"We lost about an hour," Fowler said. "In the beginning, it sounded
like a good idea, but in the end it was definitely a mistake. Luckily, it
was daylight. At night they never would have found me."
With 19 hours left and the major opposition strewn by the wayside,
Davis' two teams were solidly one-two with plenty of room for error,
but about I a.m., with the near-full moon now hidden behind a wet
sky that dumped rain for about 20 minutes, Davis' luck almost ran out,
too, when his ignition failed abruptly.
''A magnetic coil came apart," he said. "We were really fortunate
that it locked up where it did - right at a checkpOint! I came in to the
lights and said, 'Hey, can you guys radio in? I need help. '"
He got it and only lost about 20 minutes.
"I was so lucky," he said.
The number-two team closed to within about three minutes, but
that's as close as they would ever get.
At the end, it was the Davis' number-one team racking up 86 total
laps, and the number-two team completing 85 laps.
Finishing third, five laps back, was the Pro Circuit squad headed by
Short.
For Davis, the race could not have gone any better.
"I didn't expect that at all," Davis said. "We got one and two, that's
bad ass!"
eN
GLEN HELEN RACEWAV PARK
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
RESULTS: OCTOBER 15-16, 2005 (ROUND
3
OF
3)
OPEN PRO, I. Ty Da,,;s/Nathan Woods/Bobby Ga,,"onIAndy Bakken (Yam); 2. Wolly
Musgrave/Casey Johnson/Kris Keefer/Nick Foister (Yam); 3, Andrew Short/Jeff NorthruplTim
WeigandfTerry Fowler (Hon); 4. Mike Roth/Steve HatclVTirn Roth/Matt leach (Kaw); S. Johnny
CampbelVSteve Hengeveld/Robby 8eIVKendaJl Norman (Hon).
251·0PEN SPORTSMAN: I. Randy CIoSSOl'l/wry Gross/John Parks/Steve Beard/Josh
Thompson/Jeff Laubscher (Yam); 2. Tracy Monterone/Mike MartinlBrys Kuntz/Greg Fountaine/Jim
Harris/Mitch Lawter (Yam); 3. Jeff Hazard/Ryan CoxlDoug Bourbin/Josh Hooda (KTM); 4. Jeffrey
Steiner/Ryan HoliowelVChris Whalley/Jeff Martini Cody Norman/Jason Diestel (Hon); 5. Bryan
TapertlAustin HannonITom Vanderploeg/John Alexander/Ken Tapert/Carf Fisher (Hon).
2S I-OPEN EX: I. Ron lawsonlPaul Krause/Elmer SymonsIRobb Messcher/larry RoeseIer
(Han); 2. Kelly Betts/Alan DonaJd...,tK;pp P""'Y/Gray o."""pon/Nick Thompson/Ryan W.,d (Yam);
J. Raymond CaNalhalScott TalwalB'Y<'" Ingram!M;ke Zane/M;cheaJ Callahan/Chris Kaiza (Han).
125-250 SPORTSMAN: I. Adam BoothiJohn Basher/Berry BrecklShaun Hepler/Wade Sproul
(Hon); 2. Brad Oxley/jordon Bartlett/Joshua Bartlett/Collon Udall (Yam); 3. Lane Morrison/Adas
Bakchis/Zack FulmerfTony Disculio/Mau lee/Randy Merrill (Yam); 4. Kyle YamelVMaxx
UmbournelJoe Johnson/J.D. Myerscough/Jordan Borowski/Kyle Bohannon (Yam); 5. Seth
lewis/Chris lubas/Orion Weihe/Jeffrey Ho/Rob Macomber/Steve Morns (Yarn).
]0+ SPORTSMAN: I. Kelly Gelhaus/Scott Marlow/Matt Stewart/Kyle Krause/John
Wiseman/Ernie Allsop (Suz): 2. Kevin Ar-lotti/Jeff Kight/Jay Kelly/Bruce Thompson/Jason Nye/Bucky
(Hon); 3. Mike Ueber/Mark Ault1Craig Sedlak/Tim Sedlak/Doug O'Donald/Glen Swanson (Yam); 4.
Ken Durr/Erid Durr/l..ance Durr/Doug Daniels/John Rogers/Greg McGrath (Yam); S. Vince
Dischiavi/Bob Casper/Casey Casper/Alfred Pacilio/Jirn Watt/Giovanni Dumani (Hon).
]0+ EX: I. Craig HlHlter/Brent FerrelVDan Parratt,IRobert Behr/O1uck McBamey/CharUe Morrison
(Yam); 2. J""'" Ing..-soon (Han).
40+ SPORTSMAN: Ray Conway/lori Conway/Doug ClagglMike McGregor/Dan HalidalKunz
Hintt (Hon); 2. Jack O'NeilVDavid KukalScott Searsllondon SmittVRandy nul (Kaw); 3. Jeff
Collins/Rick OttlRon OttIBob Buey/Ken Grote/Bob Ott (KTM); 4. Tom Smith/Terry Messner/Greg
Pruitt/Lance McRoberts/Rkh Kastner/Dave Willis (Yam).
40+ EX: I. Gary Jones/Brent Wallingsford/Bob RunenlCraig Adams/Jack Johnson/Bruce Ogilvie
(Hon); 2. Jeff Boyd/Scott GodfreyfTom Shivers/Dave Donaldson/Mike ToileylKerry lynn (KTM); 3.
Bill Jaeger/Craig AdamslSteve Wiseman/Steve Banning/Mike Dailey/Reid Nordin (Kaw); 1. Matt
lyman/Phillip Oveland/Dickie Akul"<\NSteven Trinesl David Amorin/Rick Seefried (Hon).
BUSINESS: I. Sean Finley/Joe McKimmy/Jesse Ziegler/Kevin Carpenter/Chris Denison/Todd
Sdacqua (Hon): 2. Ryan Nichols/Perrin Perel/Steve Knikelaar/Randy Knikelaar (Yam); 3. Ryan
Dudek/Corey Eastman/Jay Easlman/larry little/Jeff A11e,yMan Bateman (Han);", Karl Krumme/Tim
Telford/Chris Valdes/Kenny Safford/Clint Hamiltorv'David Hagberg (KTM); S. Mark Sherwood/Ron
Mowry,lWayne Carpini/Brandon Woods/Robert Henry/ Kenny Uttlejohn (Yam).
Quinn Cody was a member of
the top Expert team that
finished fourth overall.
Briefly..•
The top-finishing Expert team was put together by
the Dirt Bike magazine staff. The team, made up of editor Ron Lawson, Robb Messecher, Quinn Cody, Elmer
Symons, Paul Krause and Larry Roeseler, busted out 79
laps and finished fourth overall aboard a KTM 450 Xc.
They also took the 251 cc-Open Expert-class win.
Lawson reported a fairly uneventful ride, which is what
usually happens when you do well. "We had one crash
when Quinn went down on the pavement by the
pavilion at night," Lawson said. "He and another rider
went down and slid along the pavement together,
which is always fun." Lawson added that he attributed
a lot of their success to having a good lighting system.
"That's 90 percent of this race," Lawson said. "If your
lights don't fail and work good, you've got it made. We
really have to thank Dale at Trick Dual Sports for dialing us in with our light system."
Steve Hatch, a former National Enduro Champion,
came out to compete in his first 24-hour race. He
teamed up with Mike and Tim Roth, and Matt Leach
on a Kawasaki. The team started out in fifth but fought
their way up to third. They stayed there until the Pro
Circuit team caught them just after midnight. Hatch
and crew eventually finished nine laps off the lead pace
of the winners and took fourth in the Open Pro class.
"We have a large clan out here with us, a lot of exmotocrossers," Hatch said. "They have been unbelievable through the night, supporting us. We just thought
we'd go out and have some fun. This is the first 24hour I've done. I've done eight Six Days, but this is
pretty intense. I think everyone's got a near-death
story from this race, and if they don't, they're lying."
In his first 24-hour, Gayle Hoyt from Texas, took top
honors in the Ironman class. At the eight-hour mark,
Hoyt said that he'd do the entire race without sleep,
just take IO-minute breaks at each gas stop. On Sunday morning, however, he said, "I slept two hours, but
I'm going the rest of the way." And that he did. "I
loved it, it's been a lot of fun:' he said. "But, do it
again? We'll see."
John Parks and teammates Randy Closson, Larry
Gross, Steve Beard, josh Thompson and jeff Laubscher started off in fourth place for the first few hours
and slowly moved to second place by sunset Saturday.
By midnight, they had the 251 cc-Open Sportsmanclass lead and was bUilding on it. They eventually
developed a three-lap cushion and took the class win.
"We were still nervous and anxious near the end,"
Parks said. "We had a front-brake problem early and
lost a front fender, but overall the bike ran great. One
of our riders, Steve Beard, went down on a road section at about 60 mph and slid the bike for a while. He
got up and couldn't breathe very well, but he chased
the bike down and still turned a lap, only about 30
seconds slower than his first. The guys really pulled
their load.
In the Over 30 Sportsman class, Kelly Gelhaus,
Matt Stewart, Scott Marlow, Kyle Krause, john Wiseman and Ernie Allsop had only a one-lap lead at the
end, with the third- and fourth-place teams finishing
just two laps back for the closest overall battle of the
weekend. The Suzuki-mounted team led from the
get-go but could never relax. "We've been keeping
watch on everyone out there and telling each other to
just keep it on two wheels," Stewart said. "Near the
end, someone told us we had a 39-minute lead, but
things can happen. Everyone's had one or two getoffs but nothing major, and the bike's running great.
At night it gets brutal, you get tired and forget what
you're doing and you can get delirious. If you drop it,
you figure, 1\11 right, it's time to pit.' Most of us are
WORCS guys, this is our first time at this. We'll be
better suited next time."
The defending 24-hour Ironman winner, Bob
Roberts, ran out of gas early on Saturday, and the
lead slipped away quickly. Headlamp problems compounded his frustration during the night, and he
vowed to go without sleep, "so nobody can sneak
away." But, after losing ground instead of gaining on
the leader at night, he pitted for a few hours, and near
the end, was resigned to his defeat and sat quietly in
the pits with the race still running. "I'm feeling it after
22 hours:' he said. "My wrist is sore - pretty much
everything is sore right now. I got to within' eight minutes of the leader, but each time I'd make a run at
him, he'd pull away again. It got sort of discouraging
after a while. It's been a good run; I'm still in one
piece. I had the points lead, so I still win the
endurance championship."
Shon Hepler. Adam Booth, Wade Sproul, Berry
Breck and John Basher took top honors in the 125250cc Sportsman class. After running fourth early on,
the Honda-mounted team moved to third by hour
four, second by hour seven and finally had the lead for
good around midnight. "Really? We're up front?" Hepler asked in the middle of the night. Later on, he said:
"It's rough to ride all night long and get up and still be
riding some more. About every lap something happens, but nothing major. Our first bike is virtually
gone - brakes, the clutch is gone, but thanks to
Honda, our second bike is going strong. I don't think
I'll be back next year, it's too rough. just kidding. I'd
do it again in a heartbeat."
Ray Conway, Lori Conway, Mike McGregor, Dan Halida, Kuntz Hintz and Doug Clagg came away with the
Over 40 Sportsman-class win. They had a comfortable lead at the end and were on the verge of celebrating as the race neared 10 a.m. Sunday. "We've
been having fun:' Clagg said while watching the happenings from the side of the track. "The Baja Designs
light worked very well all night. The Pro Circuit
motor's been great and the suspenSion is great. No
complaints. Even the rain was wonderful. Really, a
couple of fall-overs and that's all we've had. Several of
these guys have done the 24-hours before, but this is
my first time and - hey, Mike McGregor just went by!
Hey, he's been studding it all the way through."
Gary jones, Brent Waltingsford, Bob Rutten, Craig
Adams, jack johnson and Bruce Ogilvie put together
an Over 50 team to compete in the Over 40 Expert
class, and no one could beat them. They led from
start to finish to take the class win. "The whole team
is over 50 and we're Winning the Over 40 class,"
jones said. "We are absolutely having fun. I fell down
in the early going, in the motocross section, went
over the berm and just rell down, washed out. But,
it's got an electric starter, so it started right up. We're
just here to have fun -that's what it's all about."
"'t's good to be on a good team," Willy Musgrave, of
the Montclair Yamaha "B" team, said. "Ty Davis does
an awesome job, and the team did a super, super job.
We got close, but they're good, they know what
they're doing. A lot of us, this was our first time doing
this and it all came together at the last minute - a lastminute deal and it worked. We should thank Andy jefferson because he did most of the work on the bike
and helped pull us together. He did good. Our only
get-off was me, and I did it late in the day, going from
light into dark, and I hit a rut, fourth gear. I jacked up
my elbow a bit and bent the lights, but' got the night
racing under control after that,"
CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 2, 2005
37
