Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126009
NORTH Legarra tops Sunny Valley 50-lapper By Jerry Mathel SUNNY VA LLE Y, ORE., SEPT. 7 . Fifty laps is a long way on Sunny Valley's oiled granite 'IT track and th e distance took its toll o f riders and machines. Survival of the fittest was th e name of the game. The kids , minis and old dudes went 30 laps. The Kids class go t o ff to a LeMans star t with the first tum belonging to just about everyone. By the end of the first lap it h , ~ settled down to a race between Bruce Smiley (Yam) and Californian Don Bramlett (Yam) but a nasty spill on the back of the jump took Bramlett out. Don grabbed his scooter, sorted out his wits and went b ack after the p ack dead last. Smiley remained the pace-setter till almost the halfway point wh en a holed piston sent him to the pits, givin g the lead to Ric k Bradley (Kaw). Bramle tt , not wasting any time ca tching up, regained th e lead an d the win. Th e 125 clas s saw an early lead by Cecil Arispe (Yam) wi th Mel Samples nip ping at his heels. Mean while , back in the dus t J eff Cam p bell ridin g a Ted Cook Suzu ki Rl\! was sorting his way up thro ugh th e pack. Samples slipp ed by A r ispe a nd if tha t wasn't enough problems, Cecil discovered Campbell 's RM was n ow clear up to t hird m ak ing blac k marks o n his rear fende r. Arispe tried h oldin g the bli stering p ace but the di stance began to take its toll. Cecil 's bi k e s ta rte d l o si n g ho rse p o wer, Campbell went by an d set out af ter Samp l e s . T wo l aps later Arispe's Yam aha scatt ered. Samples never let up onc e, Campbell go t within striking distance once, b u t lost co n sid erable gro un d lapping slower rid ers. Ob viously tired, Campbell settled for a stead y second behind Samples. Clown of the da y was Doug McWilliams who rode his Suzuki 80 pit bike in th e 12 5cc class . The 200, 25 0 and Open classes were run together and the all-time ride of the day had to be Russ Salmons on his 175 Yamaha. Russ wen t into the first tu m somewhere in the middle of the pack but as everyone else shut off, Russ went WFO aro und the outside. By the time they reached the jump he had the lead well in hand. Th e Legarra brothers, Larry (Tri) and Mark (Kaw) felt this was an outrage and immediately gave chase. Larry hung it all out on the third lap and grabbed the lead from Salmons but lost a footpe g and his brake pedal in the process. Larry should definitely get the " Hair Bear" awar d for leading 47 of the 50 laps on a 40-incher with no brak es. His brother Mark re tired with a flat tire. Me anwh il e , b ack at the ranch , Bult aco mounte d Mark Ditweiler and Honda twister Clark Ta ylor were having a kn ock down drag out battle for the 250 class lead and third o verall. As th ey began to lap slower r iders Mar k fou nd himself in a couple o f very sti c ky situations, decided he had better cool it and let Taylor go . Taylor, who wasn 't abo ut to be bea t by Salmons on the 175, go t by Russ near the halfway po int. (Russ ha d bli ste rs on his hands the size of quarters at the finish . ) At th e chec ker it -was Larry Legarra first overall and winnin g th e Op en class, Ta ylor second ove rall , and Salmons a very tired third overall on th e tin y 175 . • Randy Skiver discusses st rategy with Tiny the Tuner at Sidewinders TT. Gettin ' it on at Su nny Valley - Salmons (8 7) o n a 175, leading the 250 pack w it h th e Legar ra Bro the rs in ho t pursuit. Hurst hauls at Benton-Lane By Jerry Mathel J UNCT ION CITY , ORE., SEPT. 6 Bent on-Lane Park hosted the T e rri t ori a l Riders third nonsanctioned pro short tr ack o f the season and the $750 purse brough t ou t most 01 the local shoes and an all time record cr o wd . Besides the regular spo rtsman clas ses there were tw o p ro clas ses: up to 400cc and ov er 401 cc. Sh ort tra ck h as alw a y s b e en "cro wbar" racing and Benton..Lane is no exception. The first 400 heat saw Brad Hurst (CZ) co me out of the pa ck to zap fron tr unners Mark Legarra (Kaw) an d St e ve T o ft d a u l (Yam) an d ta ke a runaway win. Th e sec o nd 400 he at go t a litt le hairy when second place rider, Greg Wilson (Bul) and th ird pl ace Randy Scott (Bul) both got the idea of passing leader Lest er Huey (Yam ). Wilson and Scott bo th went down in a heap, Randy came up running and Greg came up with a (Con tin ued on page 26) 23