Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. , , NORTHERN DATELINE M ~ Hayesand DavidsonKO Schlag at Sand Hili scrambles IE 0') 1:' 0') ..... ..... et') By Roy Hartbauer BRENTWOOD, CA, OCT. 5 Tracy Hayes and Ted Davidson came away with the 250cc and Open Expert division wins at Sand Hill Ranch's Friday night rough scrambles. Joey Schlag, who in recent weeks has dominated both Expert classes, was pressured from the Slart in the 250cc event. Tracy Hayes, now riding a Suzuki, exchanged the lead with Schlag on almost every lap. Leaving the rest of the pack behind, the pair put on a spectacular show until, on the final lap, Hayes was able to open up a lead and gain the victory. Ted Davidson returned to the Friday night grid to totally dominate the Open Expert class. Schlag, having mechanical problems, dropped back in the pack early and out of contention. The real battle was for second as Scott Link was able to hold off the challenge of Alan Posey, who is returning to form after a serious leg injury. At the finish it was Ted Davidson with a full eight second lead over Link and Posey. The Open Novice race turned into a familiar battle between Pat Lane and Jackie Stroski. Stroski, after picking his way through the pack following a poor start, couldn't get around Lane who got the win. Sherman Wong was the top Junior. Paul Warne brought out his Honda short tracker for the Vets/Old Timers race, but found that his Class C tires weren't the proper traction. Jim Hartbauer, after a crash in the heat race, went on for the Expert victory followed by Sherman Wong, the top Junior. In third was Dennis Parker, the winner of the Novice division. Results 8Occ: 1. S. 0lMd0an (suzl. 80cc JR: 1. B. A..., ISuzl. 80cc NOV: 1. A. Miedo (Sud. 100cc: 1. K. Klein (Suzl. 12!icc JR: 1. G.1Aopold 1V1m1. 12!icc 'NOV: 1. B. Aguilor 1Suzl; 2. M. ChIIuncey (Suzl. 25Occ: 1. R. McCoy 1V1m1; 2. A. ....._IVImI. OPEN NOV/JR: (JRI 1. S. Wong ISuzl. INOV!: 1. P. Unto lM8l1; 2. J. S_lVlmt; 3. D. CarrollIVImI. VETSIOlD TIMERS EX: 1. J. _lVom). VETSIOlD TIMERS JR: 1. S. Wong lSuzl. VETS/0lD TIMERS NOV: 1. D. _ (M8Il. TOP OlD TIMER: 1. J. OlMdoan(suzl. 2IiOcc EX: 1. T. Hov- (Suzl; 2. J. Schlog IMaol. OPEN EX: 1. T. 0lMd0an 1V1m1; 2. S. link lVom); 3. A. PoMy 1V1m1. Ridge Runners wrap-up'79 MXseason By Gerry Reagan WATSONVILLE, OCT. 7 The Ridge Runners Motorcycle Club of Santa Cruz put the final touches on their '79 motocross season as over 300 riders turned out to race on the well known Watsonville track. The 125cc Experts were first to take to the twisty terrain and the first moto saw each of the front runners having some type of difficulty. Glen Reinberg (Suz) got the holeshot but was clOlely followed by Mike Holmes (Suz) and Charlie _ Halcomb (Suz). Halcomb was the first .' • I .... '"" V ,D 0 .... U 0 The Ridge Runners closed out their 79 motocross season in fine style at Watsonville. of the leaders to run into trouble with a siezed engine on the third lap. Holmes held onto second for another lap but he too had engine trouble and dropped out of the moto, leaving Reinberg all alone in front and Bryan Wargo running in second. Wargo (Suz) didn't enjoy his position for long either; he soon dropped a chain and lost his place to hard-charging Kent Woods (Suz) who had been moving up through the pack. Woods was quite a ways back but things began to look good for him when Reinberg spun out near the checkstands and lost quite a bit of . ground before getting started again. Woods stayed right behind him for about half a lap but then he crashed out in the back section and Reinberg sewed up the moto. . Jeff Watts (Yam), who had finished seventh in the first 125cc Expert moto, came back to dominate the second round. As the annouuncer said, Watts was so far ahead at the end of the moto you needed a calendar, not a stopwatch, to measure his lead. Watts returned to the racetrack in the 250cc Expert event but didn't get more than ten feet from the starting line when the rubber band snapped for the first mota. With everyone charging off the line at once it was hard to tell exactly what happened, but when the dust cleared, there was Watts on the groun~ under his bike and Jon Schloer was tangled in the rear wheel of Watts' Husky. Somehow Schloer and Watts had tangRd and Schloer's leg had wedged between the rear shock and the wheel. Track crews had to remove the rear wheel from the bike in order to free Schloer. Neither rider was seriously hurt and Watts came back later in the day to win the second 250cc Expert moto. , Billy Grossi (Hus) was back in action at the Watsonville track but once again, he suffered from the bad luck which has haunted him whenever he races this course. For the past three years Grossi has seem~ to run into problema every time he rides the Ridge Runners' track. 'This time, at least, he didn't crash. After finishing a respectable second in moto one, Grossi was closing on the leader, Watts, in the second round when the front wheel of his new Husky began to wobble. He slowed down and dropped from second place to sixth by the end of the moto, finding a few broken spokes when he returned to the pits after the race. His second and sixth place finishes were good enough to net him a fourth overall however and a share in the prize money - enough perhaps to buy a good set of heavy duty spokes for his front wheel. How long will Jerome Heiberger go on winning races before someone gives him a factory ride? It seems that every time he races at Watsonville he runs away with both motos in his class. This time was no exception. The Maico mounted rider blitzed both motos of the Open Expert class, finishing so far ahead of the pack that he was done with the second moto before the rest of his class had finished"the first. The Ridge Runners had promised a special trophy to the top Junior class rider of the year and Watsonville's own Buddy Latham rode to a win in the Open Junior class to collect the last few points he needed for the title. Latham won the honor by finishing among the leaders more often than any other Junior class rider at Watsonville during the 1979 season. In the Novice classes there usually are a number of races where one rider dominates and takes the win in both motos, but that wasn't the case at this event where only two Novice class riders were able to win both their motos. Bob Wosick (Suz) held off Shane Gurnsey (Yam) in both races of the l00cc Novice class to take the overall in that event and Jack Barton (Yam) finished first in the two 125cc Novice division one motos to capture that overall trophy. Barton slipped past Eric Mashbir (Hon) on the last lap of mota one and led the entire second round in his bid for the first overall honors. Results 100 NOV: 1. Bob Wooick (Suzl; 2. g,.,. G""*Y 1V1m1; 3.11r11d M8IIon (suzl. • 125 NOV DlV 1: 1. Jec:k Ilor1Dn 1V1m1; 2. em. McCurdy ISuzI; 3. Jeff _ (Suzl. 125 NOV Dtv 2; 1. Jim 0-. lSuzl; 2. $em ~ lSuzl; 3. Brien lynch (K.wl. _ 250 NOV DIY 1: 1. ~ T.... lVoml; 2. Rod _lSuzl; 3. Jim SluCky 1Hon1. 250 NOV DlV 2; 1. Jim DamonlghIni (Hont; 2. Greg Pel.onglDn 1Hon1; 3. Mike _lVom). OPEN NOV: 1. &ic Van &ff lVoml; 2. Tony Abel 1V1m1; 3. Done HoIelSuzl. 125 JR: 1. Dian ~ lIlanl; 2. Mort< DwlIl (Suzl; 3. Mort< Ryon lSuzl. 250 JR: 1. JamM Lemke (Moil; 2. Irwin Achzig« (Honl; 3. Robert MiU.IC-Al. OPEN JR: 1. Buddy lalham 1V1m); 2. Je

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