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/126426
.• ; Ascot will be closed August !lO, with the show running' in Lancaster. Speedway will be baclt for the final quarter-mile show (In Thursday night,. September 6. Last chance, no chance, and a'big protest . By Dennis Greene' COSTA MESA, AUG. 24 The final night of National qual)fying sat under a dark shadow when two riders were excluded from the competition. A lab 'test run on their fuel came back marked "illegal" and both Glen Hutchinson and Shawn Moran sat the night out. A written protest, was filed on Shawn's behalf by his sponsor and he h;Js assured me that in' no way was there any.thing done to his fuel. In fact, three other riders. were running on the same can of fuel when the test sample was taken and nothing showed up on their tests. . I received a phone call on Saturday from the sponsor and he had checlted with the manufacturer of the f";el. Her records· show that the fuel was well within the legal bounds when it was sold. A sas:nple is now being tested for a double check. After the protest was filed, the fuel can as turned over to the AMA officials by the sponsor who' insisted that a sample: b~ taken and tested. You ca.n be sure that' this protest will not get swept under the carpet. In fact I would not be at all surprised to see it go all the way to Westerville, Ohio and the head officials of the AMA. And I, for one,. hope to see the 17·year-old "Miracle Worker," Shawn Moran, race in the U.S. National Speedway Championship. Eventhough he did not have a chance to lUid more points to his total, he still ended up 10th in total points. If .they win the protest, he will be seated in the National. Glen' Hutchinson took a different protest approach when he tried to push his way. onto the track when it was his turn to ride. He was forcefully stopped and told to pack it !lP and move out. The last chance to earn points toward the championship saw many top riders in the southland give way to super talent that had come down from the four tracks in northern California. I must tip my hat to. their ability; half of them only see the tracks down here once a year. They have improvedso much tliat four'of their group of 10 made it into the National and both the reserve riders are from the north. Outstanding rides turned in all week by Duane Yarrow, from the Sacramento area, put him in the number one -spot for the title event in 0c:tober. Y,arrow. r!iclted up 2, I 75 poI.nts to Alan Christ~an's second place finish of 2,1'50. And if you want to say something about out-of-towners, take a look at the third spot earned by Tony Briggs from Christchurch, Ne.w Zeal.and with 2,025 total points. When the Friday night show got underway, Dan McNeill was the points leader . going into the night's competition. McNeill has been riding under a threat' of disqualification for any contact after a nin of bad Luck earlier in the season when he was involved in several pileups that were put on his shoulders. So, he has become the true gentleman of the spon, giving everyone a lot of racing room so no one can point a finger at him. His safe style has cost him points all through the .quaLifying rounds and the fact that he ended up fourth in overall· points .is accredited to his racing skill. Gene W09ds earned fifth and will hold up the family name in the old Basi-Woods race for the title. His older brother, Rick, won the title sever;al times. In fact, ·the. only names . that show up in the record book are Rick .Woods, Steve Bast, and his younger b~other, current Champ Mike Bast. . Sixth in total points was Dave Sims; LD seventh place is John Sandona. Eighth is the AMA number one plate holder, Mike Faria. Ninth place also went to a northern rider, John Cook. John has put in several weeks of racing on the southern California tracks and co~ld.ve~ well be the turning point in thIS year s contest. . . From here on down, there could be changes made in the lineup for the finals. Tepth. s{>Ot was earned by Shawn Moran. but if his protest does not hold up, everyone will move up one slot, Denny Pyeatt totaled I, !l00 P9ints to hold down 11th; Brad Oxley: Larry Kosta, Mark Marriott, Leni Faas and ~ ~ike Bast make up the remaining nders for the National, with Charlie Morse first reserve and Tom rerris second reserve. . Here's one more point that really has not been brought up abour Mike Bast getting seated in the Nationals: In most motorsports, for one reason or anot~er, drivers or riders are gr~nted a spot LD some events because of other race even.ts taking precedent over a qualifyirig or practice· event. In most cases, that rider is given the last spot in the starting lineup, not the top spot. If Mike is seated in last, or 16th place, he would not be in the qualifying rounds for the world title that will be held at Anaheim in November. At this time ~)Dly the top ·12 in total points e.arned ID the past five nights of qualifying for the U:S. title are eligible. Of course, there IS a ,chance that the top 12 in the U.S. Nanonal may be the guys going for the world qualifier. This point has been kicked back and fonh several tim~, with the final word coming out -bot~ ways. In fact, the question was agalD raised as late as Friday night just before the final rounds of qualifying got underway. The answer at that time was "We'll let you know later." This ca~ ~ lot ,of grumbling because it looked Itke someone wanted to see if the guys that they wanted to be in the event would do weD tonight, If not, let's go the other way - if the guys we w;ant to do better in tbe national, then we'll use them. This is not just some~hing~atl have picked up out of the aIr, but It comes from the feelings of more than ,half the riders I talked to. There were a lot of names tossed around as the group called "the chosen few." At t~ ti~e I wo~4 be doing the sport an IDJustlce to hst them, but it sure woul~ be nice to see the guys who earn the nght to represent the United States get the chance to do so. J~t as soon a~ C,cle News gets the offiCIal word on whIch group will race in ·the world qualifier, (A) the top 12 from the U.S. qualifier, or (B) the top 12 from the National, we'll put it in print. Also, just as soon as the final word comes down on the fuel protest. . whichever ,,:ay .it g~. we'll let you know. -' • Results u.s: CHAMPIONSHIP: ,. Deune y.rr-; 2. Alen Cht......,; 3. rOIly Briggs: 4. Den McNeill; 5. Gene Woods; 6. Dove Sims; 7. John Sendone; 8. Mike Ferie; 9. John CooIl; 10. Shewn. Moren; I I. Denny Pveett: 12. Bred Oldey; 13. lArry Koota; 14. Merlt Merrion; 15. Len; F. .; 18. Milte _ . RESERVES: Chertie Morse; Tom _ ; S_ Nut1Of. ~ E' 0') t"'- O') ~ l!') l-. cu ..c 8 cu ~ ~ cu. en TERRI-C_1BLE The Teflon Super Smooth Cable *Complete line for racing bikes *Requires no oiling *Smoothest pulling cable *Rexible tbrottJe wire gives long life • *Heavy duty housing. resists stretch and abuse Write for Free literature Terrycable PO 'Box 1321, Hesperia, CA 92345 THE VERY BEST 2-STROKE RACING OIL -Hi:Point Deluxe 2 -stroke Racing Oi I has been Winning gold medals for over 10 years. Hi-Point 2·stroke concen- trate is a superIor blend of synthetic and petroleum bases that add up to a superior contentrate to give you the performance and proteetton your racing bike is looking tor. Fork & Shock Fluid' 4-Stroke Premium • Bearing Grem • Air Filter Oil Transmission Gear Lube • 2·Cycle Injection ' Deluxe Chain Oil . . (714)247-2646 Out of state call' toll free (800)854-4691. -(81l:AKEWBSB tlfJHBA HusQvarna' MOTORCYCLES PARTS - SERVICE 605 Frwy. at Carson I I 747 E. Carson St. lakewood, CA 90715 213-860-1354 714-521-7112 33 ,.