Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Missouri Hare Scrambles C hampionshipSeries Round 15: Plattin Creek King Leivan the 8th B v F RA N K L E IVA N FESTUS, M OCT. 15 O, o m ing into th e penultimate round o f th e I6 -event Missouri Hare Scrambl e s C h a m pi o ns h i p , SCR / Yamaha r ider Ste v e L e i van k ne w what h e n e ed ed t o d o to win a n unprec ed ented ei g hth overall ch am pionship: beat Chris Thiele . Easier said than done. Thiele had momentum on his sid e, winn ing th e tw o most recent ev ents and fin is h ing runne r-up in t h e two p ri o r to t h o s e - ne it h er t ime to L e i v a n . However, T hi e l e was i n a m ust -w in situation ; he need ed to win b oth o f t he r ema ining races a n d Leivan had to fi nish worse than second at least on c e in o rder fo r Thiele to win his first title. A lso easier sai d than done . Leivan knew that the surest way to cl inch th e ch am pionshi p was t o w in the race. and that's just what he di d. A ft e r a poo r s t a r t , he q u ickly m o ved t hro ugh the p ack , and wh en Th i el e and even t ual third -pl ace fin i sh e r Brand o n Forre st er mi ssed a tu rn , Le iva n took a le a d he w ou ld nev er re li nquish . A ft er co ntrolling the pa c e fo r nearly tw o hours, he upped th e pac e o n h is YZ4 26F and jetted awa y to victory number seven on the seaso n . " It' s suc h a reli ef to win th e race a nd th e c ha m pio nsh i p," sa i d Answer /Dunlop/Scott/S ilkolene/Tsub ak i -spo nso re d Leivan . " I was t ota ll y fo cu sed co mi ng in here to day an d C pretty c o nfi d ent, but Chri s is to ugh and I knew th at he would fi ght all the wa y to the end ." "l kn ew tha t I needed some help to win [th e title ]," said Thie le, "but I tried m y best. I d id more thi s yea r to try to win than e ver b efore . bu t St ev e is tough . He's hard to beat, and tha t's why he 's the champ ." The I O-m il e course at th e Plattin Creek area was in nearly perfect condition. though th e pit area wa s rea ll y dusty. Lap times for Leivan and co m p any we re ar o u nd 2 6 mi nutes , with the top 14 riders co m ple ting five lap s. Aaro n "AA Ron " Shaw t ook h is seco nd ho leshot in a row , with Ch ri s C aplinger , F orrest er and T h i e l e in tow . Thi ele , who nea rl y always gets th e holeshot, had a small problem . " T h e k ick s t arte r got ho oke d b ehind m y boo t and I had to move m y leg to tuck it back in - th at c ost m e a spo t or two : Thiele said . Leivan , knowing he needed to get going with T h iele, was back in ninth but quickly on the m ove. He p assed Chris N esb itt in the first w o o d s sect ion f o r e i ghth ; Ch a d Busenbark , who fell entering pit row , for seve nth; Ken Yount at th e end of p it row for six th ; Bobby Du ncan and Chris Caplinger with alternate , inside l in es fo r fifth a nd fourth ; and t hen ho lesho t artist Sh aw , w h o mov ed over and handed him third . Lei van then began to ree l in Forr ester an d Thi e l e . Th en For r est e r blew throu gh a co rner and Thiele fol lowed , giving Leiva n the lead. Although Leivan held a lead of 20 seconds at lap's end, Thiele and Forrest er closed th e gap midwa y th rough lap tw o. F or th e next 2 1/2 l a ps, the to p th ree rema ined close together. Leivan wo uld occasio nally pu ll awa y a littl e, but w ithin a few miles the other two would cl ose back in . Wh en the whit e fl a g c a m e o ut , Le i van , Th i e le an d Forre st er b lasted through the pits together. Four m in ut es later Nesbitt, Busenbark and Matt Pursley set out for the ir fina l lap. Leivan upped the pace a litt le, and Forrester began to lose to uch with the leader s. Le ivan kn ew that the grass tr ack near the 5 -mile m ark would be crucial to the outco me of the race and ul tim ately the cha mpionship. "The lap before , Chris almost got around me there ," Leiv an exp lai ned, "s o I pushed real h ar d through that section to keep him behind me. Once we went back into the woods after th e lon g uphill , the re was onl y a f ew miles left in th e ra c e, so I floored it a nd h oped he w ouldn 't b e ab l e t o hang." In d e e d , T h i e l e d ropped bac k sl i ghtl y . Leiva n pulled out a ll t he stops and headed for home, cross in g th e finish li ne wi th his fist in the air, 33 seconds ah ead of T hi ele. " E a c h y e ar i t g ets t ough er an d to ugh er t o wi n," said Le ivan. "T h ere is always someone stepp ing up th e pac e and making me wo rk that much hard er. That's good, tho ug h, because it makes m e appreciate it tha t much m ore. I reall y wa nt to thank everyone th at ca me out to support m e today and helped me wi n . We'll try fo r number nine next year." T h iele took runn er -up honors for th e seventh ti m e th is y ear to go wi th his five victories, wh ic h will gi ve him th e number-two plate for the second c onsecuti ve ye ar. Forrester was third in the race and in the series fo r the second y e a r i n a row , putting his YZ250 on th e bo x fo r the eighth time th is year. CN Plattin Creek Fesbls . Missouri Results: October 15, 2000 [Round 15 of 161 O /A : 1. St eve Lelvan (Ya m} : 2. Ch ris Thie le (Kaw); 3 . Bra nde n Forrester (Yam): 4 . Chris Nesbi tt (Kaw); 5 . Matt Pursley ( Hon) : 6 . Ta nne r England (Yam); 7. Mike Windmann (Yern} ; 8 . Sammy Gosnell (KTM); 9. Rick Kinkel aar (Yam) ; 10. Greg Surdyk e (Yarn}. AA: 1. Ch ris Thie le (Ka..... ); 2 . Bran don Forrester (Yam); 3 . Chri s Nesbitt (Kaw) ; 4. Matt Pursley (Hon); 5 . Ta nne r Eng land (Ya m) . A : 1. Sam m y Gosnell (KTM); 2. Rick Kinke laar ( Yam) ; 3 . Greg Surd yke ( Yam); 4 . K reg Simons (Yam); 5. Les Busenbark (Yam) . ' 125 B: 1. Jeff O berkfell (Kew} : 2. Mike Rozier ( Yam); 3 . Case y Hin k el ( Yam ); 4 . Greg Signi ng (Sua}; 5. To m Caby (Vom) . 2 00 B : 1. Robert A rm on ( KTM ); 2 . Wes Ba ir ( KTM ); 3 . Mork Gud de ( KT M) ; 4 . Ma lt Jam eson (KTM): 5. Dale Griesing er (KTM) . 250 B: 1. Lar s Vali n (Hon); 2 . Charl es Thie le {Kew}; 3 . Davi d Gay (KTM ); 4 . David Taylo r (Kl.Iw); 5 . Gary Wolf (5 U2). O PEN B : I. B rie n Ric hardso n ( Hon ) ; 2 . Ray Williams ( Yam ); 3. J eff Ku echenmeister (A TK) ; 4 . Tom Huber (Yam) ; 5. Tracy Bauman (KTM). 4 ·ST RK B : 1. T r a vi s Pilant ( Han ) ; 2 . N i ck Crawford (Yam) ; 3. Tim Swaringen (Yam ); 4 . Gary Pilant (Hon ); 5. Ralph Gerding (Hon) . 250 C: 1. Gar y Wet he re ll (K aw ); 2 . Willi am Strawn (Suz): 3. Adam Ashcro ft (KTM ): 4 . Marshall Sprag ue (Yam); 5. Robert Brak e (Yam) . JR : 1. Travis Lap pe ( Han) ; 2. Chris Hink el (Kaw): 3. Ry an Portell ( Kew): 4. Camero n Mittelberg (Yam) : 5. Stephen Simmoneau (Kaw) . WM N : 1. A m and a Lap pe ( Ka w ) ; 2 . M ic h ele Eidam ( KT M ); 3 . Don na Moore ( Yam ) ; 4 . Kellie Crawford (Ka w); 5. J anet Barkma n (Han) . VET: 1. W ad e Ha ll ( Yam) ; 2 . Kelly Work in g (Kaw); 3 . Tom Eidam (Suz) ; 4. El ston Moore (Yam) ; 5. Dovid Gerbes (KTM ). SR: 1. Steve Underwood (Yam) ; 2. J ay Willi ams (KTM ); 3. David Dill ingham (KTM); 4 . Steve Crews (Kew) : 5. Keith Kibort (Vom) . S/SR : 1. J im You nt ( Yam) ; 2 . Rick Whelo v e ( KT M ) ; 3 . Gabby Ha y es ( Hus ) ; 4 . Fran k Le tven ( Yam) : 5. Rick Carpenter (KTM). BEG: 1. Mich ael Brady (Suz); 2. Shewn Fowl er (S uz ); 3 . J o sh Mo rgan ( Yarn } : 4 . Ale x A sh cr oft (Kaw) ; 5. Gary An derson (Kaw) . AHRMAIMike Lightfoot Memorial MX H ollisterH ills Lackey Takes First Lightfoot MX Win ing winn ing both m ot os at Ho ll ister o n th e Mike T illman -tuned Czec herd Past C -Z . " I had a lo t of fun this year: Lac k ey said . "just going raci ng and meeting l ots o f p eo p l e and seeing ol d friends . I had a tough fi rst moto with [Pat ] Bro wn , so I k ne w th at I had to wic k it up in the second round .' Lackey was referring to his sixt h pla ce sta rt on th e Grand Prix tra ck , where he had to scoot past th e likes of exper ienced Expe rt race rs Ed Flan igan , Denn is Spence, M ik e Ma r quez, Mike Halpin and Pat Brown to take the first-moto win. He blew past Spence and Brown in the second tu rn of the second sta rt to tall y yet another 1- 1 win . " I u se d to pay m on ey t o w at ch Br ad ride: said Brown . "I gu ess I still do , and it' s worth it just to watch how he ri d es." B v W . H . S PE NCER HOLUSTER,CA,OCT. 22 T Plattln Creek: Steve Lelvan clinched the Missou ri Hare Scrambles Champions hip with a win at the penultimate round of the series in Festus. he Santa Clara Rid er s Un lim it ed a nd Amer ican H e r it a g e Ra c in g Motorcycle As socia t ion 's Nationa l Champ ionship finale wa s held in Ho l li st er, Ca liforn ia , before t h e largest c row d t o dat e, but sadl y on e of the f o u n ders o f th e eve n t w a s n o t in attenda nce. Ju st a few w eek s aft er la st year 's reco rd - setting p erfo r mance , Mike Lig htfoot , one of t h e scions of the club , passed away , and so th e annual National Championship wi ll now be know n as th e Mike lightfoot Memorial. Chasi ng ano the r Na tional t itl e for t h e e nti re ye ar w a s the 1972 AMA 5 00 c c Nationa l c ham pion and 1982 F IM W orld 500 c c Ch amp i on , B ra d Lack ey , wh o won n in e even ts and th e O ver 40 Exp ert A HRMA titl e, in clu d c ue I IE!! n IE!! _ S • N O VEM BER 22 , 2000 35

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