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/126284
; .. _._._._._._~_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. Western hotline • III -' _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _. . ~ t Deen Teylor lIeftlend Kurt Bledsoe. caught in mid-eir during the AME 500 Proreca. Rod Robertson lT21) tries to hold off eventuel AME 250 Pro winner Mike Shoemaker IIFl. IAbove) Paul lane blasts out of the sendw8Sh ~ of Mark Lawrence at the Dunes. (Below) "Roost of the Year" award goes to AME rider Doug Renno (Y4). Hendricks tops big AME 250 Pro field By Le~ Taylor VALENCIA , CA, OCT. '9 Ernie Hendricks (Mai-Pesky's) took the overall win over a huge field of 250 Pros. ' In the first moto, Mike Shoemaker (Yam- 24 Shoemaker's) led off the line , but was passed by Tracy Oswell (KTM -Mid· Valley) . Oswell crashed in the wash , and Shoemaker took over the lead. Oswell was back up in third. In fourth , John Atwood was moving up fast. Larry Watkins (Sur-Pesky's). now back on home turf after a few years racing ' t he major tracks in Florida and Georgia , had been running fifth, but went down in the wash and dropped to eighth. Atwood was now in second and closing ground on Shoemaker. Hendricks was running fifth and moving up fast. Through the sandwash, Atwood took over the lead with Shoemaker in trouble after flying head over heels . Atwood and Oswell were locked into a tight battle for the lead heading into the white flag lap. Coming across the finish line , Atwood held the lead with Oswell fighting down to the wire for second . Hendricks held Mark Gambetta off for third. Breaking into the first tum for the second moto, Doug Nicol took over the lead with Atwood (Yam-Crown Cycle) -in second, Hendricks third, Jannings in fourth and' Watk~ns holding down fifth . Atwood took over the lead but he wound up with a thrown chain. Nicol recaptured the lead. Atwood was back in the running but with a lot of catching up to do, now in ninth and moving up fast. Eddie Cole took fifth , then moved to fourth and put a lot of pressure on Jannings. Atwood was still closing ground, getting up to fifth . Cole was going all out for the lead. Pushing Hendricks hard, he moved on into third. Coming in under , the checkered flag Cole came to within half bike length of Nicol and Nicol did a fantastic job of holding him off for the moto win. In third , Hendricks ended up with the overall win. Atwood took second overall and third went to Nicol. John O'Mara (Suz-AI Baker) rode his way through two long and dusty moros to win the 125 Pro class. In the first moto . Jerry Shore (Sua-Pesky's) took the lead ov er the drop-off followed by O'Mara and Willy Simons. Heading down through the sandwash, O'Mara took over the lead. O'Mara opened his lead a bit as Shore and Simons did battle in the sandwash, , where Simons moved on past Shore for second. Throttle wide open, Mark Lawrence (Yam -Crown Cycle) moved from sixth into fourth and was pressing Shore. Heading into the sandwash loop, Simons was flying as he took over the lead from O'Mara. Lawrence was breathing down Shore's jersey and screamed by for third . Lawrence was closing fast on O'Mara and they both hit the gully side by side , with Lawrence' taking over second. Simons went down .in front of the tower and Lawrence moved on into the lead. Simons was back up and now side by side with O'Mara, fighting for second. Simons finally, passed O'Mara. Coming in under the white flag , Lawrence still had a super lead. With Simons DNFing, O'Mara was back in second and Shore took third. At the start of the second moto, O'Mara squeezed out of the first tum and took over the lead. He had Lawrence right on his tail. Banging through the esses, Lawrence finally made his move and took over the lead. There was a tight battle shaping up for third between Jim Hale and Tim Locey . Locey won and started to close ground on O'Mara. Lawrence was now in trouble with his bike and O'Mara took over the reins, but let Locey by. knowing that a second would still give him the overall win. With Locey out of the way, O'Mara secure in second came on down to the checkered flag and the overall win. Coming home for second overall was Jim Hale and third went to Shore. Locey fell in the first moto; his 11·1 tally was good for fifth . Results in Results Section. lIThe Shoe" puts 'his toot down at the AMEnlghtMX > By Lee Taylor VALENCIA , CA , OCT. 7 Mike "The Shoe" Shoemaker (Yam-Shoemaker's) took home top money for the 250 Pros. At the start of the first moto , Andy Jannings jumped into the lead and began to stretch out a nice lead. Running second was Rod Robertson (Ya m- Cycle Shack) followed by Shoemaker and Doug Nicol. Coming along the sweeper Shoemaker moved int o second, closing fast on Jannings. He was hunting ' down Jannings , getting right on his tail. Tire to tir e, Shoemaker was keeping pressure on Jannings, positioning for a pass. Nicol , in third , was also closing ground. On the white flag lap , Shoemaker slid out, recovered , but Nicol moved by into second. Nicol closed fast on Jannings and these two battled to the wire with ' Jannings holding the lead. At the start of the second moto, Nicol-grabbed the holeshot , but found Shoemaker right behind him . Shoemaker moved by as a battle for third developed among Don Drai, Joe Root and Jannings. Having bike problems, Draz had to relinquish his position. Root established third with