Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1979 11 28

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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E • ~ E Kent Howerton 1171 caught early leader Warren Reid 1191 with two laps to go and moved on into victory circle with hi.. wife Jill as trophy girl.. AMAlToyota Supercross Series - Final round Triplecrown, MX Finals go to Rhinestone Cowboy By Charles Morey Photos by Dale Brown. Mark Kariya and Morey ANAHEIM, CA, NOV. 17 More than 40,000 witnesses literally overwhelmed the field of 25 motocross bikes, decibel for decibel, with their cheers of approval as Texan Kent Howerton, Team Suzuki's "Rhinestone Cowboy" reeled in early leader Honda-mounted Warren Reid to win the Coca-Cola MX Finals in Anaheim Stadium_ Reid 6 had led from the start, but Howerton - seventh on the opening lap steadily picked off competitors to move into se<;ond place on lap 10, the halfway point of the main event. Once in second. Howerton carved two- and three-second-per-Iap gouges from Reid's lead, which was approximately 11 seconds at the time Kent displaced Team Kawasaki'sJimmy Weinert from second. Howerton's win easily clinched the Toyota Trucks Triplecrown of Supercross - he led with 42 points over Darrell Shultz's 35 prior to the Anaheim race - and the win also moved him up from eighth place to fifth in the AMA/Toyota Supercross Series. Holding 123 points before the final series event, Kent's second place in his qualifying moto plus his main event win added 27 points for an even 150 total. That bumped Marty Tripes, who appeared in the pits but did not ride Anaheim, by a single point (149l50), from fifth in the final standings. Warren Reid, who finished second at this event, moved up from ninth to seventh place with 147 points, just two behind Tripes. Third at Anaheim was Team Yamaha's Mike Bell. Mike had started eighth, right behind Howerton, and followed him up through the pack until Kent's afterburner cut in at the halfway point. Jimmy Weinert held a strong fourth place at the checkered flag over fifth placer, Team Honda's Steve Wise. Wise was riding one of two very special Hondas that made their fITSt U.S. showing at Anaheim. The machines, one ridden by Wise and the other by new Team Honda rider Chuck Sun, featured two major changes. The 250cc machines were water-cooled with a gear-driven waterpump and a unique radiator mounted saddle-style ahead of the fuel tank and shrouded in a square-angled scoop. Both machines also featured a new (for Honda) rear suspension set-up very similar to Kawasaki's Uni-Trak system. Having arrived in the country during the previous week, set-up was a hurried affair. Wise finished futh and Sun took eighth on the new machines tuned by Cliff White and Eric Crippa. Team Yamaha's Bob Hannah, who had clinched the 1979 AMA/Toyota Supercross Series tide earlier in the season, was on hand to spectate and watch teammate Mike Bell attempt to bump Jimmy Weinert from second place in the standings. Hannah's 253 point total was beyond reach, but Weinert's 195 and Bell's 190 point scores promised a battle to the finish. Weinert rode in qualifying moto number one, but fell near the end and placed fourth for no points. Then Bell, who was staged in qualifier two, copied Weinert's performance with a fourth place, too, after recovering from an over-the-bars get-off. It all came down to the main event. There, Weinert's fourth placing kept him ahead, as Bell placed only one position, two points in front for the race, three points behind for the series. Steve Wise's fifth at Anaheim didn't put him in the battle for second, but it kept him safely above the changes that were going on back around fifth place in the series point standings. Steve added 16 points to his series score to maintain a final placing of fourth for the year. Qualifying motos The first of four 10-lap qualifying motos. saw Team Kawasaki's "Teeny Meanie" Jeff Ward launch his KX250 off the gate in front of teammate Jimmy _Weinert, Robert Reisinger, Chuck Sun, Kent Howerton, Brad Lackey, Marty Moates, Darrell Shultz and Danny Chandler. With the heavies nipping at his heels looking for top-three points and a direct transfer to the main with a top-five placing, Ward gassed it and hung on. Howerton quickly found a line past Reisinger and Sun and began to harass Weinert for second. But "The Jammer" held back his challenger until the last lap when Howerton passed on a straight and shut the door in the tum. Seconds later, Weinert stepped off, and Shultz got by. At the flag, it was Ward, Howerton, Weinert, Shultz and Sun making the transfer to the final event. . The second qualifier started off like a Jimmy Ellis benefit with the Connecticut rider shooting out to a good lead over Parry Klassen, Donnie Hansen, Mike Bell, Larry Wosick, Steve Stackable and Broc Glover. On the fourth lap, however, Hansen moved into second and began closing the gap. But the real threat was Warren Reidl Reid was slicing through the leaders, moving into fourth on lap three, third on Lap four and passing Hansen for second on the sixth time aroundl Hansen attached himself to Reid's slipstream, and both passed Ellis on Lap seven. When they completed the lOth and final lap, Warren Reid was safely the winner over Hansen, Ellis, Mike Bell and Parry Klassen. Gary Sernics put his air-coolecl Team Honda out in front of qualifying moto three. LOP's Mark Gregson was right behind, and pushing hard were David Taylor, 1979's. top privateer Arlo Englund, Scott Gillman, Gary Dircks, Scott Johnson and Steve Wise. No one could catch Semics as he left a three-way battle for second place among Gregson, Taylor and Englund. Arlo moved ahead of Taylor just past the halfway point. The three closed on Semics, and Englund got around Gregson with one lap to go. When the flag dropped, it was Semics, Englund, Gregson, Taylor and Gillman who made the cut into the main. Last of the four qualifiers, round four was led to tum one by Gary Denton's LOP Yamaha with Donnie Cantaloupi, Ron Pomeroy, Rex Staten and Frank Stacy in tow. Staten began working up immediately, passing Pomeroy on lap three, then closing on Denton on the next lap. Cantaloupi had taken the lead on lap three, and he held it until lap eight. Staten got around Denton on the seventh circuit, then flew past Yamaha teammate Cantaloupi on the fast front straight jump. Rex led them all to the checkered flag with Cantaloupi, Denton, Billy Grossi and Brian Myerscough taking the transfer spots. Semifinals Da:nny "Magoo" Chandler put on one of his top performances in the first of two semis, coming from a futh place start to win. Robert Reisinger showed Steve Martin, Marty Moates, Tony DiStefano and Chandler the way to tum one, but then Magoo cut loose and it was just a matter of time before he won or crashed trying. Tonight. it was the former. Taking the second of two transfer spots to the main event was former three-time 250cc National Champion Tony DiStefano, this year riding a Husqvama.

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