Eddie Mulder's W.C.V.D.T. Series

Round #3 King's Speedway

Hanford, Calif.  June 28^th, 2008

Article & Photos by Jamey Blunt

 "Brown King of Kings"

 King's Speedway in Hanford, Ca. has a long running history with motorcycle racing. This 3/8 mile banked, grove track oval at the fairgrounds has played host to racing for over thirty years. While currently a car track, enter Eddie Mulder who stepped up to bring the less balance impaired back to the speedway. Three days prior to the event Mulder along with Joey Alves and Mike Vital at his side labored to provide the best possible racing surface the Hanford track has seen for motorcycles. With a 98 degree high temperature sixteen heats and thirteen main events filled the night's program.

The $1,500 Harley-Davidson/Buell of Fresno/Stanley's Food Mart/Linda's Checkbook Racing five lap "Dash for Cash" kicked off the nights main events. The top two finishers from each of the pro heat races were given a chance at the extra greenbacks as David Brown led off the line into turn one. At the finish of lap one the order was Brown, Don Howard, Dustin Pruczinski, Patrick Osmer, Kris Bunch, Life Kelley, Mike Besemer, and Mikey Martin. While Brown chose the low line with Howard chasing, Pruczinski picked the high line trying to gain ground. With two laps remaining the front three were within two bike lengths of one another. Down the back straight for the fourth time Howard pulled alongside Brown and took over at the front entering turn three. At the white flag Howard lead with Pruczinski all over Brown for second. Between turns three and four Brown made a slight bobble and Pruczinski pounced to follow Howard home for second, Brown was a close third, Martin made a leap up to fourth, and Bunch stayed at fifth.

 Tom Horton nailed the start in the Barnett/A&A Racing Senior final, only to have Joe Suebert aggressively take the lead away in the middle of turn one. Steve Craft ran in third with Ron Lessley fourth, and Ron Alexander fifth. Horton glued his Triumph to the backside of Suebert's Harley looking for an opportunity to get by, as the two of them distanced themselves from the pack. Horton could catch Suebert and was clearly faster, but getting past was another story. Down the front straight Horton made a move past Suebert on the outside but it didn't stick as Suebert took it back through turn one on the inside. But Horton had gained the information he needed and as they exited turn four to the white flag Horton pounced and took the lead. This time Horton protected the inside line and left Suebert cut off. Down the back straight Suebert used the horsepower of his pristine Harley to pull alongside Horton, they were side by side through three and four with Horton making a crossover to get the best drive he could to edge Suebert at the line for the victory. Well behind the front two Craft was alone in third, with Jeff Lessley coming through the field to finish fourth, Ron Lessley was now fifth, with Ron Alexander dropping to sixth.

 The AGV Helmets/ Maxxis Tires Vet Main event was Don Howard's second shot at a victory, but it took him till turn three of the first lap to take over the front position from Mike Besemer. With the Dash for Cash victory already in his pocket Howard had to be feeling confident. By lap three he was opening up a gap and turned a 22.03 second lap, while Danny Ritchie who had displaced Besemer for second had the favor returned and found himself back in third. At the halfway point John Lundgren was now a solid fourth, with Jason Craven fifth, and Kyle Lessley sixth. With a lap remaining Besemer had closed to within five bike lengths of Howard as they put Mark Davis a lap down. This in turn allowed Besemer to get within striking distance as they made their run to the finish stripe. But victory was Howard's making him two for two thus far. Besemer was a close second, with Danny Ritchie third and Lundgren fourth.

 On the opening lap of the Motion Pro/Simi Valley Kawasaki Super Senior-Senior Novice final Mickey Alzola having just replaced the clutch in his Triumph between the heat race and main was left on the starting line in neutral when starter Fred Allen's flag waved. Alzola quickly stabbed it into gear and left the line in dead last position. Herb Wolff had no such problem and led the field out of turn two by the time Alzola got going. Dave Cheney gave chase in second with Steve Baker in third. By the exit of turn two for the second time Alzola on a mission was into the third place position, and set his cross hairs on Cheney. Making his move on the back straight on lap three Alzola took over second from Cheney. But Wolf had a two second gap, but Alzola was turning 23.55/100 second laps and was making up ground fast. Between turns three and four Alzola made an outside to inside pass to blow past Wolff for the lead to the cheers from the crowd. When the checkered flag came out Alzola had gone from last to first showing he hadn't lost a thing from his absence on the track. Wolff stayed in second with Cheney third and Baker fourth.

 Tom Horton's second victory of the night came in the Browns Cycles/Works Performance Classic 500-Dino class. Horton and his 1967 Triumph 500 lead from start to finish with the only passing coming from Chris Rudy on his 1957 H-D KR to take second from Brad Holt who was on the smaller 1965 H-D Sprint. Horton and Rudy were the only ones to break into the twenty three second barrier with Rudy having the fastest lap at 23.36/100 seconds. Like a computer Horton was the more consistent and strung together the best combination of laps. For the Dino's Joe Walker and Roy Taboada went head to head with their 1949 and 1948 H-D 750's with Walker earning the victory.

A J Alves has been at the head of the 50cc class all year and this night was no exception, while Douglas Manhire ran away with the 85cc victory to finish off the Tusk Racing/Tuffplates Youth Classes.

 You could hear the thunder as the K&N Filters/Rod Lake Racing Modern 750's entered the track. Paul Herman got the initial jump off the line but Joe Suebert used his horsepower and closed the inside line off to lead through turn one and two. At the end of the first lap Suebert was still our leader and turning in one of the best performances of his life as his abilities keep improving at every round. On the second trip through turns three and four Suebert made the mistake Herman needed to take the lead. Suebert to his credit saved what could have been a hard hit for himself and saved it. Once up front in clean air Herman put in 22.20/100 second laps that no one could match. Suebert's times were the closest, with his fastest lap being 23.03/100 seconds. By this point the finishing order had been established at Herman, Suebert, Tom Horton, Ron Alexander, and Merritt Moore.

 San Diego off Road Magazine/Maxima Racing Oils 250 Open main had nine combatants fighting it out on any 250cc machine of their choosing. Mikey Martin led the pack on the first lap with Patrick Osmer in second, Life Kelley ran third, and Zach Lenhof fourth. Martin at the front never looked back and was the only rider in the field to break the twenty two second barrier with a 21.95/100 second lap time. In fact only three other riders broke into the twenty-one's through out the night. The finishing order remained unchanged from previously stated with Martin in another zip code. Sponsors take note of this young man; it could be a worthwhile opportunity.

 Eleven Yamaha TT-500's in different configurations made up the Berkeley Honda Yamaha SeaDoo/Megacycle Cams 500 Support main event. Heat race winner Mike Gonzales led into turn one followed by Steve DeVoll, and Paul Herman. At the end of the first lap Herman shot past DeVoll for second down the front straight. Entering turn three for the second time Herman showed Gonzales a wheel and made the pass for the lead out of turn four. Once up front Herman really put his head down and turned a 22.00/100 second lap to pull a disappearing act. By the fourth lap Danny Ritchie had found his rhythm and was on a forward march that saw him up to third place dropping DeVoll to fourth, with Jeff Gonzales now in fifth, and Augie Alves running sixth. Mike Gonzales kept Herman in sight only allowing him a five bike length victory while he in turn had a full straightaway length over Ritchie in third. DeVoll stayed put in fourth, Jeff Gonzales was fifth and Augie Alves sixth.

 The Vizzo Racing/Bartels Open Amateur final was a war. Thirteen riders on any make or size machine of their choosing squared off. Eric England read starter Fred Allen to lead into turn one. Patrick Osmer, Troy Milligan Jr., Dillon Allen, Ross Gallaher, and Ian Foulds all gave chase. On the second lap England went high between turns three and four and left the door wide open, but Osmer wasn't close enough to go through. A lap later through turns three and four Foulds put a wheel under Osmer and took second position away. Foulds was on fire, and had figured this race track out putting in a lap time of 22.00/100 seconds that no one could match as he took over the lead. England was fading and Milligan was getting settled in with a consistent rhythm. At the front Foulds was gone in another time zone, Osmer came home second, while Milligan took third from England, and Dillon Allen took fifth in front of Ross Gallaher. This was a popular victory for Foulds a long time crowd favorite. Good to see him back up to the speed he is capable of.

The twenty lap Digger Helm Open Pro main event saw twenty pros staged with fast heat race winner David Brown sitting on pole. Brown and Mike Besemer hit turn one side by side with Brown taking over the lead on the exit from turn two. Don Howard sat in third with Dustin Pruczinski fourth and Mikey Martin fifth. Brown at the front was trying to get away but Besemer was having none of it as they began to gap the field. Lap four Brown turned a 21.44/100 second time (a new track record for a motorcycle) as he attempted to drop Besemer. While behind them Pruczinski was starting to make the high line work and he and Martin were both closing the gap to Howard. Kris Bunch on a new mount made his way up to sixth by lap six as Besemer was now showing Brown a wheel trying to force a mistake. Then entering turn four on lap seven Besemer dove underneath Brown to take the lead. Brown seemed stunned, though momentarily as he started to regroup. The leaders were now getting into lappers and the track was drying out to where dust could cause problems. At the half way point the order was Besemer, Brown, Howard, Martin up to fourth, Bunch into fifth, with Pruczinski sixth. Jesse Sleeper ran in seventh, with Jaime Aguilar eighth, Patrick Osmer ninth, and Ian Foulds (the Open Amateur class winner) in tenth, which is where they all would finish. With five laps remaining Besemer had Lindsey King and Eric England racing with him as he attempted to put them a lap down. All this while Brown had closed the gap from behind and was now in the fight as well. On the exit from turn four Brown chose the right line and took the lead back to be first to receive the white flag. While flying under the radar Pruczinski had dug deep and was in third and going after Besemer as well. Brown came home with his first Pro Main event win with Pruczinski edging a shocked Besemer at the line in a photo finish for second. Martin came home fourth, Bunch lost an engine and DNF, Howard moved up to fifth, with Jeff Eklund sixth. Just after his hard fought victory David Brown had this to say, "I knew I could have something going when he was having a hard time with the lappers. It was so dusty neither one of us could see very much, but he moved to the outside and went off the grove so I took the opportunity. Mike was so smooth so when he went by I just followed him to see what he was doing and it all worked out. I want to thank my brother Ronnie for the shock spring he sent me; I don't think I'd be here without it."