On The Fast-Trak 4-11-00

GNC
Round 2 – April 9th, 2000 – Daniel Boone MX – London, KY
The Legacy begins — Jeremiah Jones claims his first win.
Round two of the AMA Maxxis Tire ATV Nationals got underway in a sloppy fashion. Saturday’s amateur and pro/am first motos were a muddy mess. To add insult to injury, temperatures were in the low 30’s! Luckily for pro riders and spectators alike, both motos of the elite pro class were held on Sunday, which saw sunshine and 60 degree temps.

Moto one left the gate with Tim Farr (Baldwin/DG/Ferrell/White Bros.) leading the field on his ultra cool Yamaha four-stroke powered ATV. Farr looked impressively fast, even though he was still nursing a broken throttle hand. Making a charge to the front was, “Digger” Doug Gust (Nac’s/TC)
Justin Gandy (Hollywood/Sparks) and Jeremiah Jones (Legacy ATV/Sparks) who weaved his way through traffic to eventually finish in the three spot. As laps progressed Farr’s grip on the bars decreased. He was no match for the hard-charging assault of Gust, who passed for the lead in the demanding whoop section in the middle of the track. The top five in the first moto were Gust, then Farr, Jones, Gandy and Shane Hitt (Sparks).

“Mark my words, Jeremiah is going to holeshot, walk on everyone and take home the overall” said Jones’ chief sponsor and mechanic John McGhee of Legacy ATV. McGhee couldn’t have been more precise. Jeremiah shot out of the hole harder and faster then anyone and instantly left the pack. Within only two laps, Jones established a massive 12-second lead and continued to pull away each lap. Following, or maybe a better choice of words in this case – leading the rest of the riders, was Jones’ Legacy ATV teammate, Ben “Action” Jackson. Jackson later faded and eventually DNFed with clutch problem. (He also DNFed moto one with the same problem.)

As laps progressed Duncan Racing’s Travis Spader muscled his way to the two spot. Spader rode hard and smooth, just as he did in moto one before sustaining a flat rear tire. Gust got a shaky start and was forced to work his way through the field if he wanted the overall. Meanwhile, Farr rode hard in a steady fourth position — until disaster struck. Farr had battled Gust in the first moto, but this time it was a gust of wind that he was forced to contend with. Strange wind currents roll through the valley and often play havoc on riders attempting this enormous leap. Farr crashed hard on the big 80-foot double at the top of the track after one of these gusts of wind blew him crooked enough that he could not recover. The high-speed crash looked horrible, but somehow he escaped with only major bruises to his back. Ironically enough, a wind gust threw Ben Jackson off coarse at last year’s race while Farr was ahead of Benny, this time Farr crashed there while Benny was leading him.

In the closing laps, spectators (who lined up along every inch of the fences and packed into the grandstand area) cheered on their local Kentucky ace. Jeremiah “The Kid” (with a capital K now) Jones rode on with his overwhelming lead, claiming his first overall pro class victory with a 3-1 moto score. “This just goes to show that you can indeed conquer your goals if you’re willing to work hard at them. We (himself, his mom – dad, sponsors and crew) have all worked so hard at this. It feels so great to realize all my dreams. Thanks to everyone that has helped me along the way”, said Jones at a post race interview after a line of people including Curtis Sparks and John McGhee lined up to hug and congratulate him.

Anyone that was present at the Legacy ATV camp and saw the post race celebration that Jones received, knows there is far more to this ATV racing lifestyle than just racing. Congratulations JJ on being the best ATV rider in the world at this moment!

1. Jeremiah Jones (Legacy ATV/Sparks)
2. Doug Gust (Nac’s/TC)
3. Travis Spader (Duncan/Roll)
4. Joe Byrd (East Coast ATV)
5. Shane Hitt (Sparks)
6. Justin Gandy (Hollywood/Sparks)
7. Keith Little (Nac’s/PRC/Sparks)
8. Chad Lohr (Duncan)
9. Jeff Seegott (Trinity/LoneStar)
10. Peter Carlotto (Nac’s)

In Pro-Am action, Kory Ellis (Trinity) and Chris Fristoe (Nac’s/Sparks) battled it out for four-stroke honors. Ellis put an impressive and strategic pass on Fristoe in moto two to win the overall. Dave Diver (Lost Creek/TC) rounded out the top three by winning moto one and finishing fourth in the second moto. All three were sporting tricked out Yamaha thumper motors. The 250 Pro-Am treated spectators to an out of the ordinary winner. Waterford Works, NJ’s Kevin Olson tallied a 5-2 score to win the overall followed by last year’s champ Jeff Seegott (Trinity). Travis Cain flew in from California to round out the top three. Scott Butler, another California rider made the long trip worth while by winning the Open Pro-Am class followed by Georgia’s Norris Quinn and Iowa’s Bryan Shipley.

For full amateur class results just click here:
http://www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/00atv/00atv.html
It’s the ATV GNC results page found on the AMA website.

GNCC
Round 4 – April 1, 2000 – Steel Creek – Morganton, NC
Balance Wins Again!!!
The GNCC crowd was greeted by sunny weather and 70 degree temperatures for round 4 in the Blueridge Mountains of North Carolina. The Racer Productions crew set up a challenging, 10-mile course. Duncan Racing’s Matt Smiley took the holeshot off the dead-engine start. An epic, 2-hour battle was waged between Smiley, Bill Ballance, Yokley, Duvall and Jeff Seegott with Ballance out front at the checkered flag. Ballance—now with three wins—has to be the early favorite in the quest for the #1 plate, but Yokley, Smiley and Duvall aren’t about to let Ballance go unchallenged. Too bad Seegott didn’t have the necessary quick fill gas-filling equipment to allow for a speedy pit stop. Seegott was in contention to possible win the event but spent way too much time getting gas in his Trinity ride. Look for Seegott to have this equipment next time out.

Pro Class Results:
1. Bill Ballance (Maxxis/LoneStar)
2. William Yokley (Kawasaki)
3. Matt Smiley (Duncan/Roll)
4. Jeff Seegott (Trinity/LoneStar)
5. Chad Duvall (Duncan/Roll)
6. John Gallagher (Trinity/LoneStar)
7. Santo Derisi (Derisi/Roll)
8. Steve Holbert (Honda)
9. Curtis Crump (Great Outdoors Yamaha)
10. Dan Destefano (Roll)

GNCC Announcement
At the Loretta Lynn’s GNCC on April 15, and the Ironman GNCC on Oct. 21, the quad class will be split. All Utility, 4 Stroke Stock, Women and 2 & 4 Stroke Novice C classes will run at 10AM. All other classes will run at 1PM.

Making the Scene
Jeremiah Jones
I’m pretty sure that I’ve never seen a rider flat out haul ass as fast as JJ did at London, KY. Look out competition! The 20-year old youngster rides as clean and smart as a well-trained Gary Denton or Tim Farr. With his first win now under his belt his confidence must be sky high. He’ll be a major contender for the championship because “The Kid” can ride TT just as fast and as smart as he does MX!

Travis Spader
I was watching him and Digger Doug go through the whoop section in a close spot only ten feet from them. I’m pretty sure they are on the gas so hard they’re actually up-shifting! Duncan Racing’s got a gem in hiring Paul Turner (no not that Paul Turner of old-time ATV fame) as Travis’ mechanic. The two are long-time best friends. He’s even the best man in his Trav’s upcoming wedding. Having a close rider/mechanic friendship can drastically help win championships (a great example of this is the Baldwin/Farr duo). Turner is so dedicated to helping his buddy win the championship that he takes the race quads completely apart after each and ever race – right down to the bare frame! He’s looking for any sign of a problem before it becomes one. Yeah, at times they’re pretty wacked, but the two are keeping it real in their own way.

Jeremy Schell
Maybe this would fall under not making the scene. Jeremy say it isn’t so. He was a no show at London, and unofficially isn’t planning on racing anymore of the GNCs. He was real close to winning his first pro class national and had major backing this year from Trinity Racing. She must be pretty special I guess. He’s off to sunny So-Cal to live happily ever after with Erhrardt’ sister.

Harold Goodman
Another guy that wasn’t in the scene was Harold Goodman. It seems Harold has a hernia and is listening to doctor’s orders not to ride.

Gilbert Attix III
This guy is for real! In checking the results I discovered he won the Open A and the Four-stroke A in both rounds of the nationals so far. These aren’t wimpy classes either, so keep an eye out for the Clayton, Delaware number 309 thumper of Attix.

Donny Banks
Looks like the East Coast animal has the itch again. He showed up at London and raced the 30+ and the 40+ class on Shane Hitt’s practice quad. Banks won the overalls in both classes. Looks like he’s still got it. We’re thinking he’ll show at a TT event to get some practice in for the big legend reunion race at Ashtabula on July 29th.

Justin Gandy
Looks like this will be the key year for Hollywood Racing’s Justin Gandy. He looks way fast and has improved ten-fold. Best news yet for Gandy was an extremely respectable fourth place finish in moto one at London. He followed it up with a sixth place in the final and a sixth overall. This has to do wonders for the confidence factor. Look for at least top ten finishes from the Gandy Man all year.

Tom Miller
Tom made history by racing the first Honda 400EX in the pro class. He debuted it with a great start, but faded due to lack of practice. Tom says he’s been swamped with his business Tom Miller Motorsports and hasn’t had time to train or dial in the quad. TM’s definitely has the talent and experience to fare well in the series, but won’t do well without seat time.

Jim Naccarato
Nac’s Racing has stepped up with a huge commitment of helping a ton of riders out for this season. Just look around at a race someday, Nac’s has a big-time impression going on. Big Nac has some fantastic ideas that will better the sport a ton. Nothing official just yet but look for an upcoming interview with him when he’s got the announcement to make. We can’t wait to hear what’s up his sleeve.

ATV Video Game
It’s long overdue that’s for sure! Finally, an all ATV racing video game! Encore Software just gave word on an all-new ATV racing computer CD Rom video game. Kawasaki ATVs play a major roll in the game. Players can even choose real existing Kawi quads as their choice rides. There are 4 different camera angles, and a full 3D experience through six different terrain types. An added bonus allows players to add their own courses and rules if desired. The game, which is PC and Mac compatible, is now available at all major retail outlets across the country. There is also a chance of winning a 2001 Kawasaki Mojave 250.

Mail Call!
You guys are ATV God’s! Thank you, Thank you for building the new ATV Scene website! I like everything about it! Excellent! I agree with your decision to switch from the ATVconnection. Not that their site is bad, it’s just geared towards the utility arena, and not the ATV racers. I think the
ATVscene is another step forward to bringing ATV racing to the next level.
Keep up the good work.
Todd Macke #31

Good job with ATV Scene! Great for our sport!
Steve Casper
Dirt Wheels

Like it, really like it! Nice work for a rookie (smiles).
Thanks again and great site,
Teresa Creech

Awesome first issue! I bet even Davey C at Racer X will be proud.
John Arens

This is George Balhan. I’ve picked up and moved to Cali to go to work for the Hinson’s. The web site looks great! My only suggestion is to possibly have a win a date with Cindy contest? (kidding)
LATER.
George Balhan,
Hinson Racing

Glad to see you and George got your own site going. Looks trick!
Glad to see you nabbed some good recruits for columnists in Serm and Cindy
(The Trophy Queen). The site needs more skin! (Did I just say that?).
Good luck with everything.
Jerrod Kelley
ATV Sport

Congratulations on the launch! I will try to squeeze the news into our May issue (in dealers hands on or before May 1). Any chance I can get a shot of Cindy to run in conjunction with the news item?
Robin
Dealernews

Great page. I’m glad to finally see a page dedicated specifically to ATV RACING!
Are you going to be at London? If so, I’m going to look you up and shake your hand! You guys are doing a great job with the new page and ATV racing as a whole.
Later,
John Lewis J.P. Lewis (70CC Youth)
Lone Grove, OK

Angela Moore shooting for a 3-pete
For this issue we sat down with the 2-time GNC Women’s class champ
ATV Scene: How did you get involved in the sport?
Angela: I started racing when I was 12 years old on a Suzuki LT-80. My dad took me
to a local track to see if I would like it because he had went there and
rode. So I went there, raced and got second overall, and we just stuck with
it.

ATV Scene: Do you like TT or MX better?
Angela: I like them both, but I would say that I like TT better because of how fast you go and I have been doing great at them.

ATV Scene: Do you have a boyfriend?
Angela: Yes, his name is Charlie

ATV Scene: Where did you met him?
Angela: I met him at Loretta Lynn’s in 1997. He was there with Mark Baldwin helping
him out.

ATV Scene: What does Charlie do for your racing?
Angela: Basically he does everything. He works on the bike, cleans it, gets parts
for it. I think the only thing he does not do is go out and race for me.

ATV Scene: What is a typical week for you?
Angela: Monday – Thursday I go to school from 8:00 to 3:00. On Monday nights Charlie
comes over and we watch WWF wrestling. I don’t have any school on Fridays so
that is my day to get things done that I haven’t done all week. Friday
nights, I work at a restaurant as a bus person. I work on Saturday mornings
for Charlie’s brother-in-law. It’s demolition work. After that sometimes I
go riding for a little bit. After that I go to work again at the restaurant.
Sundays I try and get a couple of hours of riding in.

ATV Scene: Most embarrassing moment?
Angela: At Pine Lake last year, Charlie and I were walking around and we went to
the Baldwin Motorsports trailer. I thought Charlie was beside me, so I started rubbing
his back,or at least I thought it was his back. The person who I was rubbing
the back of looked back at me and it was not Charlie, it was Daryl Rath
from Rath Racing.

ATV Scene: Most memorable moment.
Angela: Receiving the Randy Howard Memorial award, and my overall Women’s
Championship at the 1998 awards banquet.

ATV Scene: What is this year’s goal?
Angela: To be the first women’s class racer to win the championship for 3 years in a row.

ATV Scene: Any advice for the up and coming female racer?
Angela: Just keep riding and don’t let anybody keep you from doing what the guys
do. Show everybody that you are just as good as the boys and that you can do
the same things that they can.

ATV Scene: Sum up ATV racing in one word.
Angela: “Growing”

ATV Scene: What’s in the future for Angela Moore?
Angela: Well, now I am going to school at Erie Business Center. I am studying to be
a web page designer. I want to keep on racing as long as I can and to get as
far up in the classes that I can. I hope to get married to Charlie some day
too.

ATV Scene: Parting words…
Angela: I would just like to thank everybody who has helped me out through all of
the years and to tell everybody to “keep on riding”.

ATV Scene: Thank anyone?
Angela: I would like to thank all of my sponsors: K & K ATV, Lone Star, Gear
Racewear, Baldwin Motorsports, PEP, TC engines, Hinson Racing, Douglas Wheels,
Maier plastic, Action Photos, Braking, K & N and AC Racing

West Cost National
AMA District 27(Washington State) is running an ATV West Coast national on June 16-18. It consists of one TT race and 2 Short track races over 3 days.
For more information you can contact Laurie Bushnell at (425) 745-4010.

Snowmobile interest?
If you have even the slightest interest in snowmobiles, you have to cruise over and check this site out. It’s called Maximum Sled.com www.MaximumSled.com . We just had to give props out to some fellow ex-Beckstrom guys!

ATV Source.com
Here’s another cool ATV site. www.atvsource.com  . A must see for the trail rider with lots of ride spot info.

ATV TV
www.atvtv.com  is the online home for the Outdoor Network’s ATV Television cable program.

Regional Racin’
JMX Promotions has some big things in the works for all you mid-Atlantic racers. Surf on over to www.jmxracing.com  for complete information on JMX’s upcoming Mid-Atlantic ATV Asso. Virginia BeachCross event

Texas and Oklahoma ATVers can cruise over to the TQRA site for some quality local race action. Check it out at www.serve.com/tqra .

SandFest 2000
The second year of the return of Sand Fest will be better than ever. Three days of professional sand drag racing with nationally adopted rules and a race director well known in the southwest will insure a well-organized event. Buy your $25.00 tickets before the end of June to get you into all of the sandy events in Winchester Bay, Oregon from August 11-13. Wild and exciting sand board exhibitions including Dune Shark riders will be a special attraction for those with video cameras wanting to document their stunts. Families who want to participate can join in on the Scenic Poker Run. There will also be a pro motocross event with northwest riders battling it out in the sand. This event is open to all participants. A vender’s fair with concessions will be set up closer to the action at Discovery Point Campground. Sign up soon, because site limitations will
restrict attendance. Contact Sand Fest LLC, P. O. Box 86250, Portland, OR 97206 or on the web at www.oohva.org  or www.offroadtoys.com .

New Yamaha
Rumor from a reputable source says that the soon-to-be-released Yamaha sport quad will be the new performance leader! Unfortunately that’s all we know right now. As soon as we hear something, we’ll let ya know.

New Polaris
A hot rumor making the rounds is that Polaris is burning the midnight oil working to develop a high performance quad to match or surpass rival Bombardier’s DS650 . Besides an all-new performance ATV, Polaris is also rumored to be hard at work on a new mini-sized Polaris for the expanding youth quad market. There is no definite word on the any details. (Aren’t you sick of hearing that?) Anyway, hopefully Polaris will come up to the plate with a REAL sport quad and a quality youth quad that a kid can ride without constant breakdowns. Hopefully they’ll develop a marketing plan for their new sport quad that will channel money into ATV racing and not NASCAR. NASCAR can do fine without Polaris bucks, right?

New Green Racer
Last rumor of the day is from Kawasaki, again from a reputable source. It seems that there is indeed a two stroke 250 on the way in early 2001! We’ve all learned by now not to get too excited, right?

WANT RESULTS???
Here’s your links for complete pro and amateur class national results.

All you GNCCers surf over to the GNCC site. In addition to complete results, you’ll find lap times downloaded direct from the Racer Productions computerized barcode-scoring system
Check out complete GNCC results at http://www.racerxill.com/gncc/

For GNC results, click here to retrieve the pages of ATV national results on the AMA’s web site: http://www.amadirectlink.com/amrace/00atv/00atv.html

WANT STICKEYS???
So do you like the ‘Scene? Want to show your support? Send a self-addressed stamped envelope to: ATV Scene, 6532 Highland Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44143 for FREE ATVScene.com STICKERS!

Quotes of the week
“Gone” – Doug Gust’s description of Jeremiah Jones’ performance in the final moto at London, KY.

“Easy I just picked the close pin with the groove in it. It’s the 2 pick.” – Kory Ellis’ remark to promoter Donny Banks about his luck in picking starting positions at round one of the GNCs in Macon, GA.

“Nothing new there Kory, I remember the short wooden spoon that the Coombs events used. It was #4. The strange thing about it is that every time I went to pick it, it was already gone. I guess everybody else knew about that spoon too” – Donny’s response to Kory on picking a good starting position.

 

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