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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126412
IAbove) Clark Jones (529) and top privateer Mike Guerra (36) lead 250cc winner Kent Howerton.IBelow)"Jammin'
Jimmy" Weinert is pursued by Frank Stacy (35).
LaPorte and Staten only to run out of
. gas on the far side of the track.
LaPorte collected the win just ahead
of Staten, Croft, Shultz, Bell, Burgett
and Grossi .
The second 40 -minute-plus·two-Iap
moto kicked off with a huge pileup in
the first turn which took down Grossi ,
Croft and LaPorte to lessen the
fighting forces out front . Darrell
Shultz had the lead, but not by much,
over Burgett, Sernics - who had
dropped back a lap in the first moto
with bike problems. Chris Myers and
Kessler . The other first · moto flashes
like Bell and Mosier were back further
in the pack.
Positions were hardly remaining
secure out front as first Burgett took
the lead from Shultz. then Semics took
it away from Bu rgett. Then Shultz was
back out in from again as Semics
paused for a soil sample and Burgett
ripped off his shift lever .
"The shifter broke right when 1 was
leading and left me stuck in second
gear," said Burgett aferwards. "It
didn't dawn on me until the last few
laps 'to pull into the pits and get it
wrenched into th ird gear so 1 could at
least go a little faster."
Almost not noticed at first was
Danny LaPorte who had rejoined the
race in the back-of the pack and nearly
half a lap behind the leaders after the
first lap , first turn get· together. By the
gO-minute point, Danny was already
up to th ird place and dosing in on the
leaders - Shultz and Mosier.
" I felt like 1 was just riding smooth
and hard the whole race . •. not. going
over the bumps but picking the
smooth lines . I thought I could at least
catch back up to everyone else , but
when 1 started passing Burgett and
then the others .. ... LaPorte really
began die.king gears. "The bike was
really working well ," he said after the
event .
LaPorte had spent the last few
weeks in California tuning the new
RN-400-79 Suzuki into his own version
of a DeCoster 'replica , and the time
and work paid off.
With four laps to go, Burgett
roosted past Suzuki teammate Shultz
and continued to pull away for an even
larger margin of victory than in the
first moto.
Rocket Rex Staten edged out Shultz
for second overall when Mosier bailed
over in a berm, losing his third place
to Staten whil e trying fOf nearly a lap
to get his bike restarted . Semics
collected fourth ahead of Kessler,
Croft. Smith and Arlo Englund who
•
was riding a Vickery Yamaha.
Results
250cc NATIONAL: 1. Kent Howerton 1-1 (Sun: 2.
M;ke G"""a 3-J IHusl : 3. Frank Sracv 6-6 (KTMl; 4.
Mark Robillard 7·7IHusl: 5. Ma