Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128403
Eddie Mulder's West Coast Vintage Dirt Track Series nd Men Back at the front on lap seven, Mees was getting away, which is when National Cycie/CoZiahr's Murphree threw the switch and picked up his pace. A lap later, Murphree displaced Russell and set his sights on Atherton. Then, just before the halfway point, Atherton's Yamaha expired, and his hand shot skyward. Murphree, now in second, had his work cut out for him, as Mees had a 12-bikelength lead. At the crossed halfway flags, the order was Mees, Murphree, Russell, Varnes, McCoy, Rush, Halbert, Moroney's Bryon Smith, 2005 AMA Horizon Award winner Stevie Bonsey, Murray, Alex Wood, David Brown, Nicole Cheza and Jimmy Wood. By the 12th go-around, the leaders were encountering lappers, and both Mees and Murphree were held up at different times. MULDER BRINGS THE STARS ddie Mulder made the stars come out in the daytime at Walt James Stadium inside the Willow Springs racing complex. By sweetening the pot at the end of his season's rainbow, Mulder had 12 National numbers in attendance. So who was the big winner' Well, that depends on your judging criteria. Would you give the nod to the biggest money winner? Maybe to the winner of Sunday's main event? But don't forget Saturday's main, as all the same players were there, too. Perhaps it was the Maxxis Tires $4000 Pro Point Fund winner. But let us not forget the California Cup Champion who would be crowned this weekend, taking the $5000 firstplace prize of the $12,000 points fund - a lot at stake, to say the least. And would the standing track record of 20.8 seconds around this three-eighths-mile banked oval set by Jimmy Wood in 2004 hold up? The conditions were right, the track was great, the weather nice at 76 degrees with no wind, and there were many big guns in the house. Forty-eight Pros contested Saturday's E 36 OUT TO WILLOW SPRINGS seven heat races and three semis, narrowing the field to 17 for the 20-lap Digger Helm Pro 600cc main event. With the fastest heat-race time by just twohundredths of a second (clocked by Motion Pro), National number 21, Jared Mees, reversed the lineup, starting from the outside on the front row. Next to Mees, in order of their heat-race times, were Jimmy Wood, National number 89 Kevin Varnes, National number 59 Willie McCoy, National number 18 Terry Poovey, and Steve Murray. It took only one wave of starter Fred Allen's green flag to get a clean start, with Suzuki's Varnes leading the way. Lancaster H-D's Mees ran second, with WKR/Arai's Kevin Atherton third. Entering turn three on the first lap, Mees ran underneath Varnes for the lead, with Atherton in tow for second. Wood, on a borrowed Ron Wood Yamaha, moved from sixth off the line to fourth, and then, crossing the stripe, into third only to lose the front end and taste terra firma in turn one on lap two. Wood, the defending champ, would rejoin at the back, two laps down. NOVEMBER 9, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Lap two also would see the exit of 1st Legal/A&A Racing's Poovey. Four laps in, the running order was Mees, Atherton, an on-the-move Shaun Russell, Johnny Murphree (moving up from an eighth place start), Varnes, and Willie McCoy. A lap later, 1st Legal/KTM's Murray would pass McCoy for sixth, while buried midpack were NJKlShoei Helmets' Jethro Halbert and Mike Rush. Murphree, now four bikelengths behind Mees, could smell blood. Murphree dug deep on lap 15 and put the Mr. Ed's Jim Wood Honda up front, but Mees wasn't about to roll over, and he came right back at him. That's when Russell's day came to an end, advancing Varnes to third. With one lap remaining, Mees got held up lightly, thus ending his run at Murphree. Halbert had climbed to fourth, but he couldn't get past Varnes, who would take the final podium spot. McCoy came home fifth, followed by Rush, Smith, KLH's Bonsey, Murray, Alex Wood, Brown, Cheza, and Jimmy Wood. What this set up for Sunday's final was a tie for the Maxxis Tires Pro Point Fund between Alex Wood and Stevie Bonsey, with Don Howard four points behind. Also, Sunday's race paid double points, which put Jared Mees in the mix. Jethro Halbert led the race for the California (Left to right) Celebroting on the podium for the Digger Helm Pro 600cc main event were third-place rider Kevin Varnes (89), presenter Eddie Mulder, runner-up Jared Mees (21), Digger Helm, and winner Johnny Murphree (20).