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/126017
Texas Trans-AMA to TOny D. l!') C'l l-o V ..0 8 V Six 0 'clock silenc e of a new day beginning is heard in a small Texas town. Like a signal fr om nowhere th e p eople who live th ere are up and movin ' around, cause th ere's bacon to fry and biscuits to bake on th e st ove that th e Salvation Army wo n't tak e. You op en th e windows and y ou turn on th e fan cause it 's hotter than hell where th e sun hits th e land. St eve Fromholtz "Texas Trilogy " >o Z By J ody Weisel LAKE WHITN EY , T EX. , NOV. 9 The Trans-Alvl A circus crep t into th e sleep y sun -baked Tex as town o f Lakc Whitney like a laconic vagabond train only to pitch its tents and bloom in to a full-fledged carnival on Sunday. Th e pe rform ers unraveled their wares and laid th em on th e line; there was Bim bo, Bad Brad, the Rocke t, the J ammer, and a suppo r ti ng cast of 10,000 festival drenched mota-freaks. In th e c e n te r ring was Suzuki -mount ed 250 National Tony DiStefano, who Champion became the fou rth American to win a Trans·AMA. DiStefano's powerful two second-pla ce fini shes highlighted a da y that was an Am erican rout as Honda's Marty Smith and Maico's Steve Stackable shared mota victories and bad luck. _ Jimmy Ellis and his 250 Can-Am continued to o utclass the Support class . Ellis " victory p roved that life is j ust a pick of ch erri es, as he ran far afield of Rich Eirstadt (Han), Terry Clark (Hus), Tim Hart (Yam) and Mickey Kessler (Hus], Texas Jack (17c) Hicks moves over poli t ely t o let Roger rocket by . Kent Howerton felt right at home (he was) and blasted to fou rth overall. First 500 Marty Smith's Honda carved through the 180-degree first tum and sliced away to a clean lead with Jim Pomeroy (BuI), Kent Howerton (Hus) , Roger DeCoster, Tony DiStefano, Brad Lackey, and Steve Stackable in pursuit. Bimbo gassed the Bul around Smith at the end of the first lap as De Coster squirted around Howerton into third. Pomeroy's lead lasted three laps when he fragged third gear and started the long fade to the back of the pack. Two-time 125 Ch amp Marty Smith and his fire engine red RC400 Honda started to cook in the ho t Texas sun. DeCoster planted his Su zuki squarely a t Smith's back door and waited for the inevitable 20·minute burnout that Americans are fam o us for. It never came. DeCoster began to press, and he made mistakes, while the Superkid was flawless. Meanwhile DiStefano was about five seconds back in third with Gerrit Wolsink nursing a p artially seized cy lin der along in fourth. Up front Smith boogied away to about a hundred feet worth of breathing room as DeStefano suddenly sh ut the door on the four-time World Ch ampion to force another mistak e o ut of Roger th e Ro cket and take o ve r second. DeC ost er reco vered from his sp inout o n a slick downh ill left but with his . ro n t brak e fading, he co uld only watch as Sm it h and DiStefan o moto red away. The pa rtisan cro wd o f T exans , m ost of (Continue d on page 3 7) oJ W l/l W ~ "" Z w ~ w Z ~ c > III l/l o o • "" J: Q. L..:._ _ ~ "':"'--'-"--'-'_-=--~-I. _ _'::;""_ -I._ --,...:..;,--_ .....:..-..;;:;.:.t....";';:'''':::''-::''':''':''''';':'......... ~''''''=='''-=---'- ''-'- -'''-' ~'-''':: e...£ ~' 11