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/126341
CN CN $-0 V ,.0 e v > o Z .~'If:ii.. ~ , ~&~~~~~~~~~ - !f&irfi! :)i! .. . .;~.., ",-"'-"_ - - : " ' : = . 0 .~ =..;:.;.. - Before 39,743 spectators and nearly that many umbrellas, Honda's Jim Pomeroy 110i takes the soggy Anaheim. hoteshot ahead of Suzuki's Danny LaPorte(4) and Kawasaki teamsters Gaylon Mosier (12) and Jimmy Weinert (171. AMA/T oyota Supercross Series finale Mosier masters Finals, H By Char les M orey Photos by Dale Brown and Morey ANAHEIM , CA , NOV . II "I was trying so hard to concentrate I didn't know what I ·was doing - I was just racing!" T eam Kawasaki rider C aylon Mosier , trying to collect his -thoughts after the super-intense rainshortened 15-1ap final event in the Coca -Cola Bottlers Moto cross Finals. answered TV com mentator Dave 'Despain's. question 6 regarding his ra ce ta ct ics. Still wired to the max , Mosier fielded Despain's questions under the beaming smile of mechanic Rocky Williams. At tha t time, on ly mom ents after Butch Lee had unfurl ed the checke red flag , it seemed that of th e two , onl y Rocky fu ll real ized what th ey'd ac compl ished . It wou ld hit Mosier 10 m inutes lat er when , walking toward th e pits he'd sud den ly fling his arms in the air , yell " I won!" and then throw his arm around his wife a lmost kno cking her off her feet. . In the wak e of a tremendous Bob Hannah /Marty Tripes controversy questi oning whether the two series point standings leaders would ride at Anaheim , ' Mosier's win was su rp risingly decisive . After following T eam Honda 's e a rl y leader Jim Pom eroy through th e first lap , Mosier to ok co m m a nd and was never cha llenge d , Marty Tripes crashed in turn one, as did Honda teammate Steve W ise , and Mart y was unable to 'sa lvage a top finishing position. (W ise recovered to 11th , an admirable e ffo r r.) Bob Hannah , who started around sixth place , finished second after a close en counter with Pomeroy at t he runelap mark. Th ird place went to win -stre ak runner Darrell Shult z, the se m ipri vateer Ma ico -rnounted winner of the No v. 5 Trans-AlvlA final e at Sears Point. Shultz's hot streak - esp eciall y timely right at th e season's end when '79 rider cont racts are bein g final ized -- is keeping th e team scouts' eyes ai med his wa y. It appears that Da rr ell ma y land a full y spo nso red positi on on one of th e Japanese squ ads for th e '79 seaso n. Rounding out th e top five we re Kawasaki 's Jimm y W e in ert a nd Honda 's jim Pom eroy. (" T ha t was ju st a warningl Watch out for th e old man next season ." Weinert - introduced as "j aws lll " by M :C . Larry Huffman - would announce to tripl e t itle winner Bob Hannah at th e Nov. 12 AMA Awards Banquer. ) , Heats Four IO·Iap qualifying motos of 20 riders eac h narrowed the field to 20 riders who transfer red directl y to the final event - the top five qual ified. Then two semifinals placed th e top two from each into the final moto , And finall y , the consolat ion ra ce winner rounded out the i5.rider final event. Jimmy Weinert served part one of his '79 warning in the first of the four qualifying motos . It was Dave Wood on the All Proof Synthelic-sponsored Yamaha who led the opening laps while Weinert hounded "John Boy" Savitski, trying to take over second place. Weinert accomplished that goal , then , when Wood bailed off at The Mountain jump , Weinert inherited the lead. By that time, Marty Moates, riding an LOP Honda , had moved up from his seventh place starting posjtion into th ird and begun to pursue Savitski , He passed a lap later for second place. Bob Hannah , conspicuous in his absence near the front of the pack with a ninth place start , had followed Moates and Honda 's Jimmy Ellis up toward th e front. He got around Ellis and zoned in on Moates, leav ing Ellis to engage in a few laps of elbow bumping with Sa vitski , On the final lap with Weinert cha rgi ng toward the flag , Hannah got around Moates , Moates crossed the line a good distance behind , shaking his head after apparently having tangled with a slower rider. Savitski and Ellis were the last two to transfer. Heat two saw Marty Tripes fall on the first lap as Honda teammate Steve Wise blasted off on his way to a gateto -flag victory. Keeping Wise honest were LOP rid ers Mark Gregson and David Taylor who put in a solid 2·3 punch on ce they sorted it out between them who 'd ta ke the number two slot. T aylor took it aft er passing Gr egson in the opening laps . Kawasaki's Gaylon Mosier moved up from a seventh place start to take fourth . T eam Suzuki's Danny LaPorte hustled from an eighth position at the start , just behind Mosier, to finish in the fifth and final transfer spot, still just behind Mosier. Kenny Zahrt and Graham Noyce J both went down at the start of heat three; Zahrt was able to drive to the hospital alone in spite of his leg injury, and Noyce also took a ride in for I emergency room treatment of an injured elbow. Team Yamaha's newest recruit, "Rocket Rex" Staten had the lead, but by the end of lap two , Jim Pomeroy had found a way around the number two man in this year's TransAMA MX Series title chase. An attempt later to retake the lead was halted when Staten fell then recovered c3 settling for second at the checkered " flag. Maico rider Denny Swartz started strongly, but as he put it afterward. " I kept falling over. " Suzuki 's Kent Howerton moved to third from his seventh place starting slot edging CanAm rider Gary Semics and Moto-X Fox Yamaha -mounted Danny Turner back into the last two transfer spots. The fourth and last qualifying moto set the stage for Marty Smith's best stadium ride in recent history, The former 125 and 500cc National Number One pulled out ahead at the start and carried his lead all the way to the end. Meanwhile , Smith's teammate .T om m y Croft picked up one slot from third to second after putting Yamaha /Luft Shock-sponsored Ron Turner back one placing to third . Billy Grossi , riding a Maico, made ' his way up to fin ish fourth, getting around Kawasaki teamster Steve Stackable late in the moto , Stackable rounded out the top five who transferred.