heat race would T head to the main event, and Kopp led the first heat race from wire to wire . Shawn Raggio held the second spot on his Rotax for five laps before yielding to Steve Kasten's SK-ServiceYamaha. Sam Halbert recovered from his poor qualifying effort to lead every lap of the second heat race. Schnabel overcame a poor start to claim the second spot on the third lap while West Bend H-D's Jeremy DeRuyter claimed third on his Rotax. Not to be outdone by his brother, Jethro Halbert led every lap the third heat race and claimed the pole position for the main event in the process. Justin VOight (Honda) and Eric Mischler (Rotax) held the next two positions for all eight circuits. Pearson continued the trend by leading the fourth heat from start to finish, with Pro-Sport Tony Giorno (Honda) holding second throughout. RickGruber (KTM),a former National number-holder, had to fend off the aggressive challenges from 16year-old Janisch throughout the race to claim the final transfer to the main event. Jethro Halbert chose the inside pole for the Wisconsin H-D Dealers-sponsored Pro Main Event, with Kopp, Sam Halbert, Pearson, Voight and Kasten alongside . Schnabel likewise chose the inside pole on the second row, with Giorno , Raggio, DeRuyter, Mischler and Gruber filling out the row. When the green light flashed, Sam Halbert claimed the $125 Revolution Performance Holeshot Bonus by mere inches over Kopp. But Jethro Halbert bullied past both in turn three and led at the completion of lap one . Sam held second, followed by www yc Kopp , Pearson and Schnabel. Jethro Halbert started to pull away wh ile Kopp and Sam Halbert battled ferociously for second, the former obviously not intimidated by his rival's impressive resume. Kopp finally wrestled second place away from Sam Halbert on lap seven , and he set out after Jethro Halbert while Schnabel dispatched Pearson and began challenging Sam Halbert. Schnabel dove under Sam in turn one of lap nine, but again the younger rider refused to give up without a fight, and he hounded the Springfield TT winner relentlessly, with Pearson closing to within striking distance. Schnabel bobbled in turn three on lap 18 and surrendered his runner-up spot to both Sam and Pearson . Kopp continued whittling away at Jethro's lead, and he caught him as they took the white flag and approached lapped traffic. The win would be decided in turn three, as Jethro dove low beneath the lappers and Kopp railed around the outside. They exited turn four side by side, with Jethro claiming a narrow win over Kopp. Sam held on for third ahead of Pearson, Schnabel, DeRuyter, Kasten , Voight , Mischler, Gruber, Raggio and Giorno . The Jim Sumner Memorial Dash For Cash featured the fastest qualifier on each different brand of motorcycle in an inverted start for a four-lap sprint race . The Dash is named after the former AMA Grand National number 45 , who died at the Springfield Mile in 2002. The entire purse was collected from donations. The line-up featured Mark Gruber (Vor) on the pole, with DeRuyter (Rotax) behind, then Scherb (Husqvarna), Halbert (Honda), Schnabel (Yamaha) and Kopp (KTM) in the back as the fastest qualifier. When asked his thoughts about starting the Dash at the back of the line, Kopp responded "It' s a challenge, but I'm up for it. It'll be fun." DeRuyter, a late replacement when Scherb's Rotax soured in his heat race , grabbed the holeshot over Scherb, Halbert, Kopp and Schnabel. Halbert took over second on lap two, with Kopp and Schnabel dropping Scherb and his Husqvarna to fifth on lap three. Schnabel snatched third away from Kopp on the last lap but could not unseat Halbert from the runner-up spot. DeRuyter rejoiced at his $1 100 win, which marked the second consecutive year that a Wisconsinite won the Jim Sumner Dash; Schnabel won the inaugural event last year. eN SHEBOYGAN COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS PLYMOUTH, WISCONSIN RESULTS: JUNE 4, 2004 WI H·D DEALERS PRO MAIN : I. [ethrc Halbert (Han); 2. joe Kopp (KTM); J. Sam Halbe rt (Rot); 4 . Rob Pearson (Ha n); 5. JR Schnabel (Yom) ; 6 . J«emr DeRuyt .. . (Rot); 7. Steve Kasten (Yam); 8 . Justin Voight (Hon); 9 . Eric HoehIe< (Il<><); 10. Rid< Gru be< (Vor); II. Shawn RaW<> (Rot) ; 12. lOoy G<>mo (Han). JIM SUMNER MEMORIAL DFC : I . Jeremy DeRuyt.. (Rot) ; 2. J . ethro Halbert (Han); J . JR 5chn.be1 (y .",); 4. joe Kopp (KTH) ; 5. Scott Scherl< Gruber (Vcr). HOBAN BROSJHUEUER SALES & SERVICE VINT MAIN: I. Art Mischler (Tn); 2. Bill Berger (Tn); l . Robert /\

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