Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Best in t h e D esert S ilve r- State Se r-ies R o u n d 4 : N e v ada 20CXJ on th e m , b u t y o u just feel a littl e m o re con fident w hen you know w here past (and into the first two positions ). They got Abbott go ing again , but , disoriented, he headed up the wrong tra il a sh ort d istance later and ended they 're at. " I' v e b e e n second pla c e in Pahrump t h ree t imes . Actua ll y , today , was st i ll second pla c e , but a ll I needed to do was be close at th e fin - up at a m ine , where a m in er put o ut an em ergency ca ll for help. B efo r e the rest of h is competitors reached ish . It j u st feels good to fi nis h the thing . Th e last hundred m il es wer e probably the toughest [physically) of the whole event." Street reveal ed a r ealisti c approach to the final day , say ing , " T o d ay o u r goal was just to go fast enough to win the da y , b e the fastes t bik e today , and I th ink we did tha t (they did in 3 :49: II) . W e knew that th er e was no way , not in 215 m iles, to make 12 minutes up on a guy ." Especia lly someone like Campbell who , with Staa b , managed to add Tonopah , he was being treated at a hospita l. The Nevada 2000 was now a different race, one between the two Hon das. Campbell found himself in front, both physically and on time , for th e first ti m e all week , Hengeveld/Street back about two and a half m inutes. But Campbell a lso found himse lf getting thrown from h is b ike after highs idi ng in one co rner and getting slamm ed on h is back. Although , s t rangely, he claimed to feel better fo llowing the get-off, he a lso lost a lit- an other long-d istan c e troph y to his coll ect ion . " I w asn't d i scouraged at all ," Campbell ins isted wh en a sk ed how he felt after fou r -stra ight days o f Kawa sak i two - st ro k e win s . "I kn ew c onsis tenc y was going to pl ay a big pa rt in a multi -day race, so I was j ust wa it ing fo r th e com pe ti ti o n to st um - t le tim e picking himself up and restarting, a nd his physical lead over Hengeveld/Street was l ess than th e 30-second differ ence in sta rt tim es . When th ey roll ed into T on op ah , Hengev eld/Street ow ne d th e da y w ith their 5 :09:26 to Campbell 's 5 : I 0 : I O. Am azingly, third fa st es t fo r t he da y b le . Th ey were h a v i ng a n excellen t r ide ; the y w ere riding re al w e ll , not m aki n g m ista k es , not g e tt in g any fl ats . " E very t h ing worked o ut . Just like I said at the beg inn ing of this thin g , con si stency is going to w in it [a nd w e w er e] second place ev ery da y . That's what it takes ." eN went to 2 50 cc Pros B ryan Fol ks / M att Murph y on t he ir Sp o rt sman C y cl e KTM 250 M /XC i n 5 :25:04 , ed ging o ut Bozarth /Folks ( 5: 2 5: 5 9) and t he Browns ( 5: 2 7:57) . But with Abbott/B rown d own fo r the da y , Campbell/Staab b ecame th e new overall leader s, and the y enjoyed an unoffi c i al cushi on of abou t 1 2 m inutes going into the la st d a y . Th e 21 7 miles south fro m Nevada 2000 Las Vegas, Nevada Results: July 8-1 5, 2000 T ono pa h to Pahrum p were familiar to t hose w ho' d raced T errib le ' s T o wn or Veg as to Reno, a nd it was b y far t he O / A : 1. Johnny Ca mpbell / T im Staab ( Hon ) 25:28 :57; 2. Steve Hengeveld/ Jonah Str eet ( Hon) 25 :41 :5 3 ; 3 . Ri c k Bozort h / Oory l F o l k . ( KT M ) 26 :50: 44 ; 4 . Darro l Br own/K ev in Br own ( Ha n) 27 :30:20; 5 . Dan n y Coo per / M att Gosnell (Yam) 27 :5 9 :23: 6 . Bryon Folk s/Mo" Murph y ( KT M ) 26:06 : 12; 7. Chad HouckfTex Mitchell/Phill ip Zieger (Hon ) 28 :36:24: 8. Bert Bradford/Rob Phill ips/ Cody Youn g (KT M) 29 :14 :30 ; 9 . Je ff Lun dgr een/Mark Lund green (Hbg) 29: 37 :53 ; 10 . Paul Kr ause/ Garth Sweetland (Yom) 29 :37:55 . OP EN PRO : 1. Jo hnn y Ca mp be ll /Tim Stee b (Han); 2. Steve Hengeveld/ Jonah Street (Hon) ; 3 . Destry A bbott/Bri an Br o wn ( Kaw) ; 4 . Mi k e Baxt er /R ob Zimm erman (Ya m) : 5 . Shane Esposito/Da vid Ondas (K ew). 25 0 PRO: 1. Danny Cooper /Matt Gosnell (Yarn) : 2. Bryon Folks/Moll Murphy (KTM ). • 30 PRO: 1. Rick Bo..rth /D eryl Fol ks (KTM); 2. Dar ro l Br own /K evin B row n ( Ha n ); 3 . J eff Lu ndg ree n / Mll rk Lun dgreen ( Hbg) ; 4 . M i k e Healey /Scott Morri s (Kaw). +40 PRO: I . Bill Maxi m / Ross WillilllTlS (KTM) ; 2. Charley Barney / Steve Pitts ( A T K ) ; 3. Bru ce Hendel /Ron Lawson ( Ha n ) ; 4 . Matt Barney /Cliff Motlock (Hen) . 4·5 ~4 50 PRO: 1. Peul KTlluse/Garth Sweetland (Yom ). OPEN EX: I. Chad HouckfTex Mi tchell/Phillip Zieger ( Han) ; 2. Bert Bradford/ Rob Phillip s/Cody Young (KTM) : 3. Clint Connelley /Clay Gremel/John Levie (Kaw). +3 0 EX: I . Jeff Sheets /G len n Ta y lor /Ric hard Wilk (Hbg ). +35 EX: I. Scott Gli mp /Vi ncent Reger/ Cortney ro ug hest sect io n of the race. C amp bell w o uld n ot ha v e a n eas y t im e holdin g o n to h is o v erall lead , bu t as lo ng as he st ayed w ith in 12 m in ute s of Hen g ev eld/St reet, w ho sta rted fi rst t he fin al d ay , he 'd ro ll in to th e T erri bl e' s T o wn Ca sino pa rk ing lo t the b ig w inn er. " I knew it was g o ing t o be roug h th e l a s t da y , a n d w i t h T im hu rt , , k n ew I h ad m y work c ut o ut fo r me," Ca m p b e ll a d mitt ed . " I was f ee li n g pretty g r i m today down toward the f i n i sh . I just d idn ' t w ant t o let [Hengeveld and Street , on b ike num ber ) N4 get out too fa r so , couldn't see t hem. I wan ted to keep t ab s on th em b ec a use we ha d a big cush ion Whip ple (Hon); 2. Tony Aguilera/ Kelly HaIl/J .L Wray (KTM): 3. Tommy Erv in/L ee Sum mers (KTM) . . 4 0 EX: 1. Pat Sams /L yle Pe rkin s/W illiam Perkin s ( KTM ); 2. Brian Aden /Nick Warhol (Yam) ; 3. Craig Hoem k e/ Frank Princ e/Brent Shu ster (Hon) ; 4 . Br y an Ad a ir /B ill Eddy /D av e St ew a rt : 5 . Lo r i Conway/ RllY Con....ay/Dav e Herrera (Ho n). +48 EX: 1. Rich ard Ja ck son/Alan Peppel /Robe rt Wadlow (Hon ); 2. Dav id Bley lock/Prestcn Gerber; 3. Bill Max im /AI Perr ett /R ick Platts (ver) : 4 .Ram ey Pet lcoie -Strood (Han). 4 ·5 -4 5 0 EX : I . J ac o b Cornett/B rendan Lut es/K ell y Yancey ( Ka w); 2 . J oe Bo lt o n /Dana J on~s / Er ic Swanson (Yam ); 3. Bill DelC ari o/Tim Fitzp atr ick ( Ya m ) ; 4 . Sh aw n C o p ete nd / B r ten Maynard/David Smith (Hon). IRNM N EX: I. David Meek (Hon): 2. Cory A yers (Hus) : 3 . Hisahide Oeno (Yem ) : 4 . Wayne Mart in (Hen) : 5. Jeremy Hoem ing (Hon). OPEN AM : 1. Ron Darting/Roger Russell/St even Sc al es ( KTM ); 2. James Embro /Da vld Holbrook (KTM); 3 . Chri s Berney/Richerd A. Walk er/R icha rd E. (Left) Ri ch Jesse, Mike Roth and Ore n Wheel er ro de a smart and speedy race all week, putting their older CR250 R into 19th overall, good for top Amateur honors as well as first 250c c Amateur. J esse Is from Ch icago , w hil e his teammates are from Arizona. (Ab ove) Chad Houck (shown), Tell Mi tchell and Phillip Zieger topped the Ell pe rt ranks, coming In seventh overall, first Ellpert overall and first Open Expert .. this desp ite the fa ct that Houck fell and brok e his collarbone near the end of day f our. Walker (Hon) . 250 AM: I . Rich Jesse/Mike Roth/ Oren Wheeler (Hon) . +30 AM: I . Steve Richardson/Joe Seginski/Paul Smith ( Kaw); 2. Gary Curtis/Ron Edwa rds/W ill iam Williford ( Yam ): 3 . Micha el Bull/ Yogi Ma son /R ick Monroe (Yam) ; 4 . John Kon kl e/ Charles Price/T odd Rep sh er ( Ya m ) ; 5 . St eve Bo lin g er /M ik e Hansen/Frank Zeiter (Yam) . +35 AM : 1. Donald Bird /J oll Y Heyin g (Han) . 4-5 - 4 5 0 AM : I . E li Ech elm e ier /M ike Vomd ranfTom Vorndran (Hon). IRNMN AM : I. Bill Wheeler (Ho n) : 2. Mic hoel Sivak (Hon) : 3. Steve LaRoza (Yam) . BRIEFLY. •• Franco Acerbis - owner and namesake of major sponsor Acerbis - flew in from Italy to watch the last two days of racing. congratulate many of the finishers. and offer encouragement to racers his company spo nsors. Over-48 Expert competitor Ramey Peticolas-Stroud was eligible to have a teammate or two. but he preferred to ride the entire race himself. The personal trainer to Johnny Campbell. PeticolasStroud also competes in e nd urance horse racing . and when the race passed through Shelbourne Station and other sights on day three. he was in familiar territory. He'd raced those same areas in Pony Express territ ory on hor ses. A couple competitors missed th e first day but ended up finishing anyway. Paul Krause and Ron Lawson both raced the final ISDE Qualifier in Texas. and its last day conflicted with the Nevada 2000's first race day. Fortunately. their partners filled in handily. "Actually. [partner] Garth [Sweetland] said he could only put up with me for five days. so I had to hgure out a way to get out of the first day.- Krause quipped. Both he and Lawson showed up in time to race day two from Mesquite. The Ty Davis/Russell Pearson Yamaha sported a 2 Q-inch front w hee l . probably making them the first off-roaders to race with such a front end. Davis claimed it offered superior traction on hard-packed fire roads (of which there were many). saying. "It' s almost like front-wheel drive. it sticks so good.How m uch fuel does it take? VP Racing Fuels loaded up its trucks with 260 55-gallon drums to feed deman for its product. while F&L took 13.000 gallons to Nevada. No word on what 76 d had. though its tanker certainly was capable of multi-thousand-gallon capacity. Speaking of VP. company honcho Bruce Hendel decided to join Ron Lawson in Over-40 Pro when domestic responsibilities prevented Lawson's regular partner - former three-time AMA 250cc National MX Champ Gary Jones - from racing. They were third in class. Bill Wheeler just started racing last September and hgured he'd do the Nevada 2000 as a 40th birthday present to himself. He said his biggest fear was getting caught by the thundering Trick trucks. so he probably looked back over his shoulder as much as ahead during the last part of each day. The Northern Californian ended up winning J ronman Amateur. Conjured up by promoter Casey Folks as a way to help celebrate the year 2000, the unique event was actually a comb inatio n of desert raci ng and the old ( 1993- '95) Acerbis Adventures Nevada Rally that Folks helped put on. The cou rse featured ma rki ngs to guide racers (no relyi ng on road books), and the rules perm itted multi-person teams: in addition , there were classes for trucks and buggies. Unlike a normal desert race, though, each day's results sim ply determ ined the following day's starti ng order and contributed to the week 's overall , cumu lativ e standings. In other words, it was sort of like a stage race (like bicycling' s Tour de France) or, as some saw it. six consecutive days of separate, point- to-poi nt desert races. Like a rally , it began with a prol ogue or time trial north of Las Vegas. Each team (or ironm an solo rider) tackled a short desert loop one at a time, and the quickest started the real 92-m ile race to Mesquite at the head of the pack , which consisted of 70 motorcycles, 14 ATVs and 87 tru cks/buggies. 38 A UGUST 2 , 2000' cue I e n e vv s La rry Roesel er teamed up with the legendary Ivan " lronman" Stewart in the new Toyota Tundra V-8. getting second in the Trick truck class (afte r an hour of down time due to vapor-lock before Tonopah) and third overall four-wheeled vehicle. Familiar faces at Toyota include leam manager Mark Johnson and tech nician J ames DeGaine. Other former motorcycle desert racers included Ted Hunnicutt (part of the winning class 7200 mini truck team). Mark Miller. David Ashley and Ford partners Dan Smith and Rick Johnson. Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig serves as logistics coordinator for the Herzog Racing Chevy crew . Motorcycle competitors came from 17 states . as well as Australia and Japan. Of the 70 teams that started, only nine DNFed.

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