Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

~ , ' A M A Natio na l C h-a m p io n ship H 'IIC I' b S e r . I rrri les R o und 1 1 ; E ast palespine Nati onal 1111111 111 1 Libhart had a problem-filled h igh three -s e c ond p a ss to c lo s e o ut the first round . The s e c ond rou nd saw a lo t o f c ra s h es a n d cl o s e calls , and rider a ft e r r ide r e it her c ra s h e d or we nt s lo we r . La st year's w inn e r Bo b by T emp le ton cou ld n ' t im pro ve on h is first run of 3 .503 and s ettle d for fifth . Ha rry Denham ma t ched h is ca re er be s t finish with fou rth aft er a 3 .499 on th e Southside Ha rle y-Dav idson. Libha rt started his last ru n in th e m iddle , and h it the no tch de ad cente r , h e le ft it o n, an d th e Eng lis h Mot ors/R. L.Smit h Ga ra g e/ T uf Platesb a c k ed BSA tra ck ed s t ra ig ht ove r "The Wall " to take the lead . "T h e fi rs t r u n I di dn 't g o wid e ope n, so whe n I came ba ck m y gi rlfrie nd Am y ye lled at m e to turn it on ," Libh a rt said. "The s econd run I h it th e de ep rut a nd that thing took off like a ro ck e t. I c o u ld n' t be lie ve th e fin ish line c a m e up so fa s t. " Th o m a s was te d no t ime gett ing ba ck in th e p it and he roosted out of the hole , dan cing t he fro nt e nd a nd hitti ng "T he Wall " c ro s se d u p . He m ade it to the finis h line , but c ra s he d - co m ing up a bit s ho rt with a 3. 32 1 to Libh art's 3 .13 9. "The 800 was going good, I hit th e spot I wa nted to h it but it jus t kicked m e up too much to rid e o ut - a lmost m ade it," Th omas said. eN EAST PALESTINE, OH, AUG. 27 " an , I thought I hit that perfect , what happen ed?" Jeff Thomas co uld ha ve been s peaking for ma ny of the c om petitors a t th e East Palestine Na t ion al. Th om a s ' a ll-out ru n , a nd resulting en do off "The Wa ll," was the las t ride of the day at the Pirate Promo t ions even t. Like man y o the rs wh o we nt before him , Thom a s tho ught his run was p erfect - but it wasn't. Pen n sylvania' s Ph il Libhart served up a per fect s e co n d -r ou nd rid e t o t a ke th e 800c c win , be coming the first from the Ke ys to n e sta te to win it in n e arl y a d e cad e . Da v id Wats on, t h e points le a d er in bo th t h e 5 4 0 an d 800cc classes , a lso tu rned in a clutch second rid e t o b etter hi s 540c c rival Tig e r Stran k, who had led all aft ernoon , to take his s ixth win in the cla ss th is yea r. S40c c "The Wa ll" in East Pa lestine is a sh ort, stee p hill, dom in a ted by a roc k o ut cropp ing that th e riders ha ve to nego 'tiate befor e finis hing th e 13 5- foot run to the t im ing lights . Th is yea r, the lit tle c a mel hum p , a wh o o p -d e -do 2 5 feet from the sta rting line , would pla y a major ro le in the d a y's res ults. Ho we ' s Triu m p h/ Am s o il-b a c k ed Libh a rt was th e firs t rid er to tr y to scale "The Wall ," a nd he m ade it up a nd ove r in 3 .650 seconds , despite a whe e lie before the ligh ts. Strank , m eanwhile , was ma king h is debut a t the wall - tho ug h he did have some experien ce with the obs ta cle. "I ro de two ex h ibition runs at la st year's Pro climb, so I kinda know what to ex pe ct, " Stra nk said . "I h a ve as m any rides here as the other guys ." Stra nk lined up on the fa r right side a nd tried to ang le through the no tch in the c a mel hump. Ther e is a two -foot section on th e left s ide of "The Wa ll" that offers a s moot he r trans ition ov er th e rock s , bu t it's off ca m ber and very close to th e out -of -bounds line . Str ank hu st led th e esacc e sso ries .com/ Dr. Bob Ra cing/Pi rate Promot ion s -backed Kawasaki KX5 00 off the line and hit the line he had found in the morning . Strank hook ed up as he nea red "The Wall" and pull ed a hu g e w heelie hal fwa y up th e hill, but rode it out to make it th ru the ligh ts in 3 .355 seco nds to jump in to th e lead. Wa tson tried to hit he same line on the S pectro O ils /Mac 's Cycl e Sales -ba ck ed Honda CBR 540, but he m iss ed the groove in the camel hump, a nd was bounced off line . Watson slammed into "The Wall" and ha d to sta ve off an endo , but he still m ov ed into second with a 3 .4 60. Defe nding Na t io na l Ch amp ion T ed Wilkins , who won la st year's event at Ea st Pales tine , flew off the line on his Rota x Twin , but h it "Th e Wa ll" ha rd and went off to t h e sid e . T h u s , he couldn't cra ck the three -s econd brack et to e nd the first round . On his sec o n d pass , Lib h art missed th e notch in the camel hum p and lost a lot of time . He finish e d the day in eig hth. "T he bo ttom is p retty c hewed up now , a nd th e groove a t the bott om is stra ig ht, s o it's go ing to be ha rd to a ngle a cros s it like we did in th e first round - I'm try ing to find a new line, " sa id Watson betwee n ro unds . Bo 's Ra d ica l Racing / Thor-bac ke d John Ha m ilto n , J r. wa s the first rider to move up in t he sta ndin gs . Ha m ilton hit th e notch per fectl y and he ld it on o ve r th e ro c ks . He g ot t h e re a r wh e el ba ck o n th e grou nd a nd c la imed fo ur t h pl a c e with a 3.43 0 . Tim Fr iedhoff co uldn 't improv e on his fir st - round t im e , but it was qui ck e no ug h for fifth. Th e c ro w d watch ed as Wat s on lined up on the fa r left sid e and aimed fo r th e tra nsition betwe e n th e rocks and the side of the hill. Only 800c c ride r Rod ne y Smith had tried th at line a ll day and he ended up in th e tre e s, but Wat son b lasted off th e lin e straight on target. He m issed th e camel hum p completely and jum p ed over "The Wa ll". Stra nk , m ea nw hil e, had been watching to see if his tim e would ho ld up and th e roar of the c rowd told the loc al he ro to strap it on - Watson had na iled one. He had put a 3.289 on the b o ar d fo r Wilkins and Strank to c hase. Wilkins lined up in th e m iddle, and was s moo t h up to "T he Wall" where he go t knoc ked s ideways . He never let o ff and he too k ove r thi rd with a 3 .3 61. "Man , no matter wha t I do I just can't beat Da vid a nd Tiger," Wilkins said. Stra n k als o chose the fa r left s ide a nd he had a g reat start, but couldn't cle a r the roc ks a nd ha d to settle, for second . "I hit a stum p going up to the ledge , and th at ruined that run, " Stra nk sa id. "It' s not bad losing to Dav id - he's the be st rider on the c ircu it this yea r." BOOcc J e ff Th omas to o k s e v ent h in th e 540cc class , a nd he was afte r his sec ond stra ight 800cc win when his Inno vative Mold & Machine -bac ked Yama h a ripp ed off the lin e. Th oma s ran down the cente r a nd he ha d th e thr ot t le pinn ed when he h it "The Wall ." His re a r wh e e l went stra ight up and he rode a long front wheelstand before he could get th e ba ck e nd down. Th omas' 3.34 was a good start for his day . Gle n Petty Jr. , second in the 800cc points com ing into th e weekend , got off to a rocky start with a crash. "T o d a y is for b ik e s w it h really . good suspension and we h a ve wo rk to do on ours," Pe tty said . "The front c ylinde r doesn 't ha ve a ny co m p res s io n . I thi nk th e r ings m a y h a v e seized ." He wou ld en d u p 13 th . J ohn Hamilton, J r. c a m e with in a te nth of Thomas' ru n with a 3 .352. "I'm starting to ride with mo re con fidence now; I'm pus h ing a little ha rd er ," Hami lton sai d . Stra n k al so checked into the to p five , but the en d of h is run had every one on their feet. Strank was ne a r the out of bo unds line wh en his Yamaha R-1 hooked up . He sa iled o ver t he to p of the hill, a nd the n was pitched off. Strank was unhurt , but the to p of h is rea r s hock was s na pped in half. Watson has four wins in the 800cc class, but he couldn't kee p his Honda 's rear wheel on the ground on his first pass . Rook ie of Th e Year can didate Darr ell Fowle r, meanwhile, had a solid 3.516 on his first run at "The Wa ll". c ue I e n East Palestine National E Palestine, OH ast Results: August 27, 2000 BOO : 1. Phil Libhart (BSA); 2. Jeff Thomas ce (Yam) ; 3 . John Hamilton, J r (Tri) ; 4 . Harry Denham ( H-O ); 5 . Robert T em pleton (H-D) ; 6. Darrel Fowler ( Suz); 7 . Ti ger Strank , J r. ( Kaw) ; 8 . D avid Watson ( Hon) ; 9 . Mik e D eBu sk ( Ka w) ; 10 . Greg Willia m s (H on) ; 1 1. Curt Snelling ( Hon) ; 12 . Rodney Smith ( Yam) ; 13 . G le n Pet t y , J r . ( H· D ); 14 . Ru ss VanderVeen ( H- D ). 540cc: 1. David Watson (Hon) ; 2. Tiger Strank ( Kaw) ; 3 . T ed Wilkins (Rotax); 4 . John Hamilton, Jr . (T ri); 5. Tim Friedhoff (Hon) ; 6. Richie Scheuerm an (Hon) ; 7. Jeff Thom as (Yam ); 8. Phil Libhart (Trl) ; 9 . Chris VanH ying ( Hon); 10. Scott McNeely ( Hon); 11. Brian Bowlby (Hen) : 12 . M ike Livingston ( Hon) ; 13. M ike T emp leton (Yam); 14 . Scott F riedhoff ( Hon) ; 15. Anthony DeHart ( Hon) . AMA 800<:c NATIONAl HILLCUJ\\B CHAMPIONSH IP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (A fter 1 1 of 16 rou nds ) : 1. D av id W at son ( 14 4/ 4 wins); 2 . J eff Thom as ( 121 / 2) ; 3. Glen Petty , Jr . (1 16) ; 4. Robert T ennpleton (108 ); 5. John Hami lton, Jr. (99 ); 6. T im F raz ier (98 / 2); 7 . T ige r S t ra nk ( 86 ); 8 . H arr y Denh am (72 ) ; 9 . (T IE) Phil Libh art (66/1 )/ Mi k e D eBu sk (6 6) ; 1 1. Ru ss Vand erV een (53) ; 12 . Brand on Kreeger (4 5); 13. James Large (43{ 2); 14. Rodn ey Smith (32) : 15. (TIE) Gre g Williams/ Curt Snell ing (3 1) ; 17. (TIE) Harry Schreiber. Jr/Darrell Fowler (27 ): 19. Bob Castletine (20 ): 20 . Tom Reiser (1 1); 2 1. Paul Pinsonnault (8) . AMA 540

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