Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

New York St at e and Empire State Motocross Championships Broome-Tioga Sports Center S T O RY A N D P HO T O S J IM P. S A N D ERSO N By BINGHAMTON, NY, SEPT. 24 TI he 18th annual New York State U Championships . hosted by Tom Hurd Pro m ot io ns , attra cted some of the most talented motocross riders in the No rtheast to the Broome -Tioga National track . More tha n 400 riders came out to race the 22 class es s lated for th e day's program, on a fairly wet morning . Light ra in m ade the soil quite tacky and actu all y helped provide extra traction on th e steep National hill. Mark Hopk ins rounded the sw itchback first turn with the early lead in the first Ov er 25 Op en Expert moto . Trailing him wer e Mi ke Spear , Lawrenc e Lashway a nd John Young. When the le ade rs appeared at the top of th e Na tiona l hill, Hopk ins was st ill in the po int p os itio n . with Lashwa y , Spear , Young and B inghamton Honda -ba c ked Mike Finn erty in tow. Hopkins began to pull away a nd had a six -s e c ond le ad by t he s t a rt o f lap tw o. Th e top five s pr ead o ut by th e ha lfwa y po int of la p two a nd rema ined unchang e d th rou gh la p thre e. When th e le ader s ca m e d own th e Nation al hill, Finn ert y took a ga m ble by ta king the far outs ide line, but it paid off a s he m anag ed to s ne ak by Young fo r fou rth. Hop k ins was s t ill out front , with Spe ar now in second. Lashwa y dropped to third , with Fin ne rty and Young holdi ng on to fourth and fifth. Hop kins took the checke red flag with about a fo ur-seco nd lead . Rounding out th e to p five we re Sp ea r, La shwa y. Finne rty and Young . "T he trac k is in excellent cond ition considering the c ond itions [an aggravating ligh t rain was falling on and off all morning]. and the bike is hooking up really well, pulling hard on the hills and I just hung in there and got the win : said the Michael Andretti 's Northeast Cy cl e s -ba ck ed Hopkins. who had jokingly pr edi cted a firstmoto win to h is friends in the pits. "I was pla ying it safe out there. I could have push ed it a little ha rd e r, but I kept peek ing behind me , and I just ke pt a comfortable distance and kept it on two wheels ." La sh wa y na ile d the second- moto hol e sh ot , wit h Spear, Youn g, G ra nt Ga s stro m an d Pete Ace to in t o w . Aceto m anag ed to m ove up to th ird off the hill. You ng dr opped to fo urth, and Randy Barker moved up to claim fifth . Th e t op fo u r remained un ch ang ed a t th e sta rt of lap tw o , whil e Hopk ins m o v e d int o fi fth despite a bad s tart and a flat rea r tire. Halfwa y throu gh la p two , Spe ar wa s n ow occ u py in g t h e p oint p osit ion , Lashway had been relegated to second, Aceto held th ird , and Hop k ins made the pass on You ng for fourth . Spear held on for the moto win , with Lashwa y finish ing second. Hopkins ma naged to move up a nother spot , finishing th ird . Aceto took fourth and Young fifth . Spear earned the overall win with his 2-1 score . Hopki ns took the run ner -u p spot and La sh wa y ro u nded out the podium . J osh Sterritt earned holeshot honors in the first Collegeboy moto , with Shawn Nutt , Ju st in Murr a y , Bear Hugh son a nd J a s on Spratley in tow . When th e to p five appea red a t th e top o f th e Nati on al hill , Nutt wa s in th e po in t. Sterri tt wa s seco n d, Mu rr a y a nd Hugh son we re holding th eir own in thi rd a nd fo u rt h, and Da v id Lendr um ha d moved up to fifth. Nutt wa s pulling a wa y and ha d a six-seco n d a d va nt ag e b y halfwa y t h ro ugh la p two . Hughs on pa s s ed Murray for third . The top three spread o ut by lap th re e , but beh ind t he m there was a fre igh t tra in battling for fourth through 10th . Nutt a nd S t er ritt h a d p rett y m uch lo c ked up first and second by th e start of la p three, but it was a nyone's ra c e for th ird th rough fifth . Murra y and Lendrum mana g ed to p as s Hughson for th ird and fourth just afte r th e start of la p three , but wh en th e y ca me off th e h ill, Charl ie Elli s was now th ird. Murray fourth and Hughson wa s fifth with a lap and a half to go . When the c hecke rs flew , Nutt eas ily took the win , with Sterritt, Ellis , Murray a nd Hughs on trailing . In m oto two, Ste rritt managed to get his Hond a to the front of th e p a c k a nd round ed t he firs t tu rn wit h t he le ad , wit h Nutt a nd Mur ra y tr ailin g when they d is appeared into th e front superc ross se ctio n. When the top five ca me off th e Nationa l hill, th e running ord er w a s Ste r r itt, Nutt, E lli s , Lendrum a nd J ake Denn is. Fr ed Roy qu ickl y pa ssed Den n is . Nu tt c lose d th e ga p on Sterritt a nd began a p ply- (Above) M ichael Andretti's Northeast Cycles -backed Mark Hopkins nails the holeshot in the first Over 25 Open Ex pert m oto in Binghamton, New York. (Leftl Shau n Nutt rode to a perfect 1-1 finish for the top of the podium in the highly competitive Collegeboy c l a s s at the 18th annual NY State and Empire Stat e Championships. Nutt earned th e overa ll with a perfect I - I s c ore . Ro u n d in g out the podium were Sterritt a nd Ellis . eN Broome-Tioga Sports Center Binghamton , New York Results: Se pte mber 24, 2000 P/W : I . Jam e s Do oli ttl e (Yam ) ; 2 . Michael Rommel (Yam) : 3 . Chad Gra y (Ya m); 4 . Paul Tirad o (Yam): 5. Ryan Mau ro (Yam ). 50 ( 4 -6): I. A.J . Catanzaro (Po l); 2 . Nathan Couse (Cob); 3 . Zachary Hatfield (K TM ) ; 4. Adam Miles (Cob) : 5. Connor Web (Cob) . 5 0 ( 7 - 8) : I. Zacha r y Rosc h ( Co b ): 2 . Zack Mauro (Cob) ; 3. Zach Butler (Cob ): 4 , J ohn Borek (Co b) : 5. Austin Ham mond (Co b) . JR MINI 60: 1. Tr oy Bapp J r. ( KTM); 2. Bre tt Stro ng (Kaw ); 3 . Josh Stoodley (KTM); 4 . Ma rshall Hurd (KTM); 5. Nick McPhee (KTM) . JR MINI 8 0 : 1. Phillip Nicoletti (Han ) ; 2 . Troy Bapp Jr. (Kaw) ; 3 . J osh Stood ley (Kaw ); 4 . Frank Bum s (Kaw) ; 5 . Matt Flin t (Yam ). SR MIN I NOV : 1. Craig Hou c k ( K a w); 2 , Brandon Schu ltz ( Suz); 3 . Bart Holt (Kaw); 4. Cr aig Evan s (Yam ); 5. Jus l in Bixb y (Han) . SR M.INI : 1. B ob K in iry ( K a w ): 2 . M it ch Dough er ty ( Ya m ); 3 . Sc ott Se ars ( K aw ) ; 4 . B .J . Smith (K aw): 5 . All en Robin son (Kaw). MI NI COMB: 1. B o b K in ir y ( Kaw) ; 2 . M itc h Dou g herty ( Yam); 3 . B .J . Sm it h ( K aw); 4. Phill ip Nico lett i (Han) ; 5. Scott Sear s (Kaw). 125 NOV: 1. Dane Coo n (Ha n); 2. Law rence Gill ( H a n); 3 . A ndrew W it h e r ell ( Ha n): 4 . B ra nd on Mu rp hy (Kaw) ; 5. Matt Zevette ro (Han). 125 AM : I . Ju st i n Mu r ray ( Ha n): 2 . Bear Hughson (K aw ); 3. Cal eb Mi lle r (Yam); 4 . Charle s Ell is (Yam) : 5 . Gene Nighman (Ka w). 125 EX : 1. J eff N ort hr op ( K e w}: 2. Jam es McN eill (Yam): 3. Casey Higgins (Han); 4. Ryan Mills (Han); 5 . Paul Co rey (Han). 250 OPEN NOV : I . F ran k Hu g hes (Y a m); 2. Rick La c o m be ( Yam); 3 . Mi ke Klinger ( Ha n): 4 . Glenn Babineau (Han): 5 . Ma rco Cerv oni (Yam). 250 OPEN AM : I. J o rd an J ac k so n (Ha n): 2 . Frank Pasquale (YaM ); 3 . T im Zufe lt (Yam): 4 . Dave Ny zio (Yam ); 5 . Dy lan Vano rde n (Yam). 2 50 O PEN EX : I . Dave Ginolfi (Yam); 2 . Mi ke Spear (Yam ); 3. Casey Hig gin s (Hen) : 4 . Shaun Nutt (Suz); 5 . Paul Corey (Ha n). SCHBY: 1. Ryan Mill s (Hon ); 2 . James McNe il ( Yam): 3 . Gene Nigh man (Kaw) ; 4 . Felix Delmoral (Yam); 5 . Ca leb Miller ( Yam ). CLG B Y: I . Shaun Nutt (Suz ); 2 . Josh Ste rrit ( Ha n); 3. Cha rles Ell is (Ya m); 4 . Davi d Lendrum (Kaw) ; 5 . Bea r Hughson (Ka w) . 2 5+ AM : I. Mik e Ba rnum (Suz) ; 2 . J ason Lew is (Kaw); 3. Kev in Krueger (Yam ); 4 . Chris Hut ch ison (Yam); 5. Rodger Whit e (Yam) . 25 + EX : 1. Mi ke Spe ar (Yam) ; 2. Ma rk Hopkins (Ha n) : 3. Lawrence Lashw ay ( Ka w) ; 4 . Pete Aceto (Kaw); 5 . John Youn g (Kaw). 30 + OPEN AM : 1. Gerald McCart hy ( Yam ); 2 . J eff A llen (Kaw): 3. Clayton Blowe rs (Suz) ; 4. David Mc Neal (Han ); 5 . Brian Harr ison (Suz) . 30 + OP EN EX : 1. Mike Spear (Yam ); 2. J ohn Youn g (Ka w); 3. Tim Henry (Han); 4 . Gene Nighma n (Kaw ); 5 . Da rryl Sm ith (Kaw) . 40 +: 1. Bart Lu cas ( Ya m ) ; 2 . Ge ne N ighman (Kaw); 3 . Mike Murra y (Han) ; 4 . Denni s Hun t (Suz); 5 . Steve Tranholm (KT M) . SR NOV: 1. T om Griffin ( Yam) ; 2 . J eff Mesler (Yam) ; 3. Joseph T rapani (Han) ; 4. Glenn Babineau (Hon) ; 5. Mark Zopp (Kaw). (Above) Josh Sterritt (52) earns more h oleshot bragging rig hts in the second Collegeboy moto at the Broome-Tioga Sports Center. ing p re s su re as they we nt into t he superc ross section and ascended th e ba c k o f the Nation al hill . e me rg ing from th e hill with the po int pos ition . Sterritt was o nc e again re lega ted to second . Th e top five spread out and Nutt took th e c hecke re d flag a nd th e se co nd- moto win . S t er ritt fin is hed seco nd , w ith E llis t h ird . Le nd ru m fourth a nd Roy fifth . c ue . e n e vv s N O V EMB ER 1. 2000 59

• Cover