Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

J R MIN I: 1. Ju stin Mason (Suz) ; 2. Ni ck Fink (Kaw); 3. Chris Tourault (K aw); 4 . Carl Au stin (Han) ; 5. Clinto n Callo w (Kaw). P/W : 1. Brad ley Greer ( Hus ); 2 . Christo pher Call ow (Ya m) ; 3 . Au stin Gay ton ( KTM) ; 4 . Sa ra Baldwin (Han); 5. Thomas Smith (Pol). MINI: 1. Taylor Faddis (Han); 2. Preston Blake ( Ka w) ; 3 . Ray Fadd is (Han ) ; 4 . C harle y Harl ey (Kaw); 5. Pierce Blak e (Kaw) . WMN: 1. Jessica Morrison (Kaw); 2. Lori Dusky (Han) ; 3. Elissa Mort on (Suz); 4. Jenny Blake (Kaw); 5. Christin e Blake (Kaw) . MST R: 1. Bob Wick (Suz}. AMA Hillclimb Nationals Bedford County Motorcycle Club Hill Thompson Fastest, Northrup Doubles Up ful ly ju m p t he breaker, po sting the time to beat - 7 .1 493 seconds. On S u nday, h o we v e r , Northrup geared up a tooth and s hot th rou g h t he notch and k ept h is tract ion through 100 feet of roc ky, steep hill to sail over the top in a startling 7 .0066 seconds to take the c lass lead . Dan Prebe from Old Frontenac , Minnesota , posted a 7. 1254-second run on h is KTM 200 for second. Veteran Mel Piontek carded a good 7.1438-se cond run on his KTM for th ird. Mears ' first round run he ld up for fo ur t h p lace, and Kevin C o x turn ed in a ni c e 7 .1651 -second run on h is KDX for fifth. Northrup's time was twel ve-hun d redths of a second bette r than th e second -place tim e , but th e next four riders wer e packed into a tim e spa n of less than four-hundredths of a second! Northrup's second win ca me in the 750cc class, wh ich was a real shooto ut between Midwe stern Ka wa s a ki t rip le ride rs . Northrup had just pic ked up his "Hondasa ki" trip le from its bu ilder , Bart O'Brien of Sportl and Motorsports, a nd o n its maid en vo ya ge o n Saturday Northrup set a tim e of 5.465 3 seconds, which held up for the entire weekend. Ellsworth , Wisc on s in's Todd Cipa la, th e 1999 defend ing cha m pio n , ran a 5.5540-second first-round ride to hold down sec ond , but he wa shed o ut on Sunda y while atte m pting a high-flying jum p ov er th e br e a ker o n h is t rip le. Th e 1999 National number -two rider from Wood bury, Min nesota , Kaleb Northrup (Jason's big brother), posted a firs t-round 5.6473 -seco nd time for thi rd , but he wipe d out trying to lan d o ff th e b re ak e r o n h is second run. Andy Fortne r from Pitts boro , Ind iana, ran a good 5. 807 2 seconds on Sund a y on his "Hondasa ki" triple . Th er e wer e severa l repeat c hampions from 199 9 . Ryan Peterson from Ellsworth, Wis c on s in , stayed o n top of th e 125cc c la ss with a 6 .7831-second time on his CR 125 - ju st eno ug h to be at Tiverton , Rhode Island' s Ryan Thibault, who flew h is Honda over the top in 6 .8172 s ec onds. Han o ver , illinois ' Wheelwright defended his 250cc title with an o utsta nd ing 5 .6 109- s e c on d t ime on his JPC YZ250 . Br en t S te wart from Ga lva , Illino is , ke pt the 4 00cc c rown; Stewart sa iled his KTM over the top in 5 .5898 seconds , tak ing a very impressive win. Mike Bronk from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsi n , rode h is m as s ive B y BUD NORTH RU P BEAVERDALE, PA, AUG. 12-)3 h e Be d fo rd Co unty Motorcy le Clu b hosted the 2000 AMA Youth jAmateur jATV Na tional Hill cl imb on t h e ir 190 -foot hill in Beaverdale , Pennsylva nia . The hill and grounds wer e extremely we ll-pre pared, and the club conducted a firstclass event. T h e hill was challe ngi ng - quite cli m bable, but very difficult to clim b quickly, with a rock -hard top sectio n and a b reaker at 70 feet th at either forced riders into a jump from which it was very ha rd to la nd effectively or stole the momentum from those "s lid ing through " the notch . Greg Th ompson of Danville, West Virginia , and J ason Northrup of Tempe, Arizona , were the top winners of th e event. Thompson won th e Fast Tim e award for his win in the 600cc class th e biggest class , with 64 riders . He also placed second in the 400cc class and fifth in the 250cc class, cla imi ng three Nation al trophies. Northrup wa s the only double-class winner, claim ing the number -one p lates in the 200cc and 750cc cla sses , and he a lso finished sixth in the Open Stock class, running his tro phy tot al to three. Thomps on had to co me fro m behind for his win. Nebraska 's Ern ie Beck with s et a bla zing 5 .0908-second tim e on his Hond a in the first round to t a k e t he le ad a fter th e fi rs t d a y . Thompson ha d a les s- th an-thrilling first tim e of 6 .2 10 6 seconds , putting him we ll do wn in th e p a c k . On Sund a y , thou gh , Tho m pson was one of the very few to fly over the bre a ke r a nd la nd und e r co ntrol a nd keep tra ction, resulting in a blister ing 4 .8998- s econd run th e o nly s ub -five- second time of th e weekend . Bec kw ith 's first-round tim e he ld up for secon d pl ac e , a nd Eri c Wheelwright cla imed third with a fine 5 .1241-second time on his Honda . No rthrup ' s first win ca me in th e 200cc cla ss on a 1984 KDX20 0 . An Illinois native atte nding Arizon a State Universit y , Northrup flew h om e to ride the Nationals a nd app ropriated the o ld KDX from his father, who had originall y entered on it, s a ying he thought he cou ld win with it. Northrup posted a modest 8 .1257-second time o n S atu rd a y a nd watched as KT~ rider Da nny Me ar s , the 1999 Nationa l Cha m p ion , wa s the first to success- T 42 OCTOB ER 4, 2000 ' cue I e n e vv s 15 0 0cc Yam aha to t he Ope n-cla ss win wit h a 5 .8 104-second t im e . He was followed by thre e 800cc ride rs Kawa saki jock e ys J im Sma y a nd Don Na ugl e a n d T riumph r id e r Kal eb Northrup. Shawn Fa rnsw o rth cla ime d fifth on his 1600cc Harl ey . Ya ma ha -mo unte d Ke n Bo nnema from Gi rard , O h io , c la imed t h e Sen ior-class win, with S od , West Virgin ia' s Tim Adki ns second . The 400cc Stock-class win we nt to Pittsburgh 's Gary Bauer, with West Virg in ian Ra n d y F ry e in seco nd . S te phen Del ys was the O pen Sto c k winner, with Pennsylvanian Ken S a bo running second. eN Bedford C ounty M otorcycle Club Hill Beaverdale. Pennsylvania Results : August 12-1 3, 2000 50 AUTO : 1. Robert Moor e Jr. (Cob); 2. Donald Ro bbins Jr. (Co b); 3 . Co rissa Fosterg (KTM) ; 4 . Vinny Nuzzolilli (Lam) : 5. Casey Wood (KTM) . 85 JR MI N I : I . Dan Ba i rd (Su z) : 2 . Ju stin Newt on (Yam) ; 3 . Brennan Da rr (Ka w); 4 . Ja c ob Prebe (Han) ; 5. Zachary Guyan (Suz). 85 SR MIN I: 1. Ryan Thibau lt (Kaw) : 2. John Byassee (Han); 3. Cody Cunningham (Kaw); 4. John Bunner (Yam) ; 5. Johnny Mill er (Han). 12 5 : 1. Ryan Peterson (Han) ; 2. Ryan Thibault (Han) ; 3. John Bunner (TM ); 4 . Mel Piontek (Yam ); 5. Dwayne Cox (Kaw). 2 0 0 : 1. Ja son Northrup (Kaw) ; 2 . Dan Prebe (K T M) ; 3. M el Pion t ek ( KT M) ; 4 . Danny M ea rs (KTM) : 5. Kevin Cox (Kaw) . 250 : 1. Er ic Wheelwright (Yam) ; 2. Marc Stamm (Yam) ; 3 . Mik e Wood (Hon) : 4 . J eff Camp bell (Yam) : 5. Greg Th om pson (Han). 40 0: 1. Brent Stewart ( KTM); 2. Greg Thompson (Hon) ; 3. Kevin Cox (Yam ); 4. Bill Burkett Jr. (Yam); 5. Chad Koops ma (KTM). 6 0 0 : 1. Greg Th omp son ( Kaw) ; 2 . Ern i e Beckwith (Hon); 3. Eric Wheelwri ght (Hon); 4 . Gary Slater (Han); 5. Mike Wood (Han). 750: 1. J ason No rthrup (Kaw) ; 2. Todd Cipala ( Kaw) ; 3 . Ka leb No rthr up (Ka w) ; 4 . An dy Fort ner (Kaw) : 5. Gary Slater (Hon). O PEN: I. Mik e B ron k (Yam ) ; 2 . J im Sma y (Kaw) : 3. Don Naugle (Kaw) ; 4. Kaleb Northrup (Tri) ; 5. Shawn Farnsworth (H-D). SR : 1. Ken Bonn em a (Yam ); 2. T im Adk ins (Ka w); 3 . Greg Now ak ( Han) ; 4 . Do ug Ca m pbe ll (Kaw) ; 5. Henry Farnswort h (H-D). 40 0 STK : 1. Gary Bauer (Yam ); 2. Randy Frye (Yam ); 3. Lloyd Haas (TM ); 4. John Urban (Kaw); 5. Dwayne Cox (Kaw) . OP EN STK : 1. Steve Deleys (KTM ); 2. Ken Sabo (Kaw); 3. Lee Regal (Kaw); 4. Louie Lauters (Kaw); 5. Chris Blain (Han). FA ST TIME: Greg Thompson. 4.8998 (Kaw) . AMAU.S O Speedway C . pen hampionships New Champion Speedway Larsen Reaches the Far Side First - Twice B y M A GGIE SIMPSO N OWEGO, NY, AUG. 19 n a n event tha t seemed destined to e nd in s ome form of controve rs y , Josh Lars en u ps et 199 9 winner Jimmy Seismor e e n route to winn ing the AMA US Open Speedway Championship. Th e event long re ferred to as th e "Ea st Co a st Nation a l" ha s pre viousl y been won by s pee dwa y greats such as Woods, Schwartz. Miller and King but has re c ently be come accustomed to officiati ng that wou ld make Gr and Prix refere e Wolfgang Glas blu sh . T o say th e 19 98 a n d ' 9 9 e ve nts we re awarded to visiti ng Cali forn ians on questio na ble ca lls wou ld be a severe understa tement, at least I in th e minds o f th e loca l fa ns . One had to wonder what would be in store for the 2000 ev ent. After Satu rday ' s 20 heats , th ere we re no fewer than 12 differ ent heat winn ers. Seismore had a perfect 16 points. Larsen a nd DiFrancesco each had 15 poi nt s , with thr ee wins ap iece. Nick Fafa r h ad 13 p o ints a nd t wo win s. The re st o f th e s e m ifina list s e ach had one win ; Tom S ephton a nd Bru c e Nelson with 12 p o ints , Gen e Bon signore a nd Cam Rafferty wit h 11 p o ints , and Fr ed LeG au lt and Cra ig Este lle with 10 point s . In the first se m i, both Se ismore a nd Sephton made the direct transfer to the m ain , wh ile Fafa r and LeG ault both he aded for the B final. In th e secon d New Champion Speedway: Jason Bo nsigno re (gate one), Gene Bo ns ignore (gate~ tw o), Jerry " Beau f ord " Harmon (gate th ree ) and Nick Fafa r ro cket off the li ne at th e AM A U.S. Open Speed way Champio nships in Owego, New York .

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