Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Afterward , h owever, it was disc o v e re d that the 21- y e ar -old H err era w a s in e ligible to b e r id in g t h e cla ss, a s th e rul es c a ll fo r a min im um ri der age o f 3 5 . H e rr er a w a s di squ a li f i ed , a n d C u nni n g ton wa s d e cl ared t he winn e r. C u n ni n g ton o ffe red hig h p ra i se for h is Mohave Valley Raceway Mohave, Arizona Results: April 29, 2000 [Round 1 of 91 Open FAST QUAL (One bonus point awa rded) ; 1. Don Hart (RIX). TRPHY DASH: 1. Johnny Murphree (Yam). B MA IN (To p 4 t ransfer to A Main ): 1. Richard Pollock (Yam ); 2. Billy Luk er (Rtx); 3. Robert Seey (W -R) ; 4 . St eve J o hn son (W ·R ) ; 5 . J ohn Grant (Han); 6. Mear! Barnett (Yam): 7. Bob Cobb (Yam); 8 . Rick Reed (T ri); 9 , Randy Berman (Rtx); 10. J eff S. J ohn son (KTM); 11. Ti m Ricke tt s Jr . (Rtx ); 12. Bill K night- p r e p ared m oto r c ycl e . " I li ke t hat b ik e a lot, C u n ni n gton sa id . " It ' s a ' 66 H on d a CB 4 5 0 in a s toc k fr am e . It' s AHRMA l e g a l. W e m ad e so me c h a n ges b efore th e ma in e ve n t , a n d it w o rk ed a l ot b ett er . A lso , I wa s g etting to k now th e track St eve Fortune (Han). A MAIN ( 16 l aps: 15 rid er s): J. Johnn y M urphr ee ( Yam); 2 . Ronn ie Br own ( Rtx ); 3 . Beau Brown (Rtx ) ; 4 . Don Har t (Rt x ) ; 5 . Rob ert Damron (Hbg); 6. Billy Martin (Rtx); 7. Mickey Lane (W-R); 8. Jeff Goshart (CCM) ; 9. Kurt Hawk (Rtx); 10. Billy Luker (Rtx}: 1 1. Ric hard Polloc k (Yam); 12. Robert Seay (W· R): 13. Dan Hart (CCM); 14. Mearl Barnett (Yam ); 15. Steve J ohn son (W· R). b etter. I h ope th at n obody pi ck s up Open Vintage FAST QUA L (O ne bonus poi nt awarded) : 1. J eff Jo hnson (Tri) . o ur se crets . It took about thre e y e a rs OREGON CASCADE DFC; I. Jeff Johnson (Tri). to g et the pa rts tog eth er t o make it work r ight." F or H ort o n , second was b etter than t h ird , b ut that just wasn 't how he had th ought t hings wou ld work out. " I went d own th e ba c k straight on the last lap, and it w ent on o n e cy lin der ," Horto n s a i d . " T h e bottom line was t h a t th e fu e l l in e c a m e off m y c a r b u r et o r. Tha t ha s nev er happened t o me in 25 years . I r e ally wanted to w in that r a c e b a d ly . T he m otorcycle wa s perf e c t. " eN B MAI N (Top 3 tr an sfer to A ma in): I. James Steet (Yam ); 2. Clyde Dennen (Nor ); 3. J im Gard ner (Yam); 4 . J oe Steffen (Yam); 5 . Garry Pett is (Bul); 6 . Steve Gorby (H en) ; 7. Di ck Fox (Ya m) : 8 . Ga ry White (H-D) ; 9 . Way ne War rington (Tri) ; to . Marty Bla nd ( Yam) ; 11. Ch uck Hart (Y am); 12 . Davi d Nance (Yam) ; 13. Dennis Pinheiro (Yam); 14. Doug Stewart (Yam) ; 15. Rick Reed (Tri) . A M.A I N ( 16 l aps ; 14 r id e r s ): 1. Rob er t Cunnington (Han ); 2. Tom Horton (Yam); 3. J eff J ohn son (Tri) ; 4 . Ma rk Gi bso n ( Yam ); 5 . C ly de Denn en (Nor) ; 6. J eff S. Johnson ( T ri ); 7 . Keith Bradford (Yam ); 8. Erik Bland (Yam); 9. Gary Ritch ie ( Yam ); 10 , Ja me s Stee t ( Yam); 11. Marty Le wi s (T ri ) ; 12. J oh n Lundgr en (Tri); 13. Jim Gardn er Marty Lew is (8); 12 . John Lun dgren (7 ); 13 . Jim Gardner (6); 14. Bob Cobb (5). 250 NOV MOD PROD: J. Scott Rousseau (23/1 win ); 2. Bill Kiriak idi s ( 19) ; 3. Kevi n Green ( 16). Up c omi ng Rounds: Round 2 - Hanford, California, May 20 Round 3 .. Paso Rob les. Cal ifo rnia. June 3 Beau Brown (58) and Ronnie Brown (1) led Murphree (20) and the rest of the field at the start, but Murphree took over on the back chute, and that was a ll she wrote. Ronn ie Brown wound up second, w ith Beau Brown third. (Yam): 14. Bob Cobb (Yam). 250 Novic e M.odified Production FAST QUAL: Scott Rousseau (Yam). A M A I N : 1, Sc ott Ro u sse au ( Ya m); 2 , B il l Kiriak idis (Hon ); 3. Kevi n Green (Yam). E-MOOLA .COM WEST COA ST FLAT TRACK SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 1 of 9 rounds): OPEN : I. Jo hnn y Murphree (23 /1 win ): 2. Ronnie Brown ( 19 ); 3. (TI E) Beau Brown (16)/ Don Hart ( 16); 5. Robert Damron ( 14); 6. Billy Martin (13); 7. Mickey Lane (121; 8. Jeff Goshart (1 1); 9. Kurt Hawk (10); 10. Billy Luker (9); 11. Richard Pollock (8); 12. Robert Seay (7 ); 13 . Dan Hart (6) ; 14. Mearl Barnett (5) ; 15. Steve J ohnson (4) , OPEN VINT : ,l , Rob ert C u nn i ng to n (23/1 win); 2. Tom Horton (19); 3. Jeff Johnson ( 17); 4. Mark Gibson ( 15); 5. Clyde Denn en (1 4 ) ; 6 , J eff S: J ohn son (13) ; 7 , Keith Bradford (12); 8. Erik Bland ( II) ; 9. Gary Ritchi e (to); 10 . J am es Steel (9) ; 11. (Above) Jeff Johnson (1 ) won the Oregon Cascade Dash For Cash, over Bob Cobb (86) and finished third in the Open Vintage main event. (Right) Robert Seay was one of only two riders to fall down all night, his crash coming in the A main event. Seay was uninjured. So , yo u want to gi ve it a t ry? While the premi er classes at the E -m ool a.com West Coast Flat Tra ck Series are geared for the curren t pro or 35 f, older Vinta ge racer, the re is an entry level: the Nov ic e Modified Produ ct ion cl ass. All it ta kes is a produ cti on 250 m oto crosser and a change of ti res. A few m ore m inor changes, like rubber co vers on the pegs and rem oving the front brak e and the bike is ready . A steel shoe and leathers are recommended, but good motocro ss gea r and a little body armor will work on all but the bi gger tracks. Although the class debut ed to a lig ht turnout at Moh av e , Cycle News ed itor Scott Rousseau appeared to have a load of fun as he rode to the m ain event win aboard a lowered 2000 Yama ha YZ250. Bill Kiri akidi s, on an olde r Hond a CR, and Kevi n Green. in his first flat track race, had th e minimum done to their bik es, namely a tire change. On the track, none of the motorcycles had any peculiar ha nd ling, and the raci ng was extreme ly close, with Rousseau getti ng the win onl y after being dogged by Kiriakid is in the final laps. Green rolled to third. "It was pretty easy to ride ," Rousseau said . "We're still learni ng things on thi s m otorcycl e, but I'd like to thank White Brothers for building it. I'm sure tha t there 's a few more handling secrets that we can unlock. For peo ple who were th ink ing abo ut com ing out to race th is class but didn't, well , th ey m issed out. This is a total blast." The loc atio n of the race may be th e reason for low rider turnout, but with th e series rolling into centr ai California, there shoul d be no shortage of rider s in thi s true grass roots entry level cla ss at futu re events. Fred Windum BRIEFLY. •• Alter winning at Mohave, Johnny M u r p h ree said that he was looking forw ard to getting back into the swing of things at the National level. Murphree and his Coziahr Harley-Davidson team are scheduled to contest the first tw o rounds of the Wren chead.com Nation al Dirt Track Series in Fort Wort h. Texas. and Indianapolis respectively - before heading to Harrington . Delaware. for the May 20 round of the AM A/Progressive Insurance U.S. Flat Track Championships. "We're going to run both series. and I'm just going to get in as many laps as I can." Murp hree said. " lf there are two classes . then I'm going to run them bot h. I'm not sure about conflicting dates. I don't think that there are any unti l furt her dow n th e road . so maybe we will see w here we are in the series standings at that point. I don' t think that anybody is com mitted anything so far. For me it is all up to Tim Coziahr and the guys at the shop. whateve r they want to do ." D on Hart of Salinas. California, walked away with the Continental Tires Pole Award - a brand new Co ntinental Milestone tire and one bonus point - alter posting the fastest Open-class qualifying time during time trials. " It's coo l, and diff erent. " Hart said. " It just puts more pressure on yo u than if yo u would have qualified second or third. But it's coo l. Sometimes the rest of the night doesn't go your way ." Hart had one of those nights. as he was force d to come thro ugh a semi in order to make the main-event field . wher e he finished fo urth. Jeff J ohnson earned the ti re and one bonus point for posting the fastest Open Vinta ge time. S cott Rousseau earned the ti re for win ning the fa stest 250cc N ovic e M od ified Production heat race , althoug h no b on u s poin t is given in that cla ss . O regon Cascade Water re-upped it s con tract to be the off icial bott led wate r for Gen e Romero 's E·moola.com We st Coa st Flat Track Series. Oregon Cascade Wate r president Dennis Pinheiro - a series competitor himself - provides bottled water for the teams in competition at all West Coast Fiat Track Series events and posts $100 as the title sponsor for the Open Vintage Dash For Cash. Oregon Ca scade is also the presenting sponsor of the trop hy numberplate for the rider who sets the fastest time during time trials. Jeff Johnson wo n the Dash for Cash. while Don Hart took home the trophy for sett ing the fastest Open-class time. At Mohave. Jeff Johnson 's team owner , Harold Hanvey. posted $50 fo r the Open Trophy Dash and another $50 in the Oregon Cascade Dash For Cash. Series promoter Gene Romero stated that while he was - embarrassed " by the turn of events in the Open Vintage class , he wa s pleased with the way that the night had gone."That IHerrera incidentl was a mistake on our behalf." Romero said. " But I do feel that the event was a tot al success . W hat made me the most happy was that nobody got hurt and every body had fun - or at least it appeared that way . I was very pleased with the way the staff operated. and I was very pleased with the amount of riders we had. This one of the best turnouts that we have ever had for a West Coas t Flat Track Series race." Approximately 75 riders entered the Mohave event. Speaking of riders not getting hurt. there we re but two minor crashes dUring the night' s program. Jeff Johnson high-sided his pristine Triumph 750 in turn one while attempting to win his Open heat race. and Robert Seay iow -sided in about the exact same spot on the seco nd to last lap of the Open main event. Both riders walke d away uninjured. M o re than a few ride rs we re surprised by the performance of O pe n Vintage wi nner Robert Cunn ington and his Knight Racing Honda CB450. espe cially considering that the bike utilizes a stock frame. Some even noted that the bike emitted a pleasing exhaust note that is reminiscent of a Honda RS750 . " I gues s that's just the way it fires ," builder Bill Knight said. " Really, there is nothing radical about it. I did some stuff , like cams. pistons and head wo rk. but we didn't change the stroke or make it a tw ingle. In fact. the lower end is stock. The pipes are Mert Lawwill pipes from an XR750." How much more sacrilegious can one get? Lucky Lane: Despite finishing seventh in the Open main event. Mickey Lane had a couple strokes of good fortune when he came away with both the Ron Wo od Racing Top Performer Award and was also the w inner of the Progressive Suspe nsion Quick Draw . Lane earned t he Top Performer award by virtue of being the highest·placing finisher to list Wood- Rotax as his brand of motorcycle (of course. that is what he rode as we lD. It just so happened that the number of the Qu ick Draw fo r M ojave wa s th e number seven, whic h is th e po sition w here Lane finished , so he wi ll be receiving a new pair of Pro gressive ' s 12 Se ries shock abso rbe rs . Pro gressive Suspe ns io n is the off icial suspens ion of the W est Coas t Flat Track Series. The Quick Draw will altern ate betw een the Ope n and Ope n Vintage Classes throughout the remainder of the series. eye I e n e vv s MAY 17, 2000 31

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