Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128333
WNYMA Empire State Championship Series
Western New York Motocross Association Inc.
Rounds 1
/9: Palmyra Racing Association Hogback Hili
PHOTOS BY LARRY WOOSTER
DiFiore Defenestrates 'em!
By LARRY
WOOSTER
PAlMYRA, NY, JUNE 13
" " 'e first WNYMA Summer Series race, pre-
I sented by OneWest C lo t h ing at the
Palmyra Racing AssociatlOn's Hogback Hill, doubled more than SOO riders' pleasure by doubling
as the Empire State Championship Series '
opening race , and this event set the standard by
wh ich all motocross promotions will be judged
by in western New York State. featuring double
WNYMA points and 1-foot trophies.
PowerMadd provided product awards for
all first -overall finishers . Scott USA awarded
the second ove rall finishers. No-Toil Filters
awarded th ird-overall finishers. Ferodo Brakes
awarded all fourth-overall finishers, and Oury
G rips awarded all fifth-o ve r all finishers. In
addition , every holesho t was rewarded by
sponsors Maxima Racing Oils or Pro-Clean.
Also , Team Simpson . Mxrlde .com. Fo x Racing,
BRp, Big Gun Exhaust and more jo ined the
W NYMA family of sponsors.
Sixteen sweet Senior B riders rolled into
th e starting ga te for moto on e . Jar od Bie rly
barely clawed his way up to the fron t of the
pack, over Mike DiFiore, Aaron Bushingham
and a stampede of go -getters. Di Fiore
emerged from the woods section with the
lead . with Bushingham, Bierly, Mark Williams
and Jamie Goodno in tow. Goodno washed
out , allowing Don Clarke, Tim McHally,
Williams and John Meehan to slide by. WNYMA
points keeper, webmaster, and first-time dad
Be n Atkinson re-joined the series fo llowing the
birth of Daniel James Atkinson.
DIFiore opened up a small lead , while
Goodno was good 'nuff to battle back and start
challenging Bushingham for second. Great barto-bar battles developed throughout this class,
but it was DiFiore who won moto one, with
Goodno , Bushingham , Aaro n Kennerson an d
Dana Savino snagging top-fives.
By the second set of metes, the weather
had turned wetter. Even though 38 out of 44
SOcc racers (ages 1 th ro ugh 8) had answered
the call to ride just minutes before, only five
Senior B riders were game to contest t heir
second mo to .
Bierly picked off the ho leshot, w ith DiFio re ,
Les " T he Flying Farmer" D r a ud t , Scotty
"2hotty " Lesniak and Tim McHally in close
pursuit. These guys came to ride, and ride hard
they did , as DiFiore se t off after Bierly, who
was ground -pounding it out front . Me Hally,
also known as " The Skaneatles Satellite, " was
all over the Flying Farmer. and Lesniak was
Mike DiFiore topped the Senior B class at the opening round of the
WNYMA Empire State Championship Series in Palmyro, New York.
back In actio n. Bierl y had great line se lection as
he stayed on the ground and on the gas all
moto long. McHaJly was holding strong in third.
over the w heel-to-wheel deal between Draudt
and Les niak. In the end, hard work pai d off:
DiFiore ( 1-2) had first overall, a 1- foot ESCS
trophy, and a new set of PowerMadd hand
guards; Bierfy (6- 1) was second overall and in
possession of $50 in Scott USA bucks ; McHally
(11-3 ) had third overall and a free No -Toil fi~er
show for his efforts; Lesn iak ( 10- 5) was
fourth overall and in possession of a free set of
Ferodo brake pads ; and Draudt ( 12-4) earned
fifth overall and a free set of Oury grips . CN
'0
HOGBACK HILL
PALMYRA, NEW YORK
R15utTs: JUNE 13 , 2004 (ROUNDS
The Senior B closs gets under way at Hogback Hill.
CMA Bounty Hunte r TT Se ries
Round 2: Santa Maria Fairgrounds
The Outsider
By EDDIE
GRAVELINE
SANTA MARIA, CA, JUNE 11
o r the most part, flat-track and motocross
racing have happily led separate lives for
decades. Though racers from each disci pline
have been known to try their hand at the other
recreationally, it usually doesn't get serious.
Both are so specialized that riders tend to focus
on one or the other.
Apparently, no one told Vincent Blair th is.
Hailing from the flat-track-crazed Northern
Cal iforn ia town of Lod i, Blair and his older
brother Daniel never got caught up in the local
craze. Under their dad's influence, it was aJways
motocross , and it's hard to argue with the
results. The Blair brothers gained plenty of
notoriety • as well as what can best be
described as a cult following - for their privateer
F
44
efforts in this year's AMA Supercross Series.
Vincent was in town t o com pete in the
CMNClawson Mo torspor ts Bounty Hu nt er
Supercross race scheduled for the next day, and
he figured he 'd try his hand at a little flat-track
racing . Along with fellow pro mctocrossers Jeff
Willoh and Jess Med ley, he threw his hat in the
ring, and it ended up paying off. Uterally.
The Modern Open Expert class is the big
one in the Bounty Hunter Series. That's where
you 'll see guys with purpose-built bikes, steel
shoes, etc. The motocross boys entered the
class because it gave them a chance, on paper
at least , to w in some money. The full-time flattrackers , howeve r, weren't go ing to give
anything away without a fight.
Vincent rode his KTM 450 with the same
settings he planned to use in the following
evening's race. He got great starts on the big
thumper, which definitely helped his cause. It
was immediately apparent that Rodney Spencer
and Chris Canepa would be the ones to beat
among the pu rists . They ran up front aJong with
JULY 21, 2004 • CYC LE N EWS
1/9)
50 rr« (4-8), I. 0Md ~ (KTM~ 2. Colton Ump
(KTM) ' 3. 0."" Cory (KTM) , 4. Anton io O

