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IAbove) Jim Owens blasts through a Watsonville hole.IBelow) Mark Duval
heads Randy Losh 119). Dan Turner (76) and others in Open Ex. start_
Dan Turner won every moto he entered.
it was Jim Beintker (Yam) out front to
stan but soon supplanted by Marusec
who stepped off for a while halfway
through the race. The first spot went
to Keith Anderson (Mai) who kept it to
the checkered. Grigg was in second
place at the finish and Marusec had
worked back up to third.
Dick Mann (OMS) continued his
reign as undisputed champion racing
with the Old Timers. JerryJackson (Mai)
followed Mann through the hole in
both motos but experienced problems
in each as well. Jl!ckson did not finish
the first moto. but in the second moto
he was able to move up to third behind
Jack Lewis (Mai) who finished second
both times out.
The 80s were led out by Cun B_II
(Kaw) in the first moto, but the battle
for the lead was between Tyson Vohland and Keith Fox, both on
Yamahas. They must be credited with
some of the best racing of the day. Fox
had the win in the first moto. Bobby
Moore was the early leader in the
second moto, but Vohland soon had
the lead and stretched it out. Fox, undaunted by a back position in the first
lap, moved himself all the way up to a
third place finish. Moore hung onto
second.
Results
125 EX: 1. Mike PrOClDn !YarnI; 2. Dana Woxham
!Yoml; 3. Bin Johnoon !Yom).
250 EX: 1. Allen Berluti I_I; 2. ~ge McNonwa
!Yoml; 3. Rodney Smith !Yam).
OPEN EX: 1. Allen llefluti IMail; 2. Deon Shultz ISuzl;
3. Robert Congdon IMail.
125 JR: 1. Scott Yarbrough ISuzI; 2. Randy Denton
Iyaml; 3. lI..non Forsyth IC-AI.
250 JR: 1. Craig Clwistian IYom); 2. Frank Risner
IHan); 3. .Jerry Brand1IKawl.
OPEN JR: ,. David Carlson; 2. Bob Holmes IKTMI; 3.
J _ Guymon !Yam).
125 NOli Dill I: 1. Darryl Anthony ISuz); 2. Rob
Harmon ISuz); 3. Greg Franc IYaml.
125 NOli Dill II: 1. K....in Bixby IYaml; 2. Jim
Baintk.. !Yam); 3. Randy Cawale !Yaml.
250 NOli: ,. Kevin Bixby !Yam!; 2. Neal Nelson
IYom!; 3. Bill Ri""", IYaml.
OPEN NOlI: 1. Jim Rich 10MS); 2. Allen Wagoner
!Yam); 3. Doug Whaley !Yam).
\lETS NOlI: 1. Greg Yound lHan); 2. Steve DelRae
!Yom); 3. Chudt Weslin lBulI.
\lET JR: 1. Don S._ioger !Yom).
\lET EX: 1. Steve Meruoec !YarnI; 2. Keith Anderson
lMaiI; 3. Bill Grigg lMail.
OT NOli: 1. Carl LinkeiBull.
OT JR: 1. R. J. Geilathy I_I.
OT EX: 1. Dick Mann 10MS!.
100 SCHOOlBOY: 1. LeRoy Deleon ISuz); 2. Ron
Tarp ISuzl; 3. Diet.. Klauaing ISuzl.
110 JRJE)(: 1. Tyoon lIohland !Yoml; 2. Keith Fox
IYom); 3. Bobby MooreIYom).
I
110 NOlI: 1. Mike AMlgidol ISuz); 2. Chris Hofman
!Yom); 3. &ic ~e!YarnI.
Turner and
Oveland shine at
Watsonville opener
By Gerry Reagan
WATSONVILLE, CA, MAR. 16
The Ridge Runners Motorcycle
Club opened their sixth season
of motocross promotions with
Dan Turner and Phil Oveland
joining over 400 other riders in providing some exceptionally fine racing.
Turner, riding Maicos in both the
250cc and Open Expen races, led all
four motos wire-to-wire making for a
perfect four·for-four score, a difficult
and s<;ldom seen feat at the torturous
Watsonville track. Turner's wins were
not accomplished without some effort
though, as he had to fight off a hardcharging Jerome Heiberger in three of
the four motos. Heiberger, also riding
Maicos, got a bad start in the first
Open Expert moto but finished a close
second behind Turner in the other
Open heat and put strong pressure on
the leader in both the 250cc Expert
races.
Phil Oveland got the holeshot in the
first moto of the second .250cc Expert
division but quickly dropped to fourth
place a couple of turns later. That
didn't discourage him in any way and
he came back to win the molO by a
seven second margin. His luck was not
as good in the second moto but Oveland
put on a superb show of riding ability.
Oveland was involved in a first turn
crash and was in last place by the time
he was able to get up and moving again.
He began a charge which carried him
to seventh oy the fourth lap, passing
other riders at will and running lap
times faster than the leader as he
fought his way through traffic. On lap
five Oveland was in fourth place, 11
seconds behind third-place rider Jon
Keller (Hon) who was running close to
the two leaders. In another lap Oveland
was only six seconds behind Keller
and, as the white flag waved, he moved
within striking distance and began
looking for an opportunity to pass.
As luck would have it, Oveland hit a
rut at the beginning of the last lap and
went down. Still in fourth place, he
was able to get going again but had
dropped quite a ways behind the leaders. With only half a lap to go Oveland
was on the move and things just seemed
to go his way. Second place rider Bill
Leonheart crashed out in the back section and then Keller lost a chain, moving Oveland into second place.
Oveland's win and second place finish gave him the overall. It will have to
be left to speculation as to whether or
not he could have caught second-molO
leader Craig Wessel (Yam) if he hadn't
crashed on the last lap. Wessel rode a
good race, leading wire-to-wire and if
he had known Oveland was charging
up from behind he may have been able
to go even faster. It would have been
an interesting match.
It's always neat lo see the Ridge
Runners' track before the first race of
the season. After only fOl,lr months of
recovery time it is ha rd to tell where
any motorcycles have been. Some of
the ruttiest, bumpiest sections of the
course are so grown over with tall grass
it would bring tears of joy to a Sierra
Clubber's eyes.
In other racing action, spectators
witnessed a good race between Paul
Duchscher (Yam) and Greg Pennington (Suz) in both motDS of the 125cc
Novice II class. The results sheets show
Duchscher leading the entire length of
both motos with Pennington holding
down a consistent second place. What
the sheets don't show, however, is how
close the racing really was. It's true
that Duchscher led all the way but
Pennington was right in there in both
mot05, able to stay right on Duchscher's
tail but unable to find that little extra
to slip by.
250cc Junior class rider Jeff Nichols
(Yam) didn't have any problems with
other racers though, as he ran away
with both motos, winning the second
by over 20 seconds.
Racing action continues at the Watsonville track on April 20 when the
Ridge Runners host their second of
seven races to be held this year. If you
want to see the best riders on the best
track, be there.
Results
125 NOli I: 1. Rick Ryan ISuzI; 2. Brian Bowen ISuzl;
3. Brent Wolcox (Yaml. •
125 NOli II: 1. Paul Ouchschol' IYam); 2. Grog
Pennington (Suz); 3. Dan
125 NOV III: 1. Cory Pon-oau~ ISuzl; 2. Ron Lewis
(Yom!' 3. l.au