|
WHITLOCK HOT AT ‘DESERT HEAT’ HILLCLIMB By: Bud Northrup - Mesquite, NV - Feb 25, 2006 John and Mindy Halter (Halter Motor Sports) added another climb to their hillclimb series in 2006, and it proved to be an outstanding addition. The ‘Desert Heat’ Hill Climb was run at the Mesquite Motocross Park club grounds near Mesquite, Nevada. The MX park is one of the finest you’ll ever see with an outstanding track and beautifully maintained grounds. Jim Provencher, the owner, was extremely cooperative and very friendly, and he supported the Halters in the event promotion in extremely fine fashion. The locale was made even more interesting, as it is part of a larger recreational complex. To get to the MX park, you first drive through a first class golf course, bordered by a rodeo area, to get to the motorcycle facility - with the continuing sounds of gunshots coming from an adjacent gun club - a very cool place! Travis Whitlock was the top rider in the pro qualifier classes, winning both the 700cc and Open class qualifiers. The qualifier hill was a low traction 300 foot challenge featuring a long sweeping right hand curve followed by a near vertical 30 foot ledge at the top. A major problem for the riders was staying in bounds on the big sweeping turn while still trying to go fast. Whitlock flew around the corner and sailed over the top in 7.436 seconds on his first ride, setting a time no one could match the rest of the day in the class of 60 riders. Corey Erhardt was the closest challenger to Whitlock, with a 7.494 second first round ride. Pete Loomis, who had crashed at 100 feet on his first run, posted a 7.834 second time on his second ride to join Whitlock and Erhardt in the 7 second bracket. Nolan Martin and Dave Johnston carded 8.158 and 8.257 second times for fourth and fifth places. Whitlock returned in Open Class action to also take that win, his 7.471 second time in the first round holding up for that victory. Dustin Quast nearly caught him, posting a 7.479 second time on his second ride to claim the second place cash. Then the times dropped off somewhat, with Dave Johnson running a second round 7.765 second time, following a first round crash, to claim third. Corey Sweat and C.R. Eisenzimer filled out the top five place with times of 7.815 and 7.901 seconds. One of the more impressive rides in the class was delivered by John Halter himself, who brought his big Harley to the starting line without a clutch. He backed the big bike up on a the pile of loose dirt at the end of the starting line trench , rolled forward and clicked it in to gear. The powerful Harley cruised off the started line and easily powered up and around the curve and over the top - not the fastest time of the day, but his 8.702 second time quite respectable and good for 17th place - without the benefit of a clutch. In addition to the pro qualifiers, the Halters ran several contests on a second ‘trophy hill’. Lexie Larson was the winner in the ‘Fearless Females’ class, Jake Berry won the 4-stroke class, Cole Hardward took the 55cc class win while Mike May was the 85cc class winner. Terence Ferguson was the best in a large 550cc class with Ryan Richardson running second. Del Myers was the best in the Super Senior (50+ years) with Victor Kim second. Following the pro qualifiers on that hill, the Old Timers (40+) ran, with Dave Johnston and Rick Stauffer coming out on top. Johnston took the 700cc class win with Scott Olson second, while Stauffer took the Open Class win Johnston second. All in all it was a fine, sunny, warm day filled with lots of exciting hill climbing action. The riders and fans left for the evening, many going in to enjoy the casinos and restaurants in Mesquite - especially the Oasis, which held a special reception in their sports bar, showing video footage from the days action.
RESULTS: 700cc QUALIFIER: 1.Travis Whitlock, 2.Corey Erhardt, 3.Pete Loomis, 4.Nolan Martin, 5.Dave Johnston. 6.Nick Last, 7.Brandon Whitlock, 8.Aaron Bingham, 9.Chuck McCasland, 10.Colin Guy. OPEN QUALIFIER: 1.Travis Whitlock, 2.Dustin Quast, 3.Dave Johnston, 4.Corey Sweat, 5.C.R. Eisenzimer, 6.Aaron Bingham, 7.Corey Erhardt, 8.Rick Stauffer, 9.Pete Loomis, 10.Nick Last 700cc OLDTIMERS: 1.Dave Johnston, 2.Scott Olson, 3.Lonnie Sparks, 4.Rick Stauffer, Kelly Smith. OPEN OLDTIMERS: 1.Rick Stauffer, 2.Dave Johnston, 3.Scott Olson, 4.Jim Richardson, 5.Billy Mills Jr. FEARLESS FEMALES: 1.Lexie Larson, 2.Nichole Whitlock, 3.Bree Hathaway, 4.Brooklyn Whitlock. FOUR STROKE: 1.Jake Berry, 2.Ryan Richardson, 3.Casey Frederickson, 4.Ryan Caldwell, 5.Rod Whitlock. 55CC: 1.Cole Harward, 2.Armando Hernandez, 3.Alexa Whitlock. 85CC: 1.Mike May 250CC: 1.Ryan Richardson, 2.Range Hunt, 3.Andrew Alcantar, 5.Alex Roy. 550CC: Terence Ferguson, 2.Ryan Richardson, Asron Hilyard, 4.Jake Berry, 5.Brandon Butters. |
|
LOOMIS AND WHITLOCK BEST AT THE DESERT HEAT FINALS By: Bud Northrup - Mesquite, NV - Feb 26, 2006 It was another beautiful, warm and sunny day at the Mesquite Motocross Park for the 700cc and Open Class pro main events in the Halter Motorsports promoted ‘Desert Heat’ hill climb. The spectators found the several large table tops on the motocross track perfect for putting up their lawn chairs and enjoying a day of exciting hill climb action - and a few trips to ‘Big Mama’s’ barbecue stand to pick up some delicious food didn’t hurt, either. The pro hill was more demanding than the qualifier hill - 270 foot long, three stage hill, with the starting line section a near vertical wall. Once over the first wall, the riders encountered a very steep, low traction, section, followed by a near vertical final section they had to jump on to if they wanted to be fast. Once over that final section, they still had to land their machines and ride another 40 feet to the finish line. Another hill masterfully designed by John Halter. Eric Sorenssen was the ‘lucky’ rider who drew the number one in the riding order in the 700cc class, and charged a narrow washed out spot on the first breaker on the first ride of the day. He made it through the tight gap, but without any momentum, ground to a halt at 88 feet. Jake Berry was the second rider to attempt the slot, and actually got through with some momentum and ground his way over the top in 12.894 seconds to be the first rider over the top. More and more riders widened the gap at the bottom, and by the end of the first round 36 riders of the 52 rider class successfully found the top of the hill. Travis Whitlock, the previous day qualifier winner, was sitting in first place with a 7.965 second run. In second round action, the notch developed by the 700’s in their first round was closed off, so they took advantage of a new line developed by the Open Class bikes - and to great success. 41 riders made it to the top, some very quickly. Pete Loomis was the quickest, with an outstanding 6.765 second run for the win, with Brandon Whitlock claiming second with a good 6.842 second effort. Jon Smith and Lonnie Sparks also broke in to the 6 second bracket with rides of 6.915 and 6.966 seconds respectfully, and Dustin Quast was close in fifth place with a 7.065 second run. In Open Class action Dave Johnston was the first rider and had to choose a new line over the rough starting line breaker. He successfully squeezed through a very small gap and topped the hill in 8.745 seconds, and after several riders followed him and wore out that line, Kaleb Northrup succeeded on a new line, but only in 10.787 seconds as his screaming triple Kawasaki struggled to get traction on the loose center section. That line was tried by a few more riders and abandoned also. A new route was developed and the bikes started turning much faster times, with C.R Eisenzimer holding down the lead with a 6.538 second run for a long time. C.R.’s bubble was finally burst when Brandon Whitlock, the second to last rider, flew through the lower gap and blasted over the second stage jump and flew high over the top in a breath taking 6.384 seconds to take a very convincing win. Pete Loomis rode well again nailing a 6.603 second time for third place. Travis Whitlock and Jon Smith also posted sub 7 second runs with 6.769 and 6.819 seconds respectively to fill out the top five places, and claim their share of the $20,000 purse. This was yet another high quality hill climb event put on by John and Mindy Halter, which I understand, will be repeated next year. I hope so, as it was well received by the riders and well attended and appreciated by race fans. It looks like the Desert Heat Hill Climb will be an ongoing attraction in Mesquite, Nevada. If you have a chance to make it, I highly recommend it for your 2007 racing experience. Jim Provencher, owner of the Mesquite Motocross Park, also should be given a high five for the outstanding condition of his park, and all the support he provided the Halters.
RESULTS: 700CC MAIN EVENT: 1.Pete Loomis, 2.Brandon Whitlock, 3.Jon Smith, 4.Lonnie Sparks, 5.Dustin Quast, 6.Corey Erhardt, 7.Scott Lomas, 8.Tad Chenoweth, 9.Aaron Bingham, 10. Greg Webster OPEN MAIN EVENT: 1.Brandon Whitlock, 2.C.R. Eisenzimer,3.Pete Loomis, 4.Travis Whitlock. 5.Jon Smith, 6.Nick Last, 7.Rick Stauffer, 8.Chuck Dubell III, 9. Aaron Bingham, 10.Todd Stuart. |
|
Click here for complete results in Adobe .pdf format Requires Adobe Reader for viewing/printing...you can get the reader for free from www.Adobe.com
|
