Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cory C1arlt (Y am); S. Scon Lindley (Y am). VET INT: I. Roy Sneningen (Han ); 2. Mike Koncur (Hon) . 40 + JR: I. Kelvin Ta y1or (y..m); 2. Mike Boro wski (Ha n); J . Russe ll Bro wn (Han ); 4. Kris Goolsby (Yam); 5. Mike 5M brU (Hon) . 40 + INT: I. Dann y Kudrave (Y am); 2. Gi1ry Gonulez (Han); l . Rudy Cha vez (Han); 4. Gary Scott (Han) ; S. Vincent Clark (Hon) . 40+ EX: I. Tim Murph y (Hon ); 2. Andy Northrup (Hon ); J . Steve Pf..n (Hon ); 4. Ron lawson (Suz) ; S. MMk HilR (Suz). 50 + MSTR: I. Gary Jones (Y am); 2. Ken Ehlers (Y ); l . Tom VV'tlite (YMn); 4. Pat rick Blynn (Hon); S. T.v. :am Holme. (KTH). 60 + MSTR: I. Bengt JoNnsson (KTH ); 2. Chuck Minert (Hon) . AMA Southern Colifornio Motocross Series Round 6: Victorville Motocross Complex Kent's a Superman at VMCI BY JOHN JACOBS VICTORVIW, CA, AUG. 14 Jeremy Parsons won the New York Stote Speedway Championship at Action Park East. AMA New York Stote Speedwoy Championship Action Park East Dark Horse Rides Away with NY State Speedway Title By JASON BONSIGNORE GREENE, NY AUG. 14 , e re my "Dar k Ho rse " Parsons capped off an exciting night of racing at Action Park East with a win in a con tr overs ial final to tak e home his first New York State Speedway Championship! T he ev en ing ran as an a ll-Sc ra tch Ch am pionsh ip , 20 ·rider progra m w ith four he a t ro unds . At the con clusion of t he he at rou nds, t he top t wo po ints scorers ga ined auto mat ic po sitio ns in t he ma in even t , wh ile the top re maining e ight met in two semifinals. Winners of the semi s proceeded to the main, along w it h the ev e ning' s w inner of the last chanc e qualifier. For mer State Ch ampions Ge o rge Lazo r, Tom my "Gato r" Se ph ton and Ca m Rafferty we re all gunning for the ir second titles, against g uys s uch as fo rm e r t w o - t ime Na t ional Cham pion Kelly Moran and East Coast stars Pa rso ns, Tom Burg e , Gene Bo nsigno re and Craig Estelle. After t he hea ts . 2002 State Champio n Sephto n was unde fea ted and se e me d th e favorite. His only re al challenge came fro m Lazor. Parsons also had strong heat results and had to face one of the greatest speedway racers of all time. Kelly Moran, in a run-off to see w ho w o uld be the nigh t 's se cond -h ighe st sco re r. Moran . who's starting to show his o ld form aga in , was a b le to de fe at Pa rso ns and go directly to the big race . Parsons wo n semi one , over Rafferty, Burge and Bonsignor e. Se mi two saw Estelle grab the e arly lea d and take the win. over Jerry "Buford" Harm an and Adam Mitt l. Lazor fell in tu m three on the first lap. T he LC Q gave 2003 c ha m p Rafferty a J S6 A s the riders at the sixth roun d of the AMA /""\s o ut he r n Califo r n ia C ha mp ionsh ip Moto c ros s seri e s w ere co nve rging on v tctorville Mot oc ross Complex for the last race to be held there, Mot he r Natu re was giving the track operators a going -away pre se nt , in t he fonn of a thu nders torm. Enough rain fell on the high-de se rt track to spare the water truc ks a few runs into town and put the tra ck in excellent shape for the night race. The rainfall ceased be fore pract ice started and gave way to high late -afternoon clouds. On ce night fell, spect acular lightni ng bo lts ca me down o ver ne ar by Quartzite Mounta in, giving those in att e ndance a ra re e xpe rie nce. Fortunately, the lightn ing stayed at th e high e r e le va ti o ns and did n't threaten ride rs or spect ators. Y amaha-mo unted Kyle Kent too k the ove rall w in in the 12Scc Inte rmediate class. In the first mo ta, Kent was be at into the first turn by both Hond a rider Kyle Griffith and Austin Kronquist. Matt Simpson put his Honda be hind Kent, and Kawasaki rider Eddie Woo lmore was in fifth. By the e nd of the first lap. Kent had made his way into seco nd spot, and he began putting pressure on Gr iffith for t he le ad . T he Yamaha rider seemed impatient and attempted to take ov er the lead in a tight right-hander midway throu gh the second lap but briefly tucked his front and got passed by both Kronqu ist and Simp son. Kent was visibly unhappy with fou rt h. On th e last turn, Kent tuck e d inside the two Hondas and passed bot h of them to regain the second spot and cont inue h is ch ase of G r iffit h . Kronqu ist was le ft tryi ng to ho ld off Simpson, but he lo st t he spot on t he ne xt la p . The ru nn ing o rd e r re maine d unchanged un til th e ride rs ca me ar oun d to start the last lap . Just before the wh ite nag. Kent came ou t of the last co m er har d and aired into the lead over the big finish-line do uble. Kent came out swinging in the second mota and we nt w ire to wi re . Griffith and Simpson also ke pt the ir first-mot a spots and respectively took home third and fourth overall. KTM factory rid e r Kelly Yancy do minated the Women's class afte r working th rough the small pa ck of female riders. Suzuki-mounted He ath er Dub in grabbed the holes hot in bot h mores . ahead o f Ya ncy. w it h Nikki Stewart following on her Honda. A few t urns into th e first mota , Yancy made it around Dub in, wh o kept her hon est for a few laps before dropping off the pace. In the second me re . Y ancy again pulled in be hind Dub in and seemed to have chance to keep his title ho pes alive. He was fort unate to make it past the heats: In a run-o ff for a spot in a sem i. he spun around in a 360 , and Lee Baile y a ppeared t o have t hat spo t locke d when he sudde nly moved w ay over, le tt ing Raff rty go . Raff rty made the most of e e the LCQ and pulled out a victory, over Burge , Hannan and Mittl . On the first t ry at th e final, all the riders piled into each other off the line. O n the se co nd t ry. t hey aga in had so me first -com e r bunc hing (t ho ugh some said th at Parsons fell of his own accord) . The refere e again called for an o riginal restart. This time , Sephto n led for almost two laps befo re Este lle looped his bike down the back straight and the race was stopped. Sephton was visibly upset, as this was the sec ond year in a row that he was leading the State Championship w hen the race had to be sto pped . On the final try. the Dar k Horse made no mista kes from gate one and got out front and kept the pack off his back fo r the St at e Ch a mpionship! Rafferty was second , wi th Sephton third. Este lle fourth . and a sore Moran (who had injured his ribs on the first try) fifth. Jerem iah Smith, who hadn 't raced in fo ur years. won the Support A state title . In Suppo r t B. Andy " Mo t o bo y" Pa ndic h defended his title ove r yo ung hotsh oe Je ssie Diem. However, Diem was able to take hom e the Junior-class hardware. RESULTS SC R: I . Je remy Pa rso ns : 2. C ..m Raffe n y; J . To m Se p ht o n; 4. Cnig Est e lle ; S. Kelly Mo ran . SU P A : I. Je remiah Smith ; 2. Adilm Mrnl; l . H ikey Buman ; 4. Shilwn Engel; S. J.y Usslebu

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