Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

1 6th A n n u a l D in a D a z e Vintage M X/Dirt T r a c k S TORY A N D PH OT OS BY CLA Y L IGHT MCCLEARY, WA, JUNE 3-4 rc;' o r the sec on d year in a row , OreL.r gon 's Grayso n Ha rt was a threeclass winner during the motocross portion of the 16th annual Dino Daze Vintag e E xtravaganza , held at the Thurston County ORV Park. But this ye ar, Hart did one better by also w inning th e prestigiou s Gran Prix held at th e co m p l eti o n o f th e m ot o cr o ss event. Hart won th e 125, 25 0cc and Ov er 30 A cla sses . dominating the competi t i on at the T a c oma Mo t or c y cl e Club -sp onsored eve nt. Hart's win in t he Gran Prix - o pe n to all A -cl ass w inn ers - et ch ed t he Portla nd -area rid er's name on the Din o Da ze Per petua l Trophy along with som e other stellar performers fro m the past : J im Pomeroy , Doug Gran t , Buck Mu rp hy and Dallas Nyblod , to name a few. During Sunda y 's Dirt Track eve nt, D on M ontgome r y , N ick Sm ith a nd Dick Wascher w ere double -cl ass wi n ne r s . M on t g om er y , a fo r me r AM A Exp ert , wo n the Over 4 0 an d Open F our-St ro k e A m a in ev ents , w hi le Yamaha -mou nted Wasc h er l an d ed th e 250c c Li ght w eig ht and A lmo st Vin tage c lass wins . Smith continu ed h is wi n steak at t he ev ent with h is w ins i n t h e Brake l ess an d Prem i er Fou r -Stroke fina ls. W ash ing ton ' s N yblod , w ho , until th e e m e rg ence o f Har t in t h e m id 1990s, was the dom in ant for ce o n the No rt hwest Vi nt age Motocro ss scene , ga v e H art ch as e in t h e 125 and 2 50cc A clas ses, b ut Nyblod would suffer a disappointing DNF while battling wi th Ha rt in 12 5 cc ac t ion and would later fi ni sh second t o Hart in 36 JUNE 28 , 2000' cue I e the 250cc d ivision . Nyblod , though , ca me back strong to w in the Over 40 A c la ss a head of Montana's Tom Rap p . Rap p led a contingent of out -ofstaters , many coming f r o m as fa r away as Arizona to race . "I wou ldn't m iss th is race unless I was deadly sick," Rapp , th e fo rm er Team Bultaco r ide r , sa id . " It ju st doesn 't get any better than this. The atmosphere and the people ma k e th is the best vintage event." Ha rt n etted a t ri o of w in s in t he 12 5, 2 50 cc and Over 3 0 q ua li f ier s, his cl os est co m pe titio n being Yama h a-m ounted Ny b lod i n t he seco nd 250cc prelim in ar y , wh ile former AMA 6 00cc National Dirt T rack Cha mpion M ickey Fay edged Oregon's J im Row t o wi n h eat one , p ro v in g t h at F a y coul d rid e fast on a m ot ocross track . N y b lod in iti a ll y ga v e H a rt chal le nges in th e 125c c rn ain ev ent , but at th e com p le tion o f th e first o f six lap s, Hart had c hecked out o n t he c o m pet itio n, wi t h th e ex ce p t io n o f Nybl od , a nd was n e v e r ser i o u s l y c ha lle nged . Ny b lod sta yed w i t hi n striking distan ce of Hart , but N ybl od 's fi ne rid e came to an end o n the nextto -last lap. N yb lod 's CR sp utte red to a st op allowing Oregon 's J oe Ca sey t o settl e into second, where he wo uld finish , na rro wl y ed g in g Ry an Ta yl or for th e posit ion . Hart ca me ba ck o ne race lat er to put his 1974 Honda CR250 into th e l e a d a t t he wav e o f B o b Mall e y 's green fl ag , si g naling the un leashing of the 2 50cc A final. N yb lod , Ca sey , Row and th e Montesa -mo unt ed F ay held down th e top-fi ve po siti on s, but it was Hart and Ny bl od wh o pu t la rg e ground on the rest of th e fiel d in their cl ose confronta t ion for th e lead , a n e vv s Grayson Hart (72) and Dallas Nyblod (2) were never more than this far apart in the 250cc A final at the 16th running of the Dlno Daze VIntage MX and Dirt Track. pos it ion that Hart would ultimately put a lock upon to net his second victory . Nyblod finished second ahead of Casey , wh ile Row , who crashed and rebounded quickly, nabbed F ay late in th e final to grab fourth . The unp r ec ed e nt ed three -class dominat ion by Hart was fi nalized afte r Ha rt m a in t a in ed a six -seco nd lead a he ad of C ase y a n d Yam aha r ide r Ro n F i sh t hro u g h out t h e O v er - 30 f ina l. Casey a nd Fi sh stag ed a cl imactic battl e to th e fini sh , but Fish en co u n te re d me c ha nica l probl ems allowi ng St eve Row to m ov e into th e position vac at ed by him. Fi sh , tho ug h , d idn't flounder in th e O v er 40 A fi n al , as he l ed fo rme r A M A N at ion al sta rs Rapp a nd Ron Pom eroy at the sta rt of the 10 -rid er fin al. Pomero y , rid in g a 1974 Bultaco 360 Pursang presented to him at last y ea r's eve nt by h is w ife Lyn , sliced undern eath Rapp on lap t w o , then slas hed into Fi sh' s ea rly lead . Rapp, though , retaliat ed a lap later to drop Pomeroy back to th ird. Pom eroy th en clung to th e position in a ba tt le with CZ -mo unt ed Ch r is Cl ark , where he held on to fi nis h beh ind F ish and his potent Yama ha YZ3 60 , and Rapp. Rapp's fi nal sho t at a victory cam e i n the Ov er 4 0 A fi na l. It was Pomero y , howev er , that un l eash ed the holeshot ahead o f N yb lod , but Pomeroy's quest for a win that has for yea rs eluded him wo u ld go jus t as qu i c kl y , as h i s Bu ltaco deve loped prob lems and Nyblod, runn ing in his shadow , engulfed a lead he 'd never relinquish. "T he clutch went out ," an understandably disappointed Pomeroy said . While Nyblod held the advantage, Rapp had his hands full w ith Cana da 's Wa yn e Gr imm, who would later (Above) Nick Sm ith (45) won the Premier Four-Stroke and Brakeless dirt track main events. (Be low) Ossa-mounted Dirk Murphy topped the 250cc Lightweigh t class.

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