Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

DMRA Cross Country Series ound 5: China H H at areScrambles R Griffith Tips China Hat By ing. " Oh, o ne other th ing: The sec o nd loop is a little m or e techn ical , and there are a few whoops ." T h e 180-r ider race bega n wit h a 1 0 0 -fo ot m in i-bom b run to the fi rst trail. Withi n tha t stretch of real estate, th e rider positi on s wer e se t for m o st o f th e race . An y p ass was either a gu ts y m ove or a c apita lizatio n on someon e else 's err or. On c e th e " freig ht train " had str etched out, however, the first loop was w ide-open desert racing at it s best. By mile 15, fifth -gear sec tions and a much -app re ciated crosswind had g iven the riders a chance to feel their oats. A fter stoppi ng for gas , the second loop sent the riders into the dreaded lava fields for some hard-core technical riding. T his is where a lot of race rs . ma de the ir moves and pulled off some passing. A ft er five to 10 miles of teeth grinding tortu re , the cou rse head ed into th e pumice whoops for 20 - yes , 20 - miles. If you 've never d on e 20 miles of pumice whoops when it' s gO degrees a nd you r to ngue is coated with dirt , you sure ly haven't lived yet. Just when th oughts of ki lling th e venerable Bill y Toma n began to enter th e racers' m inds, the course opened up aga in for the fina l sprint t o th e checkers on some high -sp e ed , swee pi ng trails t h roug h t he pon d erosa p in es. This event was an other exa mp le of the diversity betw een races in the Oregon Mot orc ycl e Rid ers As sociation Cross Country Seri es. After three o r fou r hours of inde scribable fun , the c ontest ants filtered in with tears of j o y and no th ing but pra ise and g ratitude . The Lo bos have successfu lly brought back an event to an area tha t was temporaril y off limits to competition . Oth er cla ss wi nners hi dden in the dust included Larry O li ver, w ho wo n the 250cc Expert d ivision , and Sk ip Ha ugstad , w ho wa s on a tea r in the 20 0c c E xp er t class . H a u g s t a d a b sconde d w i t h t h e hol esho t and passed m ost of the ri de rs in front of h im w ith his po int - it -an d -p in -it sty le o n h i s C R 12 5 . W a lt e r Schwa rz , aboard his TTR ·325, rema ins u nd ef e at ed in t he Fo ur - Stro ke E x p e r t class , and Rich ard Wil son edged his arch nem esis Joe Barr ell in the 50 cc cla ss. In th e Amat eur rank s, Leighton S he nick to o k th e 200 c c c l a ss t o sc ho o l , and Ray Ca rpen t er J r. wo n the Open Amateur divisio n . Althou g h an ov era ll Amat eur winner c ou ld not be awa rde d (as in the Ex pert cl asses), Carpenter was the fi rst Amat eur to the ch eckers. eN A DA M A CHEPOH L MIW CAN, OR, JUNE 4 c ott Gr iffi th wo n th e AA honors at the Ch in a Hat Hare Scrambles in th e E ast Fort Ro ck OHY Area aft er st raig hte ni ng ou t a c ourse -m ark ing sn afu at th e halfwa y mark . Gri ffith ripped through the first 35-mile loop so quickly that th e club didn 't have time to rer ibbon the start area, resulting in a seve ral -mi nute delay to find the seco nd-loop t rail. In th e mea ntime, top Open Ex pert J ason Dan iel fo und the trail right away and enjoyed a du st -free rid e fo r the secon d 3 5 mile loop. D an iel was the fir st rider in at the end of the d ay , but time adj ust m ent an d t he dust f ac to r ga v e th e no d to Gr iffi th . T hese two rid er s were th e lucky o ne s . T he h igh -d esert h ills of t h e D es c hu tes National F or est hadn 't received an y rain for weeks, and the dus ty co nditio ns dete rm ined th e o utco me of the rac e before it even started. Cl ass starts were sepa rat ed by as mu ch as fi ve m inutes, to a ll ow the blindin g dust from the trail t o clear. Passing was almost impossi ble , so a goo d sta rt was cri tical. KTM 2 5 0 m ounted Gr iffith was all sm iles at th e end of th e eve nt. "T hi s was my fi rst w in in th e AA c lass . T h e co urse was aw esome . I j ust w ish Ric k and Trav is we re here today ," Gr iffith said, referring to Rick B ozar th a nd Tr a vi s B amford , tw o other to p co ntenders in th e series . Perennial O ver 3 0 Expert Ch ampio n D a v id Mo rt on c augh t u p t o t he wa ve in front of him early and beg an the du st y busin ess of overt aking. "Passing riders on th e second loop w as a l o t ea sie r ," sa i d t h e Ta y l or Honda/Kawasak i/C lark e Manufa cturing -backed CR250 rider. "The roc k y sections and the t i g hte r w oods br o ugh t the dust level down . I coul d almost see m y front fender!" Th e Lobos Mo torcycle Club host ed th e event , wo rking hand in hand w ith the U.S. For est Serv ic e to bring back a competi ti on eve nt to the East Fort Rock OHy,tra il system , also known as Ch in a Hat. Using new trail -rehabil itation t echniqu es immed iately afte r th e event all ow ed them to get a per mit from the Deschut es N ational Forest . The co urse used exi sti ng trail s in the system , taking adv antage of one of th e m ost orga nized OHY ar eas in th e Northwest. "T he w ate r truck broke down th is m orning . so the 68 -mile course might be a little du st y ," said legenda ry tr ail bo ss Billy Toman at th e rid ers m eet - S 56 J UNE 28 , 2 0 0 0 ' EO U c I e n e _ s Ch ina Hat Hare Scrambles: Mark Gre ll (22Y), Jeremy Pu ma (2Y), Derek Stea hly (2XY) and Jon Dev orak (lOY) lo ok for the li ne in the sagebrush start of th e 250cc Expe rt class in Mill ican, Oregon. China Hat Ha Scrambles re Millican, Oregon Results: June 4. 2000 IRound 5 of 1ZI AA : 1. Scott Griffith ; 2. Will iam J ordaine. O PEN EX: 1. J ason Daniel; 2. Shaun Jones ; 3. Bart Uding: 4. Jason Math eny: 5 . J ohn Raisin . 250 EX: 1. Larry O l iver: 2. Jeremy Puma : 3 . Derek Steah ly ; 4. J ason Cole: 5. Jon Devcrek. 200 EX: 1. Skip Haugst ad; 2. Tom Clo use : 3. Ted Ostlu nd; 4 . J ames Wilson ; 5 . Kenny Stee hly. 4 · ST RK EX : I . Wa lter Sc hwe ra: 2 . Do n Twomb ley ; 3. Don Matheny. 30 EX: 1. David Morton; 2. Brian Svedin ; 3. Greg Summers: 4. Adam Ac hepohl ; 5. J . Micha el McBrady. 40 EX: 1. Bill Dowers; 2. David Winters; 3. Steve Salmon ; 4. David Hilt on; 5 . Steve Trenhaile. OPEN AM: I. Ray Carpen ter .Jr.: 2. Mike Pillster; 3. Stephen Stanley; 4. ~rk Hopseeger; 5. Jeff Pratt. 250 A M : I. Chris Cham bers; 2. Kurt Vanderpool; 3. Brya n Smith; 4. John TllIggart ; 5. Ross Read. 20 0 AM : 1. Leigh ton B. Shenlck: 2. Ryan Serns: 3 . Kevin Humbard; 4 . Scott Autry; 5. Brod y Jensen. 4 -S T R K AM : 1. Jaso n K enn ed y : 2 . K evin Bridges ; 3 . T im Kaufman: 4 . Cory Men e le y; 5. Chadwick Jon es. 30. AM : 1. Morris Edw ards J r.; 2. Mik e Kil by; 3. Don Huffman ; 4 . Denn y Day; 5. Scou Durr. 40. AM : I. Mik e Em ery ; 2. P" t Sams; 3. Ron Baker ; 4 . Gary Bernards; 5 . Randy Haugstad. 5 0 : 1. Richard Wil son ; 2. .Joe Barrell: 3. Gary Forste r: 4 . Randy Will iam s; 5. Dan M~nel ~y . 60: 1. Wall y Fle nner; 2. Jim McClella n; 3. Morris Edw ards Sr.; 4. J im Bums . SPTSMN: I . Bryon Epping: 2. J eff Crump: 3. Tob y Harper; 4. C. Da vid Wasson; 5 . Steve L inse . WM N : 1. Jud y W i nt er s; 2 . Lo rn i .Je rmie : 3 . Chri stie Durr; 4 . Tammy Cole; 5. Meli ssa Kintz. JR : 1. Greg Salmon ; 2. Steve MlItson . Monster Mountain Fisher, Tipping Split Mother's Day 'Win s By STEVE A N D P EGGY C O RLEE TALLASSEE, AL, MAY )3· 14 errick Fishe r and Ja rr ett Ti ppi ng eac h stood atop th e podi u m in their respective classes, as Pro ride rs from as fa r away as t he Lo ne St a r State came to the beautifu l Monster Mountain facility to try for a share of the gigantic Pro purse . On Satu rd ay afternoon. temperatures hovere d n e a r the gO -degree mark; however, tra ck m anager Johnny Borders and th e South ern Dirt crew, headed by Greg Cole, had anticipated the dry co nditions and had been watering and work ing th e track surface since Thursday , so dust was not a problem . In add ition t o the Amateur p rogram, a Mon ey cl ass was offered on Saturday to all ow any Pro riders arriving early to g et in so me additi o n al track time. This week , th is cla ss was c o m b in ed w ith the 12 5cc B cl as s . W h en t he dust cleare d , H onda ' s Sha ne Lusk stoo d atop th e 125 c c B podium , ahea d of Fl o rida riders Brian Gray an d J ordan Peep les. J on B oy Monk was the top Pro rid er, besting Hal Martin and Phill ip Anderson . In the Mi ni div ision , a lar ge turnout of as pi ring rid er s m ad e fo r a su per sh o w. Kawa sak i - mo un te d Br adl ey Wri ght t o pp ed both the 80 c c Junior and 65 -80cc Yo uth classes . T ra ili ng D Wri ght in th e Junio r class was Geor gia 's Ch risti an Gibney and loc al ri der Ka rl Harri son . J esse Van Patten and Chase Borders fo llowed Wright home in th e Youth class. T h e sup e r Pro pu r se pa id o ut m o nthly at Mon st er Mo untain usually m e ans that the Pro c lasses a re amo n g th e la rgest classes of the weeke nd , an d t h is m on th was n o excepti on. A total of 14 250cc ride rs were in attend an ce on Sund ay , and a l th oug h tw o d ifferent ri de rs w ere able to win a moto , nei the r rid er was able to achieve the overall class win. W hen t he ga te d rop ped in moto one, Suzuki of Dalton 's Derr ick Fisher g rabbed the start, followed by Ala ba m a ' s C lark St il es an d Te n nessee 's Paul Justus. On the second lap , Fi sh er we nt down , ha nding the lead to St il es. (F isher also sus ta ined inj uries th at kept h im from sta rti ng the second 250 cc m oto , although h e w a s still ab l e to t ake w ins i n bo th 125 cc ra c es.) Stiles c o ntin ue d t o lead for ' sev e r a l lap s until h e ca me un d e r treme ndous pressur e fro m Justus late in th e rac e and fin all y, with two laps to go, he went down, handing the lead and the eventual m oto win to J ustu s, fo llowed by J arrett T ipping and Monk. Geo rgia 's Sean Dukes grabbed the m ote-tw o hol eshot, followed by Stiles , T ipping and Ju stu s. Du k es l ed the

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