With 15 riders lining the gate for the first
go-around, Yamaha rider Brian Pappalardo led
the charge through the first tum. Tim Norton
put his KTM into second, and Mike Kruger ran
third. When the racers came out of the back
canyon for the first lime, Ric Allen controlled
fourth, while Graham filled out the top five.
Pappalardo's lead lasted barely a lap; he
cross-rutted in a tight tum and bailed off. Norton was right there to take advantage of the
situation, and he took over the point. Allen
went around Kruger for second. Graham was
wasting no time, and by lap three he had
moved up to third.
Out front, Norton was moving at a good
clip, enjoying a seven-second lead by halfway.
Graham began to pester Allen for second
place; the Suzuki pilot fell victim to the pressure and crashed. Honda-mounted Dave
Boucher had gated poorly but had moved up
to third by the time the race had two more
laps to go. Graham did what he could to cut
into Norton's lead, but the KTM rider held on
tenaciously. When the white flag came out,
Graham had closed to within a couple of bike
lengths of Norton. As the two riders negotiated
the last circuit, Norton held strong and took
the moto win. Graham settled for second, and
Boucher rode in for third. Kruger claimed
fourth, while Pappalardo charged to fifth alter
remounting from his crash.
At the start of moto two, Graham ripped a
clean holeshot. Boucher rode in second, while
Dave Ram held down third. At the end of the
first lap, Allen was fourth, and John Tookey
was fifth. Straight away, Graham opened up a
two-second lead. Boucher rode well in second,
while first-moto winner Norton was fighting
through the pack after a poor start. Allen
passed Ram on lap four and moved up to
third.
.
As the moto wore on, Graham held steady
out front, stretching his lead over Boucher to
five seconds by halfway. Norton was steadily
moving forward, and by the time the white flag
came out, he was in fourth place and looking
for a way around Allen. At the end of the
moto, Graham was first. Boucher finished up
his strong ride in second,
while Norton managed to go
around Allen on the last lap
for third. Kn.oger filled out the
top five.
On the day, the overall
class victory went to Graham
by virtue of his 2-1 scores.
Norton's 1·3 finishes were
good for second, while
Boucher's 3-2 tally earned
him third. Kruger (4-5) was
fourth, and Pappalardo (5-6)
placed filth.
Results
S/Ptw (7-9); J. Tommy Aquino (Cob); 2. Kdth RobIn5on (Cob);
3. Eric Kahler (IITM).
60 BEG: I. Ethlln Flores (Kaw); 2. Chris Deeds (KTM): 3.
Andrew Couto (Kaw); 4. Rhett Raha (Kaw).
60 (9-11): I. Trent Pugmire (Kaw); 2. T1rruny Ritll~ (KllW); 3.
Shawn Butler (Kllw); 4. Kyle Smith (KTM).
80 BEG: I. Steven Hoyle (Vam); 2. Josh Erickson (Yam); 3.
Payton umnJa (Suz); 4. Richard Murc::hllnt (Vam): 5. David Medina
(Yam).
80 (7.11): l. De~k Murphy (Vern).
80 (12-13); I. Brett Mountoln (Yam).
80 (14-16): l. Randy Hill (Yam).
S/MINI: I. Mitchell Alsobrook (Hon).
125 BEG: 1. Kyle Robertson (Hon).
125 NOV; 1. Corl!Y Murphy (Hon); 2. (.J. Mahon (Suz); 3. Neil
Chisholm (Hon); 4. R~ Cia"" (Suz); 5. Chris Tayloe' (Yam).
125 INT: l. ShDun TrllbM (Kaw); 2. Jimmy Eberle (Yom); J.
~ Lin (Yam): 2.
Jerod Wilson (Suz): 3. Ichiro Nak~a (Stu);
4. Tom Mellor (Kaw): 5. Rick Matson
(Yam).
125 INT: I. Darcy McKenna (Suz); 2.
Kevin Jennings (YDm); 3. Cliff Jennings
(Yam).
PRO: I. Willy Musgrave (KTM); 2. Gor·
don Ward (VOR); 3. Kevin TO\IInsend (Hon);
4. Nate HDwley (Hon); 5. Nh: Karl~son
(Suz).
XR I 00 ADULT: I. Jl!lmel Chisum
(Hon); 2. Bobby Cody (Hon): 3. Bill Fowler
(Hon).
25,. BEG: I. Aaron Holguin (Yam); 2.
Rick Hankford (Kaw); 3. James Donovan
(Kaw).
25.. INT: 1. David Cincotta (Yam): 2.
Jerome Mage (Yam): 3. Ron Wilson (Yam).
VET BEO: I. Kenny Graham (Yam); 2.
Tim Norton (KTM); 3. Da~ ~ (Hon);
4. Mike Kruger (Yam); 5. Brion Pappalardo
• (Yam).
VET JR: I. Jim NaegJe (Kalil): 2_ Bob
McnJes (Kaw); 3. Don Rice (Kaw); 4. Curt
Jablonski (Hon): 5. Brian Mkhaels (YDm)
VET INT: I. St~ Watson (Kaw); 2.
Gary Haradll (Kaw); 3. C.T. Falk (YDm); 4.
Rodney Morrison (Hon): 5. Roeky Hash
(lim).
40.. MSTR: I. Rich Eierlledt. (KTM): 2.
Marc Crosby (Kaw); 3. Rick Johnson (Hon):
4. George Kohler (Kalil): 5. Dennis Boul·
ware (Yam).
40,. EX: 1. Randy Skinner (SUt); 2.
Doug Hell (KDw): 3. Ted KuklD (YDm): 4.
Jeff AnoWTlDn (Yam); 5. Ken Ehlers (Yam).
40... JR: I. Rick Pelerson (YDm): 2. Mike
CDssell (KDw): 3. Bob Sullivan (Hon): 4.
Larry Watl!rhou.se (KTM); 5. Mark Anondson
(Kaw).
50... MSTR: I. Alen Olson (Yam); 2.
Alan Kent (Yam): 3. Ray PIsarski (Hon); 4.
Bengt Johansson (Yam): 5. Jody Weisel
(Y"",).
Glen Helen Raceway Part<: Kenny Graham (2) and Tim
Norton (45) battled for the Vet Beginner win; each took a
moto win, and Graham's 2-1 beat Norton's 1-3 for the class
overall, at REM's Saturday Motocross in San Bernardino,
California.
52
MARCH 29, 2000'
eye
I
e
n
e
_
s
Sunset Ramblers Team Hare Scrambles
Grabiel grabs the
Ramblers' Scrambles
By KURT MOSHER
GAUON, OH, MAR. 12
Not even a last-ditch effort by Old Man Winter
could stop red-hot Jared Grabiel, who rode his
KX100 solo over the snow-laden hills of Ohio
to the overall victory at the Sunset Ramblers
Team Hare Scramble. Grabiel's competition
was the always-fast team of Jimilei Fox and
Brandon Adams. The Fox-Adams duo
swapped leads with Grabiel in the early going,
but it was to no avail, though they ended up
with the victory in the 125f200cc division.
Following the leaders in the 125/200cc division was the team of Heath and Kevin Davis.
Earlier in the day, Grabiel rode to the victory in the Mini Senior class, followed by Colt
Phillips.
Iron man Dave Kutskel rode his YZ426
solo to a solid victory in the Four~Stroke djvi~
GP race in the CCS Southwest Sprint Series at
Firebird Raceway. In all, Romero raced five
classes and won all but two.
While many of Firebird's fastest were away
at Daytona or elected not to race due to the
inclement weather, Romero, Dale Kieffer, and
R1 pilots A.J. Ammann and Chris Greve kept
fans on their feet with a great Unlimited GP
race.
Greve took the holeshot at the start.
Romero passed him in tum two but then lost
the lead to Greve down the straightaway on
the next lap. On each lap, Romero used the
infield section to close up on Greve's rear
fender, only to have the R1 sprint away again
down Firebird's long front straight.
Meanwhile, Ammann was closing the gap
to the leaders, and by halfway he had joined
them at the front. Kieffer, riding an R6, moved
from sixth into fourth, and on the last lap he
closed to within inches of Ammann.
On the penultimate lap, Romero uncorked
a big pass in turn two to take the lead from
Greve, but Greve used his power advantage to
get it back down the front straight.
The white-flag lap was a dash to the finish.
Sunset Ramblers Team Hare Scrambles: Jared Grabiel winged it to the overall victory
at the Team Hare Scrambles in Galion, Ohio.
sion, edging out the Suzuki-mounted team of
Dave and Randy Wells.
In the Bomber division, a vicious battle
was waged between the team of Scott "Scoot·
er" Hayes and Mike Cosma and the team of
Bob Troupe and Jim FeutseJ. Both teams
spent a considerable amount of time picking
up their machinery, but in the end, Hayes and
Cosma came out on top.
The treat of the day for the spectators was
the inaugural running of the Father/Son division. A muddy mess of fathers trying to persuade their son's to run "one more lap" was
comical, to say the very least. At the end of
two hours, Jake Momingstar and David Diehl
edged out Mike and Mitchell Davis, while the
Terry Harris (Sr. and Jr.) team rounded out
the top three.
Results
O/A: I. Jared Grable'!.
O/A B: I. Doug Shepherd/R.T. Lane.
MINI JR (SOLO): I. Ryan Persinger; 2. Josh O·N~il.
MINI SR (SOLO): 1. JerC!d Grabiel: 2. Colt Phillips.
125/200: I. Jimilei Fox/Brandon Adams: 2. Kevin Davis/Heath
DDvil.
250: I. John /vlderson/A. Comelius II; 2. Tom Burrer/MDrty
Bates.
250 2-STRK B: I. Chad MJ1~y/Kyle Miley: 2. Jeff HyerfTerry
Tann«.
250 4-STRK B: I. Jeff Berker/Bruc~ Levings; 2. Tom
Mc(jugin/Aoron Moglott.
4 STRK: 1. Dave Kutsket; 2. Dav~ Welis/Randy Wells.
40.. : I. Bob Corpenter/J. Carpenter.
BMBR: I. Scooter Hayes/Mike Cosme: 2. Bob Troup~/Jlm
Feustel
FATHER/SON: 1. Jake MomingstDrJDavld Diehl; 2. Mitchell
Davis/Mike Davis; 3. Terry Harrll/T~rry Harris Jr.; 4. Oreg
NewmDn/Btyon Newman.
Firebird Raceway
Romero the Caesar
of Firebird
By MICHAEL
Ross
CHANDLER, AZ, MAR. 4-5
James Romero turned the fastest laps of the
weekend on his way to winning the Unlimited
Romero put a big pass on Greve in turn two to
take the lead. Greve probed for an opening,
while Ammann closed up tight on Greve's rear
fender. Kieffer was right in the leaders' tire
tracks, in position to pass for third if Ammann
bobbled.
Romero took the win by inches over Greve,
Ammann and Kieffer.
Mike Noschese had the Middleweights
chasing him all day. The R6 rider entered
three classes and won all of them. However,
Noschese's biggest challenge came during the
last race of the day - Middleweight Superbike as the rain, which had threatened all day,
finally started to come down. Riders had been
wamed that the last tum on the track (tum 14)
has no traction when wet, but many did not
realize that "no traction" means none at all.
Noschese grabbed the start and began to
pull away. On the next lap, Jim Cox led a procession of riders into the pits, as they elected
not to chance a fall. Unfortunately, some riders pitted because they thought the race had
been stopped, but when they realized that the
race was continuing, they wanted to go back
out.
Noschese barely made it through tum 14
upright. Brian Schafer crashed, starting a
chain reaction as several more riders fell.
Faced with riders coming close to crashing
every lap, a track that was gelling wetter by
the minute, riders who wanted to re-enter the
race, and spectators shouting to stop the
madness, race director Randy Stem made the
call to end the race early.
Noschese brought his Yamaha home safely in first place with six laps in the books, followed by Don Blattert and Eric Anderson.
Results
U/L S/SPT EX: I.Chris Gr~e (Yam); 2. JDmes Romero (Suz); 3.
Eric Haugo (Suz); 4. K~nneth Canteen (Suz): 5. John Jewett (Stu).
U/L S/SPT A.M.: I. Kane Lasky (Sut): 2. Jeffrey GltUeaon (Yam);
3. Joseph Dllwson (Sw.); 4. James Mossey (Hon ): 5. Kevin Shroyer
(Hon).
H/W S/SPT EX: I. James Romero (Sw. ); 2. Rory Palmer (Sut);
3. Eric HDugo (Suz); 4 Kenneth Canteen (Sut): 5. Steve Pack (Hon).
H/W S/SPT AM: 1. James ShDmbDrger (YDm); 2. Jack Cox
(Sut); 3. Kane Lasky (Sut); 4. Peter 1t\iglioronrl (Hon): 5. Roddy
Cooper (Kaw).
