California Racing Club Sponsorship Series
Round 2 : Los Angeles County Raceway
Tomlinson Finds Success in a Big Way
By GREG
ROBERTSON
PALMDALI, CA, OCT. 24
L
ongtime Mi ni rider Craig Tom linson picked round two of
t he 16th annual Cal ifornia Racing Club/Galpin Ford -
spo nsor ed Spons o rship Ser ies to make his big-bike de but ,
and a successfu l debut it was. The N -Style/661 /Simpson backed Tomlinson new his RMZ250 to a pe rfect I-I moto
sweep of the 12Scc Beginner class at Los Angeles County
Raceway in Palmdale.
It was a trio of Suzuk is running at the head of the 28-rider
field as moto one got under way. with Matthew Gamboa
leading t he w ay. fo llowed by Brent Reyes and Tomli nson .
Reyes went down on lap two b ut was q uickly replaced by
Eric lvarsscn, keeping alive the tigh t three-rider ba ttle over
the top spot. Tomlinson finally fou nd a way arou nd Gamboa
near the m idway point and then put a couple of seconds per
lap on his competition en ro ute to the win . Ivarsso n dogged
Ga m boa all t he way to t he finish fo r a clo se t hird , w ith
Derek Brand on an d Rylan Ro b inson finishing in fo urt h and
fifth , respectively.
Tomlinson ex ite d the first turn in moto two wit h the lead,
fo llow ed by Reyes , Mike Mansi, Rob inson and Gamboa. Reye s
ra iled around Tomlinson on the opening circuit, but Tomlinson
ca me back w ith a pass o f his own a lap later. Reyes stuck with
Tomlinson for a couple of laps before Tomlinso n uppe d the
pace and checked out with a comforta ble w in. Bra ndon
slowly worked his way up into a third-place finish for seco nd
overall. Robinso n went 5-4 for third , followed by the 3-8 tally
of lvarsson and the 2-9 finishes of Gam boa.
Chaz Smith and Brae Harmon argued over the 2S0cc
Intermed iate first -mota lea d until Hannon went do wn. Th is
le ft Smith to run out front for the next fIVe laps befo re finally
be ing caught by both Benny Breck and Harmon. Breck took
the wi n, over Harmon and Smith.
Anthony Barb acovi led the field early in moto two, with Bill
Sm ith and Andrew Terry just off his back fender. Harmon
overcame his sixth-place start to ru n out front at the mtdway
po int, and that's where he would stay. Brec k dosed to within a
couple of bikelengths at the checkers for a close second. Te rry
rounded out th e top three in the final standings with 4-5 rides.
Austin Po lite lli went three fo r four to top both the 6Scc
(9 . 1 I ) and B5ee ( 7- 1 1) classes on hi s pa ir of Team
G re e nlTho r/66 1-backed Kawasakis. KTM rider Joey Savagty
sp lit moto wins wi th Po litelli in 6Scc act ion for the secondplace tro phy, over Ch ris Carri llo (3-]) . Cody Eastman easily
earned a pair o f secon d -p lace finishes in the 85cc class, over
(Kaw); 2. Max Wagner (Kaw); 3. C raig Mullett (KTM); 4.
C haz Cli nge rm an (KTM ) ; S. Eth an Ro wl and (Yam). SR
MINI : I. Ken Burger (Kaw): 2. Damon She phe rd (Suz). MN I
COMB : I. Ken Burger (Kaw): 2. Jaso n O w e ns (Yam); J .
Da mon Shepherd (Suz); 4. Max Wagne r (Kaw) ; S. Etha n
Row land (Yam). 125 SCHBY: I. Lo uis Tep as (Yam); 2.
Ric hard Paeth (Ho n); J . Jaso n Owens (Yam); 4. Scott Paeth
(Hon ). 16· 24 CO MB : I. Corey Gam ble (Hon ). 12S BEG :
I. Austin Judd (Y
am); 2. Jason Conover (Kaw): l . Kevin Fiacco
(Kaw) ; 4. Geoff Hu bbard (Kaw); S. Steven Ceva er (Ho n).
11 S NOV: I. Co rey Gamb le (Hon) ; 2. Rob Kavanaugh
(Ho n) : l . Daniel Michaud (Yam) : lsh (5uz): 5. William Saue.- ("'w). v n I.
Joe eel", (Hon): 2. Joe Noth nogle (Yom): 3. Ron Nye (Hon) :
om). SR B: 1. 0 ..... De Roll... (Yom 2. Ron
):
4. Ban l.ucM (Y
am); S.
Bragg (Yam); l . Tom Cox (Y
am); 4. David Carmen (Y
Dav id Jackson (Hon) . S R C: I. Rob Sills (Yam); 2. Gary
Ramm ing Jr. (Kaw) ; J . Man:. Hoppy (KTM); 4. Keith Lucas
(Yam); S. WIlliam Sauer (Kaw). 4 0 + : I. Je ff Fregoe (Hon); 2.
Ban Lccas (Yom
).
Blaze Raible (3-] ) and Maso n McBride (4-5) .
Jo hnny Je lderda was equally impressive in the B5ee ( 12- 1])
an d Supermini events, po sting fou r straight moto victori es.
Keith Robinson gave it his best shot but had to settle for a
pair of second -place rides, over Sammy Ortiz, in the SSec
( 12 - 1]) contest. Jonathan Ho rnbec k ( ]. 2) a nd Maso n
Sweeden (4- ]) wou ld make it a Suzuki sweep of the top
eN
three posit ions in the Superm inis.
Los ANGEUS COUNTY RACEWA
Y
PALMDAU, CAUFORNIA
RESULTS: OCTOBER 24, 2004
P!W HON BEG: I. Ethan Qu iM (Hon ); 2. Brandon Po zas (Hon) : l . Jake
Kelley (Hon ): 4. Christopher McO ain (Hon ); S. Taylor Casanova (Hon ). P!W
YAM BEG : I. Jacob Hampto n (Yam); 2. Donnie Jordan (Suz). P!W HON
AD V: I. De re k McC on ne ll (Hon ); 2. Cas ey Lango sh (H on); J . Tyler Davis
(Hon). P!W B/B EG: I. Nick Cou to (KT M); 2. Kern s Chu rc hill (KTM); l .
Thomas Wilco ll: (Pol); 4. Dylan Adams (KTM); S. Maximillian Vargas (KTM).
P/W B/A DV: I. Bra ndon Kaupp (Po l); 2. C od y Miller (KTH ); J . Austin
Monar ch (KTM). S/P!W (4 -6) : I. Denver Silv ake (KTM); 2. Sean Cantrell
erl
(KTM); J . Jere my Byrne (KTH ). 5/P!W (7 -9) : I. Nicho las Mer d er (Pol); 2.
Jo shua Fea (Pol); l . Dane Silverlake (KTM); 4. Brandon Kaupp (Pol); S. Braden
Keeler (KTM). P/W ODD/B K.: L Ca sey Lango sh (Hon). 65 BEG: I. Cody
Floria (KTM); 2. Andre w Mitchell (Suz); J . Dom inic Parr illo (Kaw); 4. Dybn
Polftelll (Kaw); S. Devin Moore (Kaw). 65 (4 08): I . Dan iel Cornnez (Suz); 2.
Jame s Wilcox (Suz); l . Nicho las Me rcie r (Suz): 4. Tanner Sawye r (Ka.w ). 65
(9. 1 1): I . Aust in Pohte lli (Kaw); 2. Joey Savatgy (KTM); J . C hris Car rillo (Kaw):
4. Shane Mill r (Kaw); S. Dam ion Tacke tt (Suz). 8 5 BEG: I. Dam ion Tacke tt
e
(Kaw); 2. Jake Lyo n (Suz); J . Ca meron Tribb ey (Yam) ; 4. Troy Ar mstrong
(Hon); S. Austin Bar ks (Ho n). 85 (7 011): I. Austin PoIitelli (!bb;e Dunham (KTH ): 4. 5hy
H o she (Han ). VET BEG : I. Guy Mart ineau (Yam); 2. Jason La Montagne
(Kaw); 3. Cameron Doll (Hon ). VET NOV: I. Eric N elso n (Hon ); 2. T im
Wiedmann (Hon) ; l . Brian Adams (Han) ; 4. James Gordon (Yam) ; S. Joseph
Saban (Han). VET INT: I. Jon Berg (Suz): 2. Justy Mendibles (Hon ): l . joe
Root(Hon); 4. Robbte Duriwn (KTM). VET EX/ P RO: I . Nick Mairose (Sul) .
SR NOV: I. Scon Williams (Hon) ; 2. Greg Atkklson (Hon) ; J . Bryan Davis
(Hon ); 4. Norman McElroy (Yam) ; S. Bill Clem (Yam). SR AM: I. Mike Van
Acke r (Hon) : 2. Darren Cortinez. (Han ): 3. Reggie Lamson (Suz); 4. Ray Rittler
(Hon) ; S. George Andrews (KTM). SR EX: I. Richard Bunch (Yam); 2. Joe
Root (Ho n); l . Joel Harriott (Yam)
Craig Tomlinson made his fu ll-sized-bike debut a
successfu l one by dominating the 12 5 cc Beginner
class at round two of the California Racing Club
Sponsorsh ip Series.
The combined 250cc Inte rm e d ia te and Pro classes
slide into Los Angeles County Raceway's first turn for
their first moto. Daryl Ecklund (12) won the Pro
division, while Broc Harmon (1 5 1) topped the
Intermediates.
AHRMA Nationa l MX Western Region
Madera Fairgrounds Comp lex
McKinney Masters Muddy
Madera Motocrossl
By MIKE
VANCil
MADERA, CA, OCT. 17
T
o m McKinney used a pa ir o f well-prepared
Ja pane se motorcycles to show his dominan ce over a b e a ut ifu lly designed but rain soaked motocross course and 14 equally eager
racers in his classes. The fortysomething-yearold McKinney signed up to race his Honda Elsinore in the Over 40 Expert and Sportsman
250cc Expert classes .
Riders from Finland , Eng lan d a nd New
Zealand raced in the even t, as did a huge turnout
of riders frorn California. Oregon and Wash ington.
The course was w ide . with vintage-friend ly
jum ps and a deeply graded cushion. It held up
well in the pr ior day s' racing for Post-Vint age
classes. but a rather heavy overnight rain changed
things drastica lly. Water- proofing. m aintaining
good vision, and keeping number plates readable
were crucial for all. Some riders elected to forego
the muddy co nditions . but after practice, a super
amou nt of effort was spent grading off the more
soaked depressions of the facility, and conditions
were gready improved.
Actual ly, there were three participants o ut of
the huge field of ride rs w ho put forth the proper
effort a nd r e a p e d corre sponding results :
McKinney. Ken Gurley and Wes ley Pool e . Gurley
www.c y cl e n ews .c om
and Poole each won bo th o f his motos in each of
the thr e e classes e ntered - six rides . six w ins!
McK in ney r aced aga ins t 14 ot hers . Poo le
co nten ded with I I other ride rs, and Gurle y had
10 riders to bea t. Poole may have had to work
the hardest, as he ac hieved o nly one ho leshot in
his six races and had to come from be hind five
times to earn his six w ins. G urley obtained three
ho leshots and came through the pac k three
times to win his six motos. McKinney had th e
"eas ies t" day, getting four ho leshots and having
to work his way to the fron t in only tw o of his
events for his six vict ories .
Gurley rode three brands of mach ines on the
day : a ' 63 G re eves, a ']] Husqvarna and a ' 70
Ossa . in Premier Ughtweight Novice. Over 50
No vice and C lassic 250cc No vice, re spect ively,
Poo le stayed strictly on British iron , using his
1960 Triumph in the Premier and Class ic SOOcc
events and a 197 1 BSA in the Open Age Expert
class . McKinney rode a Kawasa ki in the
CYCLE NEWS • DECEMBER8, 2004
39
