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/128618
e -rn oo ta .corn W e s t Coast Fl a t T r a c k S e r ie s R o u n d 3 : Mid-St a t e F a ir g r o u n d s S T O RY BY S COTT R OU SSEAU P HOT OS BY D ENN IS vou, PASO ROBLES, CA JUNE 3 , A la ck of m edi c al insuran ce kept ~ defendin g c ham p ion Ro n n ie Brow n from rac ing round two of Gen e Rome ro 's e- moo la .c o m West Co a s t Fl a t Tra ck Series , but when ro u nd t h re e rolled to the Mid -State F ai r g rounds in Paso Rob les , Brown wa s determin ed t o let n oth in g , a n d no body , stop him. Arm e d with tw o medi ca l ins ur ance polic ies , a wicked -fast Brow n's Cycle s / Rod La ke Ra cin g Rota x and a ser io us de termi nat ion to no t b e beaten befo re an e nth us a s tic c ro wd of 20 00 of h is hom etown fol ks , th e 31 -year -old Br own d e stro y ed th e co m pe ti t ion e n rout e t o his fir st West Coast Flat Tra c k S erie s win of th e yea r. In th e fa ce of stiff competition tha t inc lud e d fo rm er series e ve nt winn er Stev e Mayfield , fo rm e r c h a m pio n Lonnie Pa uley a nd a new th re at in th e form of s print ca r ra ce r Rod Spen c er , Brown s hi ned o n a tigh t, c ushio ne d e ig hth -m ile bullring th at sli c ked off co nsidera bly in th e m a in eve nt. He pu lled a way fro m th e sta rt an d even la pped some of the fie ld before tak ing the c heckered fla g in the 16-lap fea tu re . Th e win wa s th e cappe r o n a n ig ht t h a t inc lu de d a cla im to the Cont int e nt a l T ires Po le Awa rd afte r Br own c ut th e o n ly s u b-13 seco nd qua lifying la p , a trophy da sh vict or y, a nd th e K&N F ilt er c h arg e r Aw ard after Brow n grabbe d th e ho lesh ot in th e ma in eve nt. He c ou ldn 't hav e won any mor e . 48 JUNE 2 1 , 2000 ' c ue I e "I ca me out her e , a nd I looked at th e ra c etra c k , a nd see n that it h ad slic ke d up a little bit , and I knew th at it was goi ng to ta ke cons istent la ps in th e m ain ev e nt, " Brown s a id. "Yo u needed to us e th rottl e control, ha ving a high -horsepower bike like we were riding out her e . I c ame in he re with an upbeat attitud e , and I kn e w th at if I didn 't win th e main event , I was still going to be happy kn owing that we cam e in here a nd we put on a good show. I'm s toked about the c rowd . I love seeing a ll the fan s in th e s ta nds at these ra c es , and I hope th at Gene 's series kee ps this mome nt um up and takes it into the next race. Spencer wou nd up fin ishing second in t he main event , battling his wa y from a second- row sta rt a board a n a n t iq ua t ed 350 c c Ka wa s aki Bigh orn short -tra ck m a c hine . Ant iqu at e d o r n ot , Sp e n c er h ad t he ma c hine s hrie king as he tore thro ugh the pa ck thro ug ho ut th e m a in . Paul e y a nd Brown wer e about even a s the y s moked it into turn one, but Brown got un der Pa uley and took the lead down th e ba c k stra ig ht , wh ile Mayfield and Rand y Be rem an ra n s ide by s ide . To ny Souz a he ld fifth, with Spen cer running th e outside , try ing to s q ua re the co rners a nd dr ive up the inside . It wasn't long be for e he fou nd s uccess, a nd began pick ing off th e riders in fron t of him one by o ne. "A f r ie nd of m in e who liv e s in G il roy p u t t h is bi ke toge t her , " Spe nc er sa id of his unus ual mou nt. "This is jus t my third tim e o n it , a nd I ha ve n't ridden some of th es e since I was a Pro Novic e in 19 76 . It 'just kind o f we nt m y wa y . I mad e so me n e vv s Defending se ries champion Ronnie Brow n (1) cu1 under Lonnie Pauley (5 6) t o ta ke t he le ad and go on to w in the Open A main event during round three of Gene Ro m e ro's e -moola.com W e st Coast Flat Track Series in Paso Ro b les, Ca lifornia. c h a nges o n the b ik e bec au s e I h a d seen that the tra ck wa s c ha ngi ng. We worked th e o utsi d e in one an d tw o a nd were low down th ere [thre e and four]. I was just in th e right pla c e at the right tim e ." By th is tim e , Brow n wa s o ver a h alf s t rai g h t a wa y in fr on t , w it h Pa u ley cl ing ing to second , a he a d o f Berem an , Ma yfie ld a n d Spencer. B m ain e ve nt winn er Ma rk Swa y was a ls o rid ing like a m an p osse s sed, b ullin g hi s wa y tow a rd th e front o f th e pa ck . T he n Bere m a n 's h ike s t alled . He wo uld e ve nt ua lly re fire it and fini s h 10th. Th en Pau ley s uffered a s imilar fa te , pulling off and ultimate ly being cre d ite d with 15th pla ce . Tha t left S pencer an d Ma yfie ld to d uk e it out fo r the s econ d s pot, whic h S p en c e r c lai me d j u st b efor e th e ha lfway fla gs . Mayfield la nded th ird at th e wire , with S eay ha ving worked all ra c e lo ng to move in to t he fo urth s po t , a he ad o f Dan n y Rit ch ie , Rob Da m ro n , S o uza , Mearl Barnett a nd Anth on y Giammanco . "I'll te ll yo u what, I c a n 't bel ie ve th at Rod mak es th at thi ng wo rk th e wa y th a t h e d oe s," Mayfie ld s a id . "He's a he ll of a rider. Th e tra c k got rea l, rea l s lic k, a nd yo u ju st kin d of had to tip -to e a ro und . I had a p retty good time, but I wish th a t they could ha ve kept a littl e m ore m oi st u re in th e track . I'm s ure tha t the y did th e be st th e y co uld . It just kind of turned into a one- line r." In a batt le of o ld vs . new, J oe Ca rre ra a n d hi s Yamaha T T 500 o u td ue led Ri c h a rd Po ll o ck and h is Yama ha YZ4 26F for 10th pla c e. Earli er in th e night , Ca rre ra was th e ma n of th e hour in th e Open Vin tag e cl a s s , ra c in g t o a hard -fou ght w in ov e r Mearl Ba rn et t and Br ad Spen cer in th e m a in e ve nt, o n ly to le a rn th at the main e ve nt would ha ve to be re -run du e to the fa ct that it was a cci denta lly run o ut of seq ue nce , and thus som e o f the rid ers wh o a re e m broiled in th e series c ha m pions hip c hase wer e not ca lled o ut to th e track for the main ev ent. After exchanging a few words with We st Coast Flat Track Series referee Bo b Hill, Carrera had no alternative but t o remount hi s Yam aha TT500 a nd try to do it all aga in. The restart didn't bode we ll for him e ithe r, as he was jammed back to fifth, behind Barnett, Jimm y Rad er , Mike Gonza lez , and Brad Spen c er - th e th ird -p la c e finisher in the discounted ma in event. Ca rrera began working the ou tside in turn s o ne a nd two to goo d effect, bu t th e ra c e wa s halte d when Bo b This c lose: The Open Vintage class was an all-out war, w ith Joe Carrera (86) w inning the A main event after had it to be re-run. Mear! Barnett (97) finished second. After finishing third the first time, fast qualifier Brad Sp encer (7M) was 12th in the official main ev e nt.