September, 2001

VIEWFINDER CLUB RACE/IN-TOWN MEETING

Racing history was made on Saturday August 4, 2001 at Glen Helen Raceway when the Viewfinders held its Club Team Race. We had 10 teams competing on the REM course and each team was assigned a race number and given an armband to exchange. The race began with a front fender straddle/dead engine/banner drop start - and only got better after that! A water hose was mysteriously left on which made a nice mud-bath turn right after the team exchange area! There was mud roostin everywhere! Here are the 10 teams:

1 - John and Jeff Sneddon 6- Don Brand/Don Pettingill

2 - Travis & Darrin Livingston 7- Jeff Meek/John Thornton

3 - Mark Schneider/Brian O'Dor 8- Todd & Terry Iles

4 - Allen Laframboise/Matt Henderson 9- Sean Grattan/Dave Springer

5- Mike Dion/Sarah Schilke 10- Jeremy Henderson/Shane O'Dor

After the banner drop, Showtime came to San Berdoo! It was explained at the Rider's Meeting that this was all for fun - but these guys came to race! The spectators were given a great show with lots of tight, race action and even more mud action. Many thanks to Alan Roach & Baja Designs who selected the prizes for the Club Race. The prizes included All-In-One Tool Kits, Fender Packs, T-Wrenches and other cool stuff! We had a post-race awards ceremony right before the BBQ. Since it would be too boring to give prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd - we didn't do that! Congratulations to all of the prize winners and thanks to everyone who raced, flagged and helped out to make the Club Race such a fun event! Here are the Viewfinder Club Race Prize Winners:

· 1st Place - Allen Laframboise/Matt Henderson - These guys tore it up!

· Best Crash - Travis Livingston - Even though the crash was post-race - it was SPECTACULAR! Travis tore enough meat off his arm so he could have one of those beef jerky scab~slabs covering his forearm after tangling with a fence!

· Worst Hand-Off - Darrin Livingston - Darrin came sliding into the exchange area and since Travis cracked the frame on the Gas~Gas during practice, they were sharing the YZ250. Darrin came sliding in like a runner to homeplate and dumped the bike at Travis' feet! These 2 would have placed 2nd overall - but they were DQ'ed! (Sorry guys - had to get that in there!!)

· Muddiest Bike/Rider - A post-race inspection showed that Prospective Member Don Pettingill sucked it up and went through the mud bog every lap! If he was at Glen Ivy - he would have had to pay for this slimey experience!

· Mr.SuckItUp ~ Ridin on the Limp Bizkit Award went to Jeff Meek! After injuring that rather delicate area right between the upper thigh and the manly parts during MX practice - Jeff sucked it up and rode the Club Race even though he was hurting Big Time! (Next time heed your Mama's advice when she tells you to wear clean/non-purple underwear) You never know when you might have to drop your drawers in front of people to check out the injury!

· Holeshot Award went to Jeremy Henderson who came blazing off the start line!

· 10th Place Award went to John and Jeff Sneddon! Good effort by this Father/Son team!

· Biggest Whiner Award - Club President Todd Iles! Todd was caught whining about the dead engine/fender dance start.... the mud hole.... Jeff's purple underwear... and whatever else he could think of!!

· Kandy's Unofficial Good Sportsman Awards go to Mark Schneider and Jeremy Henderson. Eric Miller had to pull out of the Club Race when he injured his knee during practice and Rich Jansen also had to pull out. Mark Schneider raced with 11 year old Brian O'Dor on his Screamin YZ80 and Jeremy Henderson raced with 8 year old Shane O'Dor on his Kick~Azz KX60! Thanks to both of you for letting the lil guys race - they had a blast!

The Club BBQ/Meeting was held after the race. Thanks to Lee Henderson who once again smoked up a side of beef and fed the hungry masses! We had tons of good food - thanks to everyone who brought side dishes out. Todd held a short meeting where we discussed positions for the GP race, Pit Duty, etc. Special thanks to Deanne Moore for helping me organize the Club Race!

VIEWFINDERS MX RACE

The Annual Viewfinders MX Race was held on Sunday, August 5 at Glen Helen. Rumor had it that we had the highest rider count out of the series up to that point! We had a great turn out from Club Members who came to flag, play with water hoses and run the start line. I had an awesome view from the tunnel jump I was flagging and lost my voice from screaming at all the riders who were giving me big air jumps and sweet whips! Great racing action and thanks to everyone who worked in the heat to make this another great event!

VIEWFINDERS 28TH ANNUAL GRAND PRIX!

The countdown is on for the Best Race in the Big 6 GP Series! We will hold our 28th Annual Grand Prix race on October 6th & 7th at Glen Helen. Pre-entries for our race opened on 8/14/01 and they are pouring in! We need every member to come out and work as much as possible on the race weekend . If you haven't been to a Club Event lately, make this the ONE you attend! We need people to help in sign-ups by checking race entry forms, processing AMA cards, etc. We also need people who can help with data entry in the scoring tower, hand out finisher pins/water bottles at the finish line and help out with the Kid's Riding activities on the Pee-Wee Track. We need all active/ inactive members, wives, girlfriends, buddies, etc. to help out. You will not have to chuck hay bales or drive a water truck if you do not want to - we have many positions available. Attached to the Newsletter is a sign up sheet. If you see an area you would like to work, contact Kandy, Todd or Keith to sign up! It looks like we are going to pull off scoring/trophy presentation on race day! We are having a catered dinner on Saturday night for all Club Members/Friends, etc who come out to work the race. We will also have a DJ on Saturday night - so dust off your Boogie Shoes and get ready to Bust Some Moves!

We are having a pre-race Work Day on Saturday, September 29, 2001. We need a big crew to mark the course, etc.! More info on time, etc. will follow by e-mail and the October Newsletter will be sent out early so everyone has the info. We also need as many people who can make it to come out on Thursday and Friday before the race to fine-tune everything.

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GO 24 HOURS?

Viewfinder Members Charlie Barney, Fred Hatch, Ron Shuler and Mike McGee are all racing the 24 Hours of Glen Helen Race on September 8th & 9th. Charlie Barney is teaming up with Jeff Capt, Jon Parks, Abe Baumann and others for Team Moto~West and Gas-Gas. Mike McGee is combining efforts with Chili White, Mike Bandfield & others for Team Moto~West also. Ron Shuler is riding for Race~Tech and has a great team put together. Fred Hatch is riding for Team Hussaberg with race-mates Rick O'Donnell, Chuck Sun, Tim Tolfert, Jeff Sheet & Darrell Hamilton. Charlie Barney reports that Gas-Gas plans on having their team semi out with full race support. This race has grown from approx. 17 teams when it started 2 years ago to approx. 60 entries for this year! If you get the chance - head out to Glen Helen and cheer on some fellow Viewfinders and see if they have the right stuff to make it for the entire 24 Hours! (*Hint* A Viewfinder Team entry for 2002? Sounds good to me...... Any interest?)

HILLTOPPERS DEZ SCRAMBLE RACE DATE MOVED

The Hilltoppers Dez Scramble race originally scheduled for September 30, 2001 (the weekend of our Work Day!) has been moved to December 2, 2001. They had a conflict with a BITD event and have decided to reschedule so District riders have a chance to ride both races.

IF LIFE IS A BOWL OF CHERRIES - WHAT AM I DOING IN THE PITS?

Having a great time! Pit duty is one of the necessities of racing - but it is also a lot of fun! There is nothing better to get your adreneline running than having 2 Club Riders come screaming into the pits at the same time and getting them both back out on the course in record time! We had a few races left that did not have a pit crew, but most of these were filled in at the MX race. If you have not had pity yet this year, please sign up to work one of the remaining races:

9/23/01 Shamrocks H&H Dave Springs/John & Jeff Sneddon

10/14/01 So Cal Nat'l H&H Albert Jones/Eric Miller

10/28/01 100's Nat'l H&H Terry Iles (Need more Help)

11/24/01 Vipers H&H Earl & Ron Shuler

12/2/01 Hilltoppers Dez Scramble ??

12/8/01 UEA Dez Scramble Charlie Barney/Richard Jansen

IN MEMORY OF VIEWFINDER MIKE NEWMAN

You may recall reading a profile I wrote about Viewfinder Mike Newman in the last Newsletter. I am saddened to have to report that Mike Newman passed away on August 13 after he was injured during a practice lap on a MX track near Albany, Oregon. Mike was injured on August 4 and was life-flighted to acute neurological ICU in Portland. Mike fought with all he had but finally succombed to his injuries after nine days. A Celebration of Life Party was held in his honor on August 18, 2001 in Trout Lake, Washington. Our thoughts are with his wife Pam Newman and the rest of his family.

BLM NEWS - OPEN HOUSE ON 9/18/01

The BLM will hold an open house on September 18, 2001 from 2 p.m. - 8 p.m. at the Barstow Field Office to solicit public participation for the proposed trail closures in the Kramer Junction area. This is just one more of the 21 sub-regions slated for massive trails closures to OHV users by the BLM. Written comments can also be made to:

BLM, Attn: West Mojave Planning Team, 6221 Box Springs Blvd., Riverside, CA 92507. Written comments must be received no later than 10/15/01. Please send a sheet a paper with "NO MORE CLOSURES" in bold letters if you do not have time to write a formal letter or attend the meeting.

DUAL VIEW

There was a good write-up on the Bass Lake Dual Sport ride. Hope some of you made it out for that one! The BIG ONE is coming up: "The LA - Barstow to Las Vegas dual sport ride will be on November 23 and 24, the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving Day. The Friday 6:30 - 8:00 am start will be in Lancaster at Antelope Valley Kawasaki - Yamaha, 400 West Ave. I. Lunch and gas is in Ridgecrest (you buy). Friday's finish and Saturday's 6:00 - 7:00 am start will be at the Ramada Inn (formerly the Holiday Inn) in Barstow. There is a large dirt parking lot in front of the place for motorhomes. There are about six more motels in the immediate area. Saturday's lunch and gas will be provided (they buy) at a dude ranch in Sandy Valley. Saturday's finish will be at the Hotel San Remo, Las Vegas (next to the Tropicana hotel on Tropicanna Blvd.) on the 24th. They expect the course to end up about 200-240 miles each day, 75% dirt, 25% pavement. The fuel range required will be 105 miles. If you can't make this distance you will need to carry extra gas or arrange for your personal support crew to meet you along the route. They usually have hard-way/easy-way splits, where the more skilled riders can take a more challenging section while the lesser skilled riders can take an easier route, then meet up again. All entrants are provided with a roll chart of directions and a map. Numerous "bail-out" and "leap" routes are available that a rider could take to get to the finish faster via highways if having problems. All bikes and riders must be street licensed."

Here are the latest rides for you Duallies out there:

· 9/23-23 Countdown - Mammoth Lakes - 2 Day Event*

· 9/29 Big Bear Night Ride - Big Bear Trail Riders

· 10/6&7 Death Valley/Jean, NV - Countdown

(Sorry - None of you will make this event!)

· 10/28 Newhall, CA - VCMC

*Nat'l AMA/Suzuki Event

Misc. Notes

* Congratulations to Mike Dion - proud papa of Michael Daniel Dion!

* Thanks again to Baja Designs for their help with our Club Team Race. Alan gives all Club Members a discount and brochures were available at the MX race. Check them out!

* Sitting at your 'puter and surfing the net? Head over to these 2 Rapid Response sites and send a quick e-mail to any Congressional or Media contact and let them know how you feel about all of these proposed closures and other issues facing Desert racers/OHV users. AMA and the Blue Ribbon Coalition both have click and send options to send messages out. USE THEM! Go to: http://www.sharetrials.org (Blue Ribbon) or www.AMADirectlink.com It doesn't get much easier than this to have your voice heard!

September, 2001 Calendar

· 9/16 Checkpoint Enduro - San Bernardino Forest

· 9/23 Shamrocks H&H* - Red Mtn

· 9/29 Work Day at Glen Helen for GP Race

· 10/6 & 7 VIEWFINDERS 28th ANNUAL GRAND PRIX

* Indicates Best of the West events

If you have anything you'd like to have put in the Calendar or Misc. Notes section in future newsletters, just pass me a note in the dez, call me at (909) 685-4637 or e-mail me at jlthornton@earthlink.net.

~Kandy Thornton