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RM CUp Challenge Muddy Creek Raceway .. B Y S TEVE AND P EGGY C O RLE E PH OTOS BY PEG GY COR LEE BLOUNTVILLE TN, OC 7·8 , T. rp-I o r id a ' s Ron T i ch eno r w as th e big wi nner at th is ye ar's Su zuki RM Cup Challenge at Mudd y Cr eek Race w ay in B l ountv i ll e , T enn essee . D esp it e heav y pressu re fro m young lio n Be n R iddle , wh o i s Suzu ki's newest addit ion t o th e b ig rig fo r next year, th e fo rm er Japan ese Champion to ok top honors in th e 2 50cc Pro and Vet Ov er 30 c las ses. A mis c ue by Ridd l e whil e ba ttling Ti ch en or dro p p ed th e youngster o u t of co nt ent i on f or t h e 2 50cc win , but h e c a me ba ck fo r a conv incin g win in the 12 5cc Pro division. Th is was th e si xt h annua l Suzuk i's RM Cup event, and it was th e largest and most succ essful yet. Th e RM Cup is a spec ial event for Suzu ki RM rac er s o nly. Riders mu st race a 1999 o r 2000 RM and be a re gi ste red Suzuk i co n tingenc y ra cer. Despite record cold temperatures , m or e .tha n 600 ri ders wer e on hand to try to w in a share of t he S102 , 125 in co nting enc ies and cash . Pro m oter Sa m Ga m mon prov id ed an im rnac u late ly groomed t rack an d a to p -notch rac e adm i n i st r atio n c rew, and Co le Gr ess and t he Suzuki c rew put o n a fa bu lo u s ev ent. D u nl o p T ir es, M ot o Plan et , Pro A c tio n Suspe nsi o n a nd sev era l ot her vendo rs were on ha nd . Hol eshot money was prov ide d by fan tasy rac er .com . T h e 125 c c Pro h o lesho t wen t t o Ok lah oma's Jacob Martin, but Rid d le t o ok ove r on t he st a i rs t ep s. M a rt in he ld o n to seco nd , a hea d of D a v id Hi ll a nd G eorg i a ' s D erric k F is he r. T ic he no r, mi r ed mi dpa ck, beg an t o m ove forw ard . O n lap tw o , T icheno r If fifth , foll owed by Gerth , Dustin Pull ey, Bill y Lic h tl e, M att M ac an and Dan T rum an . In the C jD d ivi si ons , o ne nam e sto od o ut abov e th e rest. North Caro li na's B .J . Hun ts inger took co nv inc ing w ins in both th e 12 5 and 250cc races . No ot her r iders we re ab le t o crack the top l O in both cla sses . In t he 125cc cl ass, Hu ntsinger was fo l lowed b y Ernie Phillips II, Robb i e Gra y , Randy S c huck an d B ra ndon Hendricks. In the 250cc co nt est, Ca lifo rn ia 's Ke vin Vid an a-Barda was run ner -up, foll ow ed by Mi chael Clam pi tt , eN Van c e Earl and Mik e Embry . Tic hen or had a lre ady g otte n aw ay . T ich eno r t ook the win , ahe ad of Rid d le , H oll a n d , H o r t o n a n d M et c a l f. M artin , O kl ah oma ' s Russell T ho m p so n , A rizo na' s T ed Ca m pbe ll , You ng an d C arst en rou nd ed out th e top 10 . Both of th e Vet -d iv ision ra ces wer e ex citing , as t he Over 30 li ne up cl osel y resembl ed t he 25 0cc Pro lin eup , a nd th e Ove r 40 c l a s s c o n t a i n e d m an y former top riders as we ll. Tich en o r eas ily took the wi n in t he O ver 30 cl ass, ah ead of Chris You ng and Ca rs ten . Fourth went to former GP star Billy Liles after a t re mendou s battle wi th Carst en. F i f t h w ent to Georgi a' s Se an D uk es, ah ead of arena cross spe edst er Jim Chest er, N ew Englander Pat Barton , loc al favorite Alb ert M cC oy, Todd Ba isd en and We st Virgini a's Mi k e M org an . In th e Ov e r 40 c l a s s, Mudd y Cr ee k' s ow n Ro n " W ire head" Jon es to ok the w in b y a n ext r em ely la rge margin . J err y Sa les Jr . from Kent , Oh io, was runner -up , ahead o f Joel N icky Baker. India na 's J im Faulken berg a nd W isc ons in 's To m Pr etzk a Muddy Creek Raceway Blountv ille, Tennessee Results: O ober 7-B, 2000 ct 80 (7- 1 1): 1. Davi Millsaps; 2. Michael laPaglia; 3 . D ean D ye ss III ; 4 . T erry A ute n Jr. ; 5 . Ben i Williams. 8 0 (1 2 -1 3); 1. Brae Hel pe r; 2 . J osh Uchtle; 3 . Shawn Clark: 4 . Mic hael Willard: 5. Jaso n Lawre nce. 8 0 ( 14 - 15) : 1. Brad Modjews ki : 2 . Wil liam Browning II: 3. Matt Miller; 4. Bradley Ripple: 5. Tad Ty rell. 125 PRO : I. Ben Riddle; 2. Ja cob Mart in ; 3 . Ronald Ti chenor; 4. Rusty Holland : 5. Robbie Horton. 12 5 B: I. Br ian Gray: 2 . Gene Stull : 3. Shane Bess: 4. Thom as Osmialowski ; 5. Brad Modje wsk i. 125 C/O : 1. B.J . Hunt singer; 2. Ernie Phillips II; 3 , Robbie Gra y : 4 . Rand y Sc h u c k; 5 . Br an don Hendrick s. 250 PRO: 1. Ronald Tichenor ; 2. Ben Riddle; 3. Rusty Holland; 4 . Robb ie Horton ; 5. Nic k Metca lf. 250 B: 1. Shane Bess; 2 . Brian Gerth; 3. Co lt Hu m p hr e y ; 4 . D u sty F oun tain ; 5 . Ch risto p he r Add ington. 250 C/ O: I. B.J , Hunt singer; 2. Kevin Vldana Bard a: 3 . Mich ael Clampitt; 4, Vance Earl ; 5. Mike Embry. VET 30 . : 1. Ron ald Tichenor : 2. Chris Young ; 3. Barry Carsten; 4. Willi am Liles; 5. Sean Duk es. SR 40 . : 1. Ron Jon es; 2. J erry Sales .Jr.: 3. Joel Nic ky Ba k er ; 4 . J i m F au lk en be rg ; 5 . Thoma s (A b ove ) Robbie Horton (61 ) tries, unsuccessfully, to hitch a ride to the front with Ron Tichenor (26), who took the 250cc Pro win as well as the Vet Over 30 v ictory at the RM Cup Challenge. (Ri g ht) Ben Riddle (2 4 1) Dretzka . (Below) Fl orida's hard-charging Brian Gray (38) ran away with the 125cc B win. (Bottom) The Over 40 v ictory went to Muddy Creek's own Ron ''Wirehead" Jones (3 T) , by a n extremely la rge margin. took a convincing w in in t h e 125cc Pro d ivisio n i n Blountville, T e n n e ss ee . moved in to t he top fi ve . Robbie Horton was back in e ighth . Fish er m oved by Ti chen o r o n lap f our and t he n i m mediately went down. Fi sh er re c o v ered in eight h , m ovi ng Ho rto n up a spot. In th e lat t er sta ges , T ich en or , cruis ing in third , c ame und er inten se pressure fr om Rusty Holla nd , w ho had been stead ily m oving up . Ridd le took th e chec k ers by a large margin, wit h Martin in second . Ti chenor held on to thi rd , foll owed by Holl an d , Horto n, Cal ifornia's Chris Young , F isher, Barry Carsten , Vinc ent K arn ow and O regon 's T iger Lacay . T h e 2 50cc Pro ho l esho t wen t to Lac ay, as he timed th e gate perfectly and led the field down the stairsteps , fo ll owed by Ke ntuck ian Ni ck Me tca lf and Riddle. Be fore the end of th e fir st lap , Riddle had ass umed the lead and Tichenor had moved in to secon d . On la p t wo , Ho rto n passed Me t ca lf fo r fo urth . O n lap t hree, Ridd le f ell and T ic he nor took over the le ad . Rid d le rem o unt ed in thi rd and set o ut after T icheno r. Ho ll and held down second , and Ho rt on was fo urth, ahead of Metc alf. As the wh it e fl ag c ame ou t , Rid dle finally passed Holland fo r sec o nd , but round ed o u t th e top fiv e . Sixth w ent t o fo rmer RM Cup winner Rick Munson, ahead o f C al iforn ia 's Richard A naya , R i c k Wr i g ht , New E n g l a nd e r John D e lg rosso a n d James Bu rt on . Ca lifornia 's Shane Bess enj oy ed the most success in t he B- d ivision ra ces , as he bac ked up a w in in th e 250c c B c lass w ith a st rong t h ird p lace fi nish in the 12 5c c B contest. In th e 250cc B cl ass, Bess was fo l l o w ed b y B r ia n Ge rt h , Co l e Hump h rey , Du st y F o unt a i n , Chri s Addi ng ton , Tr o y A dams , N ic k B eav er , Georgia 's D ash L y l e , C h ris Wh it c raft and M eFl y Sc hee l. Bess w as una b le to re pea t in t he 12 5c c B class and was forc ed to take t h ird as a c ha rg in g Brian Gra y r an away wi th th e wi n, fo llowed by Pennsy lvani a's Gen e St ul l. Fo urt h we nt to Michiga n's T o m O sm i al ow sk i , an d W isc onsin 's B ra d Modj ewsk i finished cycle n e _ S • N O V EM BER 1 5 , 2000 41