Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

- ---, z Sl z Q w z 8 ~ 5 :I: 0. Sephton' s race , Rafferty and McBride gave chase but could not clos e. At the end of lap four, while Estelle b roke tra ction and per fo rm ed doughnuts back in tum two . Sephto n fell com ing o ut of turn four, letting Rafferty ta ke the win , Mc Bride took a hard- fought sec ond . with Nelson th ird. Sephto n pi ck ed up his bike to salvage fourth, Estelle wa s last, Re sults SCR 1. Cam Rafferty (J (lW); 2. Bruce NelllOn (J a w); 3. Lenny : McBride (Gdn ); 4 . Tom Sephton (Jaw): 5. Cra ig Estelle (Jaw). HDCP SUP A: 1. Ted Fey (Goo ); 2. Jerry Harmon (J (lw); J . Cra ig ). Lane (Jaw) ; 4. Dave Sm ith (J aw) ; 5. Joe Hellmann (JIIoW HDCP saP B: I. Dave Richar ds (J a w); 2. Chris Strong (J aw); J. Duan e Smith (J a w); 4 . Tony McElroy (J a w); 5. Joel Pa rsons (Wes). B e ll Sou t h Tower Au d it o r iu m Mid-South Winter HS Awards Night B y D EB alE A u.EN Mammoth Mountain Motocross: The four fa stest ride r s i n the W ome n 's Pr o event in Ma mmot h La kes , Ca liforn ia , were (f rom left to r ight) Stefy Bau, Mercedes Gonza lez-Nat v ig, A ngie K eu ntjes and Jes sica Patterson - all s upported by Team Gree n . h orsesh o e fo r t h i rd . Swanso n h eld o n to fou rth , fo llowed by B rend a Burso n , Ta me ra Neitzel, Cera Hom and Rogers. Mammoth M ounta in M otocross Mercedes Masters the Mountain Results WMN M : 1. Temre MlIodden (Suz); 2. KlIo ide GlIo lTett (KlIo w); J . Te nye B bers (S uz); 4 . Layne Swe nse n (Yam) ; 5. Brenda Burson (KllW). WMN PRO: I. Merced es Goo Uilez-Nat vig (Ka w); 2. Slefy Beu (Kaw); 3. Ang ie Keuntjes (Kaw); 4 . J acki Hudson (Hon); 5. Candace English (Yam) . B y KAT S PANN MAMMOTH LAKES, CA , JUNE 23 Mammoth Mountain M oto cro ss ha s been a favorite event for man y women racers for years. Team Green Wom en's Natio nal Cham pion Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig came out of retir ement and retu rned to th e High Sierra co m peti tio n. Gonzalez-Natvig got the edge off th e sta rt New C h a mpion S p e ed w a y Rafferty Dusts ' e m for the Gold of the first Wom en 's Pro moto , leading Team Gr een 's Jessic a Patterso n up th e m ountain and back dow n. Itali an Stefy Bau and Fl orida' s An gie Keuntjes, both also supp orted by T eam By M A GGIE S,MPSON Green, followed suit, with Texan J ac ki Hudson in fifth ab oar d his Plan o Hon d a . Pa tter son 's OWEGO, NY, JU NE 10 Six teen-year-o ld Ca m Raffert y sco red hi s fir st Scratch m ain -event win at the seco nd ann ual - O hmar Lightner Cup event, which is dedi cated to th e m em ory of lon gt im e speed way suppo rter and local po lic e o ffi cer Ohma r Lightner. Th e Scretc h -o n l y for ma t co nsists of four rou nds of q ualifying heats , with th e top eight riders headin g to two four -men sem is. From th er e, th e to p two rid ers go d ir ectl y to the ma in event, and the remaining rid ers go to a la st -c h anc e qual ifi er , th e w inner o f whi ch earn s the last spot in the fiv e-m an main eve nt. After four qualifyin g rounds, T ommy "The Gat er " Se phto n lo o ked unbeat ab le wi th 12 points, having won all of his heats easily . Ti ed at 10 po ints with two wi ns eac h wer e Craig Estelle a nd Br u ce "T he M on goo se" Nel son , " Lig htning" Lenn y McBride and "Mean" Gene Bonsigno re were next . with nine points each . Cam "The Kid - Raffert y was the on ly rider with eight po ints . Jason Bonsignore and Support A ri d e r Jerr y " B ea u fo r d " Ha rmo n wer e th e remaining qua lifi ers. with seven po ints each. In th e fi rst sem i, McBride was in gate one and Sep hto n in two. The fathe r-end -son team of Gene and Jas on Bo nsignore were in three and four , respectively . When th e gat e went up , McB ride had the clear advantag e off the lin e, b ut h e drifted , a llowing Se p hto n t o driv e undern eath com ing out of tu rn two . M cBr ide gav e chase but Sephton pu lled away to win by fo ur le ng ths . M cB ride fi n ished sec o nd , w it h Gene th ird and Jason at the rear . Sem i two had Estelle in one, Rafferty in two, Nelson in three and Harm on by the wall . Nelson got the initial jump. but Estelle pulled past him in the first tum. Raffert y drove underneath Nel· son goin g down the back stretch and int o the turn. From there it was a three-way battle , with Estelle co mi ng out on top and Rafferty seco nd. Nelso n and Harmon would head for the LCQ. In the LCQ , Harm on was in one, Nelson in two, Jason Bonsignore in three and Gene in four. Nelson too k the gate. Jason lift ed off the lin e, allowing Hannon to drop underneath and Gene to dri ve around the outside. Nelson pull ed away for th e transfer , while J ason chased Harmon , who pressured the elder Bonsignore for second . Th e li neu p fo r th e m ain h ad Sephton in one , Rafferty in tw o , Estelle in three, McBride in four and Nelson in fiv e. Sephton too k the gate. Nelso n made a brief challe nge fo r the lead. but Raffert y sneak ed und erneath to take second . By la p three, Estelle had caught up to Ne lso n, but he cou ldn 't hold hi s li ne, taki ng th em both wide out of tu m two . McBride d rove underneath for third. From th ere, it looked like bik e seized. t ak ing her out of th e ga m e. Ke un tj es suffe red an aili ng pi ston . and Bau fade d back to fifth , Hud son fini shed seco nd, behind Gonzalez-Natvig , at th e checke red flag . M s been nine years since I've raced at MamIt' m oth : said th e 36 -year-o ld Gon zal ez-Nat vi g after the first mo to. "I used to race here all the ti me . as Mammoth has always been a special place and one of my favori te track s. I surprised mys elf... I didn't expect to do this good !" "Candace Eng li sh fell in the co rner in th e ba ck, and An g ie K euntjes misjudged a lin e and tried to go to th e outside - which I took advantage of ," said Hud son . Keu ntje s took the seco nd- moto hol eshot , with Bonnie Warch seco nd . Beh ind the m were English and B au . Both Go nza iez-Natvig and Patterson had less-than-stellar starts and had to charge forward through th e pack . Gonza lezNat vig too k adva ntage of some bobb les by the girls in front of her. En gli sh. in the meantime, passed Warch for second. sett ing off a chain react io n of pos ition changes. Patte rson to o k over t he lead in the ba ck section. Ba u used every bit of her str eng th to move ba ck up to fifth . Hud so n charged on A ubriana Dunn. but her back wheel sli d out. Gon zalez-N atvi g got around Eng lish fo r thi rd and cha rged after Keuntj es. Bau charged on Eng lish , making her pass sti ck for fo urth. Near the ha lfwa y m ar k . Patte rso n ha d a 10 - second lead over Gon zal ez-N at v ig a nd Bau, whil e B au co nt in ue d to c h ip aw ay at Gon zal ez-N at vi g going in to th e canyon sectio n. Ba u pressured Gon zalez- Natvi g going towa rd th e bi g uphi ll , but Go nza lez -Na tv ig pull ed awa y as they co ntin ued up the stee p moun t ain s id e . A s th e y h e ad ed in t o t he canyon. Bau once aga in charged on GonzalezNatvig , passing her and m aking it stic k. Patters on was by far th e fastest o f the wom en ra cer s; she wa s foll owed by Bau , Go nzalezNatvig , Keuntj es, English and Hudson. Tamra Madden took the fir st-moto win in t he W om en' s Amat eur cla ss, fo llo wed by Kaid e Garrett and Tan ya Elb ers. Amy Rogers absconded wi th the ho leshot in m ota two, w ith Madden at her rear wheel. Madden pa ssed Rogers on the first lap , Roger s q ui c k ly bega n to fa de , rep la ced by Layne Swa nson , Garrett and El ber s. By the end of the third lap, M ad d en had a co m ma nding nine -secon d lead over Garrett. who had used t he lap to ge t around Swan son for second . Elb ers charged hard on Swan son up and down the m ountain and m ad e the pass in the sma ll 52 A UGUST 9 , 2 000 ' cue e n eVIl's NASHVILLE, T N, JU NE 24 Some 350 people gathere d in th e Bell South Tower audito ri um in Nashvill e fo r th e Mi d South Cha mpionshi p Winter Ha re Scramble Series awards ce remony . to celebrate its 20th season of off-ro ad racin g. "It is absol utely m y m ost favo rite part of th e seaso n: said ~WS representati ve David La m be rt h, " E very rider her e tonight will go hom e with so met h i ng . That is a promi se , becau se we have over $44,000 worth of gear and parts to give away ." Kawasaki , Yamaha, Pirelli T ires , O ak ley , FMF , KTM, DP Brakes, Suzuki, Parts Unlimit ed , Mo o se , Maxxi s Tires, Whit e Bro th er s, Sco tt , Motion Pro, Barn ett , and Rentha l part s and ge ar were among th e prizes to be awarded . Every winner went home with a 6 ·foo t tr oph y and Oak ley gog gl es, Shad Ricketts went home with th e grandest award - th e MSW S Ch ampion ship , T he Bi g Gun /Mod ern e Tire/ Cy cl e Path spo nso red ch am pio n was awarded an Oakl ey bag fu ll of ge ar and a S1500 Oakl ey watch, Havin g won ever y race except o ne, Rick etts earned hi s title . "I've really enjoyed this series, beca use it's a good one to race in." said Rick etts. "I m ostly enjoyed racin g with Kiedrowski , and I wi shed I co uld have ridden with Shane Watts and Dou g Blackwell." Second overa ll was P.A. All en , wh o won th e 250cc/Open A cla ss, Having cl inched his clas s by the 10th roun d, he th en entered th e AA clas s for better ov era ll results. This proved an exce llent str ategy. as he reeled in seco nd o ve ra ll pl acements on e by on e, beating out Kiedro wsk i o n h i s hom e t urf w hile st i ll i n 25 0c c/ O pen A cl ass. A fte r receiving hi s tr oph y , A ll en thanke d Robert Patt erson at Sarg e's Cycl es, Mark Hosbach at Oakley. Steve Ezell at Pro Ac t ion of Kentu ck y , Tom my T odd at Parts Un limit ed , Moose, and FMF fo r their suppo rt . Th ird overa ll went to Mik e McCrea, winn er of the 200cc A class . He won hi s class by the 11th race. McCrea took hom e a troph y , a hel m et , two Kawasaki shirts. O akl ey an d Scott gogg les. and a Kawasaki jacket for his win . Gary Hendri ck s flew hi s Kawa saki into sec ond place in the AA cla ss and fourth overa ll. Chad Fro m an clai med second pla ce in t he 200cc A cla ss and fifth ove rall , "The Scor e Ma chine averaged 3 50 ride rs fo r each eve nt ," sa id the m ach ine' s creato r, Scott Horton. "and I sca nned 9733 peopl e on the Sco re Ma chine for the 12 races held in A labama, Kentuck y , Indiana, Illinoi s and T ennessee. The lar gest event was in Map lesville, A laba ma , and it had 4 2 5 rid er s . w ith 4 2 Beginners on the starting li ne." Mid -South winn ers sho wed their ap preciatio n for the sup port from dealers, product rep resent ati ves and family me mbers. "I reall y wanted to th ank my wife, Kirnba ." said Sen ior A wi nn er Phill ip Barker. "She is m y pi t c re w. and I kn ow if I told her that I d on 't li k e w he re th at tru ck i s par ked , she would have it m oved by m y next lap." SR A: I . Phillip Barker; 2 . Paul Mlchds; 3 . Robert Kirchner; 4. Gary Cope land ; 5. Gary Horton . 250 B: I. J a son Dicke y; 2. Ron Skipper; 3. Ed Boardw ine ; 4 . Brad Hicks; 5. William Morehead . 200 B: t . Derek Bratcher; 2. Heath Robinson ; 3. Kimba ll Clayton; 4. Theodore Ka vish ; 5. D-av Ridgewa y. id OPEN B: I. Dean G~~; 2. Ste v~ Lambruno; J. Robert J acks ; 4 . Roger Little; 5. Slew -artUch . 4 ·STRK B: 1. Jason Wofford ; 2. David Doug herty ; J. Ste ven Hoi· comb; 4 . Joel Gibson; 5. J oh n Rowling . VET B: 1. G~ Elrod ; 2. Rue! Jones; 3. Kelly Work ing; 4. Dav id Granderson ; 5. Tom Haines . SR B: J. Donnie Sm ith; 2. Tommy Todd; 3. P-a Allen; 4 . Ricky ul Mill r; 5. Jon C1-ayton. e 250/0PEN I. Brad Riley; 2. J ohn Sto lz; 3. Ike Vanzant; 4. Eddie Proffitt; 5. Brando n Freem en. 200 C: I. Russ ell Gre en ; 2 . Dan ny Brr: J. Seem Sember: 4 . Ch arl~s Jaghab; 5. Mike Hamilton . VET 1. Tony Rion: 2. Todd Lo~tt; 3. Cha nce Blackwell; 4 . Demeuiua Reedy; 5. John Sommer. 4 ·STRK C: I. Ric ky Decre e: 2. Giorgi o To rregr o sa ; J. J ohn DlIvis; 4 . Erick Meeks; 5. Kendllll Tuck. SR C: 1. Lewis Webb ; 2. J im So rre lls; 3. J oe Allen; 4 . Tell)' Bush ; 5. James Millican S/SR : 1. J oh n Giles: 2. Ted Presson : 3. Don Rye; 4 . Tom C-a rter; 5. Guy Anderson . c: c: AMA National New Hampshire C la ssic C h a r ity Trail Ride D ual Sporting at the 2000 Classic By S EAN C ONOCOR LO UDON, NH, JU NE 10-11 Sh an e N all ey and Budd y A n t u nez led the Suzuk i Du al Sp ort tea m o n it s annual foray into th e wo od s of the Merr imack Va lley Trail Ride rs' AMA Natio nal New Hampshir e Cl assic Cha rity Trail Rid e - sponso red by Am eric an Suz uki, Am eric an Ai rl i nes , T o rc o Racing , Sp ectra Oil s, Gillette , T rail Rider Ma g azine, AMA , NETRA and many New England Suzuki deal er s, with help fro m t he New Ham psh ire Bureau of Trail s a n d t h e N ew H amp shire Ch iefs of Pobce at New Hampshire Int ernetion al Speedw ay , Raffle ti ck et s fo r t he DRZ400 Du al Sport Suzuki sold o ut as 341 rid ers teamed up with th e eve nt spo nsors to raise over $46,000 for t he Cyst ic F ibro si s F ou n d atio n . MVTR 's fa vo rite post er g irl, l l -year- old Suzuki rider Anne Mumfor d , d rew th e w inning ticket for Robe rt Barrett of Barr e. Vermont. Fo ur -time Natio nal Ar ena cr oss Champ io n Antunez, riding his fir st du al-sport event on 'a DRZ400 , impressed hi s ridi ng pa rt ne r, MVTR president Dave Fraser , by ada pting qui ckl y to th e roc ks, mu d and roots of New Hampshir e. A ntunez was asked to co m me nt on the differences between ridin g Are nacross and off-road. "Th ey don 't give us arrows in the arena ," An tu nez responded , " but the y don 't give us tr ees to bounce off, eith er ." Nalley' s only reg ret wa s that he could n't rid e the ent ire co urse due to his duti es man ning the support tru ck . " Nex t ye ar , I' m recruitin g a driver for the tr uc k: Nalley promised . The t wo- day eve nt began with some sin gle - t rac k th a t tra il boss J ohn O' Connor i nt en ded as a wa rmup fo r t h e rid er s. The "w arm up" go t a li ttl e too hot for some folks , and O ' Connor prom ised that next year thi s portio n wil l be a hero sect io n. > Results a / A: I. snad Ricketts ; 2. P.A. Allen : 3. Mike M.eCre-a; 4 . Gary Hmdricks ; 5. Cha d Froman; 6. Dustin Gibson; 7. Clinl Robmson ; 8. Timm y P'Pccte: 9. Lan ce Sm ith ; 10. H-arvey Whltt-aker ; I I. Mike Sampson; 12 . Alan Westerfield ; 13. Joh n MO!Idlino 14 . Robbie Kingt ; 15. J ason Wafford : 16. MlIrk Wood; 17. Billy Coo pe r; 18. Steve Ezell; 19. Dav id McWilliam s : 20 . Marly Michels; 2 1. Ste ve Gor do n ; 22. Robert Lich ; 23. Gregg Gogg len; 24. Chris Hicks ; 25. Tim Baker M : 1. Shad RlckeUs ; 2. G~ry Hendricks ; 3 . Robbie King ; 4 . Lance Sm ith; 5. Mike Sampson. 2SO /0PEN A: 1. P.A. Allen; 2 . Dustin GibllOn; J. Timmy p'PooIe ; 4 . Allm Weste rfield; 5. Billy Coo per VET A: 1. Steve Ezell; 2. Mark Wood ; 3. Gregg Gogglcn; 4 . Merk Guy; 5. TIm Bake r. 4-SlRK A: 1. Chnt Robinson ; 2. MlIrty Michels ; J. Robert lkh; 4 . Harvey Whittaker, 5. Cody MlIxwelL 200 A: 1. Mike McCrea ; 2 . Chad Froman ; J . Clay Hed gepllth ; 4. Ian Sherwood; 5. J ohn Lenerd . AMA National New H a m p s h i re C l a ssic C harity Trail Ride : Tw o Ho ot O w ls o n t he prowl at the 2000 Classic Dual Sport Ri de In Loudo n , New Hampshire.

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