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/128623
2 4 th Annual AMA D irt T r a c k Grand Championships (Left and below) Carter Myers (1 N) earned the 85cc Mod TT win, while Michael Butler ( 1) scored the 30. short track win during the fi rst two days of action at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Lawrenceburg Motorcycle Speedway lAWRENCEBURG. IN, JUNE 30-JULY 1 he o peni ng rounds of the 2000 AMA Dirt T rack Grand Champ i onsh ips we re h e ld at th e Lawrenceburg Motorcycle Speedway in L awrenceburg . Indiana , wit h t h e first round featuring the Sho rt T rack pro gr am . T h e w ea t h er wa s h o t an d d r y w h ich un fo rt un at el y resulted in less th an opt im um trac k condition s, esp eciall y for the Gr oup I events , wh ich were run in th e daytim e. Rid ers tha t slipped o f th e groove found them selves in a dr y c ush io n that offer ed littl e b it e and man y youngst er s learned a hard lesson on the ben efits of throttle co nt ro l and the resu lts from lack of it. Som e 1 1 ri d ers li n ed up for th e 85 c c (9- 13) start , a nd Joh n Lew i s cha r ged in t o th e lead fro m h is po le position . foll ow ed by Carte d M yers , Johnny Coop er, Bobby Fong and the re st of the field . O n the seco nd lap Fon g slid down in tu rn tw o, bri nging ou t t he firs t red flag and a res t art. L ew i s agai n got t he h ol esh o t a n d we nt wire to wi re fo r his fir st win of the day . Ca rter Myers took sec o nd . fo llowed by Cory Long . Walker Br ightwell charged into th e lead in th e 50 cc (4-6) final , wi th Pat J aco bs en , Troy Desim o ne ,' and Ba i ley Sp ence in hot pur sui t . Brightwell and Ja co bsen op ened up a gap ov er t h ird p lac e , a nd o n t h e fou rt h l ap J aco bsen go t by B rig ht we ll and proceed ed to check o ut, winning by a full st rai ghta wa y over Brigh twell who in turn h ad a st r ai g hta w a y le ad o v er Desim on e. Wh en th e light we nt green in the 85 c c ( 7 - 1 1) feature , 12 riders TJ J ULY 26 , 2 0 00' cue I Ch a n c e M cC orm i ck too k se c ond whi le Anthon y Fong J r. got by T ob y St ay on th e last lap to c apture third . Ricky Marsha ll got the hol eshot in th e 125c c Mod cl ass and led the fi eld onto the ba ck str et ch where he was pa ssed by Logan My ers and Sh awn Bu r r. All this went down th e d ra in when the rid ers we re greet ed by a red flag o n the fr on t stretc h du e to a rid er go ing down on the st art. A co m plete restart saw J ared Mee s em erg e as th e race le ader w ith Co ry Wes t ca m ped on his rear wh eel. The pai r sep arated from another battl e over third place between Brya n Dougla s and Bur r. On the seventh la p, Bla k e You ng go t into t he fence , b rin g ing o ut th e red fla g and a single file resta rt fo r a three -lap shootout. Mees got th e hol eshot o n th e restart , but West took th e lead back in turn th ree, wh il e Douglas and Burr resum ed th eir battle over th ird . A t the fi nish it wa s West foll owed by Mees and Douglas . Th e 5 0cc Seni o r c la ss start was a borte d w h e n Anth on y Fo ng .Jr ., Ty ler Pitman. and Dale Wakefiel d Jr. jum ped th e lig ht and were sent back t o t he p ena lty lin e. On th e re sta rt , J essi e Lo ng g rabb ed th e lea d and held it fo r a lap wh en Pitman got into the fen ce , bringi ng out the red flag . Lon g wo uld let Chance McC o rmi ck m o v e u p to se co n d . On lap s i x , bac k st re t c h . S m ith qui ck l y" got by Hiler and then bumped his wa y past Mitc he ll to t a k e th e l e a d. H i l e r m o ved i n t o sec ond w he n S mi th passed M ith chel I. Later , M it chel l repassed Hiler to take over sec o nd. At the finish it was Smith , M i tchell and Hiler The Over 50 feature ran on ly one lap before J oe Matthews Sr. fell co m ing o ut o f tu rn two , brin g ing ou t the red fl ag and a rest art. Jim Bec k the n go t the lead and held it for tw o la ps before J ohn Wa rren got by him. A few la p s later Jim Bau erle moved Bec k b ac k to th ird . W he n the c h eck er ed flag c am e o ut it was W arren , Baure le, Beck , and th e rest of the fi eld. Beck was th e oldest rider in th e entire program at th e tender age of 69 . Th e 250cc M odi f ied fea tu re saw Cory McDermitt get the hol eshot and go wi re t o wire for his win . J ac ob Johnson wa s ca m ped on McDe rmitt's r ea r w heel an d made h im ea rn it. J ared Me es took th e third spo t. M ike But l er to o k t he po le in the Over 30 fe ature. got the ho leshot and took the win . Phil Wolf fin ished sec on d. foll owed by Matt McQuill in . T he 60 0c c Mod ified feature turned out to be a very fast , in ten se pa rad e. T he field was very eve nly ma t ch ed in t erm s of r ider skil l an d equip m ent, a nd t h e onl y pa ssi ng o p po rt u ni ti es nn S TO RY BY J O HN S PU RRIER P HOT OS BY D A VE H A WKINS 42 Schwarzenbac h er f ell in tu rn t hree, br in g ing o ut th e red fla g and a rest art . On the rest art Weidman aga in took th e po int whil e An th on y F o n g J r . blew by McCormick to take th e seco nd s p ot. M cC o rm ick pr omp t l y re passed F on g t o re gai n t he spot. wh ile Wei dma n ch ec ked o ut fo r th e wi n. M c Co rmi ck fi ni sh ed se c o n d , ahea d of Fon g . Th e f i r st G r ou p 11 event of t h e evening was t h e 250cc Pr o Sp ort fina l , w ith six rider s li ni ng up for th e sta rt. Whe n th e light went green Tim Mitchell l ed Li sa Hil er , Bryan Sm ith and th e rest of th e pack o ut onto th e e cha rg ed into turn o ne. but only n in e ri d e r s c a me o u t o n t o th e b a c k st retch. Ed d i e B lack w ent down in turn two wh il e Joh nn y Coo p er and T rav is Henric hs bit th e dust in turn o ne. On th e resta rt . John Lewis too k o ver th e lead in tu rn three and led for a lap before another rid er we nt do wn in turn four. T h e si ng le- file restar t saw Lewis. Justin Hittl e, and Joe Hernandez in th e fi rst three sp ot s. On th e rest art, Lewi s went wi re to wir e for his second wi n of the day, building a full stra ightaway lead over T rav is M ye r s and Justin Hittle. Pat Ja cobsen got th e hol esho t in the Pee W ee 50 c c ( 4 - 8 ) fina l an d w ent wi r e t o w ire f o r his w in ove r Rob er t B o ulis, Tr o y D e s im on e . Stev en Cr o w ell a nd th e res t o f t he fi eld. Cod y Hu mphrey g ot the ho leshot in the 8 5c c (1 2- 15 ) fea ture but gave up th e lead i n tu rn t w o w h en h e moved out. and three riders went by him. J esse J an isch led at the end of the fi rst lap, but Ca rter Myers passed Janisch go ing into tu rn one to take a lead that he held to the fin ish , followed b y D e v on Jessop. Frankie Lane an d Ja nisch were ba ttling over third place in turn fo ur. Lane moved Ja nisch out, and Cl ay ton Riggle took adva ntage of th e openi ng to go under the pair and gra b a th ird-pl ac e fi nish. J ohn Lewi s got the ho leshot in th e 65 cc DTX (7- 11) cl ass and im me d i ate ly m ov ed o ut to a four -bik e lead on th e firs t lap . Unfo rtu nat ely his lead wa s sho rt- li ve d as Dev on J on es and Ca see McCammon we nt down in turn tw o bringing o ut th e re d f lag and a restart. On the res tart Lew is agai n go t the lead bu t slid off the groo ve. and fo ur riders go t by him . Matt Weidman w ork ed h i s wa y to the fr on t of th e pa ck a nd ca me hom e th e w inn er. n e vv 50