Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1979 12 05

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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; II D ·.v · ".·.·.·.·.·.·.v ••• -.· , , ·,.·, v, , · ·.·", ·••'.-•••" •- -"" •••. ••• rt Hotline .. 10:1 E! 5 ~ M QJ ..c e QJ U QJ Cl J. Cannon In flight lit CRC. Kelly returns".! captures CR~ HS By Terry Rezek RED MOUNTAIN, CA, NOV. 18 There were a few surprises at to· day's California Racing Club hare scrambles. Saturday's cloudy, cold and windy weather gave way 22 ·•• · to Sunday's clear, cool and breezy. Ideal racing conditions. Gordy and Chuck, CRC's trail bosses, managed to take bits and pieces from old courses in a vastly overused area (thanks to the Butchen and Land Manglen (BLM) and string together a challeng· ing but generally enjoyable course. The next surprise came right after the start. The first rider off the bomb run and into the hills was Tom Kelly, baclr. from the motocross wan. Running around in circles on those rattraclts does not seemed to have affected his desert slr.J.lls. This race was Tom's all the way. He just kept extending his lead, even on the home stretch when lapping slower riden. Kenny Upp stayed within sight of Kelly for most of the race but the big bore KTM outpowered Upp's 250cc and Upp was not able to close the gap. The real race was for third and continued t1ie battle between two traditional rivals, Mille and Gary Mulconery. It didn't appear that way at the beginning, however, since Gary Davies was right behind Kelly and Upp at the start but his bike didn't malte more than five tniles before eating itself and left Davies to attempt the world's longes( coast baclr. down into the pits. Leon Price had a great start for his continuing attaclr. on the numher one Junior plate and came along behind Davies and just ahead of Donnie Morrison. Gary Mulcooery had taken a long trail to the lIIlOIte and was at sixth, some distance behind brother Mike. In the meantime, Mike Mu1cooery had zeroed in on Price and got by in the fut downhill stretch into the pits. The'small bike of Morrilon also fell prey to the attaclr. of MiIr.e's Ir.iller Husky and the parade through the pits after one·half lap read KeUy, Upp, Mulconery, Morrison, Mulconery and Price. Heath Hibbard was seen on the start line but never made it through the bomb run. He and Kenny Heil ahd tangled in the dust, leaving Hi~b~rd with a case hole and no transmllSJon oil and Heil motoring shaltily along at the back of the Novices. Gary Mulconery realized he had a chance to catch brother Mike and started a big push on lap two. He almOlIt caught Mike napping at checlr. two on this lap and was within wheel bumping distance right there. With that kind of incentive, Mike found a few more mph in the bottom of the Husky and managed to pick up about 10 seconds before he hit the pits and was forced to stop for gas. The way he was yelling in the pits you would have thought he was being pursued by the horned legions of the Sierra Club instead of his loving brother. He maintained his lead out of the pits and continued around in third to the finish. Gary's momentum in his chase of Mike had picked off Morrison and took him to fourth and first Amateur. His fellow Amateur and club member, Scott Smith motored steadily along for a well·deserved fifth overall. Maybe not as spectacular as his third. at Rosarito Beach but a dam good nde. Moving methodically up from about 10th at the start, Jay Orendc;»rff cam~ in at sixth overall. Looks like Jay 11 getting ready for the Beatty to ~~ song and dance of the Thanksgmng weekend. Another long standing rivalry continued between fri~ds Donnie Morrison and Scott Atchison with Atchison coming out the winner in the last half lap of the race. L~n Price was at about 12th at the finISh but he was far and away the leader of the Junior lSenior contingent. The entry at this race was down a little but those who were not there seemed to be most of the younger riders. CRC was having a huge Amateur motocross at Anaheim Stadium the same day and 1 suspect that the temptation to show off for friends and family in a stadium was too strong for many to resist. The result was an unusually high percentage of Junior/Senior and Senior class riders in all divisions. The Novice race was a welterweight battle from start to finish. J. Cannon had the lead at the start and into the pits after one-half lap with Mark Heth just looking for the right moment and place. He found it on lap two and finished first with Cannon only seconds behind. Kent Worley, another 200cc rider, rode a steady third all the way and finished in that position. Fourth place saw a big jump in dis· placement with Fred Vandusen working his big bore up from seventh place to start to the number four spot. D. Sweeney paid no mind to the furor around him and never changed position, grabbing on to the fifth place and holding it fiercely to the end. He also earned the first Novice Junior position for his determination. The Beginner race was the one that saw a lot of cha~ in the poIitions. Another Lightweight. John Downey led at the start and through the first half lap but the biggft' bikes soon wore him down and after ODe and a half laps Rob Murray and Claude Wright were first into the pits with Ray Zylstra and Stephan Aamodt only seconds behind them. Downey was DOt in the top six at this point but foul(bt his way back at the finish to take lounh and first Lightweight. Whatever demons aIowed Downey also put the hex on Murray for, at the finish, he was nowhere to be seen. Zylstra had made his mClft in the last lap and pUled Wright by to mag first, forcing Wright to settle for second. Aamodt held on for third and Downey was fourth, as mentioned. In at fifth was Jack McClure, who appears to be the official firstJuniorlSenior. Wright was riding in that class but is not a CRC member and is not eligible for points or trophies. Results . EXlAM: 1. Tom 1C&Iv. Op Ex lKTMI; 2. Ken Upp, 2liO Ex (Yom!' 3. . . . Mo*:arwy, Op Ex (HuoI; 4. Gory ~. Op Am (Yom!; 5. SaM! Smilh. Op Am (Y-.,j; 8. .., ~ . Exl; 7. -. aoo Exl; 8. DanrW _ lOpaoo ExI;Scon CIIrk 1250 9. B. AmI' 10. 0-. _1250 Exl; 11. . . . _ l O p AmI; 12. i.-. Price UrIS< Exl; 13. Aon JardIn 12liOI; I •. Ed MuncIr ICpl. HCV: 1. _ . - 1200I; 2. J. c.nnon 1200I; 3. ~ WooIoy C2OOI; 4. Fnld V _ s-.v lJrlSrl; 6. _ _ lJrISfl. 10penl; 5. D. BEG: 1. R8y ZyloCrI (0penI; 2. CleudIt Wrighc lJrlSrl; 3. SlIIphen Aamodt 12liOI; 4. John Downev C2OOI; 5. JacI< McClure lJrlSrl. Ogilvie takes Desert Knights HS By Joyce May LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, NOV. 18 Although Eric MacCracken led the race most of the way, Bruce Ogilvie outlasted his wonhy opponent and took the checkered in the point position at the Desert Knights AMA D·!l7 hare scrambles on a very windy November day. It was MacCracken who took the immediate lead, flying past the bomb with an army of dust clouds spread out behind him. Monte Lee, the 250cc Veterans class leader, got off hard on his way to. the bomb, brealr.ing his pelvic bone. Smce he was running among the leaders of the paclr., he had a few frightening moments as the rest of the herd came thundering past him in the heavy dust. (See end of article for more on Monte.) The second stan was delayed as Rescue !l got him off the bomb run. By second check Rick Schumaclr.er (Open Ex), on his big KTM, had moved into the fant spot with MacCracken running second. "Dale's boy" Bruce Ogilvie (Open Ex) was not far behind, while "Dale's other boy," Chuck Miller (25Occ Ex) was in founh, close on Ogilvie's tail. Entering check two in the fifth position, behind Miller, was Veteran leader Bill Saluman (Open Ex). The "C" Expert class had a raging battle going as Chris Austin and John Foster came into the check neck to neck. Fint Senior into check two was Ron Bebo (Open Ex). Six spots behind him in the !lIst overall slot was Senior Gary Charters (C Ex). The first Trailbike was piloted by Amateur Bill Mattox, well ahead of the second Trail ridden by Expert Oren Beck,Jr. It was brealtdown day for C biIte ace Charlie Hamill, which is unusual for him. Delliplaine came by him, but returned in a short while. Hatnill needed to at least finish in order to retain the point lead in the "C" class. soDeIliplaine, on his 25Occ, decided to tow Hamill around the loop. The Novices and Beginners had already gone by as the duo started around the loop with Charlie hollering "Faster, futerl" The Beginners and Novices began to wonder about their own abilities as they were pa,sud by this crazy pair! Off the first loop MacCraclr.en had talten ovrr the lead. He had opened up a fairly ~·sized lead over Ogilvie and Miller while Saltzman took over the fourth spot. Morgan Malocco (Open Ex) had moved up to fifth. Three 250cc Experts moved through next; KCm Park, Dan Ashcraft, and Greg Thomas with Terry Davis following in ninth overall spot with Austin moving into 10th, first C. First Amateur Ed Whisenant was in the 16th slot, followed in the 19th positions by the first 250cc Amateur, Darin Cartwright. Charters had talten over the first Senior spot with Bebo and Dick Burley (25Occ) close behind. run • Amateur Kathy Hopkins was only a couple of bikes behind Expert Kelly Kline. First Novice over the hill and in for gas was John Magano, Jr. The beginner and novice trails were routed past the mountain and into the pits across an easier route. First Beginner to take the checlr.ered was Jeff Niles (250cc) followed by twoQpen bikes, Steve Knapp and Tom CIarIr.. Speedy little Duane Summers on his little Yamaha 80 earned the first Trail honors with Bobbie Chaners fmisbing in the second trail spot. Dave Schneider took first C Beginner win with Bob Huff finishing first 250cc Veteran. John Hartel took the fJrSt Senior Beginner, while Tricia Farmer challted up another win in the women's class. John Van (250cc Beg) and Bob Freeman (Vet Open Beg) each took their class. The battle between MacCrackeD and Ogilvie on lap 2 was a continuous one with the lead at stalte. Finally they began getting into very heavy Novice/Beginner traffic. It was Ogilvie who first jumped the ditch at the bottom of the hill and crossed the finish line. Ogilvie and MacCraclr.en had stretched a tremendous lead over the rest of the paclr., so even with his misha ps, MacCraclr.en still got second. ] Miller was first 250cc, third overall, followed by Malocco, Saltzman (first Veteran overall), Park, Ashcraft, Thomas, Davis, and Ed Zarp. Austin stayed in there for the overall C honors while Ed Whisenant stayed ahead of Cartwright for first overall Amateur, right behind the second C Expert, Kent Pfeiffer. The herculean Charters did it once more by taking on the Seniors on the big billes and whipping them all on his Suzuki 125, finishing 17th overall, but Bruce Lewellyn (Open Sr) was right on Chaners' rear fender. Bebo finished a respectable 21st overall, second Senior Open. Only two spots back was Burley, fint Senior 250cc. . First amateur "c" went to Dave Hornbeck who had had the slot most of the race. First Veterans 250cc honon went to Tom Mitchell, !l2nd overall with the first Trail, piloted by Mattox, right behind him. Talr.ing the first Amateur Senior spot was John Beems, while dependable Pete Andelman got it all together today and outlasted Beck for first Expert Trail honors. Amateur "Dyno Dan" Clark earned first Veteran in his class, followed c10Iely by Lori Farmer, first gal, and Jerry Baily. first Veteran "C". First Vet "C.. Expert spot was talten by SGVMC's MiIr.e Holbrook. Kathy Hoplr.ina stayed in there for the first Amateur gal position while Kelly Kline was lIeCOtld Expert woman. Irvin Sinclair (Amateur Sr 125ee) slid past the checIr.ered just befOl'e Amateur Bill Zoller (25Occ), both only a breath ahead of the first Novice. John Maguro (Open) wbo finished 82nd overall. First and second novice C's were separated by only one bilr.e and were piloted byJoe Zoller and Rich Barr. Phil Baylisa (Vet Open Nov) earned the bonors in his class while winner Bob Bauman and runner·up Dan Powell battled it to the fmish in the 250cc Novice c.... Joe Sheehy toolr. first Vet 250. The only sad note to the event was that Monte Lee had to receive such severe injuries, especially just before Christmas. He has absolutely DO insurance and his father is retired and receives only a small pension. Monte's hospital bills are enormous. •

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