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/126028
/ ! stro s art trac ... t • • By Gary Van Voorhis HOUSTON, TEX., J A N. 24 "I never tho ught Kenny would break . When he did and 1 go t the lead 1 just kep t thinking wh at would happen if my bik e broke and hop ing that it wouldn't. 1 feel really proud abou t winning. It couldn't ' have be en in a better pl a c e. " H oustonite David "Bubba " Rush (Bul], the second rider fro m th at city to win t he AMA Grand National/Camel Pro Series Yamaha Gold Cup sho r t track at Houston's Astrodo me in as many years, was exhausted. The physical an d mental st ra in o f t he 5: 03. 08 race was ca tch ing up with Bubba , bu t so was the elat ion o f victory before a mob of hometown fa ns who ch eer ed Bubba from behind a banner th at re ad, "The RUSH is on. " Th e . race went fr o m a clo se-kn it co n tes t behind Kenny Roberts to a dramatic finale when Robe rts had an a ppar en t en gine sei zure with about six short laps remaining. Rush scooted into the lead as hi s cl os est adv ersaries S teve Ek lu nd (K& L Yam) and Rick Ho ckin g (A&A Yam) chose an out side lin e to avo id th e st ricken Roberts, losin g vital distance on Rush's dash to the inside, the lead an d ultimately the Nat io nal victory . Qualifying and heat s A one th o usan d th tick of t he clock separated fas t qualifier St eve Ek lu nd fro m Kenny Roberts wi th ro o kie Terry Poo vey cutting third fa st est ti me and J ay Sp ri n gstee n, aboard a Harle y-Dav id son usin g the 250cc MX engine, fou rth . Grand National Cha mpio n Gary Scott waved off the fastest ti me of the session whe n he got sideways in tum fo u r and then re -qua lifie d 49 th fas t est. Ekl u nd put his p ole po sition in the first he at t o go o d use as he read th e AMA 's n ew starting light syste m for t he lead and a ligh t to fl ag win. Mike Kidd put on a fu ll race challe nge to fin ish seco nd with Hank Scott (Sh ell Yam ) breath in g he avil y o n bo t h do wn to the last lap as a c harge fr om the last turn fell o n ly a bike length sh ort of upset. Gar y Sco tt fin ished eighth. Kenn y Roberts spent the open ing lap s of th e second he at h oldin g off Jim Rawls . Rawls then fell to the ch allenges o f Scott Rader and Dan Kirkland . T he third heat had tw o shows . The first was Dave Hansen scooting light to flag on a Hu sq varna 360. The se co nd was t he elec tr ify ing ride of Darryl Hu rst as he stole seco nd pl ace from Te rry Poov ey with a su p er last co rner charge th at nipped Poovey and cu t Hansen's mar gin to abou t a bike len gth. J ay Springsteen , with a go od jump o n a re start , scooted in to th e lead o f the fo urth heat ahea d of Billy Labrie. Labrie st a yed a secure second while Bru ce Hanlon nudged Corky Keener and Ro bert Smith back a spot. Ro o kies dominated the fifth heat wit h Kenny McDonald and Ken n y Hapke taking transfers to the Nat io nal . McDo nal d, Brad Hurst and Cecil Phillips cras he d in the first turn to re quire a re st art. Ran dy Skiver, as first alternate, replaced Hurst and the race was on. The final heat went right to the flag and an official 's co nferen ce afterward. Rick Ho cking led the entire event while ' Skip Ak sland and Bubba Rush worked t heir wa y t h ro ugh traffic to ar gue for sec ond, closing the gap on Ho cking. Going right d ow n to the final lap, al l three riders emerged from tum four side by side with the crowd's cheers drownin g ou t the high p it ch WFO throttle pl ay b y the trio . Ho cking had a half a bike len gth at the line, but the margin o f Rush over Aksland was so clo se th at a co nsultation was ne ed ed . \ Semis and Trophy Race 6 Han k Scott :go t his . ti c ket to the Nationa l by winning th e first se mi, ' holding •o ff constant threat s by Dan . __. . ~ ~ r--- - -! ~ ----- - ~ - Top flight fo rmation - Hocking (131, Eklund (74 1, Robe rts (21 off the final restart of t he National. - Kirkland. Five riders sat on the penalty line fo r t he final semi, the vic t ims of overeagerness. Bruce Hanlon t ook advan tag e of that fact and sco red th e las t spot in the National. The T ro p hy Ra ce went to a rest ar t after a crash b y ' Dan Kirkland in tum o ne. Second shot, Skip Aksland pulled a holeshot with Poovey right behind a nd Mik e Gerald charging fro m t he seco nd row to third. Poovey played side b y side wit h Aksland for the next two laps until Aksland dropped out with m echanical ills , following Mike Gerald a nd Ted Boody t o the pits. Corky Keener to o k up the slack in second o n a four stroke Harley with Randy Skiver, St eve Fr eeman and Kirkland tr ading third place. Freeman put the final ho ld on third halfway t h rou gh th e 10 lap even t. National . _ Kenny Roberts sat on the pole for the fourteen rider National an d it was no secret that Kenny wa s looking for h is third sh ort t rack vic t ory at th e dome. (Rival Gary Scott had not made the National. ) Roo kie s Steve Eklu nd an d Kenny McD onald were o n th e fro n t ro w wit h Rick Ho cking, Dave Hansen, Jay Sp ri ngs tee n a nd Scott Rader alo ngsi de. On th e back row sa t Mik e Kidd, rookie Ken Hap ke , Bubba Ru sh, Darryl Hurst, But for a case of seizure, it could have been all Roberts.