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/126344
overall at the bomb and finished in th e top 10 a couple of times. Riding a 100cc Yamaha , Joe is never heard lett ing off the throttle , only th e shifting pauern cha nges the tone of the e ng ine. Joe has tw o se rio us co m pe tit ors this yea r. a nd it will be interesting to see who co mes ou t on to p a t season's end . Best overall fin ish: 9th Class wins: 13 Age: 17 Height: 5'9" Weight: 142 Hobbies other than racing: J ust riding b ikes Hometown: W h itt ier Sponsor: Leckich T uning Most respected rival: Kevin Hopkins Reason for racing desert: G reat sport be a tight race for number one. Riding a KTM , Rick is a fine racer and a fine . young man , Best overall finish: 3rd Class wins: 25 Age: 19 Height: 5'10" Weight: 175 Hobbies other than racing: Swim m ing , wa te r polo , ra cquetb a ll Hometown: Villa Pa rk Sponsor: AAA Cycle Most respected rival : Cha rlie H a mill Reason for racing desert: Cha llenge Bruce Ogilvie . Roes eler in the Rovers race, Wright broke his collarbone; and on the come-back trail he reobroke it in the same place, This fall he returned to the del and started winning again, At the Rams race , Brian logged a second overall and went on to pick up the overa ll tab a t th e Antelope Ramblers Hare Scrambles. Br ian has paid his dues and developed int o one of the hottest 250cc ra cers in th e del. Best overall finish: 1st Class wins: 2 Age : 18 Height: 5' 11" Weight: 145 Hobbies other than racing: FISh ing Hometown: Pa lm dale Sponsor: Yam a ha & JD Engineering Most respected rival: T erry Da vis Reason for racing desert: " It's b itchin." Bruce Ogilvie This yea r started off slowly for Bruce but his style and. deter- . mination have prevailed and he is back on the winning track. Joe lockhart Sport ing the number on e 250cc plate thi s yea r, th e Harley-Davidson rider moves across the desert as if it were a freeway. Bruce is usually in the top four at th e bomb ; b y the first chec kpoint, he ha s usually work ed h is way to the front , Ogilvie is th e premier. 250cc racer in the desert. Overall wins: 25 -: Class wins: 35 Age : 25 ' Height: 5'8" Weight: 150 Hobbies other than racing: Sunday even ing softball. Pla ying for Harris Dept. Store tea m , Bruce says th e exercise keeps him from bein g sore Monday. Hometown: Riversid e Sponsor: Dale's Modern Cycle Most respected rival: Larry Roeseler Reason for racing desert: Love it Rick Shumacher Brian Wright Greg Thomas Greg Thomas Greg picked up a lot of desert savvy from an excellent desert racer - his dad Alan. For a 15year-old, Greg has the style and Chuck Miller Chuck Miller Arriving on the desert scene abou t ithe sam e time as Brad Henson , Chuck qu ickl y gained the reputation of one to be reckoned with. Riding as an Amateur, he was gi ving some of the established ho t shoes a run for th e money. He ha s a low p rofile riding style, perched over the ba ck and usually standing on the pegs wh en going fast; keeps in great sha pe and ne ver looks ti red a t th e finis h . He d oesn 't ha ve an overall win , " Yet," he qui ckl y adds. I feel th ere is one wa iting in th e near future , Best overall finish: 2nd Class wins: 8 (Ama teu r) Age: 19 Height: 5'9" Weight: 170 Hobbies other than racing: Water skiing Hometown: Sim i Valley Sponsor: Dale's Modern Cycle Most respected rival: Brad Henson Reason for racing desert: Good tim e .larry Roeseler Larry Roeseler Though not ac tive in D -37 desert racing at the moment , Larry Roeseler still sta nds at the head of the class, Over his career , qu ite long considering h is yout h, he ha s captu red number one pla tes in t he Trail bike, Division I and Hea vyweight classes, as well as overa ll wins in nea rly every m ajor off-road race . La rry started his rise to fam e on a 100c c HarleyDa vidson Baja , and aft er p la yin g with some ot he r brands of machin er y, has spent th e past cou p le of years as the sta r of Team Husqvarna . Rick Shumacher Getting off to a rather sporatic start t his year, Rick finally got it together and started hassling Charlie Hamill and Gary Charters . If his trend continues, it's go ing to poise of a more seasoned desert racer. Dic ing several times with the top five riders, he la id off for a while to get his thoug h ts together . He's back and giving J im Delliplaine a run for the money, His best fin ish to date was a sixt h ove ra ll, 'b u t he's been see n run ning th ird to the bomb on more than one occasion. He tota lly loves d esert racing and the p rediction is th at he will be one of the b ig on es before he ha ngs it up . Best overall finish: 6th Class wins: 20 Age: 15 HeiJht: 6'1" Weight: 160 Hobbies other than racing: T ennis Hometown: Sylmar Sponsor: Dick Allen's Yamaha Most respected rival: J im Delliplaine Reason for racing desert: " It's fun ." Brian Wright Finishing second in the '77 points standings, behind Bruce Ogilvie is no . discredit to one's riding ability. Yamaha Motor Corp . , USA was so im p ressed they gave him a sponsorship for the '78 season. Bad i uck st ru ck ea rly. While leading' Larry EdZarp Ed Zarp A young, talented racer, Zarp is on the verge of becoming the best. Ed almost always arrives at the bomb first but m inor problems ha ve cost hi m va lu a ble points.and pos ition. Ed rides for Yamaha of Bellflower on a 400 Yamaha , constantly d ices with Max Eddy and Bal entine and has developed a riding style that would make a lot rnotocrossers envious . A member of the Desert M .C . he is admired by everyone in the desert. Overall wins: 3 Class wins: 6 Age: 20 Height: 6' Weight: 170 Hobbies other than racing: Snow and water skiing Hometown: Bellflower SpOnsor: Bellflower Yamaha, Most respected rival: Bob Balentine Reason for racing desert: Grew up in it • .13