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PHOTOS BY JOHN BETHEA
Yamaha Dealer Series
Round 4 : Glen Helen Raceway Park
Lord, Reif Lord It Over the Rest
BY JOHN BETHEA
SAN BERN~RDINO, CA, JULY 11
\ A Jh ile Tur bo Re lf a nd Dylan Lord to o k
V Y tu r ns knock ing series po ints le a de rs
aro und in the 12Scc and 2S0cc Expert classes
at rou nd fo ur of the Yamaha Dealers Serie s at
Gl en H elen Raceway, pr evio usl y unbeaten
125cc and 25 0cc Inte r me d iate r ider [a rod
Minor w as k nocki ng himself o ut by fight ing
both his foe s and illness.
Sean O'Conno r, the defending Expe rt -class
champ fro m last year's campaign, was in the
t hick o f it in bo th classes o n t his day, and
thou gh he failed to find the finish line first in
any of his four mot os, he still managed to take
ru nne r-up points in bo th clashes w ith a pair of
2-3 show ings. O 'Co nno r did lead muc h of the
first 125cc mo to, until his fellow Ho nda ride r
Reif caught and passed him lat e in t he m oto
before going on to th e sweep .
How eve r. there was no catching Lord in the
250 s, as both O 'C onnor and Reif t ook turn s
wa tc hing t he Iron t -run ntng Suzuk i rider pull
away ea rly to a pair of dec isive victories. Reif's
breakdown in the first moto resulted in a DN F
and spo iled his chances at any sho t of a double .
Minor, whose family had been ill du ring the
first part of the week, fou nd himself ba ttling
th e flu bug as th e ra ces neare d . bu t he still
stu ck to it, and in ea ch of his four mo tos he got
typ ically good starts and showed signs of faring
well. However, fat igue cre pt up on him quickly,
and IBC' s lead ing sportsman faded to fift h in
the 2SOS and 14th in the 125s.
Taking adva ntage of Mino r's ills wer e Suzuk i
joc key Jarred Brown e in the 125s and Ho nda
ride r Je ff Loo p in the 250s, eac h ro unding up
back-to -beck aces . It was the first appea rance
in the se ries for both riders. Brown e's toughest
o ppo ne nt all da y was Derreck Mur phy, w ho
wa s also making his initial appearance in th e
ser ie s, taki ng seco nd overall twice , beh ind
Brow ne , In t he School boy a nd 125cc
I . She lby Re hme rt (Suz); 4. Alexandra Athe rton (Kaw); S.
Claudia Pierce (KTM). GRLS ( 11~1 5 ): I. Taylor McKinney
(Yam); 2. Brittan y Tren tm an (Kaw); l . Cait lin Jefferson (Yam).
SC H s y: I . Kyte Smith (Suz); 2. Devan Wek h (Suz); 3. Shawn
Joh ns on (SUI) ; 4. Emmell Row land (Yam); S. Ryan Ivers
(Yam). 16-2 4: I. Ross Adams (Y ; 2. Josh Toney (KTH); l .
am)
Isaac Faine (KTM); 4. Jeff Wippel (Yam); S. Tim Mcint o sh
(KTM). 25 + A: I. Steve Andrich (Suz); 2. Mike Mo rgan
(Suz); l . Steven Richards (Hon) ; 4. Mike Blair (SuI ); S. Mark
Roop (Suz). 15 + SIC: I. Todd Bate s (Yam); 2. Dave Hom
(Suz); J. Dan Jone s (Yam); 4. Mike Zizzo (Hon) ; 5. Ken Ward
Intermedia te classes .
Also mak ing his firs t appe aran ce in t he
seri e s, bu t rid ing independently o f an y shop
affiliatio n, w as Tre nt Pugmire (spo nso red by
Ho nda of Houston ), w ho w as up to his normal
tricks of run ning away with bo th the Supe rmini
and 85c c (12- 13) events.
Yet anot her rider making his first sho wing in
t he se ries . Scott Bristol , must have he aded
hom e wishing he hadn't made the decis ion to
appear. He finished se cond in the first 250cc
N ov ic e moto , be h ind C haparr a l- bac ked
Yamaha ride r Brys Kuntz, and got off to a grea t
st art In the second outing w he n he cras hed
wh ile lead ing. Landing on his shou lder, he was
forced to ret ir e w ith a poss ib ly fract ur ed
uppe r·arm and/o r collarbone.
eN
GUN HELEN RACEWAY PARK
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIfORNIA
RESULTS JULY t i. 2004 (ROUND
:
4)
so S HAFT:
I. Braxton Ta~r (Yam) ; 2. Curt l o y/en
(Lem) : J. Ryan PaJos (Yom): 4. Dnk. T"Y"'" (Y
""). SO (4-6 )
§TK, I. M""",II Tedder (l