Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Chris Cross MX Chris Cross is Carter Country By PATRICK A. BELT EASTABOGA, AL, JULY 24 T he still Alabama morning was shattered by the roar of the bikes as the Youth hare scrambles started up. So started the secondeve r race at one of Alabama's newest tracks. Dennis Ak ins and his cre w wo rk ed all Friday night to give the riders the very best track available, and no one was let down. The first race of the day was the Y uth hare o scram ble s. Tyler Carter, piloting his Suzu ki RM8S, busted the trail to finish first overall. Austin Walker kept his Honda pinned to pull in a strong second . Georgia boy Jonathan "Roo ster" Belt rounded o ut the group in third . The Four-Stroke Open contest was a total Honda landslide. Walker again placed in the top three, this time on top. in first. Chase Giles was a st rong seco nd on his X RI00 , wit h CRF I SO rider D.J. McKibbon in third . The 65c c Open race was a two-bike battle. Cole Kimbert rode his Kawasaki to first , w ith Sean Adams a close second. As the day wo re on , the track got dry and dusty. The steel-riding gladiato rs of the Preteen class left the gate in a cloud of dust. Wh en that dust settled , the lineup was yzas ride r Co lton Love in first , KX65 rider Sean Adams in second and KX6S rider Kimbert in third . The pace picked up w he n the 85cc Open class took control of the trac k. Jordan Kimbert took top ho no rs on his KX I00. Triple Racing's Belt, aboard his LSD-t uned YZao , held o n to finish second. Th e rest of the pack was he ld at bay by new racer Scott Hanson, who finished third on his Honda CRaS. Belt stood on top of th e podium after ~nishing first in the Youth class. The last race of the day was the Adult Open hare scrambles. This race was called the "O ld Guys' Race," and rightly so: The youngest rider was 41 years old . After they finally got their bikes started , the ra ce w as on . Ray Par ke r, aboard a Ya m a ha YX 2S0 F, slammed the competition to finish first. Bob Guy, riding a Suzuki RM2S0, braved the dust to finish second. Rookie rider Dave Hanson , on a Honda CRI25, w ra pped up the pod ium in third. It was a great day of racing on this new and exciting track. RESULTS O P EN 4-STRK.: I. Austin Walker (Hon) ; 2. Chase Giles (Hon ); 3. OJ McKibbon (Hon ). 65 O PEN: I. Cole Kimbert (Kaw ); 2. SeanAdams (Kaw). 85 OP EN: I. Jordan Kimbert (Kaw ); 2. Jonathan Belt (Yam); 3. Scott Hanson (Han). YTH: I . Jonathan Belt (Yam). PRETEEN : I. Colton Love (Yam); 2 . Sean Adams (Kaw); 3. Cole Kimbert (Kaw ). YTH HS: I. Tyler Carter (SUl.); 2. Austin Walker (Ha n); 3. Jona than Be lt (Yam). OP EN HS: I. Ray Parker (Yam); 2. Bob Guy (Suz); 3. Dave Hamon (Hon) . Moon , with another big gap , on 23. The Sportsmen line also had some big gaps between sco re s. Gas Gas rider Jim Richards lost a steady eight marks , while Sherco ride r Steve Storz, the ow ner of Storz Performance, finished up on I I. From there, the gap widened to the 26 of Gas Gas-mounted Tracy Screeton. On the Advanced line, 12-year-old Nationa l Ch amp ion Andre w Old ar had an exce lle nt ride , dropping five po ints and beating fellow Sherco rider Evans by two marks . Coming in third, Beta rider Chris Cullen, who usually pressu res Oldar at ITS events, strugg led somewhat, dropping la po ints, w hich put him way behind Evans' seven. The numbers of top-class riders is growing at ITS ro unds for the first time. The fam ilyfriendly atmosp here attracted Montesamounted Marc Schw ob elen , who dropped 12 o n the Master line , over Team/E RE Gas Gas youngster Ryan Sandoval, w ho dropped 19. Third was Yamaha-pow ered Sca rpa rider Todd Bennett, the fathe r of a couple of the regular ITS Youth competitors. On th e Exp ert line , An thon y Sandoval , m ind er for U.S. Champion Geoff Aaron and father of Master-class runner-up Ryan, had a fan tastic round , losing onl y 14 po ints . Young Reid Davis, o n his Sherco , w as way back o n 39 on the Expert. sections. Ha lf Mile Blackto p Oval Cycle Race Mors h fie ld Sup e r Sp eedway they shot down the back stretch. Heat winne rs Mark Ze idler and Eckes got a midpack start but quickly worked their way to the front by lap three , re legating Seavers to third . Round and round they sped , with Eckes first trying low in the corners, then high, and Mark co untering his every move. A short distance beh ind the two lead ers, Seavers and Rum we re mi xing it u p pretty good over third place . Zwaschka rode a lo nely race in fifth place , but eve n the ride rs in the back were involved in their own th ree-man battles for finishing positio ns. On lap seven, both leader Mark and secondplaced Eckes slid sideways in unison as they exited turn four, wh ile Seavers and Ruffi crept closer t o the front two, wa iting for a no t her mistake to pounce o n. On lap eight , entering turn three, Eckes shot aro und Mark on the high side and took ove r the lead . Mark tried to answer back , but his rear tir e protested and he slippe d sideways w hile Eckes incr eased his margin of vict ory fro m inches to feet as he too k the checke red flag in his fir s t fe atur e w in a t Mars hfie ld Sup er Speedway this year. Blacktop !.'~.f!::uRorale MARSHFIELD, WI, JULY 24 F ourteen cyclists put on a bam -burner of a show for the fans on the superfast half-mile blacktop oval at Wisconsin's MarshfieldSuper Speedway. Mar k Z e id le r of Ringle put his SK Service Hon da 4S0 ou t fron t for all six laps of the first heat, while his brother T.J. Zeidler and Adam Zwaschka battled it out ove r seco nd place , w ith Zwasch ka's 4SOcc beating out T.J .'s 2S0cc . In the second hea t, fast starter Brad Seavers of Junct io n City led the first tw o laps befo re Cliff Eckes Jr. drafted past going into turn o ne. Eckes held the po int, but Seavers mimicked his every move, waiting for a mistake that did no t come. Ashland's Randy Ruffi had the bestsea t in the house to watch that batde , as he finished in third place. The to p three finishe rs from each hea t filled t he fro nt row fo r th e feat ure , wh ile th e remain ing e ight riders filled ~he seco nd row. All eyes were o n the sta rte r; the engines revved up. and w hen the green light flashed on , Seavers led the thundering herd int o turn one, spraying sparks from their skidshoes and tir e sm oke as RESULTS KIDS : I. Ty Culle n; 2. Rebecca Lea....itt; 1. Dakota Rivers; 4 . Be n Bush; 5. Marshal l Stewart. N OV: I. Verg McCalliste r; 2. Jake Moo n; 3. Mike Moon . SPTSMN: I. Jim Rlcbards; 2. Steve Storz.; 1. Tracy Screeton; 4. Mark Ohlgren; 5. Kristjan Thordson . INT: I. Eric Storz : 2. Le n Sims : 3. Neal Storz; 4 . Ian Delaney ; 5. Larre Butt erfie ld. A DV: I. Andrew Oldar, 2. Debb ie Evans ; 3. Chris Cullins. M STR: I. Marc Schwobelen ; 2. Ry an Sa ndova l; 3. To d d Be nne tt . EX: I. A nth o n y 5aJldoval: 2. Reid Davis. VINT: I. Bill Lawless . RESULTS O/A : I. CliffEckes (Yam); 2. Mark Zeid ler (Hon ); 3. Brad Seave rs (Ha n); 4 . Rand y Ruffi (Yam) ; 5 . Adam Z wasch ka (Yam); 6. Jamie Seavers (Han); 7. T.J. Zeidler (Y am); 8 . Jake Seavers (Han ); 9. Ron Bean (Yam); to . Craig Nigh (Ha n); I I. am); 13. Ted Strebe Troy Joh nson (Yam); 12. Woody Eckes (Y (Y am); 14. Craig Lewis (Han ). Rocing Enterprises Motorsports Summer Se ries Round 3: Glen Helen Racewoy Pork Anthony Sandoval to pp e d t he Expert class ot rou nd five of the ITS Summer Series in Perris, California. ITS Summer Series Round 5: Trials Land Hot Start, Cool Finish By LANE UAVITT PERRIS, CA, JULY 24 t w as 98 degr ees at the 5 p.m . start time , which made fo r a hot start at the fifth rou nd of the ITS Sum me r Se ries. But as the sun se ttled down over the ho rizo n at the end of the eve nt, the temperatures were just perfect on t he five section, th ree-lap co urse, making for an excellent afte rnoo n of spo rt . Eve n afte r the day coo le d o ff, t he Inte rmed iat e class was st ill hot! Sherco 12Scc rider Eric Sto rz again topped the Intermed iate line , los ing onl y three points. The runner-up, I 66 20 02 AHRMA Nati onal C ham pio n Len Sims, drop ped nine points on his She rco for what he co nside red his best-ever class finish. Two riders tie d for third , Sh erco rider Neil Sto rz and ro un d- two w inner Ian Del aney, both o n 10 ma rks lost . Ne il managed nine cleans to e dge o ut the Montesa-mou nted Delaney, with eight clean s, for the tie breaker. Th e second mo st popular class was the Ki s d line . It was full of en thusiastic you ngsters having a great time. Beta rider Ty Cullen really managed to smo ke th e competition w ith a very st ead y and spe cta cular ride, with on ly one point lost. Gas Gas pilot Rebe cca Leavitt, the daughter of forme r Ladies World Champion Debb ie Evans, wa s seco nd, losing 18. Third w e nt to ano ther Gas Gas rider, Dakota Rivers, who lost 21. Th e Novice line produce d a large wi n for Ve rg McCallister, w ho o nly lost three! He was follow ed by Jake Moon , back on 16, and Mike SEPTEMBER 1,2004 • CYCLE NEWS Ehlers, Johansson Make 'em See Scarletl By ROCKY HASH SAN BERNARDINO, CA,JULY 24 espite very hot co ndition s, a large contin ge nt of riders turned o ut for rou nd th ree of Racing Enterprises Motorsports' 18th annual Summer Se ries. T his year, the se rie s is bei ng sp onsored by MTA We st , Troy Le e Des igns, Smith , VP Racing Fuels, No rt h Cou nty Yamaha, Renth al, ARC Le vers, TAG, Pro Valve , O ne Industries, No Fea r, AMP Bed Xte nde r, White Brot hers, Wis ec o , N -Style , Com e tic , Facto ry R&D Motul , Meehanix Wear, ligh tspeed , Dunlop and Spy. Round t hre e also saw t he gia nt new hill o n the course being run in th e reverse direction for the first time . This new co nfigurat ion mad e for a much longer asce nt and a significantly stee pe r descent fo r the ride rs who conque red this "mini Mount St. Helen s." D 40th Anniversary Th e re was good racing in many of t~ e Vet classes . including the Over 50 Masters division . After handily w inning the first moto , cur re nt REM numb er-one plate holde r George Kohler became the first victim of the hill, as he clipped a rock coming down and too k a nasty spill while le ad ing th e se co nd mo to. Kohler su ffe red a sho ulder injury that req uired him to call it a day. ( Eve ryo ne wishes hi m a s peedy re cove r y.) Yamaha pilot Ke n Ehlers was the benefactor of Kohler's misfortune , as he had put in a strong runner -up finish in the first mo ta and was handed the win the second time out to ta ke the overall class victo ry for th e day. Greg Briles (4- 2) was th e be st of th e res t , while Honda CRF4S0R mo unted Lyle Sw ee ter (S-3) co ntinued his str ong rid ing to place th ird ove rall fo r the da y. Tom W hite (6-4) was fourt h, and Ray Pisars ki (3-7)

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