Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

.. I ~ . A M A/P a c e A merican National C h a m p io n s h ip H illclim b S erie s Round 9 : Greasy R idg e Temp leton 's run en de d at the 210foot mark to end the round. Petty ha s t wo wi ns at Haydenville and he was solid off the lin e. "I had a toug h ti me keepi ng th e fro nt end down ," Petty said . "I left the S T OR Y AND PHO T O S B Y DA VID L. P ATT ON JR . HAYDENVILlE, OH, AUG. 12 here are certain events that each Pro hillclimb rider circles on the calendar as he or she chases the numberone plate. The Action Sports Promotions night hillclimb at Greasy Ridge stands out as one of the toughest, an event w here the cham pions hip conte nders hope to a) survive and b) finish in the top five. Round 9 of the 2000 AMA / Pace American National Cham pionshi p Hillc limb Series certa inly change d the title chase as David Watson opened up huge leads in bo th th e 540 and 800cc classes in an attempt to bec om e th e first rider to win both classes in the same year. Watson tal lied his fifth 540cc win of the year while title rival Tiger Strank struggled on his first visit to Greasy Ridge . T S40cc The hillclimb started late as the A ction Sports crew groomed the hill after the riders suggested minor changes then Howe's Triumph/Kreeger Pro Hillclimb Team member Phil Libhart opened the show. Libha rt has climbed to f ifth in the points after early season problems and has always ridden well at Haydenville. He clicked off a 6.039 -second pass to set the pace on the hill, whi ch features a steep section at the beginning , lead i n g up to The Ledg e , a sandston e shelf protrudes out of the face of the h ill about 10 feet below the only jump on the hill. A rider has to clean The Ledge on -line to launch straight and hard for a fast time. Libhart held the lead for most of the first round, but then Spectro Oils ba cked Watson whe eled h is class leading Honda CBR540 to the lin e. He st art ed in the center , getting a good run at Th e Ledg e. David got crossed Defending AMA 800cc Na tiona l Hillclimb Champion James "Jammer" Large fl e w to vi ctory at the Grea sy Ridge National in Haydenville, Ohio. It was on ly Large's third appearance in National competition th is se a so n. up ov er the jump and drifted to the right, but he stayed inbounds to take the lead with a 5.983-second run. Jeff Thomas lined up the Innovative Mold £, Machine/Vinylcraft BSA for his first pass , and he was wi de open right from the start, flyi ng over the jump with his front end high. "I left the throttle on way too long, and I couldn 't ge t bac k on the gas rig ht after I hit ," Thomas said . "I had to back ou t of it a little." Jeff's go -for-it effort j umped him past Watson, with Thomas ' 5.903 being the fastest run of the first round. Dr. Bob's Racing /yesaccessories.com ride r T ig er Strank entered the day second in the points but a hard land ing had him wa y back as the first round ended . The lights were on as Libhart made his second pass after sundown , but He couldn 't na il the run he wanted, fi ni shing outsid e the top five. Mac's Cycle backed M ike Liv ingston , struggling through a t ough year in 2000 , put together a great run in th e dark. He came off th e jump, front end high, bu t he fought to keep th e pow er o n and it paid off with a new fast time. " It's ab out ti m e we got it tog eth er , " Li v in g s to n said . T h e bik e r an great. " Livingston's teammate S c ott M cNeel y a lso d ipped into th e fiv es , running a 5 .712 o n his Ma c' s Cycle/Wiseco /Watson Racing Honda CR 500 and making h im .0 0 5 of a second faster than Livingston. Richi e Sch euermann nearly looped th e Wats on Racing Honda CR500 , but he got p ast th e lights to take f ifth pla c e with a time of 5.846. gearing the sam e because I thought I co ul d keep it down, but I had to shut off way before the jum p . I was just ge ared too high. " Despite his prob lems, Petty wou ld fini sh th ird after clocki ng a 5 .835. Jeff Thom as had an exc iti ng run as he nos ed into th e face of th e t o p of the hill. Sheer streng th kept him from going over th e bars, and he nev er let off, outrunn in g Petty with a 5 .744 . "T he first run on the BSA messed m e up a ll night, t ry in g t o t im e t h e sh u to ff a t th e l ip o f the jump ," Thomas said . "I ne ver got it just right, but if it ho ld s up f or sec o n d I'll be happy ." Strank had problem s on his second pass to en d up fourt h, and Watson's b ike went a little off on his try as wel l. "The fuel filter wa s a little plugged , and it was lean," Watson said. "Wh en I landed off the jump, it almost died. I almost went ov er th e bars . I'll take a Watson kept hi s eye o n every rid e, and he kn ew what he had t o do. " Scott and M ike h it th e same lin e and it turned out pretty g ood ," Wat son said. "I th in k if I hit the same line I'll be all right." Watson was really moving wh en he went off the jump, and he was cro ssed up , but he forced th e bike st ra ig ht. Wh en he landed, he bounced so hard he co uld n't hammer the th rottle wid e ope n, but he still carried a lot of spee d through th e lights to grab th e top spot via his 5.551-second run. Th omas was up next , and he gav e it every th ing he had, but he c o ul dn' t c atc h Watson, whose win was sec ured after Thomas tripped th e lig hts w ith a 5.701. Strank had another tough rid e as his Kawasaki nearly went over on him. He closed the day in 13th, falling over 20 points behind Watson . BOOcc top -five . Th is is one of the toughest hills for my bike." Templeton just missed a to p -five time on his pass , guaranteeing Large the win. "One ride, it held up all evening ," Large said . " I guess today was my day. I got a little crooked in the air, and I didn 't know what was going to hap pen when I landed, but it was smooth , so I rolled it back on and it Glen Petty Jr. led off the 800cc class on his Stoughton's Cycle;Thor/MotoRitebacked Harley-Davidson XR750, but he never reached the top. "I got crossed up over the jump then the cha in snapped when I landed," Petty said. The hill was hard on the big bikes , but Thomas was on the gas , running h i s Sk in Industries Yama ha XS800 twi n into the fives with a 5.885, but he was sure he could go fa ster. "I wheelied going up the j ump and had to back off," Thom as said. Strank put in h i s best ride of the night on his Yama ha RI. He came off the j u m p, fro nt e nd high , but he worked his way th rough the timers in 5.852 seconds, the run ultimately netting him fourth overal l. Re iser 's C y cle / F£'S Harley -Davidson /KK Motorcycle Supply star James "Jam m er " L a r g e was making his third appearance of the seas on on his cham pionshi p -w inning Harley , and he spent a lot of time checking out The Ledge. "I' m go ing to run hard off the bot tom , and if I 'm straight up to the j u m p , I' ll lea ve it on and see what happens," Large said. Large had his Harley screaming up the h ill , and he nev er l et off. H e le a p ed to the 225-fo ot mark and bounced through the lights at the 260-foot mark in 5.485 seconds . D avid Watson, the 800 cc class points leader, was looking for a top five finish at Haydenville, but it was clear that he was after the w in when h e left the line. He was fast off th e bottom , but he got c ross- rutted and had to shut off a fraction too long to stra ighten it out. Watson moved into fourth. w ith a 6 .116 result . B obby cue I e turn ed out good." 6reasyRidge Haydenville, Ohio Results: August 1Z, ZOOO [Round 9 of 161 800ce: 1. Jam es Large (H-D); 2. Jeff Thoma s ( Ya m ); 3 . Glen Petty Jr . ( H -D) ; 4 . T iger Stran k (Yam ); 5. David Watso n (Hon); 6 . Phil Ubhart (BSA); 7. John Hamilton. Jr (Tri ); 8 . Darrell Fowler (Suz) ; 9. Bobby Templeton (H-D) ; 10. Harry Denham (H-D); 11. Russ Vande rVe en ( H·D); 12 . Rodne y Smith ( Yam) ; 13. Curt Snelling (Han); 14. Brandon Kreeger (Tn ). 540:cc 1. David Watson (Han); 2. Jeff Thomas ( BSA) ; 3. Scott McNeely (Han); 4. Mike Uvi ngston ( Ha n ) ; 5 . Richi e Scheu erman ( Ha n) ; 6 . Mi k e Tem pleton (Yam ); 7. Phil U bhart (Tri); 8. Ted Wilkins (Rtx); 9 . TIm Friedhoff (Han); 10. John Hamilton, Jr (Tri); 11. Anthony DeHart (Han); 12. Scott Friedhoff ( Hon) ; 13. Tige r Strank (Kew); 14 . Bria n Bowlby (Han) ; 15. Clarence Browning (Han). 2000 AMA/PACE AMERICAN 800cc NATIONAL HILLCLlM8 CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS ( A ft er 9 of 16 round s) : 1. David Watson (122/4 wins); 2. Glen Petty. Jr. ( 102); 3 . TIm Fraz ier (98 / 2 ) ; 4 . Jeff Th oma s (94/1) ; 5 . Robert Termpleton (93); 6. John Hamilton Jr. (77) ; 7. Tiger Strank (74) ; 8. Mike DeBusk (49); 9. Harry Denham (48 ); 10. Russ VanderVeen (44 ); 11. (TI E) James Large (43/2 )/ Phil Libhart (43)/Brandon Kreeger (43) ; 14. Harry Schreiber. J r (27); 15 . Rodney Smit h (22) ; 16. Curt Snelling (2 1); 17. Bob Castietin e (20 ); 18. Darrell Fowler ( 17 ); 19. Greg Williams ( 12) ; 20 . Tom Reiser ( 11). 2000 AMA 540cc NATIONAL HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS ( A fte r 9 of t 6 round s) : 1. David Wat son( 120 / 5 wins); 2. Tiger Strank (98 / 2) ; 3. Scott McNeely (94); 4 . Phil Li bhart (86 ); 5. Ted Wilkins (8 4/1 win); 6 . Paul Pinsonnault (77 /1 ); 7. John Hamilton Jr. (72) ; 8. Tim Friedhoff (58 ); 9. Richie Scheuerman (56) ; 10. Jeff Thomas (55) ; 11. M ichael Livingston (52) ; 12. Tim Frazier (49 ); 13. Chris VanHyning (48); 14. Mike Templeton (23); 15. Tyrone Smoot ( 15 ); 16. (T IE) Mike Pul ver ( 12 )/ A nthony DeHart ( 12 ); 18. Paul Garrety ( 11); 19. (TIE) Greg Willi am s ( I O)ITerry Thompson (10 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 10- Dansville. New York. August20 Round 11 - East Palestine. Ohio. August 27 n e _ S • A U G US T 30. 2 0 00 31

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