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/126243
. ••• ------~--------_._-----------_._---------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - esert Bob Balentine (inset). ORA w inner. waits at th e fini sh line w hile runner-up Phil Stumbo labove) hurries towards the checkered flag. Balentine wins DRA snowIest By Dale Brown . CALI FORN IA CITY , CAL.. jA·N. 9 ' Bob Balentine (400 KTM) easily won this 60 mile DRA hare scram bles, finishing with a two-minu te lead on a wet course that ran through several m iles of snow-covered terrain. 20 . Balentine , Morgan Mal occo (400 Yam) and Phil Stumbo (400 KTM ) were ru nni ng within milliseconds of each oth er wh en they passed the smoke bom b , Malocco was in first for the next sever a l m iles , while St umbo moved up to second when Bal entin e go t caug ht in a poor line goi ng through a tum . Later th ey both passed Morgan at about the same time. Stumbo, riding on th e ragged edge, led for a bo u t three mil es before Bal entine used a trail tha t was rou gher - but straighter - to go through a twisty section of the cou rse . Stumbo had to slow down sha rp ly to make th e tum and then j ust watched Balentine pu ll away . Coming into th e fin ish area, Balentine had a 30 -second lead over Stumbo, who had slid out in th e sno w. Malocco crashed hard in a dit ch an d dropped out at th e end of th e loop . That moved Mike johnston (400 KTM ) to third a nd Mark Zoller (25 0 Yam ) to fifth. The second tour of th e cou rse was un eventful for Bal entine and Stumbo , with Bob in cr ea sing his lead by 90 seco nds. johnston had thi rd al most wrapped up with less than two miles to ~o . but he crashed on a ro ad crossing. Zoller got by j ust as Mike was sta rt ing th e bike: th ey finis hed righ t toget her. Zoller was first 250, whi le j oh nston co mplete d a KTM sweep in t he O pen Expert class. Heath H ibba rd (400 Yam) spent the -whole . of last su m mer backpacking , and shortly a fte r he re turned to ra cing, he broke his wrist . In his first ra ce since October, Heath wou nd up fifth. Fred Strong ( 175 Yam) was th e first of a large group of sm all -bo res to fini sh. Throughou t much of th e race . Strong, Gary Charter s, Sr . (175 Suz ) and others had been very close tog ether. Charters was a head when his sm a ll gas tank forced him to pi t less than two mi les from th e fini sh , costing him a place. Riding his brother's bik e. Kent Perkins (125 Yam) was th e fir st Amateur at eighth overall. The second Amateur, Doug Beisn er (250 Su z) a rrived right behind Perkins . Scott Broussard ( 175 Yam ) com pleted the top ten. For 1977 ;· the ORA ha s crea ted a "junior/Sen ior" class for rid ers betw een 30 and 40 years old . AI Wurtzel (25 0 KTM ), a n Am at eur. was th e inaugural over all winner in th a t cla ss: But interestingl y, he finis hed on e place behind Senior -clas s (40 and a bove) winner Gu s Paull (400 Yam) . Pat McEvoy (400 Yam) was th e Open Expert winner in th e new division , on e position behind Wurtzel. Dennis Radley (370 Suz) was th e first Novi ce junior/Senior and Ken Griffin won in th e Beginner d ivision . . Ed Denbow (400 Yam) took th e Senior Am ateur win , Don W ooldrid ge was th e firs t Senior Novice on his 40 0 Yamaha . The new junior/Sen ior class a ?~ .the Senior class ca rry as many divi sions as th e regular cla sses, i.e. , first 250 Senior Novice , etc . At 16th overall , T im Sloan (400 KTM) finished as first No vice. Rick ButTUS (400 KTM ) had a tremendous lea d on th e first loop only to DNF. Ga ry Bussjaeger (25 0 Yam) was the next Novice, 'a t 18th overall. j ohn Foster ( 175 Yam) was third . ea rn ing a class win . Leslie Klug (25 0 Hon ) continued her rule in th e Powder Puff class with a not her vict ory. Elva Ea rll ( 125 Hon) won th e No vice class th e first time she ra ced it. George Strong ( 175 Yam) was the easy winner in the Beginner ranks after campaigning a 250 last yea r. Bob Stokoe (370 Suz) , a Senior rid er, finished second. A long stri ng of sm allbores followed , led by jeff Heth (125 Yam) . Seventh a nd eig hth overall were occupied by Robin Smith (360 H us) and j ames Draves (250 Yam), eac h first in h is resp ective displacement d ivision. Pam Van Val er ( 125 Suz ) got th e Beginner Powder Puff laurels . Riders finished t he ra ce with the ir helmets and goggles mud -splatter ed , th ei r jersi es illegible. Part of th e cou rse was slick trails, wh ile another part was traction -packed desert. Assessments were usually favorabl e , though a fewcouldn't decide if th ey preferred dust or m ud , At the ORA Awards Banquet the previous evening, trophies were given to th e top riders. A special "Ma n of the Year" award went to Dr. Bob Newhouse. "Doc" Newhouse was almost always there , helping, providing his services to those who need ed th em , and working with the radio cre w. Our collective hat is tipped to you , Doc Newhouse. At t he awards banquet , he was give n a standing ovation. • Results OPEN EX: 1. Bob Balentine IKTMI. 2. Ph;1 Stumbo IKTM ). 3. M;ke Johnston (KTMI. OPEN AM : 1. Don Shephe< ISuzl . d OPEN NOV: 1. Tim Sloan IKTMI. OPEN BEG: 1. Robin Smith IHusl. 250 EX 1. M ark ZOller lVaml. 2. Tom M ithcel l lVam l. : 250 AM : 1. Doug Be;sner lSuzl. 2. Art Weekly IKTMI 250 NOV: 1. Gary Bussjaeger IVaml . . 250 BEG: t . James Draves IVam). 2. Gordon Burton ISuzl. 3. Jim Griff it h (Penl. ().2oo EX: 1. Fred Strong IVaml. 2. Gary Chareters Sr. ISuzl. 3. Soon Broussard (VarnI. ()'200 AM : 1. Kent Perkins (Vam). ()'200 NOV: 1. John Foster IVaml. 2. John Hopkins . (Yam). 3. Mark Gerva (Yam). in ()'200 BEG: 1. George Strong IVaml . 2. Jeff Heth IVam). 3. Soon Anderson IHusl. JRISR: OPEN EX: 1. Pat McEvoV lVaml. 250 EX: 1. AI WurtzellKTMI ().200 EX: 1. Vern Heth IVaml . OPEN AM: 1. John R;chardson IKTM). ().200 A M : 1. Bill Walter s IHusl. OPEN NOV: 1. Dennis Radlev ISuz). 0·200 NOV: 1. Gil Canon IC-AI. OPEN BEG: 1. Lanv A llen IVaml . 250 BEG: t . Ken Gdff;n . senior; OPEN EX: 1. Gus Paull (Varni. 2. M.s. Ovett IVaml . OPEN AM : 1. Ed Denbow (Varni. OPEN AM: 1. Ed Denbow IVam). OPEN NOV: 1. Don Wooldr idge IVaml. 2. Jack Kellv IVaml . OPEN BEG: -. Bob Stokoe ISUll. PP AM : 1. Leslie Klug IHan). PP NOV: t . Elva Earll lHonl. 2. Susan Goade IKTMI. 3. Nona Richardson ICarl. PP BEGI 1. Pam Van Valer ISuzl. 2. Ruthann Renaux · lVam ).