On The Fast-Trak 5-19-00

GNC Round 4 – Muddy Creek – Blountville, TN – May 13-14, 2000
Special thanks to Julie LeMay, — AKA sweetheart of the GNCs, for her help with this story and pictures.

Chalk up two in a row for Duncan Racing and Travis Spader. Hot off his first TT win of his pro career, Spader dominated once again, leading start to finish in both motos! “Was that really twenty minutes,” said Spader, barely winded and hardly even sweating. “What can I say, my Duncan Racing motor, and Roll Design/Lobo chassis keeps putting me out front. I know I have the best quad out there, and that helps a lot,” added Spader modestly.

Since Spader checked out in both motos, the battle for runner up spot would have to do for the rest of the field. If you haven’t noticed Shane Hitt (Sparks) and Jeremiah Jones (Legacy/Sparks) this year, then you probably aren’t attending any races or paying attention to the results. Much like “Doc” Spader, Hitt and Jones are focused on winning this year. They have been practicing more than ever. In fact, Shane “Dog” has spent most of the last month away from his West Virginia home riding the wheels off his Laeger practice quad at racetracks all over the country. Most recently, he spent a week at Jones’s hometown practice track. The two pushed each other all week then continued to do the same at Muddy Creek.

In moto one Hitt got a good start and kept Spader honest for a while. Meanwhile, Jeremiah Jones and Doug Gust (Nac’s/TC) had gotten mid-pack starts and were working their way through the pack. Jones caught Tim Farr (Baldwin/Ferrell/White Bros.) and the two diced it out in some serious wheel-to-wheel racing for most of the first moto. With about a lap and a half to go, Jones found a way around Farr, and immediately set his sights on second place Hitt. Gust had taken advantage of the Farr/Jones duel to make up some time and also managed to get around Farr on the last lap. Jones made the most of what little time he had left, he desperately tried shoving his Legacy ride in between Spader and Hitt. At the checkers, Hitt and Jones were side by side with Hitt taking second by a mere wheel.

Moto two was under way with plenty of bumping and grinding, which left Farr upside down on the ground while the pack motored away. Again, Spader gathered his toys and left the other kids to play on their own. All the while, Hitt, Ben Jackson (Legacy/TC) and Jones gave chase. After regaining his composure, Farr got back on his four-stroke YZ to try to make up the 40 seconds he had lost on the entire field. Jackson charged into the two-spot and looked as though he would fare a top five overall. This wasn’t to be. With two laps to go, Benny “what’s that noise, and what the hell is burning?” Jackson, with his trusty evil gremlin tucked under arm, dropped out of the race with a blown motor. Hitt was pressured by Jeremiah “The Kid” Jones the entire race, but rode flawlessly to keep both Jones and Gust behind him. Farr put on his race face and managed to make up some serious time. He picked off riders one by one and worked all the way up to a respectable 10th place moto finish and 7th overall. Joe Byrd (East Coast ATV) finished both motos consistently and took home a well earned 5th place overall on a band new Walsh Racecraft framed, Yamaha YZ 400 powered quad.

Pro Class Results
1. Travis Spader (Duncan)
2. Shane Hitt (Sparks)
3. Jeremiah Jones (Legacy ATV)
4. Doug Gust (Nac’s/TC)
5. Joe Byrd (East Coast ATV)
6. Justin Gandy (Hollywood/Sparks)
7. Tim Farr (Baldwin/Ferrell/White Bros.)
8. John Natalie (Burgard Cycle)
9. Kory Ellis (Trinity)
10. Ryan Detrick (LRD)

Kory Ellis continued to dominate in the Pro/Am Four-Stroke winning both motos. Jason Luburgh (Sparks) and David Diver (TC/Lost Creek) were on the gas all weekend. Diver pressured Ellis in moto one, but fell victim to a collision with Luburgh. Ellis, Luburgh and Caneyville, KY’s Kevin Taylor took home the top three overall. Bryan Shipley is coming close to disrupting the swarm of Banshees that seem to buzz at the front of the Open Pro/Am class lately. He took home the runner up spot on his 400EX behind Michael Kamalsky, while Norris Quinn finished third overall. Matt Bartosek proved he was ready to go dicing with the top-level riders in the 250 Pro/Am class by almost winning the overall! Bartosek, just moved up from the 90cc youth class and has already proved to be talented enough to run with the big dogs. Gandy led the way and won with Bartosek and Rose Hill, Kansas’ fast guy Nathan Leverenz taking second and third overall respectively.

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 7 – May 13, 2000 – Wilderness Run – Clarksburg, WV
Morning rains made for a muddy round 7 of the Grand National Cross-Country series. The 11 ½ mile long Clarksburg, WV course made for some long lap times. Bill Balance, broken thumb healed and now back at 100%, took the win for Team Maxxis ahead of the Team Safari duo of Smiley and Duvall. Team Green’s William Yokley was hampered by a flat tire and could only salvage a 10th place finish.

Pro Class Results:
1. Bill Balance (Maxxis/LoneStar))
2. Matt Smiley (Duncan/Roll/Safari)
3. Chad Duvall (Duncan/Roll/Safari)
4. Curtis Crump (Great Outdoors Yamaha)
5. Bradley Page (Roll)
6. Justin Brown (Laeger)
7. Kim Kuhnle (Yamaha)
8. Steven Holbert (Honda)
9. Bryan Baker (Laeger)
10. William Yokley (Team Green Kawasaki)

Making the Scene
Evander HolyBYRD vs. Joe FLAGGER
More amateur boxing news to report. It seems that Byrd-Man found an angry flagman at the Muddy Creek GNC. As Byrd circled a tricky whoop section, the pro practice session ended. Byrd explained to the flagman that he was still on the track because he was practicing that particular section and didn’t see practice was over. The conversation turned into a heated discussion, then into a flat out brawl. No one was hurt (see kids always wear that helmet – you never know when you might crash – or in this case — get in a fight). Slugger also makes the scene for racking in yet another top five, which puts him in 5th in the point’s battle. He did it with his brand new Yamaha YZ 400 powered Walsh Racecraft ATV.

Heather Rose
Must really like her new wheels, (she now owns Chris Fristoe’s brand new Laeger Yamaha YZ 400 super-thumper). She made the debut in style and won the overall with Leslie Wells in tow. Anyone notice that the women’s class is now drawing huge attention – riders and fans come out of the woodwork when this class fires up. The battle between Rose, Wells, Moore and Parker rages on.

Dave Diver
Canfield, Ohio’s Dave Diver makes the scene for the first time, and deservingly so. Diver has been hauling ass lately. He’s got three Yamaha YZ 400s to help him go fast, (one for TT, one for MX and one for spare parts). At Muddy Creek, Diver locked on to Kory Ellis and stuck to him until he crashed in a collision with Jason Luburgh. Then in moto two, he and Luburgh chased one another from a mid-pack start and caught up to Ellis. In a class that is really taking off with an abundant amount of entries, Diver has the potential to win his first national very soon– maybe Red Bud?

Travis “No Sweat” Spader
You can’t win back-to-back nationals and not make the scene. Travis is on his way to completing a lifetime goal of his – to win the Pro class National Championship Look for Spader to cross the T’s and dot the Is at Red Bud. Loren Duncan has the hot engine setup this year with his new powervalve-equipped 250R package. Might we finally have a horsepower king challenger for the Curtis Sparks? We’ll see soon as the TT season heats up.

Shane Hitt
Look out — Dog on the loose! Shane “Dog” has is looking stronger and faster than he ever has. The TT specialist is putting together a fantastic year. Look out competition! Once the series gets into the TT tracks Hitt can do some serious damage to the competition’s hopes of winning the overall.

Jeremiah Jones
Maybe I should just edit, copy and paste what I said about Hitt. “The Kid” motored strong at Muddy Creek. With a better start, he would have given Spader a fit for the win. Jones is proving he not only has go-fast style, but big-time smarts too, as he’s been consistent all year. The new kid on the block is putting his feet up and staying a while so get used to seeing Jones in the top five from now on.

Doug Gust
“Digger” Doug seems to have to work extra hard for everything he’s got. His Muddy Creek fourth place finish was no exception. Gust rode hard from the twelve spot in each of the two motos to get his 4-spot. He hangs on to second place in the points by one point, (Hitt’s in third).

Matt Bartosek
Second in the 250 Pro/Am class, third overall in the 250A class and he won his moto one 250A heat race by bettering the new hot shoe in the scene, Dana Creech. Is that a good outing or what? Keep in mind that Bartosek only recently this year climbed aboard a 250R! He just turned 16 and already has big-time speed. Look for the blue number 13 R and the speedy up-and-comer at a racetrack near you – hint-Fox Raceway in Springfield, PA.

An all new Kames Sports Center
Kames Sports, the proud sponsors of the Jerry Ferrell Yamaha Buckeye Nationals in Orrville, Ohio and Tim Farr, Shane Hitt and Justin Gandy – just to name a few, is getting ready to make a major move in the ATV sport performance world. Kames has been around since the 70’s. They’ve always kept an eye on making sure the motocross and ATV guys weren’t left out while hunting and fishing guys got their goods. Now days, the North Canton, Ohio sporting goods store is swamped everyday with ATVers stocking up on their latest needs. Steve Kames says they can barely keep up with the ATVers demands, and because of this, they’re expanding the store to five times the space they had. With all this floor space available, they are now going to stock everything under the sun that an ATV racer might need, including a huge in stock supply of aftermarket frames! You name it, they’ve got it at Kames!

This is only a portion of the new Kames Motocross and ATV super store. They’ll complete the move into the new addition to the already huge Kames Sports Center in a few days.

The man behind Kames Sports – Steve Kame

Kames Sports Center’s right-hand man is Mark Kendall. Mark, under Kames’ sponsorship is also a favorite to win the 250 B class this year. He’s hot off a Muddy Creek National win and is currently leading the 250 B class points.

Thursday night chat room a success
The weekly chat room is up and running and a big success. You might want to check it out. There is a weekly trivia contest complete with prizes from Nac’s and K&K Racing and plenty of top name pro’s checking the scene. In fact, three-time National GNC Champion and two-time Pace stadium Champion, Tim Farr is a tentative guest for our guest night (in a few weeks). By the way the chat room is open 24/7. Just click the chat button on the left, enter a name and you in.

Yamaha’s new 660 thumper
We got the word from Yamaha. This will be the fastest quad available on any dealer showroom! We’ll have a complete ride test very soon. As of now we can tell you it weighs in under 400 lbs., liquid cooled and has a mongo 660cc displacement (the motor is similar to that used in the Yamaha-powered MZ motorcycle). They say the price tag will be less than the Bombardier DS650. We can’t wait to get our hands on this big bore thumper.

ATV Legends Race 2000 Update
A look back in Team Green history.
North Carolina’s Steve Mendenhall, a then Team Green support rider, leads Kawasaki’s ace, Jimmy White.

Believe it or not the sport of ATV racing is entering it’s 25th year, and as we enter a new millinneum, the July 29th, 2000 date of the Legends 2000 event fits perfect with this once and a lifetime happening. And just as fitting is the location – the Pine Lake National in Ashtabula is currently the oldest track on the national circuit. All in all, this is the perfect time and place in making sure the roots of ATV racing are remembered and remembered with respect! The Legends 2000 event is proudly presented by Fast-Trak Promotions and Fischer Cycle Racing with major sponsorship backing from Nac’s Racing and Maxima Lubricants (sponsorship money will make up 100% of the legends purse, sponsorship positions still available). The 9 person Legends 2000 committee has just recently finalized their decision as to who will be invited to the big Legends 2000 extravaganza, which is in conjunction with the Pine Lake National – round 10 of the GNCs). Each of the finalists below will get their invitation packets in the next week or so. In the meantime, let’s take a poll. Out of the finalist listed below give us your pick on who you think will finish in the top five positions. E-Mail your picks to legends@atvscene.com and we’ll keep a log on who will ATV Scene’s favorites at the race.

Ron Baker
Sean Finley Rick Ruppert
Kevin Bernard
Brian Fry Eddie Sanders
Roger Burman
Rodney Gentry Charlie Shepard
Donny Banks
Tom Gildea John Scott
Tim Bender
Marty Hart Curtis Sparks
Tom Carlson
John Hemme Lance Shoonmaker
Mike Coe
Allen Knowles Dean Sundahl
Greg Clark
Donnie Luce Don Turk
Boyd Calvert
Jackie Meadows Barry McCarty
Gary Denton
Steve Mendenhall Jeff Watts
Mickey Dunlap
Harry McDermott Mark Weixeldorfer
Tracey Dickson
John Neary Todd Williams
Kenneth Delk
Jim Putman Jimmy White
Jimbo Eubanks
Steve Wright
Mark Lee

Props to Old Spice
Props out to Old Spice for featuring some hot 250R sand dune action in their latest deodorant commercial. Quads are going mainstream!

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.
“I say go for it. There is only a few years in your whole life that you actually earn the right to show off some.” — John Maley, Matt “The Kangaroo Kid” Coulter’s USA mechanic, on the recent increase in Arial tricks.

“Where did this ring on my finger come from?” – Dino Ferrando the morning after a long drunken wedding day.

 

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