Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.; ;I , - - Northe rn California-Northern Nevada-Oregon-Wash ington-Idaho-Uta h-Alaska-Canada -Northern California-Northern Nevada-Oregon-Washington-Idaho-Utah-Alask NORTHERN DATELINE - ~ E In OTHG MX Natls_ Curly Carl t oo k hom e A Ex. marbles (abovel while Ron . tried his be st to " Run-over" Philthy Phil (be low). • Curly Carl . conquers OTHG National By Jennif er Gardiner HU RON , CA , APR . 26-27 O ne hund red thirty-ni ne celebrants of life over 30 joined toget her with fa m ily and friends this weekend for the 3rd Annu al 36 Over The Hill Gang Motocross National a t a track most had neve r he ard of but fin ally came to enjoy. H uron Cycle Park in H uron, CA, a sm a ll town fro m th e pages of the Old W est, came ali ve as members from the South, North, Capitol, Sierra and Vegas Chapters of the OTHG; Old T imers MX Associa tion , an d support classes overcame d ust, dust and mo re dust for two days of com petition . Ho mer Knapp a nd his crew created , with spe cifi c instructions from Cu rly Ca rl , a long and challenging tra ck with m ore off -camber turns th en th ere are fireflies on an eastern summer night. A su n u nimpeded by clouds not only spotlighted the Kal-Ga rd signs tha t lined the track as thanks to the ma jor . sponsor of th is year.'s race, but also spotlighted the riders who , on Da y One, slid an d fell at the tight tum by the scorekeeper's tower. The scorekeep ers , in tum , vascilla ted between laughter , worry and pure wonder as th ey watched race after rac e go by as rider after rider ca me to the tu rn , looked ahead in fierce concentrati on and fell down . Visions of Laugh-In 's Arty Johnson madly driving his tiny tricycle until BO O MI he fell, came to m ind. One who d idn't fall was OTHG A Expert Cur ly Carl who , because of his ability to sta y up, took t he overall win over Absu rd AI a nd Maniac Mike. AI ran into je tting problems and didn't even make it to the start line on Day Two. Even though B Expert Jughead J ohn stayed ahea d of Stubby Steve the entire weekend, Steve ga ined stature in the eyes of his fellow clu b members by not falling, riding smoothly and taking second. Rollover Rick , recent winning B Expert in the Sout h Chapter, had to make d o with a thi rd and a bik e tha t was so hu ngry it tr ied , albeit un suc cessfu lly, to ea t all the sand and dirt on th e track. Twenty-five Amate u rs made a gallant effort to cram throug h the first tum all at once, but Early Earl from the newly formed OTHG Capitol Chapter secured the holeshot in moto one of Day O ne and m oto two of Day T wo Lars Larsson fi ghts Ron Gibson at OTHG Pro Cha llenge. and rode well enough in the remaining m otos to take home first overall. R unover Ro n , who still rides with the Sou th des pite his recent move to Ren o, gave th em Southern boys reason to cheer as he took second with Lecher Leon fro m the North getting a secure gri p on third . T he North dominated the Int erme diate class as Goo fy Ga ry , with the exception of th ree la ps in the firs t moto on Sa turday, led the pa ck through t he d ust as he took home t he win. JackKn ife John , in his second ride of the yea r with the South, rode wit h enoug h consistency to take second with fellow member DeRa iled DeW ayne taki ng th ird. Novice -Luft La rry maintained a steady come -from-behind performance in all fou r mot os althoug h he a lmost lost the overall when h is H usky refused to start at the begi nning of the fourth moto. Tha nk goodness there was a mo re dependable Maieo for him to ride. Despite rumors recently heard that 1980 Ma ieos ta ke forev er, if ever, to adjust to , Larry seemed to adapt just fine . DeChicken Dewight stayed close enough to Larry to tak e second with Sorry Sandy grabbing th ird. By the end of the weekend , riders and spectators sipped their beers t hroug h dust -laden lips, exhausted but content. Riders felt they had, if not conquered the track, at least come to respect and enjoy it by Da y T wo. Families and friends filled with brew and hot dogs were happy that except for Novice Absent AI and his dislocated shoulder , the am bulances had rema ined in a slumber all weekend. The $50 first place (in all classes) gift certificates and $25 second-pl a ce (in all classes) gift certifica tes were hand ed ou t courtesy of Ka l-Gard followed by contingency gifts dona ted by numerous bike shops . Everyone then clim bed into their motor ho me, tru ck or van and headed for home , leaving H u ron Cycle Park as quiet an d pe aceful as it had been . Results A EX: 1. Curly Carl; 2. Maniac Mike; 3. Absur d AI. B EX; 1. Jughead John; 2. Stu bb y Steve ; 3. Rollover Rick. AM: 1. Early Earl; 2. Runover Ron; 3. Lecher Leon. INT; 1. Goofy Gary; 2. Jack·K n ~e John; 3. OeRa;led OeWayne . NOV: 1. Luft Larry; 2. DeChicken OeW ;ght ; 3. Sorry Sand. Sutton, Pinkstaff and Phoenix take big-bore classes at OMRRA opener By Russ Cazier PORTLAND , OR, APR. 27 Brian Sutton finally ended Keith Pinkstaff's unbeaten str ing i n Open Production with a win in the Oregon Motorcycle Road Ra cing Association's season opener a t Portland Int ernational Raceway. Pinkstaff has held O MRRA's n um be r one plate in that class three yea rs running a nd in 1979 won every O pe n Production heat at PIR_Sutton, Suzuki GSl100 mounted as were Pinksta ff a nd Wayne Tanner who took third , got a good start wh ile Pinkstaff got bogged down in the pack. Su tt on , who has diced with Pinks ta ff in 410 cc Production for three years , kn ew better than to give him a chance to catch up and won by a wide m argin . Rocky Phoenix won Open Multi GP on a very fast Kawasaki tha t he and Krauser International will campaign on the national circuit. Running also in O pe n Cafe, Rocky showed a fine touch of class by pulling off the track one lap short of the checkered flag . The bike was not legal for OM RRA's Cafe class, a nd was running in that class for added p ra ctice , so Rock y pulled off to be sure the specta tors kne w it was Keith Pinkstaff's win . Diane Prutsman , nee Cox, showed her flat tra ck style an d drive in winni ng Open Singl e GP on a Yamaha TT500. Considerable trackside comment has centered on Diane's foot-do wn cornering, learned in five yea rs of AMA flat tracking. When a nd if som eone beats her in Open Singl e GP , a hotly con tested class, critica l com me nts m ight be appropriate, but it's hard to quibble with a winner. Dia ne is a respected racer wh o tal ks little and rides hard . . Dan Ben nett is a name we might wish to make note of. Dan is 14 and in

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