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/126068
125 Pro star Tim Lun~e brought out his high-powered Maico to contest the 250 division and (inset! Jeff Vidic {Mail pocketed most of the bucks. CMC Night National \ lo Bell, .Vidic a Denlon By Tom Blattler I RWINDALE, CAL. , ocr. I A capacity crowd witnessed one of the finest night motocross races ever in Southern California at Irwindale ' Raceway In the third annual Con tin en al Mote-Sports Club Night National Moto cross II . Ch ampions h'Jp, as Mik e Be , J e f f· J Vidic, and Gary Denton p icked up 10 th e m ajori ty o f the $3 ,000 Professional purse and were corn wed Night National 500cc, 25 0cc , and 125 cc Champions. With Bell, Vidic, and Denton claiming th e Pro fession al titles, the Am ateur crowns went to 'jim Holley (Min i Expert) , Tom Maxstadt (Mini Junior), J im Hall (100 Junior), J oe Crozier (125 Junior)" T ony Gomez (125 Intermediatel' Dan Hilger (:!5 0 Intermediate, Bob Byars (500 Junior), Max Maple (500 Intermediate), and Dick Yeats (Over 30 Gang) . In ad di tion to his second straight 250 Pro title, Vidie also picked up a co ol $2 0 0 for ta king th e win the two-lap "King of th e Hill," wh ich featu red the top two fin ishers fro m the 125 25 0 and 5 00 Pro classes. " The Profe ssional classes were spli t into divisions becau se of the large numbers in eac h cla ss, an d t wo qualifyin g five-lap he a ts were run in each class to determin e wh ich ride rs would then co mp ete in th e eight-lap finals for the large Pro p urs e. T he Mini Cycle Expert class was also spli t into two divisions with a five-lap final determinin g the cha mp ion. The 500 Pro class pr oved to be the most exciting race of the ni ght with Bell, Ron Turner, Bill Rubly, and Val Tamietti all looking very strong in th e preliminary heats. Also making the final eight-lap feature were Tim Lunde, Luke Messer, Kevin Young, Scott Gillman, Joe Johnston, and Richee Collins. At the dr op of the starting gate, Bell and Turner jumped to th e lead position s, as the field en tere d the firs t . dogleg turn, wh ich was ju st pu t in for th e Night National. Th e do gleg wa s designed to elimin ate the home tra ck advantage fo r the Irwindale regulars, and many rid ers from · th e o th er qu alif yin g tracks gave th e 'Dale d ie hards p len ty of trouble throu ghou t the night. After th e first lap in the 500s, T urn er was holding down the top spot aboard his 370 Suzuki, bu t the 440 four-stroke Honda of Bell's .was not abou t to let him slip away. T urner and Bell kept up th eir tremendou s p ace for all of the igh t-Iap even t, and th e pair easil y ran away . from ' the rest of the field. Luke Messer cam e up with trouble in the early stages and was out, along with T ed Scru ggs, Joe Johnston, an d cu rren t CMC Pro point leader Val Tamietti. At th e halfway point, Turner and Bell con tinu ed their fierce battle, and Rubly an d Lunde jockied positions for third and fourth. Young, who has been quite impressive in his last few ou tings at Irwindale, moved in to fifth by the six th round. On the six th circuit , Bell-really started to app ly the pressure to Turner, and the two riders were side-by-side over .th e "Wheelsmith Jump" in front of the grandstands. Bell then slipped under Turner for th e top spo t in th e tight corn er before the finish line. However, Bell m ay have had the lead, bu t he couldn't sh ake loose of Turner, and the pair still continued their incredible race. By this time, Rubly was solidly in the third spot with Lunde fourth and Young fifh . Bell and Turner wen t at it for two more . laps to the checkered flag before Bell was able to take the win by a bike len gth . Ron Turner also de serves quite a bit o f credit . fo r an excellen t race. Bell "picked up $350 for the win with Turner takin g $22 5. In the 250 Pro finale, the start again was important and Bell wa s abl e to m ake it to the first corner ahead of Vid ic and the rest of the pack. Mike rode his Suzuki to the fro n t early , but he had co nstan t pressure from Vidic, Aaron Bassett, and Tim Lunde, Vidic, who was trying for his second straight Night National c rown; was not ready to give up his title that easy , and the "Rabbit" from Glendale cam e back strong to take the lead . Bell stayed close to Jeff fo r two laps before the Maico's horsepower. was just too much , for Mike's Suzuki. Bell then kept a consisten t second for the ' rest of the eigh t-lapper, The battle for third proved interesting, as former 125 st ar Lunde was riding his Maico to perfection and st arting to move up on Bell for second. But, at the four-lap mark, Lunde's . Maico gave up the ghost and T im had to walk back to the pits. Bassett, a relative newcomer to the Pro ranks, then took over third with Rubly and Turner rounding out the top' five, In the later stages, Rubly was ab le to move by Bassett for third, but the 250s belonged to Jeff Vidic and no one was doing to dny that fact. As the echeckered flag dropped on the number five Maico , Jeff and his dad, who has been his driv ing jumped into the air in force, celebration. Vidi c had become the first two-time winner of the C.M.C. Night I National. Bell placed second followed by Rubly, Bassett, and Turner, again riding a Suzuki.