Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I. J hl . . .. · A M A N s tlonsl C hsmplonshlp H . lllctirnb S erles Round 13 : l'0jhen Ir o n Horsemen Motorcycle Club Th e re was only Hos k ins left, a nd he was after the win on his Honda CR500. He was straight and fast over the jumps, but he shut off an instant too soon and e nd e d up with a 3.5second run . " I shut off too early at the top ," Hoskins said. "But I've had a he lluva day . It's great to be back racing." "I never expected to win this hillclimb - th is is just awesome, " Watson said. "I knew Alan wo uld be tough, he alwa ys rides good here, and it's good to see him back." It was Watson's seventh 540ccclass win of the year. Watson will clinch his se cond 540-title if he beats Tiger Strank at any of the next three h illclimbs. (Above) Robert Temple ton fli es hi s Harley en route to w inning the 800cc class at Middl e bury . (Right) Alan Hoskins finished third in the 540cc class in his first race in two seasons. MIDDLEBURY, IN, SEPT. 17 he Goshen Iron Horsemen Moto rcyc le C lub ho sted Round 13 o f t he 2 0 0 0 AMA Nat io n al Ch am pi on ship Hillclimb s eries , spons or ed by Pa c e Am e ric a n . Bobby Te mp leton took his first win of the season , wh ile Dav id Watson furth er increased h is ·p o int s lead in both the 540cc and 800cc classes - taking his first win at the hill in the process. Alan Hoskins led the 540cc class for most of the day in his first hill climb in nearly two seasons. Ph il Libh a rt stood on the podium in both c lasse s , but the runner-up in the 8 00cc class , Glen Petty Jr. , m issed the celeb ration a fte r c ra s hing over the top on his second pass a nd suffering a broken femur. T "I got a lot of a ir ov er th e jump," Libhart s a id . "Too much a ir - [a n d] when I landed I tore up m y kn ee." Libhart dropped Watson t o th ird with his 3 .432 . Th e top three sta yed the s ame until the last rider of th e first round, Alan Hoskins , c hecked in. Hoskins hadn 't ridden a National HiII climb since May of last year, but his b est finishes h ave com e at th e "S howt ime" hill - and he went fo r it. He jum ped to the lead with his 3 .3 9 3 s econd effort. Liv in g s to n had a not h e r g oo d launch to sta rt off round two , but the bike landed c rossed up , s ending him o ut of bounds . He wou ld hold on to fourth for the day . Wa ts o n was o n a m iss ion o n h is se cond ride . "Aft er seei ng tha t littl e o ld ba ld g uy go u p th ere lik e that ," Wa tso n joked . "I kne w I had to turn one in." Wat s on h ad th e Sp e ct ro O il sb a ck ed fo ur-c y lin de r s ingi ng as h e left the line o n th e rig ht side o f th e hill, an d he held it on over the jum p st opping the cloc ks at 3 .215. "I wanted to st ay low over the jum p ," Watson sa id. "But I still flew too high , then 1held it on. I'm amaz ed I held it on long enough to tak e the lead ." Libhart wa s n't do ne , howe ve r, as he hit the jum p after a great holeshot. He lost precio us fra ctions of a second in the ai r a nd that ultim at el y ke pt him out of the winne r's ci rcle by .0 18 of a se cond as his 3 .2 3 3 s lotted him into second plac e. S40cc Mike Livingston 's c a re e r-be s t finish of third came la st ye a r at Goshen , a nd he was th e first ride r to c ha llenge th e 150-foot hilL The hill is do m inated by the double jump th at s its some 20 fe et off the line , a nd by the na rrow top of th e h ill. Living ston fired his Off Road Cyc le /Mac 's Cy cl e Supp ly ba ck ed Ho n d a C R5 0 0 o ff t h e lin e , a nd ove r t he double . Livingston landed stra ig ht a nd held it on to th e lights for a qu ick 3.40 1- s econd time. "I got a n ice , straig ht run a t it an d th e bik e ra n grea t, " Livingsto n sa id. Dav id Wa ts o n was hop in g fo r a top-five ride , and he eve n s h ut off a little e arly a s he nea red the top on his T r o y Le e De s ig n s -b a c k e d C B R Ho nd a . Wats o n 's c o n s e rva t ive ride bumped h im to se cond with a 3.436. Phil Libh a rt has a lways ridden we ll at Midd lebury , finish ing s econ d a t the spring event , and he p ut to gether a good la unch on th e Howe 's Triumphbacked twin . 22 O C TOBER 4, 2 000' c ue • e n e 'IftI s BOOcc Jeff Th om a s won h is fi rs t- e ve r National e a rlier th is year at Go shen , and he was a fte r two in a row. He had a so lid start, but wasn't on line at the top and that held him to 3.436. Watson c a me to the line hoping to take advantage of a relat ively smooth , rut -free hill on his KIeeberg Sheetm etal /Mac ' s Cy cl e Suppl ybacked Honda CBR800 , and c licked off a 3 .3 55 to take th e e arly lead. On ce agai n , how ev er, Libh art followed Watson' s fa st ride with a quick e r pass. Libha rt launched the English Moto rs / R.L. Sm ith Garag e -b a c k e d BSA high in the air ov e r th e jum p , but ma na ged to la nd on target a nd ripped up to the top . Lik e Th oma s , Templeto n 's fi rs t t a s te of Nat ional Hil lcJi m b vic t o ry came at Middlebury , but that wa s last season. He has been co ns is t e nt a ll ye a r, but hasn 't been a ble to put it a ll togethe r for a win. Tem pleton go t what he wa s looking for, howeve r, whe n he made a clean pass on his first a ttem pt, ha ng ing on th roug h the second round to ta ke his first win of the yea r. "I ha d a line pi c ked ,o ut a nd t he bike sta yed in it," Temp leton sa id. "I wa s a little nose -h eavy ove r the double , but I got th e re ar wheel down fa st a nd th e bike rea lly a ccele ra te d ." The Ha rle y crowd wen t nuts when his 3 .1 51 to p ped the scoresheet. Glen Pett y J r. has e njo ye d s uccess a t Gos he n as we ll a n d he b u m ped Wa ts on to for th afte r his 3 .3 5 2 -s e c - , - ond run . Thom a s netted a perfect run to ope n round two. "I hit the landing just like I did this sp ring , a nd it felt great, but it wasn 't fas t enough, " Thomas said. His 3.3 19 had him in third, but he would fall to fifth by day 's end . Watson entered the day with a 24 point cushion o ver Thomas in the battle for the number -one plate, and he pumped it afte r his second ride . Watson turned his Honda lo os e, and while he did n 't hit the perfect landing , horsepower made up fo r it a s he passed Thomas with a 3 .259. Libhart's s econd run had just started when it went sour. "A plug wi re ca me of f," Libhart sai d. "Rich Haver puts in a lot of time on my bik e s a nd he came ru nning up goi ng, 'Wh a t hap pened , wh a t happened?' - think ing it was a big prob lem . T his happens on ce in a while." Templeto n watc hed as they t ried to beat h is t ime . Petty wa s afte r t he wi n o n h is S tought on's Cycle /T HO R/ B u m p sticks /MotoR ite -b a c ked Harley, but he ran into trouble as he approached the to p, and let go - crashing hard . Petty's first wo rds to the med ics were, "Did I beat Te mpleton?" Pe tt y c a me up s hort o n th e win, b ut he di d take o ve r s e c o n d in t he c ha m p io ns hip with a 3 .2 08 , h is last ride of the sea s on . " F ina lly, it ' s b e en a long t ime c oming, " Templeton s a id a fte r taking the win. "I finally got a good bounce and a nice clean ride on the first run . This will he lp us out in the points so maybe we can s a lva ge something out of this year. " G oshen Iron Horsemen MotorcycleC lub MIDD LEBURY, IN Results: September 17, 2000 800cc 1. Robert Templeton (H-D) ; 2. Glen Petty, Jr. (H·D) : 3. Phil Libh art (BSA) : 4 . Dav id Wat son ( Ha n) ; 5 . J eff Th om a s ( Ya m) ; 6 . Mik e DeBusk (Kaw); 7. Tiger Strank, Jr. (Kaw) ; 8. John Hamilton. Jr . (Tri) ; 9 . Russ Vand erVeen ( HoD); 10 . Rodney Smith (Yam ); 11. Harry Denham (H-D) ; 12. Brandon Kreeger (Tri); 13. Curt Snelling (Hon). 54Oc c: 1. David Watson (Han); 2. Phil Libhart (Tr i); 3. Alan Hoskins (Hon); 4. M ichael Livingston (Han) ; 5 . Scott M cNeel y ( Hon ); 6 . T im Friedhoff ( Ha n) ; 7 . Ric hie Sc he ue rman ( Ha n) ; 8 . John Hamilton. Jr. (T ri); 9 . Tiger Stra nk. Jr. (Kaw); 10. Mike Tem pleton (Yam) ; 11. Jeff Thom as (Yam) ; 12. Ted Wilkins (Rotax); 13. Chris Va n Hying (Hon); 14 . James Wolfe (Kaw ): 15. Scott Friedhoff (Han). AMA 80 0cc NATIO NAL HILLCU MB C'SHIP SERIES POINT STANDINGS ( A ft er 13 of 16 roun ds) : 1. David Watson ( 17 1/5 wins); 2. Jeff Thomas (146/2): 3 . Glen Pett y , J r. (139) ; 4 . Robe rt Term pleton (134 /1 ); 5. John Hamilton, Jr. ( 1 19 ); 6 . Tiger Stra nk , , Jr . (108 ): 7. Tim Frazier (98 /2 ) : 8. Phil Libhart (87 ): 9. Harry Denham (84) : 10. Mike DeBusk (82): 11. Russ VanderVeen (64 ); 12. Brandon Kreeger (5 1) ; 13. Rodney Smi th (4B): 14. James Large (43 / 2) : 15. Curt Snelling (39) : 16. Greg Will iams (3 1): 17. (TIE) Harry Schreiber, Jr ./Darrell Fowler (27 ) ; 19 . Bob Ca stlet ine (2 0) ; 20 . Tom Reiser (1 1) ; 2 1. Paul Pinsonnault (8) . AMA 54O<:c NATIONAL HILLCUMB C' SHIP SERIES POINT STANDING S ( Aft er 13 of 16 rounds) : 1. David Watson( 174/7 wins); 2. T iger Strank ( 144 /3) ; 3. Scott McNeeiy ( 128 ): 4 . Phil Libhart ( 122): 5. Ted Wiikin s ( 115/1) : 6. John Ham ilton. J r. ( 107/1): 7 . Tim Freidhoff (9 5) ; 8. Richie Scheuerman (9 1); 9 . Paul Pinsonnault (88/1) ; 10. Jeff T homas (83 ); 11. Chris VanHyning (80); 12. Michael Livingston (76 ); 13. Tim Frazier (49); 14 . Mike Templeton (42) ; 15. Anthony DeHart (21 ); 16. (TIE) Tyrone Smoot/ Scott Freidholf (15 ): 18. Ala n Hoskins ( 13) : 19. (TIE) Mike Pulver/B rian Bowlby ( 12); 2 1. Paul Garrety (11); 22 . (T IE) Greg Williamsrrerry Thompson/ James Wolfe (10) : 25 . Roge r McNeely (9) : 26. (TIE) J ac k Macaulley/ C1arence Browning/ Cathy Templeton (6); 29 . Charlie Roberts (5 ): 30 . Chad Disbennell (3): 31. Curt Snelling ( I) . Upcoming Rounds Round 14- Nashville, Indiana, September 24 Round 15- Jefferson, Pennsylvania, October1 1

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