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
24th A nnual AMA Dirt Tra ck Grand Championships (Left) Steve M u rray (2 6) looked good on t he ha lf mile at In dy, ·, m ing away w ith a w in in the 5 00cc • ' " dif ied ranks. "e low ) Jack Warren (8 2) slips around Dan Crawford (52) e n route to another 50+ win. Warren walked away with the t itle at week's end. went down on t h e first lap . On t he resta rt, Weid m a n again led the pa c k in t o t he in field follow e d by Ke ith Bo u lis , Joh n Le wis an d Toby Stay. Late in t he ra c e , Bou lis hit a backmarker a nd c ras hed . Anothe r ride r had no p lac e to go a nd crashed into Bo ulis , who got a quic k c heckup by t he t ra c k m e d ic al p e rs o nn e l then wa lked off the track . Th e race was c a lle d co m p lete, with Weidman the winner. Lew is took seco nd, follo we d by Stay. Trav is Jak ub ik led 125 c c Mod class , but Cor y West, Ja re d Me es and Ric ky Ma rs h all c ra s hed in tu rn two a nd brought out the red flag . On the res t ar t, B r ya n Do u g la s got t he ho lesho t fro m his po le posi tio n a nd led all the wa y to the c he cke red flag . Ja kubik took s econd , Tra vis Spro ng got third . Mik e Ros s charg ed into th e lead an d im m e di ate ly c hec ke d out in th e 50cc feature . At th e halfwa y point Da le Wakefield Jr. pa ssed Char les Gra y to take o ver th ird , while Kyle Des imo ne c rashed com ing into th e infie ld bring ing ou t the red flag. The restart put Wa kefie ld beh ind Gr a y , negat ing th e pas s . Ross a gain got the holeshot a nd led for th e las t four la ps to the checkered flag . Ray n Ker r took seco nd, followed by Ant ho ny Fong . T he la s t m oto rc y cl e race in t he Group I cate gory was th e 6 5cc Modifi ed F e a tur e fo r ages 7 to I I . Ma tth ew Weidman got the good start and pr o c e ede d to check out o n th e fie ld, leading by a lmost a ha lf lap a t th e ha lfwa y poin t. Bro c k Schwarzen b ach er t o ok s e c o n d , fol lowe d by Keith Bouli s , Chance McC or m ick a nd Evan Ba e r. Like Fri da y's events , the Grou p II heats a nd semis were ru n after the co m p letio n of th e Gro up I features, and as a resu lt , the Gro up II fe atu re s we re ru n in the eve n ing . T hi s a llowed t he t r a c k wo rkers to get some wat er into the track , re sul tin g in a mu ch bette r ra c ing surfa c e for th e com petito rs . Th e 2 5 0cc Pr o Sport feat ure turn ed out to be a thr ee -ride r ma tc h race between polesitter Bryan Smith , Ti m m y Mit c h e ll a nd Joh n S p inelli . Jen nifer Sn yd er was p art of thi s g roup, bu t ha d gott e n c runche d ea rlier in the ev e n ing and didn 't sta rt. At t he lig ht , Mitch e ll got th e h o le sh o t a nd led S mi th a nd Spinell i into tu rn one . Sp inelli we nt aro und Sm ith and then blew by Mitc he ll go ing int o the right -ha nder o n lap two . On the seventh la p , Sm ith wa s invo lved in a terrib le- loo ki ng cras h w h en he g ot high -s ided going into turn one . Fo rtu na te ly, he wa lke d a wa y from it , but h is ra ce wa s over. On th e re s t art , Mitch ell t rie d to gr ab th e le ad , but Spine lli he ld him off and c a me home th e winn er ahead of Mitche ll. Th e Over 50 Open feature la ste d j us t a few s e conds befor e Wend e l Wa re we nt down in turn two. Ware 's handl e bar ended up in Jim Be ck 's rear wheel , taking Beck d o wn and d ragg ing h im into the fe nc e . Ware's thro tt le stuc k wide open, fo rtu na tely J oe Ma tth ews Sr. sto pped a nd got it t u rne d off. Wa r e a n d B e c k were unhurt, bu t Ware ' s Rotax was do ne for th e evening. O n th e restart, John Warren le d th e grou p at the e nd of th e firs t lap , fo llowed by Lou Sned den , Ji m Bauerle , Matthews , Herschel Ben ke rt , a nd Beck. Th e second la p produ ced a ra th e r humorou s crash as Ma tthews s p un in th e rig ht -hander. Th e b ike c ame around , caug ht , a nd fe ll forwa rd , Matthe ws ended up flat on his ba c k with his left leg und e r the bike. Benkert jammed the bra kes , his b ik e c a me ar o u nd , caught , and Benkert was thrown forward right into Matthew's arms . They la id there like love rs until th e corner worker picked Ben ker t' s bik e up , a llowi ng Benkert to get up . On th e next restart, Wa rren aga in got th e le a d and checked out on the 44 n JULY 26,2000 ' C U c • e e vv 50 t h e pack int o turn o n e . Gord y Schop iera y, riding a XR75 0 , hit Ta y lor's re ar wheel in turn o ne and s ur vive d a tank s lapper to ke e p go ing. Thi s all owed Robert O wen s to ta ke t he seco n d spo t , a nd it t o ok Schopieray several la ps to get back by Owens. The race ran without inci dent, a nd at the finish it was Taylor, Sc hop iera y a nd Owens. Th e O ver 30 Open S ingles fea ture ha d a distinct local flavor , as three of the ride rs - Mike Butler, Joe Matthews J r. , and Matt McQu il lin - were La wren c eburg re gula rs . At the light Matthe ws Jr. led th e pa c k into turn o ne but s aw th e red flag a s McQu illin field . Matth ew s s ta lled his bike on the rig ht-ha nde r a nd retired . Lat er , Sn e dden bit th e du s t a nd ret ire d. At th e fin ish it was Wa rren by a hal f a la p ove r Bauerl e a nd Be c k. Cory McD erm itt go t th e hol e s hot in d le d Jacob John son , C ore y Hormes, and Cla yton Riggle into th e infie ld at th e start of th e 250c c Modi fied feature . Going through turn one, Bla ke Young got pus hed ou t to the fen ce a nd s ta lled h is e ngine , and then Raun Wood and J a re d Mees go t tan gled on t he turn into t he infield a nd we nt down , n e c e s sitati ng a resta rt. McD erm itt again go t th e holeshot a nd le d Johnson , Horm es , and Riggl e into the infie ld . Sh a wn Ba e r fe ll on t he second la p but re mo unted a nd ke pt going . At the e nd McD erm itt, J ohn s on , a nd Hormes we re running close to geth e r. J ohns on tried a ba nza i pass com ing out of tu rn four at th e finish , b ut Mc Der m itt won b y a w heel. Hor me s was th ird . Th e next ra c e wa s a mi x of the Over 40 class and th e 4 00c c Modified c lass, t hree ride rs in eac h c lass . At th e light, J o e Brom le y c harg ed into the lead and we nt wire to wire for his win, followe d b y C harlie Italia a nd Larry VanVa lken burg . About a ha lf la p b a c k , Dan Sha w led J eff Ha rder a nd Chis Ha thaway to win th e O ver 40 class. Th e Ov er 18 Twins featu re wa s up ne xt , a nd po lesitter Nic k T a ylor led spu n in turn t wo . O n th e res t art , Matth ews got th e h o le sh ot a nd th e lea d . Butler c a me off the line in third , p a ssed Jo h nn y Coop er in tu rn two a nd set s ai l after Ma tth e ws . O n the second la p Butler took the lead com ing o u t of the right-h ander and earned th e win . Co oper and Bromley were second and th ird , respectively . Ja co b Johnson got a monster h o le sh ot to lead th e pack int o the infield d uri ng the 600cc Mod fina l. Johnson bu ilt u p a larg e lead , with Cor y McD e rm itt be ing the on ly ride r to kee p up with hi m . Josh Tou ng ett ran th ird until he went wide a nd let Rob Pearson a nd Tom Link get by. At th e finis h it was Joh n s on b y a s t ra ig htaway over Mc De rmi tt, Pea rson a nd the rest of the fie ld . Scot Stod a rt ca me around o n the outside to take th e le ad in the 600cc Pro S port fea ture, and held it to th e fin is h. J oe l Hen son a nd Bryan Smith sta yed c lose to th e leader, finishing second a ndd th ird . Nine rider s ca me to the line fo r the 500cc Mod ified fe at ure , a nd when the light we nt gre e n, th e p a ck c harged into turn one with Cha rlie Ita lia a nd Co y Matth ews tangli ng and bring ing o ut th e red flag . O n the restart, J oe Bro m ley got th e ho le shot a nd we nt wire to wire for th e win. Wo lf came off the line in second, but Matt S chu art got by h im on th e first la p to ho ld th e spot.