Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

II I •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• aaaaaaaa.a.aa ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• II Cenlral Pipeline ~ E Lake Whitney was the next to last chance these riders had to qualify for the GNC Houston Astrodome finals. Next stop is Rio Bravo. . North Texas regional GNC qualifier . By Mike Reilly Photos by John Rannikko, Jr. LAKE WHITNEY. TX . DEC . 5 Texas rnotocrossers invo lved in the 1978-79 Grand National Championship showed up at Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch for 20 the No rth Texas Regi onal that would qualify the top 1'0 in each class for the Third Annual International Finale in the Houston Astrodome, March 18. 1979. It was their second attempt at the coveted Astrodome invitations following the Texas Championship a t Rio Bravo two ' weeks previous ; and if unsuccessful today , Texas riders as well as others from around the country will have one last II th hou r opportunity at R io Bravo in H ouston the day before th e Astrodome final s. Derek Wedding and M icke y Pizzitola , members of the .H owa rd Racing T eam (who . alon g with Scott Goggles . Bosch Sp a rk Plugs , and H i-· Point, are sponsor s of th e GNC series) dominated th e 250cc Expert cla ss aboard Hondas, gi ving the ir sponso r a clean sweep of th e T exas qual ifying races . Pizzitol a , who was flawl ess in the mud at Rio Bravo, gra bb ing th at win , spectated today in th e fir st moto after a broken brake stopped him . He . returned in th e fin al to lead from sta rt to . finish for seventh o venin . "Dyn am ite Derek" Wedding. a double Astrodome winner in '78 as well as claiming th ree state championships. was fastest in the first moto and managed to win overall despite a sixth place finish in th e final. , Wedding, who hol eshot th e start of the first moto was chased by a pumped Skipper Franks who caught a draft behind the east T exas flash and hung on for a tenacious battle for th e lead while Nick Cordova and Rick y Coll ins scrapped for th ird. Beh ind them . a three rider dog fight involv ing Kirk Spencer. Mike \Valcott and Mike Bodenhamer would p rovide action the remainder of the moto. Franks , aboard a Yam aha , was in cont ent ion for the win until a ch arging N ick Cordova (Su z) slip ped ' b etw e en W edding and Franks for a three way stru ggle fo r th e win . Franks eventually tired , and W ed d ing , who was fast est th rou gh th e swee pers . ba rely held off t ~e inspi red att ac k of Cordova for th e W In . Pizzitola led the field at t he start of moto two ahead of Walcott . Spen cer . and C o rdova . . Bill y Har rison Bodenhamer. Wedding crashed in th e first turn and began a 12 lap pu rsuit th at would net him sixth in t he moto and fir st overall . By th e halfway point in the race , Walcott , Spencer , and Cordova had caught leader Pizzitola . Cordova , despite a transmission oil leak , aga in started his charge and p icked off Spencer and Walcott. Bod enhamer (Hon) picked up his pace and moved into the top five while Skipper Franks dropped ba ck; Cordova retired ; and W edding . continued to pick off the stragglers. At the fini sh line Pizzitola was hounded by Kirk Spencer (Ram's Ea t-A-Chick Spec ial) whose second moto performance would reward him with second over all. Mike Bod enhamer and Ricky Collins were th ird and fourth in th e moto and in th e final standings. .The 125cc Experts proved surprisingly dull considering th e talent in volved. Randy Sullivan led th e first moto un challenged while behind him Nick Cordova , Greg Hembre, and Randy Wallace were well sp read out with few individual ba ttles . Sullivan hol eshot the start of the final moto and appeared headed for a su re victory until mechanical p rob lems shut him down on the th ird lap , Greg Hernbre and Bart Batson ba ttled for secon d while Randy Sullivan escaped with a secure lead that he would hold to the flag for first overall. The first moto of th e 125cc Intermediate class was a classic shootout between Darin Eames and Tony Ne ilsen . Ne ilsen , '78 Nov ice GNC and sta te cham p, forc ed a m istak e and took th e lead in the last co rn er for the . moto win as Eames settled for second and Byron Ch ism th ird . h i th e final rnoto Eames fought with Keith Davis for th e lead whil e Neilsen struggled with a crash and aflat tire back in th e pack. Eames managed an easy moto vict ory a nd first overa ll. Keith Davis se co n d and St eve Turner third . Eames. who has chased - a Grand Nat ion al t itl e for th r e e years, b eg inning a s a m inib ik er , went undefeat ed dur in g the "T'ex a s qualifiers and should be a defi nite threat for th e Astrodom e win . Randy Mansell ' and Doug Brown chased ea ch othe r th e enti re second moto of th e 125cc Novi ce cla ss to de cid e that overall with Mansell coming out ahead . Tim Wagner , Bill How e , and Glen Godier were the three fastest in t he 250cc Novice class ; but Wagner -(Suz) was really flying in th e fina l moto a nd . took the decision . KTM mounted Chuck Taylor, Jr . dominated the first race of the Open class but could n' t get motivated in th e fi n a l moto and settl ed for third · overall. Tracy Du rham and Steve Sheffield led the final moto until Er ic Berg (Yam) blitzed his way to second and first overall. Sheffield, on a Husky, was among the leaders both motos and finished second overall and Taylor was th ird. Tom Hollister (C ·A) . was sim ply uncatchable both motos of the Over 50 class ; Bill Alstrin chased from second both events, and Dennis Baker (KTM) went fast in th e first rnoto but played conserv ative in the final for third . . Ben Clemens and Mark Dawson won their elimination mot os of th e 100cc class but had to be equally quick in the final moto to grab a top 10 finish positi on against a very strong but su rp risingly in cons istent 100 cc class. Daw son too k th e lead on th e final lap of th e last moto and held on to win . Clemens had problems and did not finish ; Donnie McMillon and Rodney Wiginton were second and third in the final moto, and Craig Riddle, who briefly led th e final race. m anaged fourth ahead of John Pollard. The Senior Minicycle class was a name affair with Greg Fouts a t th e head of the class each moto , making it look easy for a big win . Fouts had his hands full with . Jerry Skinner both races . Skinner was second for the day and Randy Seawright was third . Flyin' Bryan Taylor had his problems in the Senior Minibike struggles but avenged that loss with a big win in the Stock Min i class. Taylor was unchallenged in the first - moto beating Texas state champ Tim Butler and Greg Fouts. But it was th e second moto where Flyin' Bryan showed how he earned his n ickname. Crashing in th e first turn at the start, Taylor th rew up his hands in disgust but he quickly ! em ou n ted in last place and started a storybook charge to the front. Mark Dawson and Greg Fouts led 1-2 at the start. On the third lap Tim Butler held third, Fouts the lead. and Bryan Taylor slashed to fourth. On the last lap Taylor picked off both Butler and new leader Dawson as Fouts fell back. Taylor won the moto and overall, Dawson and Butler were second and third. Hardluck Pitts complemented his R io Bravo Championship win with another victory in the Junior Minicycle class today, He also earned a decision over state champ Carroll Richardson who had prob lems in th e first moto but returned in the final for a convincing win . Pitts managed second behind Richa rdson in the final and that was sufficient for the overall. Texas state cham p Angie Scott was too much for th e opposition in the 50cc class as she has been all year. T iger Foytik a nd Bo Daugherty chased Angie all d ay arid finally settled for second and third. J ohnny Portrnann, T roy Rogers. a nd Damon Reichl e led th e first moto of th e '250cc Interm ed iate class, but th at order d idn 't last long. Reichl e, ab oard a Kaw asaki , slipped pa st both leaders on the seco nd lap and held to th e fini sh. Thou gh appearing to be the fastest rider on the track , Damon blew his shot at 'the overa ll with a poor st art in the fina l. Kirk Dillon led and won the final moto but combined with a DNF in the first moto he end ed up out of the top 10. Behind Dillon, who was long gone by mote 's end . was a four rid er battle between Troy Rogers. Paul Renfro , Kevin Gee. and Damon Reichle who had recovered from a poor start. Gee would later drop back; Rogers, Renfro , and Reichle slugged it out to th e checkered. Rogers fin ished 2-2 to best Reichle's 1-4 and won the cI~. • Results MINI MINI ClASS: 1. Angie Scon IIta); 2. Tiger Foytik llta); 3. Bo DaughertY lha). MINIBIKE JR: 1. Hilfdluck Pins ISuz); 2. Carroll RK:hardson. II ISuz); 3. Richie HulllYaml. • MINIBIKE SR: 1. Greg Fouts ISuu ; 2. Jerry Skinner ISuz); 3. Randy Seawright ISUll . . MINIBIKE STOCK: 1. Bryan Taylor ISUll ; 2. Mark Dawson (Suz); 3. Tim Butler ISuzl. l00cc ClASS : 1. Mark Dawson lSuzl: 2. Donnie McMillon (Suzl; 3. Rodney Wiginton ISuz). 125cc NOV: 1. Randy ManseIiIVam) ; 2. Doug Brown ISuz.; 3. Chuck Moody ISul). 125cc INT: 1. Darin Eames (Suzl; 2. Keith Davis (SUl); 3. Steve Turner (Suli. 125cc EX: 1. Randy Wallace ISuz); 2. Greg Hembree (Suzl: 3. Joe Skinner (5ull. 250cc NOV: 1. Tim Wagner (502); 2. Bill Howe IKaw); 3. Glen Goodier ISull. 250cc INT: 1. Troy Rogers (Honl: 2. Damon Reichle (Kawl; 3. Kevin Gee (Hon), 250cc EX: 1. Derek Wedding (Hon); 2. Kirk Spencer (Varni; 3. Mi ke Bodenhamer (Honl. OPEN CLASS: 1. Eric Berg (Vam); 2. Steve Sheffi eld (Hus); 3. Chuck Taytor, Jr. (Kaw). OVER 30: 1. Tom Hollister (C·Al; 2. Bill Aistrin (Honl; 3. Dennis Baker IKaw) ,

• Cover