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/126309
Darrell Shultz (371) holeshots a group of 250cc Pros. Shultz won the 250cc class and took a third in the Open Pros. Gary Denton (25) was founh in 250cc and won the 125cc Pro class. (Left) Tim Wonh works to hold off Mike Bell in the 250cc Pros. He didn't Bell wound up third and later took second Open Pro. (Right) Rex Staten topped ~he Open Pros and took second 250cc. Staten, Shultz, Denton take Trans-AME third round By Lee Taylor FRESNO , CA . APR . 23 Three thousand spectators and participants with 450 -riders broke all track records at Mountain High for the American Motocross Enterprises Coors Trans-AME. Track records last week at Bakersfield were also broken . setting a trend exd . h h peete. to eontm~e t .roug out the senes. Mountain HIgh pulled in some of the nation 's most exci ting Pros ; such riders as Rex Staten. Darrell Shultz and Team Yamaha 's Mike Bell to name just a few . found Mountain High provided high challenge and came as close to European style MX as can be found in the western United States. 22 For residents of Fresno. the three major networks. CBS , NBC and ABC , will be providing segments of the rac e at a later date on Fresno affiliate stations. With Coors' representatives ou t in full force a nd Bosch plugs providing prizes, ,,!ders were ~ven a chance at drawings, contmgen cy priz es and monies; together with special contingencies from Electro Helmets. For the Open Pros. Rex Staten launched his Ba ssett R acing Products' Yamaha into orbit and took home th e lion's share of a $1 ,000 class purse. . Returning later in the day. Staten fired off another great ride in the 250cc class, taking second overall. Leading in the first . mota in the Open Pr os. Sta ten had Maicomounted Darrell Shultz in second with a strong lead over Can -Am rid er Greg Robertson. Mike Bell. moving up fast , eased his way into thi rd and th e three . . . . . . . . . . .. .... . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . .... . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . .. . fore ru nners held th eir posit ions th rou gh ou t th e moto with R obertson sett ling into fou rt h . Sh erman Schneller was holding fifth with Mark White and Jim Turner ru n ni ng sixth and seventh respec tively . The second time off th e lin e Shultz took over wit h Bell in ho t pursui t, follow ed by "Rocket Rex ." Charging through a mudhole , these three carved th eir own trench, whi ch by the end of th e day became th e Waterl oo of many a rid er. sinking to th eir kn ees as they came through . Bell took over the lead with Shultz and Staten ne ck and neck over m ost of the two and one- ha lf mil e track . Bell maintained his lead down to the wire with Staten taking second and Shultz th ird . Staten took home the overall win with a 1-2 tally, second went to Bell and third ' to Shultz (2· 3). Turner wound up fourth ahead of White and Bill Hagan (Yam) . In the second 250cc Pro qualifier. Stat en a nd Greg Robertson diced heavily for the lea d. Staten took over with Mike Bell on his ta il, and held him and Robertson off to the fin ish . But, exiting th e track , Staten was envelo ped in ya rds of banners and . ..... . . . .1 wen t down , taking one of th e officials with him . Both of them emerged in tact and laughing. In the first rnoto of the 250cc Pro main , Shultz re turned from winning his qualifier to take the win . Tim Worth . on a Honda , took over th e lea d off the start wit h Mitch Mus grov e running second and Gary Denton in th ird . W orth was way out in front with a beautiful lead , wh ile Mike Bell was now up and ba ttling sid e -by-sid e with Musgrove for third . Both of them wer e fighti ng off Shultz in fourt h. ) Shultz a nd Bell finally moved by Mu sgr ove and continued to clear a path for th em selves by overta king W orth , with Staten hot on their heels in third . Working his wa y up through th e pack. Bob Kline (Han) was having a specta cular ride . Working his way up to 10th, Kline took on Kenny Zahrt (C ·A) a nd passed him. Truckin' on . he took on Greg Robertson and p assed . By th e end of the mota Bell was still in control with Shultz running second J a nd Staten in third . T he second tim e around. Shultz an d Denton d rag raced for the lead with Denton pulling him . Randy Lash was holding third and fightin g a losing battle against Bell. Shultz took over th e lead onl y to find Bell right on his tail. Bell passed Darrell but couldn 't sha ke him . Staten was holding third with Denton no w in fou rt h . On the wh ite n ag lap . just two turns away from ta kin g th e check ered nag , Bell's brake froze up on him , forcing him back 10 sixth but good for a third overall . Shul tz clai m ed th e lead and overa ll win . Stat en took second overa ll a nd Dent on was th ere for fourth overa ll. Fifth overa ll went to W orth. IL Ga ry Dent on (Suz) grabbed the ho lesho t in th e first m ot o of th e 125cc Pr o main a nd propelled himself 10 a victory rid e. Mark Lawren ce (Yam) took over thir d behind Bob by Jones.. who was bu sy brea th ing down Denton 's jersey. A heavy duel went · down between Jon es and Denton with Jones taking over , on ly to be set back in th e p ack with b ike problem s. Lawrence moved up 10 ta ke over th e chase as he and Denton passed the lead back a nd forth. W ith Mike Brown in third and Scott Karl in fourth , Jon es was hauling his way back u p a nd had worked his way into fifth . fighting off Ron Turner (Suz). Suzuki p ilot s T im Locey a nd Chappy Blose had their own duel going for sevent h with Blose holding on strong . When th e moto churned to a n end, Law re nce sailed across wit h th e lead , Denton had seco nd. Brown was firm in th ird, Scott Karl was holding fourth with Bobby Jones and Ron Turner battling for fifth. Jones held firm. The second moto was a Denton/ Lawrence battle to the end. Both of them went for the holeshot with Lawren ce taking over. Heavy dicing continued between th em with Denton grabbing back the lead every chance he had . Denton. finally in th e lead to stay. was fighting off Lawrence and Jones. Coming off the downhill jump, these three were challenging each other in mid-air. Abs olute madnessl , • Loc ey and Blose were havingj another battle ; th is time for fifth , both of them pushing Brown in fourth . By th e time th e checkered nag waved them home, Denton was still in control , Lawrence was fighting in second . Blose had moved way up to third. Jones was safe in fourth 'and Loc ey had taken fifth . With the mota scores tallied. Denton had the overall win , with Lawrence in second and Jones third . Brown , Blose. Turner and Locey followed in the order. Next week th e Coors T ans-AME Series moves to Spillway Park in Santa Maria , CA . • Results in Results Section. ~ I J _ •• l. . ,