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/126255
on the door. only to have Ward shut him out. Two laps down from the checkered flag . Burnsworth managed to get a foot inside and forced his way by Ward to take the lead. Burnsworth had won a terrific battle th at had him at odds wit h on e of th e best rides by Ward. Ward , however , had won th e war and the R.O .C. ·t ro phy . With th at in m ind . he ba cked off the throttle and coo led it in second place. Burnsworth had done well enough to get second and Jim Holly came in third . Huffman had successfull y pump ed up an audience th at had seen too much rain and ,mud and long nights of raci ng into a group of peopl e who walked awa y tot all y satisfied an d electrified by the best raci ng of th e three days. W ith th e R.O.C . out of th e way, t he regular ro unds of m otos and ru noffs resumed a nd finis hed off at II :30 tha t night. ...- l-o - 0.. < At m idn ight , J eff W ard was pr esented th e Ra ce of Cham pion s' troph y - wh ich is tall er than he is by NMA President Ron Henrickson. Other class winners had to wade through long lin es to g et their trophies. T o some. it was a small sym bol of success over the 1.000 or so rid ers th at the y had to compete against. • Results O.s:lcc STOCK NOV 12 + : 1. Allen Hopper. 2. Nick Gon . 3. Jon ZAHRT. oasee STOCK NOV 12 + : 1. Randy DV"' . 2. Robert Ross. 3. Vince Poblano. ().8Jcc STOCK NOV 12 + : Tim Shelton. 2. M ike Paulino. 3. Bubba Page. 0-83cc STOC K NOV 12 + : 1. Scott Und erw ood. 2. Rick Johnson.3. Kyle Hall. lJ.83cc STOCK NOV 9-11 YRS: 1. Eric Hall. 2. Joe -e , Rochwal ch. 3. Robby W endt . 0-83 cc STOC K NOV s-11 V RS: 1. Pat Piazza. 2. Paul Race of Champions overall winner Jeff Ward (left) shakes hands with second-place Scott Burnsworth. Ward lost the last moto to Burnsworth. Dennis. 3. LarryBrooks. • ().8J STOCK NOV 6-8 YRS: 1. Brandon Schneider. 2. M ike Healy. 3. Keith Fox. o-saee STOCK EX 0-11 YRS: 1. Troy Blake. 2. Ron Lechien. 3. Sam Storer. osaee STOCK INT 9-11 YRS: 1. Richard Sands- 2. Rick Hem me . 3. St eve liedberg. For the a ffec tio n a d os of p a st cha m ps. th ere was a specia l XR 75 class so th e kids wh o ride them didn't hav e to feel ou tclassed by th e faster Yamahas a nd Suzu kis. O n th e othe r hand , in one modified cl ass, a n inc redi bly tricked out XR 'was able to slaughte r th e usuall y d omin ant RM s a nd YZs. I The clouds that had built u p th e night befor e rem ained a menace a ll , ' morn ing lon g , a nd by II :00 o'c lock the rain gods loosen ed their load o n Ra cin g World. As a lways. first th e rain came down light , not eno ug h to slow anvbodv d own. Half a n hour lat er it came' d owi1 .hea\; er. tu rn ing the top laver of t he track into snot. For ove r a n h'; ur . riders and spectators had to co nte n d with m u d wh ich m ad e tr a ct ion a hit or m iss pro position for kn obbi es a nd te n n is shoes a like . Seve ral riders lost it making th ei r way arou nd t he trac k and fell in th e goo . so met imes unde r th eir bik e . and usuall y hadt o wa it for a big person to pick them out a nd send th ern on their way . It was n't ha rd on every bo dy : A. J. Whit ing was ab le to smo ke his class in roya l fas hio n as he pulled a ~ -Iap lead on the se-cond pl a ce m an , easi ly win ning his moto . Even th ou gh rain is a part of ra cin g . eno ug h was eno ugh , a nd th e races were te m po ra ri ly halt ed . The ra in event ua lly sto p ped a nd it was decided to di sc th e slick track to give th e racers somet hing to hold on to .when th ey sta rt ed aga in. By th e tim e racing resumed . so had th e rain . The first rid ers to compet e on u he disked track ' had to deal with la rge , thi ck dirt and mud clods instead of th e previously slick track conditions, bu t th at was better th an nothing . By th e tim e a few m otos had passed , co nd it io ns h ad se t tl e d d own t o som e th in g th at t he ri de r co u ld effect ively cope . 'l'i~ h . , And .t he ra in sto pped, too . But not befor e it had tu rned th e enti re World Mini upsid e down and inside ou t, Because' of th e delay for th e rain , severa l classes were re-scheduled for Su nday. Min i mot os were st ill 'being run off hot and hea vy by th e tim e it was gett ing da rk. T he su n went do wn , th e lights turned on, a nd the groans of th e, m alc ontent wer e on ce agai n on the rise. Ra cin g fin ally ended a t 11:00 p .m . whe n some of the gen er ators on th e port a ble ligh ts sta rted running ou t of gas . Su nday morn ing d aw ne d high a nd dry. After suffe ri ng un der an inch of rainfall t ha t a ppeare d to have fall en excl usively on Racing World , Sunday mornin g opened up with su nsh ine and blu e skies . And - literall y - th ere was n't a clou d in th e sky. Bu t the rai n ha d left its mark : th e day th at was to have been devot ed to th e Rac e of C ha m pions (R .O .C :) had to also include a ll th e motos and runoffs that cou ld n' t be run th e da y before. • The regul ar rounds of racing wer e run until I :00 p .m . with th e following two hou rs bein g headlin ed by th e R.O .C . wh ich turned out to be every bit as exci ti ng as a nt icipa ted a nd eve n more as a n no u nce r Larry Huffm an was brought in to sp ice up th e ac tio n T he Ju nior Rac e of Cham pions was firs t off the lin e as ni ne of th e to p Junior cycle riders in th e co u ntry chased each ot her a ro u nd th e track on identi call y prepared 50cc It al-J ets. Jon -Jon Belisle ca me out on top after th ree hot motos which saw him get th e best of Randy Jones a nd T im m y Tomaselli . But th e very best was yet to co me . After mu ch hoopla. whi ch involved pick ing numbers ou t of a bowl whic h randomly assign ed riders to ident ical Yamaha YZSO prepared by Pr emier s Yam ah a . intr odu c t ion ' b y Larry Hu ffman . a nd a parade lap , th e Ra ce of Yamah a.- sp on sore d e , Champions got under way. W ith th e Ju nio r R .O.C. serving as on ly a teaser rfor th e spectato rs in th e blea chers. thi s was goi ng to be hot stuff. Brian Myerscough was in it to make h is la st ride on a m in i. Being somewha t taller and heavier than his opponents . wh at he was giving away in power -to -weight ratio was m ade up in h is a b ility. His appear an ce wa s pe rh aps more nost algi c t ha n anything else . J eff .w ard , th e Honda hotshoe , was a short , yet heavy duty contender. W hen it got down to it , W ard would s ur prise eve ry body . But th en again . . . Mark Mu rphy came from Florida all th e way to Ca lifornia to test th e Ca lifornia ber zerko myth . Jim Holl y, Bri an Wargo . Ken New . Billy T uma n . Sc ott Bu rnsworth . Tim Sheppa rd , Graham Barber, a nd A.J. W hiting filled out the line up .of super tal ent at th e ga te. When it dropped , Ben Theri ot got . th e h ol esh ot with Ward and Myerscoug h in tow. Theriot was on th e gas for two laps until he crashed. W ard picked up on the lead to take th e win . Huffm an's scream ing kept the crowd on their feet as the champs battled it ou t on the track . Of the ent ire Cycler ama . th e R.O .C . was the best pa rt . Myerscough got the lead in moto two, bu t he go t sho t down a fte r a co up le of la ps when a ro ck found its way to his rear sp rock et and shea red all the bolts off. With Myerscough out , the lead went to Jim Holly. but th at didn't last for long . Ward came up from behind on th e front str aigh t of the track and blew his doors off. When Ward got int o th e rough ; nobody was able to touc h him as he pulled ou t his lead. T he last round was th e biggest hairra iser of a ll. when W ard got the holeshot with Scott Burnsworth on his rear fender. All th e wa y it was touch a nd go as Burnsworth kept knocking ().8Jcc STOCK INT 12 + : 1. Geoff Brooks. 2. Clay Cauthorn. 3. Tim Hines. ().8Jcc MOD EX 12 + : 1. S. Shippy. 2. R. Johnson. 3. R. Tyson. csaee MOD NOV 12 + : 1. T. Wi lson. 2. G. Adams. 3. F. McCullough. sasee MOO NOV 12 + : 1. S. Underwood . 2. R. Dyer. 3. J. Blake. 105cc OPEN9-11 YRS: 1. G. Holland. 2. J . Kn;ght . 3. T. Blake 10Sec OPEN 12 + : 1. J . Holly. 2. P. Perales. 3. G. Dircks. 105Ce OPEN 12 + : 1. B. Theriot. 2. J. Qualls. 3 . L. Schoening . 105ee OPEN 12 + : 1. C. Cauthorn. 2. A . J. Whiting . 3. R. Atkins. 0-83cc MOD INT 12 +: 1. T. Hines. 2. S. Howard. 3. R. Wa tilo. . O·83cc INT 12 + : 1. R. Klan. 2. M . Urgo. 3. S. Davis. Q.83cc: MOD tNT 12 +: 1. M . Tomaselli. 2. R. W arman. 3. R. Marks().8Jcc MOO NOV s-r 1 YRS: 1. E. Hall. R. W endt. 3. M . Healy. O.s:lcc MOD EX 9-11 YRS: 1. G. Holland . 2. J. Knight. 3. R. Eversole. oaaee MOD INT 9·11 YRS: 1. D. Gentry . 2. R. Sands. ().8Jcc STOCK EX 12 + : 1. R. Johnson. 2. B. Theriot. 3 . P. Emerson. o-83cc STOCK EX 12 + : 1. G. Dircks. 2. S. Schmitz. 3. C. Heisser . ~cc MOO NOV 12 + : 1. R. Johnson 112+ I 2. J. Berlin. 3. J. Dyer. oaaee MOO NOV 12 + : 1. P. Cano. 2. R. Ising. 3. D. Berlin. JR CYC MOD 9-11 YRS: 1. J.J . Belisle. 2. R. Dickinson. 3. K. Henrickson. JR. CYC MOD 6-8 YRS: 1. M . Healey. 2. B. Schneider. 3. S. Santy . 0-83c c MOD EX 12 + : 1. J. Holly. 2. S. Burnsworth. 3. B. Heart. 0-83cc MOO EX: 1. E. Glover. 2. R. Robison. 3. J. Krumme. osaee STOCK INT 12 + : 1. D. Jon es. 2. T. Hampton. 3. K. Knoll;. ().83cc STOCK INT 12 + : 1. S . Davis. 2. R. Warman. 3. C. Easterling. POWOER PUFF: 1. J . Zvirbulrs. 2. C. Dumo . JR CYC STOCK 9-11 YRS: 1. P. Dennis. 3. K. Henrickso 3. B. Hardesty. n. JR CYC STOCK 6-8 YRS: 1. M . Healey. 2. B. Schneider. 3. S. zasncw, X R 75 NOV: 1. J. Berlin. 2. G. Adams . 3. D. Ramirez XR 75 NOV: 1. T. Tomaselli. 2. D. Berlin. 3. M . Rcuff. PEEWEE STOCK: 1. K. Heisser. 2. C. TIgnino. 3. R. Sweringer. PEEWEE MOD : t . B. Bower s. 2. J . Malon XR 75 INT: 1. M:Tomaselli. 2. M . W isneske. 3. M . W ard. XR 75 EX: 1. J . W ard. 2. G. Dircks. 3. G. Holland. oasee MOD NOV 9-11 YRS: 1. R. Oickinson. 2. P. Lepp. 3. M. Routt. . 0-83cc STOCK EX FtNAL: 1. S. Burnsworth. 10SecOPEN ANAL: 1. B. Jordan . o-aaee MOO ANAL: t . S. Shippy. 0-83cc STOCK NOV 12 + FINAL: 1. R. Ross. J R RACE OF CHAMPIONS : 1. Jon Jon Behle. 2. Randy Jones. 3. Timmy Tomasulli. RACE OF CHAMPIONS : 1. Jeff Ward . 2. Scott Burnsworth. 3. Jim Holly. ' 17 ..