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/126396
'••,J'•••••••••••- ~~••·.·".·.·.·..J'.·.· jJ.·~v.·tl'.·J'J'.·.· J'il'.·".r!'.· y.v...,...·J'.· •••;.•••y ~ . TERRYKIT I III I f{ ( ):\ I I :\ I> I ) .\ \ 1I' ~ :\ I :\ c: 1:\11 H)f{ III1 Upp runs wild at . RC Renegade H~ C \~ .f{I()1 \(()\lp~ New Kits for '79 with Adjustable Travel By Terry Rezek Ma x. Travel RED MOUNTAIN, CA,JAN. 21 Yamaha YZ 250/400 '78 , ' 79 12" Yamaha IT 175/400 '77 . '78 10" Yamaha IT 175 '79 9.25 " Yamaha IT 250/400 '7 9 10" Kawasaki KX80 '79 , . . 8 .S" Husky '77, '78 , li S ' Yamaha & Su zuk i 80 '78 7.5 .. Yamaha & Suzuki 80 ' 79 8 .S" Suzuki RM 125 '77 , ·78 10" Suzuki RM 250/400 '78 10" Bopping along through a slightly damp desert on your favorite scoot, savoring the crispness of a Mojave winter's day has got to be the second greatest pleasure known to man and woman. This day it was Kenny Upp's greatest pleasure as he won California Racing Club's first race of 1979 going away. Coming out of 1978 as the number two under·200cc rider, Ken ny decided to move up in size and it looks like he moved u p in position as well . A first ride on a 250cc bike and 'a first overa ll - auspicious beginning to the new year. I got the feeling he was aIittle hungry for this one; I left the start line five minutes before the flag dropped, rode out three miles, parked my bike and didn't have time to get my camera out. ~efore Mr. Upp came flying by, tra iling about a hundred yards of stocking cap behind him. Not to say he was really moving, but that cap was only two feet long at the startl Just out of reach of that flailing cap but trying to close up the gap was Morgan Malocco. The two of them turned off the start run as the course went west into the Summit Range that runs south along Teagle Wash. Kenny hung on through the next fou.r or so miles of su per swooping trail, up and down bunches of moist and tacky little roller hills . Some of these were humongous jumps at racing speeds and those always had a 90 0 turn at the bottom. One more neat feature - a curvy downhill sandwash , the kind where you can ride the walls until you're l,aid out horizontal - an d then it was back- i'o b oogey time across the flats and the So uthern Pacific R R tracks . T he course generally headed now towards Cha rli e's Pl ace and Ma locco put the greater power of his big bore bike to use and got around Upp for the lead. Upp stayed with him in the rough up to and just past check two , but when they reached some level terrain, the faster bike began to pull away. Upp was not to be denied his ~ay, howe.ver, and a;; the course. got mto the Giant Munghes that comprise most of the Spangler Hills, he began to close on the lead. The fates rewarded him as Malocco's bike said " Enough" and retired from the race. From here on it was all Upp. At the recrossing of the RR tracks about four miles from the pits , he had a full two and one- half minutes lead over Doug Beisner: who had inherited the second slot from Malocco - and this .was on ' the first loopl Kenny never backed off and rode the: se~ond .loo p with the same energy, fimshmg With more than a five minute lead. Meanwhile, back with the rest of the wor ld , Da nny Smith and J. Donaldson led the Novice charge to the bottom of the Summit Range with B. Needham hol ding a tight third. Two loops later, when the smoke cleared (there wasn't any dustl) the ea I1y leaders were not and the winners turned out to be John Reeves and Alan Dryden. The Beg in n e r parade saw Bob Lum ba ttis fastest through the start run, tightly chased by Ted Crozier and Don Glen n . Lu mbattis held the lead through most of the first loop , but from the back of the pack came Ed working his way with Ellis, determination. Crozier was first to feel 111()f{ Kits also availa ble for most other bikes Write for free literature O u t of st ate call toll free 800·854 ·4691 90 d ay money back guarantee Dealer or Direct Wha t if Chairman M ao had had an S&W Engineering Handbook? No, it's not RED, but it will be READ by every one . Betcha there's a smile under that MotoStar. CRC w inner Kenny Upp. the Ellis bite and, somewhere on the second loop , Lumbattis was forced to settle for seco nd as Ellis took the lead a nd kept it to the fi nish , Crozier finis hed in th ird . By the time m ost riders had reached the second RR track crossing on the first loo p, the ba ttles were forming . After Upp and Beisner went through , about a minute passed a nd Jeff Hylton came by in third and hol ding the first Amateur spot right through to the finish. Very soon after Hylton, Darren Pritchett, Gary Johnston a nd Ken Heil showed up in a tight pack. Heil apparently broke that pack and eventually became fourth overall right behind Hylton. Monte Lee and Leon Pri ce came past within spitting distance of each other, followed by Dick Hall and Mike Martin. That important second loop effort showed its impact again as Martin worked his way past all three to wind up fifth overall. Lightweight riders tend to ride in what can be describe d as a hungry manner, as T, St u a rt demonst ra ted by p a ssin g a bemused O p en Expert by leaping through the rocks j ust past the tracks in gazelle style . O ne ca n guess what probably happened when th ey both reache d th e wide open road that was a few hu nd red yards beyond . At th is point th e grand old men finally doddered a long a nd. the first Seniors a rrived (poetic license, guys, that 's my class, tool) . Larry Upp (Kenny's dad) led Dick Hughes by one slim gray whisker, which whisker Dick plucked before the second loop was over to take the first Senior spot; Upp was second and third appears to have gone to Lowell Milton . There were no major battle in either the Mini or the Women's classes , with Dave Earll leading Steve Crawford and Kim Hansi ng a head of Wendy, Mu ller ( nee Dool ey) fo r t heir respective positions. . T he dust -free conditions made for an extremely pleasari t race bu t a lso a very fas t one. There were many flat tires fro m high-speed rock encounters and a goodly number of earth-sky geroffs as sus pension limits were soug ht and found. All in all , a very good race; many comments from the riders attested to that. This was the first of the new season nd we are all trying to get our stu ff together. I'll be • around through the entire year and, with a little luck. I may be organized by December. The ladies working in the scoring booth are really organized al ready and my heartfelt thanks to them for these results. Remember, though , the lap sheets need to be checked, so these results are unofficial. • . . 2617 Woodland Drive _ ...0--.... An~h eim . C~lifo rni~ 92801 Califo rnid resloent s ..dd 6".. state l oU.. All ow 6 week.. for personal cbe cks 10 clear. o Bay Area Bultaco KTM-Hodaka For your convenience Open until 9 week nights Wt' Ih ip "r-hn't' _ t t bour aaail ..",", Results OPEN EX: 1. Mike Martin CHusl; 2 . Richard Hall !Yaml. For your copy, including specification a nd master appli cat ion ch art ,sendcheck or mo ney orderfor$5.95 ($4.95+$1.oolor postage and handling) to : _ OPEN AM: 1. Jerry Utterback. OPEN NOV: 1. J oh n Reeves: 2. Dan Smith. OPEN BEG:·1. Bob Lumbanis (Vam): 2. Ted Crol;er 5606 W. Manchester, Westchester, CA 90045 213-649-1700 !Yaml. , 250 EX: 1. Ken Upp (Varni: 2 . Ooog Beisner ISUl). 250 AM: 1. J eff Hylton; 2. P. VanderBy!. 250 NOV: 1. BillMeloserdo ff; 2 . O. Kennedy. 250 BEG: 1. D. LI ch : 2. Mark Ford IHusl. n WOMEN: 1. Kim Hansi ng; 2. W endy M uller. 200 EX: 1. Scott Archlsorr 2 . M. Easley. 200 NOV: 1. Alan Dryden; 2. R. Kennedy . 200 BEG: 1. Byron Van; 2 . Kent Worley . JUN IOR·SE NIOR EX:-Montel ee. AM: leon Price (1st Jr .-Sr.l NOV: Tom "Mineshaft.. Baker BEG: E. Ellis IVam 250) SENIOR EX: Larry Upp IYam 250) AM: Richard Huges, lst Sr.IVam 250 ). NOV: L. Mihon . . BEG: A. Perry . MINI: 1_ Oave Earll; 2. Steve Crawford. ~~rn~·ad. CYCLE ~ rnw ~ FINISHER PINS We Make EmAsk Lenny for Samples Cal·Mart Plating 607 S . Hill S T. Sui'te 631 los Ang e le s. CA 900 14 213-623-6. 7 17