The Pleasure Riders hosted the 2004 Indiana State Hillclimb Championships, with 132 riders coming to challenge their 155 foot hill. The hill was rock hard and rutted, and gave many very good riders a lot of grief. ‘Fast Andy’ Fortner emerged as the top rider of the day, and the ‘Golden Gockens’ emerged once more as the most successful family.

    Fortner took the win in the ultra competitive 600cc class on his CR500 with a second round ride of 4.844 seconds, which also earned him the Fast Time Award for the day. He had to come from behind for the win, as Cody Jenner took the first round lead with a 4.849 second ride on his Honda, only to see Fortner slip under him by a mere 5/1,000’s of a second. The slightest blip of the throttle can mean the difference between a championship, and second place. Jenner laid it all on the line trying to catch Fortner on his second ride, but crashed at 110 feet. Jared McKay was the only other rider to break into the fours, and took third place in the class with a 4.967 second run on his KX540.

    The Gocken family had a very good day with 9 year old Matt leading the way, claiming the wins in both classes he entered. Riding his KTM50, young Matt thrilled the crowd by topping the hill on his first ride in 8.193 seconds for the win. Chelsea Gill was the only other rider in the class to stop the clocks, and did it twice, the second time in a very good 8.594 seconds.

    Matt returned in the 65cc class to top the hill twice, the only rider in the class to see the top, and claimed that win with a 7.799 second run on his KX65. Logan Moody was his closest challenger with a 155 foot run on his KX65.

    John Michael Gocken, 15, also had a good day. He snared the 400cc Stock class championship with a fine 5.339 second run on his YZ250, with district point leading R.J. Watson running second with a 5.438 second time on his Yamaha. He also took second place in the 450cc class and third in the 250cc class. The boy’s 12 year old sister, Dusti, completed the family trophy day with a fourth place finish in the 85cc Senior Mini class.

    Veteran riders Ron Todd and Steve Shafer both enjoyed double win days. Todd, 51, took his first win in the Senior (+40) class with a second round 5.020 second ride to overtake the District 15 Hillclimb Referee, Scott Petty, for the title. Petty had set the first round time to beat at 5.880 seconds for the lead at halftime, and improved it to 5.394 seconds on his second round, but had to settle for second place. Todd brought his vintage KX500 back in the Super Senior (+50), and took that win also, with a time of 6.003 seconds. Billy Pearson was second fastest on his 400cc Suzuki with a 6.130 second time.

    Shafer claimed his titles on his smooth running Harley in the Open and Pushrod classes, turning in times of 5.611 seconds and 5.860 seconds respectively. RD Miller II was second in both classes on his big Harley, posting times of 5.914 and 6.557 seconds.

    Other State Champions were Caleb Emory in the 85cc Junior Mini and Blake Cappello in the 85cc Senior Mini youth classes. Brent Bowman took the 125cc class title, Kevin ‘Bubba’ Bond took the 200cc class win and Jeff Moore was the 250cc class champ. Cody Jenner snared the 450cc title, Josh Denson won the 600cc 4-stroke title, and Paul Hillard was the 750cc champ. Tom Brown was the best of the Open Stock riders, while Wade Garriott and Jeff Ramey took the titles in the 2-Stroke and 4-Stroke Quad classes.

RESULTS:

50cc Auto: 1. Matt Gocken (KTM), 2.Chelsea Gill (Cob), 3.Kolt Kinsler (KTM), 4.Cole Garriott (Pol), 5.Garett Holycross (KTM).

65cc: 1.Matt Gocken (Kaw), 2.Logan Moody (Kaw), 3.Brett Kalaher (Kaw), 4.Chelsea Gill (Kaw), 5.Lauren Shafer (Hon).

85cc Jr: 1.Caleb Emory (Kaw), 2.Chris Peters (Yam), 3.Jake Wood (Suz), 4.Drew Daniels (KTM), 5.Jeremy James (Kaw).

85cc Sr: 1.Blake Cappello (Kaw), 2.Justin James (Kaw), 3.Mike Popham (Yam), 4.Dusti Gocken (Kaw), 5.Shane Green (Yam).

125cc: 1.Brent Bowman (Hon), 2.Mike Popham (Yam), 3.Bubba Bond (Hon), 4.Paul Hart (Hus), 5.RD Miller III (Kaw).

200cc: 1.Bubba Bond (Kaw), 2.Jake Tackitt (Kaw), 3.Chris Peters (Kaw), 4.Gordon Green (Kaw), 5.Keith Klett (Kaw).

250cc: 1.Jeff Moore (Kaw), 2.Mark Schroeder (Yam), 3.John Michael Gocken (Yam), 4.Jared McKay (Yam), 5.Josh Mingee (Hon).

450cc: 1.Cody Jenner (Yam), 2.John Michael Gocken (Hon), 3.Mike Peters (Yam), 4.Paul Hillard (Yam), 5.Ron Todd (Suz).

600cc: 1.’Fast Andy’ Fortner (Hon), 2.Cody Jenner (Hon), 3.Jared McKay (Kaw), 4.Josh Denson (Kaw), 5.John Scroggins (Hon).

600cc 4-Stk: 1.Josh Denson (KTM), 2.Scott Pearson (Hon), 3.Mike Peters (Yam).

750cc: Paul Hillard (Kaw), 2.Josh Brown (Yam), 3.Jason Northrup (Yam).

OPEN: 1.Steve Shafer (HD), 2.RD Miller II (HD).

PROD: 1.Steve Shafer (HD), 2.RD Miller II (HD).

SENR: 1.Ron Todd (Kaw), 2.Scott Petty (Hon), 3.Steve Shafer (HD), 4.Kevin McKay (Kaw), 5.Billy Pearson (Suz).

SSNR: 1.Ron Todd (Kaw), 2.Billy Pearson (Suz), 3.Randy Hart (Hus), 4.Bud Northrup (Hon), 5.Keith Klett (KTM).

400cc Stk: 1.John Michael Gocken (Yam), 2.R.J. Watson (Hon), 3.Paul Hart (Hus), 4.Mark Schroeder (Yam), 5.Jeff Moore (Kaw).

OPN Stk: Tom Brown (Hon), 2.Jared McKay (Hon), 3.Scott Pearson (Hon), 4.Mike Pulver (Hon), 5.Brian Klett (Kaw).

2-St QUAD: 1.Wade Garriott (Hon), 2.Ryan Garriott (Yam), 3.Tom Brown (Hon), 4.Paul Hillard (Yam), 5.Brad Franklin (Suz).

4-St QUAD: 1.Jeff Ramey (Yam), 2.Tony Kinsler (Bom), 3.Mark Crum (Hon), 4.Brad Franklin (Yam), 5.Trista Brown (Yam).

FAST TIME: ‘FAST ANDY’ FORTNER, 4.844, HONDA CR500.