Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

with ,his motorcycle like Meadowlark Lemon plays with a basketball in the second moto: pleasing the crowd with some spectacular jumps, he finished a comfortable 23 seconds ahead of Marty Moates. Scott Gillman, Bob Myers, Darrell Shultz and Chandler rode to 'qualifier wins in 250cc action . Gillman , Shultz and Chandler had fairly easy rides . Myers (Mai), however, had a tough battle from Staten who threatened him throughout his qualifier. National 125cc champ Broc Glover (Yam) and Suzuki factory rider Brian Myerscoff took wins in the 125cc qualifiers , both rather handily ove r their competition. In consolation action, Kawasaki's Jeff Ward was forced into one of the two 125cc races after he fouled a spark plug in his qualifier and had to drop out. The diminutive, minibik e graduate didn't show any mercy in h is consola tion rac e: He devastated th e competition. With the necessary preliminaries out of the way. it was time to stage th e main events. The crowd of 1,500 settled back, popped an unusually large number of beer tabs , and got ready for the first event of the 12-lap, two -mote finals. Open Pros Marty Moates grabbed the holeshot in the first moro with Danny Chandler and Bob Marino (Yam) following . As they completed a lap Moates led out with Staten and Eric McKenna (Mai ) falling in behind. Chandler surfaced in seventh place. " R ocke t" Rex digested Moates on lap four and if he had looked back he would have surely not icer' " fa s rer -t ha n -a-speed ing bullet" Chandler moving up fast. One more la p and Staten was breathing " Magoo's" exhaust. Danny went on for the win with Staten second and McKenna third . Chandler didn't fare nearly so well in the second moro, Midway through ' the first lap , Danny and mother earth . were united in a solo spill that left Danny right in the path of a quickly approaching rider. After taking a tire to his body, which knocked the wind out of him, Chandler hung up his . boots for the moto. As Chandler bowed out, Suzuki's Danny LaPorte had the lead on his RN-420 works bike in front of northern Californians Dean Wiggins (Mai) and Eric McKenna. Meanwhile , from halfway back in the group of 22 riders came Staten rocketing his way to fourth place by lap four. McKenna , who moved to second behind LaPorte, soon fell victim to the charging "Rocket" who not long after got by leader LaPorte. Danny took second place in the moto with McKenna holding on for third. Open Pro winner Rex Staten roeke~ to the lead of the 250ee elass at Prairie City OHV Park. CM C Golden State Suzuki Series - Round five , Ward, Shultz and Staten sizzle at Sacto . By Chuck Woodbury SACRAMENTO, CA , FEB. 4 While the fifth round of CMC's Golden State Suzuki Series was not the most exciting motocross on the record books, it was fast-paced, well-run and quite enjoyable to most everyone who attended. When the final results were tilllied , it was Jeff Ward Darrell Shultz. and Rex Staten topping the field of 161 20 Pros --:ho entered the No -Name Promotions-staged event. . . . The weather wa;: ~n;e;t at . ~~aJrle City Off-Highway Vehicle Park , with clear skies and temperatures in the mid 60's . A well-manicured track was the result of exte,:,sive eff?rts by promoter Gary LeWIS and h is crew, who stayed up until two a .rn . Saturday night patching up the damage from _ Sat1Jrd~y:s, pr~~~. " I~'s b.e~ter today, than what it was Saturday," said a blood-shot eyed Lewis on Sunday morning. Originally, the Pro program was to be run on the other Prairie Ci ty track. There was too much mud there, however, causing the change of plans and the night track preparation work. Even with extensive preparation, however, the track became quite rutted by late Sunday afternoon. Racing got underway a little behind schedule, with the first of eight six-lap , qualifiers off the line at 10 a .m. In the first Open Pro qualifier it was Yamaha factory rider "Rocket" Rex Staten aboard his YZ-400F production bike edging out Ma ico-rnounted Billy Grossi for the win . Danny "Magoo" Chandler played ::. I J I I J I ; L ~ I I I I ~ : .. J. I J 250cc Pro Darrell Shultz hails from Orangevale, California, a Sacramento suburb not more than six miles from the Prairie City track . Prairie City is like a second home to Darrell. He showed the crowd what it's like to be on home turf as he nailed down two first place moto finishes in 250cc action . It took the factory Suzuki rider five laps to pick up' the lead in the first moto, but once he got it, nobody was going to touch him. Staten led early, but after Shultz said " Bon Voyage" all the Rocket got was a look at Shultz's tail pipe and a whiff of carbon monoxide. . Staten .looked strong for the iirst four laps , with Shultz seemingly making no progress on the series' 500cc points leader. In lap five however , Shultz picked up five seconds on Staten. "There were a bunch of spectators on the track out in the back :: _ I I ) J • I C I • I

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