AMA Am ateur Na tionals
Glen Helen Ra ceway Park
PHOTOS BY JO HN BETH EA
Crash and Crash Again
By JOHN
BETHEA
SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT. 10
C
an the A1essis do anything right?
Now that t hey 're back home, in wh at
they hoped would be kinde r t e rritory, t he
bro th ers Aless i find t hemselves laid up w ith
injuries and, once again, asw irl in con tr ove rsy.
With the final National of the year coming
u p. Glen Helen ho st ed ano t her Ama teur
Nat ional. Unlike last yea r - when it was held in
t he spring an d the o utdoo r se ason was just
beginning. t hus drawing huge turnouts fr om
more than 30 sta te s - this year's even t fe ll late
in the summer, with school just ge tt ing unde r
way. so the turnout was down cons ide rably.
Mike Alessi crashed wh ile practicing on his
new KTM and injured his sho ulder less than 48
hou rs befo re the race beg an , so yo unger
bro th e r Jeff was lef t to ca rry on the fam ily
tradition. However, the races were on ly slightly
mo re than a lap o ld befor e jeff had another runin with a fellow racer. Battling fo r the lead in the
Iirst 12Scc Expert mo te . Je ff an d N evada 's
Derek Costella both tried to occupy the be rm
at the end of a long straight at the same time .
"We bo th cam e into the tu m too fast ," jeff
said. "We went wide, and it was kind of into a
wall, and we bo th hit it, and he had nowhere
to go . I didn't try to take him out; we just cam e
into the tum too fast ."
Remo unt ing quickly, jeff sped away to battle
wi th And r e w Guzm an for th e lead , w h ile
Costella's Ho nda was left straddling the to p of
the berm, re fusing to relight. O nce Costella d id
rejoin the race , he was in last place . He viewed
the incident d ifferently.
"I did n't th ink he Defl) was going to ride me
up into the comer, but he did," said Coste lla,
wh o added, choosing his words care fully, "He
kind of loo ked over at me [when it happen ed ],
so 1think it was intentional."
jeff cras hed again later in the moto, leaving
him out of the hunt.
Afterward , Costella said he 'd be riding the
second mo t o " fo r s how " w hile je ff at firs t
o pted not to con test the second mo ta , though
he later changed his mind.
After w inn ing t he first 12Scc A mot o ,
Guzman was happy.
"Eve ryo ne just fell o ut of my way," Guzman
said.
jeff did re turn for mo ta tw o , vowing to ride
safer. He took the lea d late in the race, feeling
pressure fro m mo ta -o ne run ne r-u p Ba bby
Garrison. Suddenly, jeff w e nt down aga in ,
apparently snapping a bo ne in his shou lder side lining him far a w hile, just like his brother.
Garrison wen t on to win the mot a and take
the overall. Guzman took runner-up h<>n<>r>. eN
GUN HIUN RACEWAY PARK
SAN BER
NARDINO, CAUFORNIA
RE TS: SE
SUL
PTEMBER 10, 2004
50 SHAFT: I. Cameron Bash (YIDl); 2. Braxton Taylor
(Y
am): J. Jake Koehoke (Y.vn). 50 (4 .6) ST'" I. G,' Sabalu
(KTM); 2. Maxwe n Tedder (Kaw); 3. Trevor Stewan.(KTM);
<. Came"", a..h (KTH) : 5. John Ca"""" (KTH ). 50 (1.8)
STK: I. Ty Simlnoe (KTN); 2. Michael Victorian (KTM); 3.
GunN.r Biggenu ff (Pol); 4. Jack Evans (KTM); 5. Cody Sloan
(Cob). 50 (4.6) MOD : I . Blake Green (Co b); 2. Maxwell
Tedder (Kaw); 3. Gil Sabaha (Co b); 4. Chat. Vasquez (Cob);
5. Jake Koehnke (KTM). SO (7· 8) MO D: I. Ty Simlnoe
(KTM); 2. Gunnar Bigge rstaff (Pol); 3. Cody Sloan (KTM); 4.
Jose Ceja (KTM); S. jack Evans (KTM). 65 BEG: I. Bryce
e
Har ke y (KTM); 2. Tyt r Bo hannan (Suz); 1. Hunte r fal k
(KTM); 4 . Ashton McMillan (Kaw); 5. Jake Koehnke (Kaw).
65 (4 -8) , I. [es se MMtea (KTM):
5. N itro J
ohrdon (KTM). 85 BEG , I. Cody Reit... (Yam): 2.
B1d (Kaw) : J. Mytes _ _
(Kaw) : <. DougIu mnch (KTM): S. Brennan Towle (Kaw ).
125 BEG , I. G PenhoJI (Kaw ): <. Bnon KJe;n (Hon) :
S. Mike lopez (Hon). 125 INT 0 -2: I. Tyfer Keefe (Hon):
2. Jared Minor (Y ); 3. Michael Puker (Hon ); 4. Josh
am
Brown (Hon); S. Ch ris Blose (Yam) . 125 EX: l. Bobby
Garrison (Y ; 2. Andrew Guzman (Kaw ); J . Josh Co x
am)
(Yam); 4. Robby Bell (Hon); S. Ryan W ilson (Y . 150
am)
BEG , I. Rkhanl .....,. (Hon ); 2. Sean Cavanaugh (Y
am): J .
Chr is Her rin (Yam); 4. Hank Kokosenski (Ho n); S. Matt
JohneqHon). 250 NOV 0- 1, I. Dud Goo-.. (5u.): 2. "'"
Kuntz (Yam); 3. Weston Peick (Hon) ; 4. Brand on fr eisu t
(Yam 5. Kev;n Wen. (Hon). 2S0 NOV 0 -2, I.
):
Preston Tilford (Yam); 2. Krl. Agostini (Yam): 3.
Steven Stulu (SuJ:); 4 . Marie. Andersen (Han); S.
Erik Une (Hon) . 250 INT, I. Lvry Reese (Hon):
2. H ;chaeI Prl... (Hon) : J. Andro Kol1 Hall (Hon ): < Robby Be1I (Hon): 5. Carlos
.
Gon zale z (SUI) . 4-STRK BEG: I . Ben Hagle
(Yam) ; 2. Derec k Maher (Hon); 1. Jake Reiter
(Yam) <. J""" Wrighl (Kaw): S. Don Ownben
:
(SU% 4 -STRK NOV 0· 1: I. Je aghe r La
).
Fou ntaine (Hon); 2. Bilty Henderson (Hon) ; 3.
)
Dustin PipeS (lUw); 4. N o Baker (YIDl ; S. Kyle
Reiter (Yam) . 4·STRK N OV 0 -2 : I. Preston
w): 3. David
Tilford (Suz); 2. Brian Bebeck (!l1 H" (Hon ): 2. Robby Be'
( H a n); 1. Bobby Garrison (Yam ); 4 . Jason
McTygup (Hon); S. Bre nt li ne (Ho n). W M N
B EG: l. Maria na Har d ing (Kaw ); 2. C hr ist y
Brosius (Hon ); 3. Haley Parras (Hon) ; 4 . Kimberly
Man in (Hon); S. Natalie Gome l (Kaw). WMN
NOV: I . Skerri Cruse (Yam) ; 2. Hea the r Dubin
(Suz): 3. Tiffany Holtman (Yam); 4. Jackie Ives
(Yam). WM N INT: I. Elizabeth Bash (Kaw ); 2.
Tanya Eibe n (SUI) ; 3. Erika Contre ras (SUI ).
SC H BY (1). 16): I. Chris Blose (Yam); 2. Curti s
Malins (Yam); 3. Joey Bino (Hon ); 4. B.j. Bohrt!f"
Andrew Guzman won t he first mota and
(He n): 5. Mar k Samuels (Suz). IR VET 25 +
NOV: I. Aaron Cook e (Hon); 2. Nathan Carlson
wa s overall 12 Scc Exp ert r u nner- u p at th e
(Hon); 3. Gabriel Ebalov (Hon): 4. Myron Short
Amateur National at Gl en Helen
(5uz); 5. Eric Wanington (Hon). IR V ET 25 +
IN T: I . Gary Curtis (Hon); 2. Jeff Merrill (Hon);
Ra ceway Pa rk.
).
3. Jesus Puente (YIDl) ; 4 . Brian Walker (Yam IR
VET 25 + EX: I. Matt Oeveland (Hon); 2. Matt
Tedder Sr. (Kaw); 3. Coleman Manche ster (KTM); 4. Matt
Mardo Campos (Yam 4. Michael Hubbard (Hon); 5. 8r.Id
);
McGinn is (YIDl). VET lO + NOV 0 - 1: I. Myron Shon
Stewart (Yam). SR 40 + N OV 0 ·1 : I. Cra ig Hamilt on
(Suz); 2. Jason Inge rsol l (Hon); 3. Mike Co lvin (Hon) ; 4.
(Y
am): 2. Rob CoIl (Y.vn J. Seeve H. dod< (Yam): <. Fnnk
"
);
GIeM Cu nnifl&ham (Hon ); S. Steve Estey (Hon). VET 30 +
Writtrt (Yam); 5. William Hames s (KTM). SR 40 + INT: I.
NOV 0 -2, I. )onny Bern. kin (Hon): 2. Am.... 0~1y (Hon);
J . Eric Womngton (Hon); 4. RobCosta (Hon); 5. An Temple
Steven Pfaff (Hon); 2. David Myres (Hon); 3. Rudy Chavez
(KTM). VET JO + INT, I. aa... McCown (Hon): 2. Jeff Fine
(Hon); <. Joe Annsuong (Hon): 5. Chuck Penny (Y.m). SR
am): 5. GMy
(Hon); J. Sleven Pf.ff (Hon) : 4.!es"' Puente (Y
40 + EX: I. Ron Turner (Y
am); 2. Jack LaWJ"ef"ICe (Hon); 3.
Curtis (Hon). VET ) 0+ EX: l. Rich Truchinski (Hon); 2.
Mark Moscrop (Kaw); 4. Jon Ortner (Hon); S. Matt Tedder
Co1em;on _
. ... (Hon); J.)on Ortner (Hon). 5R 40 +
Sr. (Kaw).
NOV 0 · 1: I. Ken Wheeler (Yam 2. Jim Rudnab (Hon) ; J.
);
,
''= -
Jeff Al essi (801) cra shed out of th e hunt in the fi rst 12Scc Expert moto b ut
ca me back to take the mota-two h o lesho t - before crash i ng o ut of that o n e
a s well and ea rning a trip to the hospital.
Lwere either settling in fo r the evening o r loading
up their gea r, alo ng cam e a small rain sho we r. It
was n't enough to dampen their spirits, and the
cam pfires co ntinued to bum , yet it was enough
to cool things off a little. Sunday was a bea utiful
m o rni ng fo r racing , but wi th t he t hre at o f
starms movin g in fr om C inc in na t i, it was
de cide d to ge t the show on the road and to
hav e sh orter brea ks betw e e n th e practices,
heat s and finals. As so me of Saturday's rid e rs
d idn't come back to race on Sunday, some of the
riders were grouped together to run the races.
O n Saturday, there were 19 heats to race .
O n Sunday, be ca use o f weather and fewer
riders, there were only 15 heats. The w inners
include d Cob ra ride r jeffrey Lowery, in t he
SOcc (4-6) class; Hon da rider Austin Co nant, in
the SOcc (7-8) class; Ho nda pilot Dako ta Wolfe ,
in the 100 cc Youth clas s; Ho nda jock ey Jessi
Bo le y, In t he Powde r Puff race ; Ho nd amoun ted Tyler Shep ard , in the Open Com bo
64
contest; Honda ride r Rich Long, in the Pit Bikes
con tes t; Kawasaki jockey Ke ith Wickham, in the
100 c c Vin t ag e class; H o nd a r ide r Rob e r t
De scen a, in t he Midd leweight Vint age cla ss;
Heavy Vintage winne r Brett Vand erkooi , on a
Ho nda ; O ve r 50 w inner Ta ny Suble r, o n a
Y
amaha ; and Robert Gerberich, in the Ov er 60
c la ss . The 80cc cla ss wa s wo n by Aust in
Co nant, o n a Honda.
The 2SOCC, Over 30 and Over 40 classes ran
togethe r. Honda rider Robert Descenna too k first
in the 2 50cc class , Ho nda -mo un ted Tom
Englehart was the top Over 30 rider, and in the
Over 40 class, it was Steve Burroughs taking first.
In the Heavywe ight Bra kele ss class, Ho nda
ride r Ric h Lo ng was the w inner, and t he
Lightweight Bra kele ss class was wo n by Kevin
Eblin, on a Suzuki. The SOScc Pro Series was won
by Tyle r Shep ard on a Ho nda, and Row rider
Dave Woods was the first-place Expert rider.
It was a job well do ne by all the riders, pit
OCTOBER 20, 2004 • C Y CLE NEWS
crews, tra ck officials, EMTs, track owners and
everyone else w ho helped to make this a good,
safe race weeke nd.
RE TS
SUL
P P : I. Jess i Boley (Hon ); 2. She ller Tudor (Ho n); 3.
Marissa Tudor (Hon); 4. Ceara Ward (Hon); 5. Katie Keene
(Hon). 50 (4 -6): I. Jeffre y lowery (Co b); 2. Tyler Tudo r
m); 4. Trent Conant (Y
IDl); 5. Eric
(Cob); 3. Wade Ward (Ya
Bayi s (Hon). 50 (7 .S): I. Austin Conant (Hon); 2. Marissa
e
m). SO: I. Austin Conant
Tudor (Co b); 1. Je u ica Reed (Ya
(Hon) ; 2. Da kota Wolfe (Hon); 3. Katie Kee ne (SUI); 4.
Douglas Yeager (Hon). PIT BK: I. Rich Long (Ho n); 2.
David Puckett (Hon); 3. AmoId Puckett (Hon). 100 YTH : l.
Dakota WoHe (Han) ; 2. Austin Conant (Hon); 3. Katie Keene
(Su,). 100 V'NT, I. (Y
am); J . Mn Carl (R (Yam): J. Co
