Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

a E\rENTEI PHOTO BY OOC MELLOY Houston Mx D€al€ns s€ri€s Round l: 3 Palms €xtr€m€ Sports Park Boldwin, Joc Dominqte Se kson ries Premiere rider allowed Martin some breathing room as he took the checkers for dle overall. The two went at it again in the Supermini class. with l"lansfield making it a sweep for the overall. l''lartin followed in second, and Tracy Cloy took third. GN 3 P^r ts Exf,Elrrr SPorrs PAf,x CoNnoE, Trxas R:surlsr JaNU^rY 15, 2006 (RouND I ) ?/u, / xR / lR: l- Tller Bo),ret (Hon)r 2. Aaron sh6ppard (Ho.); l. CONROE, Tx, JAN, I5 T'tle 2006 racing series ofiicially stened in the I Guf Coast r€Eion with the op€ning round of a new series, the Houston MX Dealers Series, and it went down in per{ecr weather, on a perfect tr.ck, with 319 hurtsry riders looUng to make a statement about how thints ere 8oin8 to be in the new ),ear. HlShlands Kawasa- ki's Beau Baldwin and Honda of Houston's Ronny la(lson did a litde horn€ cookirl, sw€eP ing their motos against some fast cornPetition. Ealdwin edged out Athens, Tex6, native Caleb Oowell and his .lH Racing/Hi8hlands Kawasaki teammate Dawson Drdycott to claim tfie 85cc (7- I I ) class win. Meanwhile, "Ronny J," anothet .lH Racin8 stablemate, did likewise in the l25cc A class, over a game Rowdy FlanaSan and Ks Motorsports' H. McMillan. With Baldwin, Draycott, Dowell and Louasi a rider Ezra Antelle on hand to contesl the 85cc lunior alass, thints were Suaranteed to be excitint. All four riders are national caliber, and both motos llved up to expecrations. Draycon and Dowell got ou( in front in the first moto. but Baldwin wasted liftle time passint both to clarm a lead he would take to the checkers. ln the second moto, Baldwin 8ot out front quickly and never looked back. lf he had, he would've seen a hard-charglng Dowell right there, w.aiting for the slithtest mistake, Baldwin rode flawlessly, howeven and took the overall victory without any problems. Draycott and Angelle had a battle o{ their own, with Draycott holding off the Caiun speedster for the third podaum spot. Ronny J. left nothing to chance a! he Srabbed both holeshots and led his motos from wire to wire. Rowdy Flana8an, a vetemn rider, showed some tremendous speed rn keeping Jackson in srShr for all eiSht laps. Behrnd him was McMillan, who kept things interesting and kepr both fronr-runners honest throughout borh motos. Dustin Doucet, another Cajun rider who made the trek across the state line, was a little further back in fourth. ln che 65cc (7'9) class. Stone Edler and Andrew Pierce .ontinued their buddin8 riyf,lry with Edler controlling both motos by ridinS almost error-free. Edler made the most of the jumps, 'rhile Pierce seemed to have the edge Justin Martin and Suzuki rider Rad{ord l4ansfield had some great battles in the 85cc (la- l5) and Senior Supermini classes. llartin chimed the overall in the age class, with Marsfield hot on his rear v,iheel for most of drc lap6. ln the second rnoto, ofl the last lap, Mansfield took the inside of turn two and briefly wenl ahead of Manin. but th€ Honda rider riiled the ou6ide of rhe berm. and his momentum catapulted him over the iump and back into the lead. From that point on, l4artin pd his head down and rode whh a purpose, determined not ao Sive Mansfie,d another chance. A slight bobble by the Suzuki Ronny Jockson (63) grobs the holerhor in lh! t25cc [xpert

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