Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Lake County Fair Stadium Motocross By D A VE D E RINGE R P HO T O S B Y T O D D S WIF T GRAYSLAKE, IL, JULY 26·27 o r the 15th yea r in a row , Pro moter Bil l Spa rks and h is Up -Front Prom otions crew put o n a g rea t s ho w in fro nt of a packed c rowd dur ing two nights of stadi um m otocr oss racing at the La ke County Fa ir. S evera l top rid e rs m a d e t h ei r way to t he n orthe rn Ch ic a go s ub urb of Gra yslake to ta ke a s hot at winn ing part of the $ 14 ,000 c a s h p urs e. Tom my Hofm a ster g ra bbe d one of his pa te nt ed ho les ho ts at th e sta rt of the 125cc Pro m ain . Beh ind him wa s J osh De m uth fro m T e xas . Ch arl e y Bogard was third , b u t he qu ic kl y m ade his way to the front on the first few laps. Ryan Clark had a bad start but m ov ed thro ug h the pa c k . Bog a rd pulled aw a y for the win , with Hofma s ter a nd Clar k follow ing . T ea mmates Ross Martin a nd Brad Modj e ws k i b attled th rougho u t t he two-day event in the 125cc Am ateur c lass . Modje ws ki cam e away the big win ner on Wednesday. Martin actua lly g ra bbed the sta rt a s Modje wski slid o ut, but Modje wsk i ree led in his friend a nd too k th e na rrow win at the finish . J eff Willoh b or ro wed a YZ426F and ra c ed th e Four-Strok e class with Hofmaster , who a ls o b o rrowed a Yama ha thum per . Neith er of th e two ride rs had eve r ridde n o ne before; th is was e v ident when Willoh stalled his b ike and co uld n' t sta rt it. Hofmaster jumped off his bike while Willoh he ld it and Tommy st arted Jeff's bike for him. Th e c r o wd laughed and a p plaud ed as th e tw o re swapp ed b ike s . Nevertheless , Willoh took the wi n and Hofma s ter fin ished a close second , with Kurt J ennison , Ke ith S eege r and Jason Coleman round ing out the top five . "All I had to do wa s take him out in a corne r," Hofmaster sa id of his ra c e wit h Willo h . " He wo u ld have never got th at th ing res tarted." Minn e sot a 's Ja m es Po v o ln y grabbed the start o f the 250cc Pro main. The rain was now fa lling hard, and Povolny went down on th e firs t la p. Hofmaster took over the le a d for the next few laps , but on la p thre e he went down hard in the whoops and hit his face . Povol ny , Willoh and Jennison we nt a t it u p front. Povo lny passed h is wa y back into the le a d and pull ed some distance in the final laps , taking a comfortable win. Hof master somehow recovered for sec o nd. Willoh passed Jennison for third. The top five rider s from the 125cc a n d 250c c cla s ses lined up for the F four - lap Dash For Cas h. Povolny snared the hole sh ot a nd pulle d away o n th e now gummy and rutty track . Bogard, Willoh a nd Demuth also c ollected some loot. Hofmas ter pulled yet anoth er holesh ot in T h u rs d a y ' s 125cc Pro main . Clark , Brandon Ba rt z , Dave Oettel , Willoh , Bogard and Demuth followed . Clark pressu red Hofmaster and block-passed his way into the le ad on lap two. Willoh was working up after a midpack start, as was Bog ard . Clark beg a n to pull away , wh ile Hofma ster was a lonely second . Willoh moved into third nea r the end a nd Ba rtz he ld on for fo urt h. Willoh too k the 25 0 c c Pro main ho les ho t and took contro l. Ba rtz, Hofm aster a nd J a ckson were ne xt. J a c kso n bl a zed b y both Hofm ast er a n d Bartz on th e second la p , loo king fo r his best Pro finish of th e e ve nt. Ba rtz came back and challenged Jacks on for several laps . As they battled, Hof master, Bogard and Demuth also caught up a nd began to d ice a s well. Jac kson eventually brok e away from Bartz . On the closing laps , Bog ard and Bartz slammed e a c h othe r several t imes; on th e final lap , Bartz was the one p ic k in g h imse lf up . Willoh took an easy win ove r Jackson , Bo g ard and Demuth . James Povolny (6 2) grabbed the ho leshot in Wednesda y's 250cc Pro main ev ent a nd turned It Into a w in , ahead of Tommy Hofmaster (831, at the 15th annual Lake Co unty Fa ir Stadium Motocross In Graylake, Illinois The fina l ra ce of the event was the Dash Fo r Cash. Demu th grabbed the start, sti ll in sea rc h o f his first win , w ith Ho fmas te r in t o w . Hofmaster moved into th e lead ear ly and was also looking for his first win after a slew of second-place finishes . De m uth follow ed Hofmaster for a lap, a nd on the whi te-flag la p he made a clean pass for the lea d and win. Hofmaster settled for second once again . Willoh and Bogard rounde d out the top four. "I neede d to win one and show these guys that I wasn 't m essing around ," De muth sa id. In the en d , Willoh was th e biggest winner of the e vent, with three wins . He poc keted more than $2800 for his effo rts. Hofmaster had to be the mos t c ons ist ent; he placed s econd in s ix of th e eight final s he raced in, and he m ade more than $2600, wh ile Bogard wa s third , po cket ing mor e than $1600. Povolny and Clark wer e clos e, eN with more than $1400 each. ( Ha n) ; 9 . Ra nd y Vala de (H en ) ; 10 . Brian Sl one (Ka.. ). 250 AM: 1. Chad Johnson (Kaw); 2. Joe Davis; 3 . Ma tt Albrecht (Yam): 4. Jap eth Suslee 5 . Doug Hay. 250 PRO: 1. Ja mes Po vol ny (Han); 2. Tomm y Ho fma ster ( Ha n) ; 3 . J eff WH loh ( Ha n) ; 4 . Kurt Jennison (Yam ); 5 . Randy Valade (Han) ; 6 . Josh Demuth (Kaw) ; 7. Charley Bogard (Suz) ; 8 . Brian Stone (Kaw) ; 9 . Ryan Cla rk (Suz); 10. Greg Braet (Suz). 25 +: 1. Eron Ezerins (Suz); 2. Pete Curran (Hon); 3. Mike Berghom ; 4 . Matt Lamb; 5 . Bill Loy. 4· ST RK : 1. J ell Wili o h (Y a m); 2. Tomm y Hofrn ester (Yam) ; 3. Kurt Jennison (Yam ); 4. Keith Seeger (Yam) ; 5. Jason Coleman ( Yam) . DFC: 1. Ja mes Povolny (Hon); 2 . Cha rle y Bogard (Suz): 3. Jeff Wllloh (Hon): 4. Josh Dem uth (Ka.. ). Thursday 125 AM: 1. Brad Modjewski (Suz); 2. Ross Martin (Suz ); 3 . Chad John son ( Kaw) ; 4 . J ason Schiller (Yam) ; 5. Joe Davis. 125 PRO : 1. Ry an Cla rk (S uz ) ; 2 . Tomm y Hofma ster (Hon); 3. Jeff Willoh (Hon) ; 4. Brandon Bartz (S uz); 5 . Jo sh Demuth (Ka w); 6 . Charley Bo gard ( Suz) ; 7 . Da ve Oert el ( Hon) ; 8 . J unior Ja ck son ( Hon) ; 9 . Bria n Stone (Kaw ) ; 10 . Randy Yelede (Hon) . 25 +: 1. Junior Ja ckson (Hon); 2. Eron Ezerins (Suz); 3. Jo hn Kitsch (Hon) ; 4 . Keith Sheldon (Suz); 5. Pete Curran (Hon) . 4-STRK: 1. J eff WHlo h ( Yam ) ; 2 . T om m y Hofmaster (Yam); 3. Kurt Jennison (Yam ); 4. Keith Seeger (Yam) ; 5 . Jason Coleman (Yam) . 250 AM : 1. Ja son Sc h iller (Ya m); 2 . T od d Mencias (Suz) ; 3 . J apeth Suslee; 4. Jadd Knox 5 . Eddie Williams. 25 0 PR O : I . Jeff Willo h ( Ho n ) : 2 . J unio r Ja ck son (Hon) ; 3 . Charley Bogard (Suz) ; 4 . J osh Demuth (Kaw ); 5. Tommy Hofmaster (Hon); 6 . Brian Stone (Kaw); 7 . Greg Bra et (Suz); 8 . Brandon Bartz (Suz); 9 . Ryan Clark (Suz); 10. Kurt Jennison (Ye rn) . DFC : 1. J o sh Demuth ( Ka w) ; 2 . Tommy Hofmaster ( Hon); 3. Jeff Willoh (Hon) ; 4 . Charley Boga rd (Suz). La•• County FairStadium MatDc...ss 6raysla••, Illinois Results: July 26-27 , 2000 Wednesday 125 AM : 1. Brad Modjewski (Suz); 2. Ross Martin (Suz); 3 . Joe Skodras (Yam) ; 4. Jacob Shaw (Hon) ; 5 . Jason Schiller (Yam). 125 PRO : 1. Charley Bogard (Suz); 2. Tomm y Hofmaster (Hon); 3. Ryan Clark (Suz); 4. Jeff Wi1Ioh ( Hon); 5 . Brand on Bartz ( Suz) ; 6. J osh Demuth (Kaw); 7 . J ames Povolny (Hon); 8. Junior Jackson cue I e n e VV S • A U G U ST 30, 2000 39

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