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CMCWeek By Alan Sheph erd Two terrible chain-reaction spills, one during practice and the other at the start of the final 125cc Pro class mota, wound up putting nearly a dozen riders on the injured list at Irwindale Friday night. One o f the two blind spo ts on 30 the track, the high-speed Bert's Jump, was the site of both cra shes. During practice, half-a-dozen riders required medical attention when several riders failed to heed the yellow flag, denoting an obstruction on the course, and plowed into downed riders and machines. The second was totally unavoidable as the leaders locked handlebars on the first lap and wen t down hard while the pack was airborne. "That 125 crash was the worst I have ever seen," said CMC President Stu Peters after the event. "I'm surprised, and glad, there were only two injuries that required immediate attention." Gary Denton, in only his first event as a CMC professional, and Lennie Garten, had burst to the lead in the race only to bump together off the Berts Jump. Both riders went down very hard with Denton receiving the major blows and had to be transpor ted to the hospital with a possible co nc ussi on. Cliff Lett, winner of his first pro even t six weeks earlier here , was another involved in the pile-up and suffered a broken arm . No less than eigh t riders were in con ten tion for the Overall victory and at the top of t he list was Bryan Dodge (Hon), who had finished the first two events with two thirds. Before the crashes, the following stars were also in con ten tion: Mark Tyer (Hon) Lennig Garten (Hon) , Dave Eropkin (Hon) , Denton (Hon), Lett (Hon) and Pat Hubbs (Suz). Mike Bell (Hon) current CMC points leader by a huge margin, was also in co ntention. Of them, Denton, Garten and Lett could not m ak e it to the re-start. Bell had won the first round, then took a 13th while Denton had secured the second moto win, after he had mistaken the last-lap flag for the checkered in moto one. Tyer won the final even t, but still appeared d o wn on power from recent weeks. Despite the victory, Tyer could only take second Overall behind Dodge, whose four-point advantage was too much to overcome, even with a win, since Dodge took a fourth. Relen tlessly closing in one the all-time CMC win mark of 84 held by Tim Hart is Dave Pessy. He won Wednesday night at Ascot in a sweep and was after his 73rd career ace at Irwindale, but lanky Jim West, himself a six-year veteran of the CMC trail, wicked up his factory-backed Husky and snatched the win instead. West won the first two events while Pessy, on the factory Ossa, took a third and second. While winning the final, Pessy still could not overcome the points advantage built by West, whose second was enough. Chuck Lu nde (Mon) had two fourths and a third to garner third Overall easily. Into the 500 Pros, West also held command until midway through the final m o to. His first and second was better tha n L u ke Messer's firs t and third on the Maico, and West was lead in g the third race u n t il his e ng ine quit on lap th ree. Joe Johnston (Mai), a to p- three contender and wi nner of three of the last fo ur CMC night events, then took over second spot Overall while Messe r went on to win the final. West eventually pushed across in fifth Overall. His 250cc wi n, however, placed him as undisputed 10th on the all- time career win list with 32 triumphs. He had entered the night's affair tied with Rex S taten a t 31. Nin th on the list , a t 39 victories, is J ohn DeSoto. It was Joe Johnston 's th ird w in in the 500 class a t Ascot. In additi on fo r Johnston , the o nly bl ack racer in CMC history to ever to have won a pro motocross, it was his six th win in a three-year career . Sunday, the CMC headed south to Carlsbad Raceway . There, while many of the CMC regulars were at Valley Cycle Park for the Qualifier, multi-ride ace Marty Tripes returned to the CMC win list for the first time since mid-January of last year and he did it rather easily to the 500 Pros, winning both motos on his Husky. Garry Harris (Hus), currently making a strong bid for a comeback, led a three-rider tie for second with Bill Booth (Kaw) and Ron Blanton (Bul), each finishing with six points apiece. Trip es also co n ten de d the 25 0s, but had troubles in th e first ro und an d opted no t to ride the second . Tommy ' Croft won both rounds, the first easily and the second only after a very good battle with Ray Topham (Mai), who wound up second Overall with two seconds. The 125cc Pro: lik e a week earlie r, wen t to David Williams on a Pen ton, agai n only after an eruption in the front running ranks. Bob Stem (Ho n ) won the first round only to crash in the sec ond , afte r which he had to work back up to ta ke a fourth. It left him tied with Williams, but Williams' final even t victory d ecided ma tt ers. The High Sch oo l mot ocross a t Irwindale d id not run Friday ni gh t because of a fo r fei t on the part of Wes t Covi na . Mark Keppel ad vances t o the Se mi Finals to face th e winners o f next wee k's winner be tw een Duarte an d A rca d ia . Mik e Follm er, Arcadia's ca p tain , broke a co llar bo ne Fri day at Irwindale. • 25 0 Jr D iy III : 1. Jerry Natelborg (Bul). 2 . B irdie Greenberg (Bul) ; 3 . K en Kondas (Ma l). 5 0 0 J r : 1. Byron H endr i c k s (Ma l) ; 2. K ir k Heflin (H u S); 3 . Dua ne Kler ( Mai ) . 125 tnt : 1. Tag T urner (Han) : 2 . M ark A r sen a u lt (Han); 3 . Bob Marino (Han ). 250 Int: 1. ~rad Morrison O<.aw); 2. Dave Foltz (Yam); 3 . Conrad Weber IMon). 500 Int : 1. Gary Lunsford TNT); 2 . Cliff Hicks (SUZ): 3 . Carter Read (Mal) . 125 Pro : 1. Bryan DOdge (Han); 2. Mark Tyer (Hon); 3 . Dave Eropkln (Han). 250 Pro : 1. Jim West (Hus); 2 . Dave Pessy (aSS) : 3. Chuck Lunde (Mon) . 500 Pro : 1 . Luke Messer (Mai); 2 . Joe Johnston (Mal) ; 3 . Jeff Jennings (Hon). AME Week Friday By Dale Brown VALENCI A, CAL ., MAY 10 There were a lot o f Beginners at AME's Friday night shindig at the Dunes. Especially a lot of fast ones. Results - Irwindale Mini Ex : 1 . RICky Simmons (H On); 2 . Joe Tucci (Hon); 3. Scott Bell (Hon). Min i Jr Dlv I : L Scott Tipton (Hon) ; 2 . Greg Knight (Hon); 3 . Re x Smith (Hon). Mini Jr 01... II: 1. Lynn Worley (Hon) ; 2. Steve Henson (Han); 3 . Kelly Carlisle (HOn). 100 Jr : 1. Bob Anderson (Had ); 2. Steve SCh illing (Yam); 3. Jeff Weideman (Ric) . 125 Jr titv I: 1. Eugene Gayo (Hon); 2. Tim McFadden (Ho n); 3. John Whitesel (Hon) . 1 25 Jr Div II : 1. Alan Truax (Han); 2. Mike Bush (Hon); 3. Tom Earle (Han) . 125 Jr Olv III : 1. Mark Lawrence (Yam) ; 2. Dale Denning (Pen); 3 . Jim Lowe (Han) . 125 Jr Diy IV : 1. Mike McGonigal (KTM~ ; 2. Jeff Ariz (Han); 3. Ernest Gonzalez (Han . 250 Jr DIY I : 1. Ted Dayidson (Yam); • Chr is Cummins (Hus); 3: Chris verencta (Mon). 250 Jr Diy II : 1. Don wooc (Han); 2. Paul Fernandez (Bul) ; 3 . Glenn Ferris (Han) . Z