Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128632
Wh at is it that co nvinces a group of riders t o team up to race for 24 con tinuous hours, expose themselves to temperatures from 54 to 95 degrees, rid e across terra in that ranges from m ud slic k s, steep rutted -out hills and dusty ridgebacks to roc ky san d was hes? Wh en T err y Fo w ler, m ember of th e Ty Davis, Nick and Russ Pearson Open Pro team was asked that qu estion , he laughed and said, "My buddy Ty Da vis has been trying to get back at me for years. " S T O RY AND PHOTOS BY BET H A N D B OB L ARO CK SAN BERNARDINO, CA, SEPT 9-10 n 199 9 , 17 teams of riders gathered at Glen Helen Raceway fo r the Inau gural IMS Pro Series 24 Hou rs of Glen Hel en . Fort y percent of those rid ers c am e bac k in 2000 for the Sec on d Annual eve nt . Th is year, th e riders had pl en t y of co mpany, as 32 teams assembled to test their endura nce and machin es in the grueBng race . I 24 SEPTEMBER 27,2000' c u e I e n e _ s Most of the lighting was supplied by the bikes themselves at the 24-Hours of Glen Helen. D avi s grinned and responded, " I Bed to h im, I told hi m t here was a $10 ,000 purse." Th e Mon tcl ai r Yama ha / IMS / Rac etech /DID/ Asa m /Spectro -back ed Davis team completed 82 laps of the 10-mile course ave raging ove r 34 mph to capture th e overall and the w in in the Ope n Pro class . T h ei r biggest rival fo r the win was the number -two Am er i can Honda/Baj a Designs/IMS /E -Line/Dunlo p-spon so red team o f J imm y Le wis , Jeff Willoh, Drey Dircks and "B ig Air" T od Sciacqua . Davis ' team fini shed only n ine-and -a -half minutes in front of Team Lew is. T he seven Open Pro teams con sisted of four. riders wi th one motorcycle. Amateur team s could have six riders and two bikes (o ne bike had to remain in im pound) . The ra c e started at 10 :00 a.m . , wi t h th e riders running to their bikes, L eM a n s st yl e. YZ426F - m o u n t e d Davis got off quickly and completed the fi rs t full l ap in the number-one position. During th e first few ho urs of th e race, the team experienced their first setback. They lost fifth gear and were los ing tim e in th e stra ight sec tions of th e tra ck . To get m ore top end , the Da vis p it crew c ha nged th e rear sprocket from a 50 tooth to a 47. W h il e th e D av is t ea m wa s in th e p its , th e CR250 -m ount ed Lew is team cha rge d hard , capturing the lead and ho lding it from lap five through all of Sat u rd a y n ight. A ft er midnight, the hard ch a rg ers suffered a ser i e s of Bg ht ing prob lem s resu lting in downtime, allowing th e Dav is team to close. The Lew is/Davis team s eac h held the lead sev eral tim es during the next few ho urs , depend ing up on which bik e or rider required a tr ip through the p it s. At 3 :00 a.m ., a lengthy pit stop for the . Lew is t eam gav e the D avis cre w the tim e they needed to e st ablish an 11 m inu te lead . It w a s n o t all smooth saili ng fo r D av is a n d crew as co ncerns g r ew over th e health of their engine . "I pa ssed h im [WiIl oh ] in the pits and pad to pu t so m e tim e o n him," said D avi s. "The du st wa s so bad , 1 wa s riding by Br aille. The last lap , I got free of du st for a wh il e, I went so much faster. Good race but I' m afraid the bike's not goi ng to make it. It's getting lou d er and l o ud er , th e fir st ind ica t ion th e p iston is going . We just need to g et a b i g l ea d a n d th en change th e ge aring ag a in . A ft er all this , man, I reall y hate t o give it to them. " At 3:36 a.m. , the Davis t eam again reduced th e rear sproc ket t o try t o squeeze some li fe ou t of their bik e. Squeezing more li fe out of the team was another challenge. " I ' m w orn o ut ," e xc l a i m ed moto cro ss er F owl e r , a se n t im en t shared by m ost o f the people still awake in the pits . "If we win th is ," he added , "I'll be retiring as a champion of th e 24-hou r ra ce . I woke up this las t time to ride , and I didn 't think I could get back on the bik e." T hen a sm ile came ac ross his face and he said , "It' d be nic e to put our na mes up there on th e board fo r a yea r tho ugh. " Fow ler was referri ng to the h uge trophy in the center of the Glen Helen