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/126321
AMA/Mr. PiSS 250/500cc National Championship MX Series - Rounds 9/4 Howerton, Burgett swim to Red Bud victory The clean-up w as almost as tough as the race; bikes and bodies fi lled the waterhole in one mass bat hing of men and machines. By Jim Gianatsis BUCHANAN , MI , JULY 2 Two days of torrential rain turned the Red Bud Track 'N' T rail motocross course into a sea of water and mud. Over half the starting field for both American Motorcyclist Association/Mr. PiB B National Cham pionship MX Series classes failed to finish amid the floods of Michigan. But parting the muddy sea to victory 8 were two riders who had yet to plant knobby tr acks in the winner's circle this season. Team Suzuki's "Rhineston e Cowboy" Kent Howerton put a stop to Bob "H u rric ane" Hannah's eight-race winning streak in th e 250cc cla ss. Howerton , aboard his Steve Bradshaw -tuned RH-250-78 Suzuki works bike put in a 2-1 da y to win th e class where Hannah ha s alred y esta bl ished his '78 Championship title. In the 500cc National race, it was Team Yamaha's Rick " Lu m be rjack" Burgett diving to his first-ever win on the Bill West-prepared OW 39B factory machine . O regon riders have long been known for th eir mud riding ability, but Ricky 's been waiting three yea rs to prove it on the National circuit. " I've won three motos before." Burgett beamed, "bu t this overall win feels a lot betterl" Burgett's win in th e Open cla ss, with four different winners in as many races . leaves the class a wide -op en battle for the Championship with Honda's Tommy Croft maintaining a small 15·point lead . Harley-Davidson used the Buchanan race to unv eil their prototype watercooled 250cc bike, though it .. .. .. • ! - . • .. . . wasn't ridden by Don Kudalski in today's race. Ho w mu ch of a future th e bike, and H a rley's ' entire motocross tea m effort will ha ve remains uncert ain a t this time in light of th e facto ry's de cision to stop marketing lightweight motorcycles in Am erica. 250cc National Bob Hannah's eight-race National win streak came to an end in the first moto as chain problems derailed his charge , lea ving the Hurricane to push his way ba ck to the pits after an impressive bla st up from 30th place to third . Still , the 250cc title was already his. Up front it was "Captain Co balt, " Jimmy Ellis, kicking his paddles out for the opening moto holeshot ahead of Chuck Sun, Jim Pomeroy, and Marty Tripes. Quickly, Jimmy twisted his Honda's throttle towards a huge leading, building the margin up to 35 seconds by the m idway point. Nearly everyone else was bailing and crashing th eir brains out in ch uck holes hidden by the lakes and ponds covering the track . On th e sixth lap , Tripes lost his chain, a lap in rethreading it to the sp rocket, and then his momentum after that. Kent Howerton found the momentum that Tripes lost and splashed his way past both Pomeroy and Sun towards the lead . By the last lap Kent had shrunk Ellis' lead down to four seconds. .. ...... '" ~