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Monster Mountain Motocross Tipping, Fisher first 10 conquer the Mo s er , '..,... ~ ~ <~4,,, ~-....!,,;t. ~ ~,;",~ ~', Derrick Fisher may be number 911, but he didn't need any help as he dialed in the new track at the new Monster Mountain Motocross facility in Tallassee, Alabama, taking an impressive 125cc Pro win. ~ -;:-'" BY STEVE AND PEGGY CORLEE TALLASSEE, AL, FEB. 12-13 uzuki-mounted Derrick Fisher took home the lion's share of a gigantic Pro purse at the grand opening of the Southern Dirt/Mark Barnett-designed Monster Mountain Motocross track in Tallassee, Alabama, while Jarrett Tipping topped the 250cc Pro class. Located on 106 acres of beautiful rolling hills, the new track has been called the "Unadilla of the South." The track includes a fivestep ascent to the mountaintop and several ski jumps and off-camber turns. Nearly 4000 spectators attended the inaugural event. Owner Gary Blackwell and track manager Johnny Borders elected to use a two-day format, which meant 15-minute motos for the amateurs and 20 minutes plus two laps for the Pro classes. On Saturday, riders such as Drew Askew (in the minis) and Ryan Elleby (in the B class) primed the crowd for Sunday's Pro action with a great display of riding skills. Askew took double wins in both the 85cc Seniors and the 80cc (14- 15) divisions. He was followed in the latter contest by Michael Gravette and Matthew Ragsdale, and by Shane Lusk (Ezra's little brother) and Jonathan West in the Mini Senior division. The 85cc Juniors were topped by Bradley Wright, and the 85cc (12-13) class was dominated by Florida's Zackary Nesius. The Mini D class went to Georgia's Chase Borders. The action was hot and heavy in every 50cc division, as a total of 35 aspiring champions showed up to do battle. The class wins went to Huskymounted Rio Barnhart in division one S 36 MARCH 15. 2000' eye • Jarrett Tipping overcame the mud to score the first-ever 250Cc Pro win at the grand opening of the venue some have called the "Unadilla of the South." and Luke Hobson in division two. Division three was the property of Colton Bailey, who was also the winner of the 65cc Novice class. Cole Boutwell swept both motos in the 65cc (10-11) class. In the 125cc B class, a daylong dogfight between Jon Masters, Elleby and Lonnie Brown kept the crowd on its feet, with the overall going to Masters (2-1). The 125cc C win went to Chris Chandler with double moto wins, and the 125cc D class was won by Adam Rector. The Schoolboy win went to Brian Gray, followed by Shane Lusk in second place. Georgia's ElIeby dominated the 250cc B class with convincing wins in both motos. On Sunday, Connecticut's Tony Lorusso took a moto win in the 250cc e n e VV s division and placed a strong second overall in the 125cc division. The 125cc class, however, was all Derrick Fisher's. After gating behind Alabama's Clark Stiles and Lorusso in the first moto, Fisher passed both riders at the beginning of the second lap, and at the end of the 20-minute-plus-twolap moto, Fisher had a 30-second lead over Lorusso. Jarrett Tipping followed in third, behind Lorusso by a similar margin. As the second 125cc moto began, a light rain was falling, making conditions much different. Nevertheless, the results remained the same. Fisher again dominated the race, followed by Lorusso and Tipping. The 250cc Pro class was not the property of anyone rider, as a hard rain fell during the second moto, causing some of the riders who shined in the dry first moto to struggle in the mud and slime of the second race. Lorusso's impressive firstmoto win meant that the smart money would be on him to repeat. However, that was not to be. Instead, the win went to Florida's Tipping. Once Tipping got out front, he put on a masterful display of mud-riding skill, seeming to float over the slop, and he finished well ahead of the rest of the class. Finishing an impressive second behind Tipping was Alabama's Jon Boy Monk, aboard a booming four-stroke Yamaha. While Tipping seemed to be finessing his machine through the worst spots on the track, Monk was on the gas and flying as he steadily gained on Tipping. Behind Monk was Georgia's Sal Ugarte, who finished third. Lorusso could only manage a fourth-place finish after winning the first moto. In fifth place was Vet rider John Lundy of Florida, who also handily won the Over 35 class. Sunday's support classes included five Vet classes, the Superminis, a Collegeboy class, and a Four-Stroke class that was particularly interesting, as Georgia Pro Sean Dukes showed up with a new DR400 Suzuki and rode to two holeshots and impressive moto wins aboard the nearly stock machine that had been was provided by Freewheeling Suzuki and prepared by his father, Larry Dukes of LSD Racing in Douglasville. In the Vet divisions, the Over 25 class was won by Alabama's Dale Ulrich, the Over 30 win went to Georgia's David Kelley, the Over 35 class was topped by Florida's John Lundy, and Borders showed the way in the Over 40 class. The Over 48 Masters win went to Mississippi's Steve Speights. The Superminis were dominated by Saturday's big winner, Drew Askew, who thrilled the crowd by jumping the big triple in front of the stands on each and every lap, finishing far ahead of the competition. The overall in the Collegeboy class went to the consistent Jason Grier from nearby Montgomery, Alabama Grier's two second-place finishes were enough to secure the win. CN Manster Mountain Motocross Tallassee. Alabama Results: february 12-13, 2000 Saturday 50 SHAFT: 1. Rio Barnhart (Hus); 2. Mason McCune (Yam); 3. Hunter Boles: 4. Byron Dillard (Yam); 5. Cole Faircolth (Hon). 50 (4·6): I. Luke Hobson: 2. Nick Barnett (KTM); 3. Jeffrey Besanl (KTM); 4. Seth Morris (KTM): 5. Rio Barnhart (Hus). 50 (7-9): 1. Colton Bailey (Kaw); 2. Shane Bowlden (KTM); 3. Luke Davie; 4. Kendall Mason: 5. Corie Barbee (Kaw). 65 (7-9): 1. Colton Bailey (K~w); 2. Sh~ne Bowlden (Kaw); 3. Cash Bamh~rt (Kaw); 4. Corie B~rbee (K~w); 5. Brandon Lee (Kaw). 65 (10-11): 1. Cole Boutwell (Kaw): 2. Josh Eure (Kaw); 3. Travis Hayes (KTM); 4. Chase Merrit (Kaw); 5. Jake Lowry (Kaw). 65-85 0: 1. Chase Borders (Kaw): 2. Dylan Daniel (Hon): 3. Colton Davie (Kaw); 4. Jacob Capps (Kaw); 5. Tyler Garrin (Kaw). JR MINI (7-11); I. Bradley Wdght (Kaw); 2. Cole Boutwell (Yam); 3. Christien Gibney (Hon); 4. James R~gsdale (Kaw); 5. Jonathan Dove (Kaw). 80 (12-13): 1. Zackary Nesius (Yam): 2. Brent Carden (Kaw); 3. Sam Hunter (Kaw); 4. Blake Massey (Yam); 5. Jacob Capps (Kaw). 80 (14-15): 1. Drew Askew (Yam): 2. Michelel Gravette; 3. Matthew Rllgsdale (Kaw); 4. Jonathan West (Yam): 5. David McWilliams (Yam). 5R MINI (12-15); I. Drew Askew (Yam); 2. Shane Lusk (Hon): 3. Jonathan West (Yam); 4. Brent Carden (Kaw); 5. Charlie Evan (Kaw). 125 B: 1. Jon Masters (Yam): 2, Ryan Elleby (Yam); 3. Lonnie Brown (Kaw); 4. Louie Reynolds (Kaw); 5. Brian Gray (Yllm). 125 C: 1. Chris Chandler (Yam); 2. Dale Ulrich (Yam); 3. Jason Mooney (K~w); 4. James Mackey (Hon); 5. Matthew McBee (Hon). 1250: 1. Adam Rector (Yam); 2. Justin Godwin (Yam); 3. Dillon Barnhart (Yam); 4. Bo Piercy (Yam); 5. Tony Keith (Yam). 250 B: I. Ryan Elleby (Yem); 2. Joseph Siragusa (Hon); 3. Brian Mcleod (SUl); 4. Josh Askew (Suz); 5. Louie Reynolds (Yam). 250 C: 1. Jason Mooney (Kaw); 2. Chan Senn: 3. David Moon (Hon); 4. Russell Radford (Kaw); 5. Joey Nielsen (Yam). 250 0: l. Tom Mitchell (Kaw): 2. Milan Harris (Hon); 3. Greg EJliott (Hon); 4. Eric Nelson (Hon); 5. Randall Kipker (Hon). 125 SCHBY: 1. Brian Gray (Yam); 2. Shane Lusk (Hon); 3. Douglas Thomason (Kew); 4. Chad Ward (Yam); 5. James Mackey (Hon). Sunday S/MINI 100: I. Drew Askew (Yam); 2. Jonathan West (Yam); 3. Zackary Nesius (Yam); 4. Douglas Thomason (Kaw); 5. Brent Carden (K~w). 16-24: 1. Jason Grier (Hon); 2. Brian McLeod (Suz): 3. Chris Chandler (Yam): 4. Jllimes Mackey (Hon); 5. Jon Sande.. (Yam). 25+: 1. Dale Ulrich (Yam): 2. Kevin Yerbey (Hon): 3. Joey Hargove (Yam): 4. Joey Nielsen (Yam); 5. Steve Klimes (Yam). 30+: 1. D~vid Kelley (Kaw); 2. Lonnie Brown (Kaw): 3. Todd Mmer (Hon); 4. Troy Mme, (Kaw); 5. Steve Bataille (Hon). 35+: 1. John Lundy (Hon); 2. Darryl Heisler (Hon); 3. Michael Henderson (Hon); 4. Paul Fimschild (Yam): 5. David Moon (Hon). 40.: I. Johnny Borders (Kaw): 2. Danny Faulk (Hon): 3. David Crein (Hon); 4. M~rk Lowry (Kaw): 5. Michael Henderson (Hon). 48.: 1. Steve Speights (Yam); 2. Steve Corlee (Su,). 4-STRK: 1. Sean Dukes (SUl); 2. Louis Reynolds (Yam); 3. Brandon Ghidiu (Yllm); 4. Wes Stiles (Yam); 5. Steven Hollingsworth (Yam). 125 PRO: 1. Derrick Fisher (SUl); 2. Tony Lorusso (Suz); 3. Jarrett Tipping (Suz); 4. Jon Boy Monk (Yam); 5. Sal Ugarte (Yam). 250 PRO: 1. J~rrett Tipping (Suz): 2. Tony Lorusso (5uz); 3. Jon Boy Monk (Hon); 4. Sal Ugarte (Yam); 5. Adam Brannum (Yam).