Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

,I D;;;riH~tii~;---'-'----_-J_-_M .. saw battle with Duane Summers the whole way. Bobby Charters finished fourth . Robert Smith had the Beginner/ Novice race in his pocket the whole time. Dave Morrison had a good hold on the second spot for two laps, but then DNF. Chris McDonald took second followed by Scott Schmidt, Mike Bigler, PIP #7, Sean Ellison, Mike French, Greg Rodgers, PIP 16 and Pat McDonald. e 5 o 00 0') Saturday Women Bob Balentine led all the way in the Daisies' "Perfect 10:' lFile photo.) Daisies' "Perfect 10" rated an 8.5 By Jeff Robbins Photo by Joyce May FREMONT VALLEY, CA , JUNE 15 Bob Balentine stilled rumors of him quitting desert racing by winning the Desert Daisies hare scrambles with a commanding five minute lead at the finish . ... 34 The race, billed as a "Perfect 10" by the all female club, turned out to be closer to an 8.5 overall, according to the survey taken at the finish. The fast guys gave it a high rating, but as you got further down the list of finishers the complaints came, but the Daisies' motto is "That's racin"" At fourth overall behind Balentine, Dan Smith and Mike Sixbery was a pie-plater, not an old face hiding, but a newcomer, Mark Mangold. It is rumored he is a MX Pro who claims "I'm just a 'weekend rider. This is only my fourth desert race, but I live at the old Ponderosa ," The course split shortly past the bomb. One ran up and across a ridge and the other was down in a wash. Balentine took the ridge . Just about everybody else took the wash and he almost lost the lead. Where the courses came back together a huge bouleneck developed, causing some burnt clutches and not to mention a few burnt tempers. The dust was a problem for most of the riders causing them to have to settle with their positions for most of the first loop. The major exception was Dan Ashcraft (Up-Tire Hus) who fouled a plug right off the start line . He got going again some 10 minutes later and when he got to the bottleneck, "I couldn't see anything but dust, so I jsut pointed the front end up the hill and went for it. I must have passed about 40 people right there." he said. Several more uphills caused more burnt clutches, broken levers, flat tires and tired bodies, resulting in a large number of early retirements, ergo the lowering the above mentioned "Perfect 10" to the 8.5. Between checks two and three the now famous "Daisy Debbie" was seen to be spectating "au natural" as now is traditional at a Da isies race. But word from the riders came that a second "maverick" Daisy was also baring her wares . Com ing into the pits Balentine had a four-minute lead on Smith, who in turn, was one minute ahead of Kenny Upp. Sixbery was fourth, followed by Kevin Hopkins, riding a 125cc Yamaha out of Dick Allen's shop. Hopkins' impressive ride came to an end shortly past the pits when he broke _ ~ ~u c_. _ • _• . .P .. . • • __ .• _. The Novice herd was led int o the pits by Open rider Rod Hawkins, who was surprised to find himself in the lead. Rick Sowma and Dave Kelly followed. Balentine's only worry at this point was if he could get around all the stuck riders he knew would be there. Smith just wanted to stay ahead of Upp , and Upp worried about whether or not his tank was going to fall off. It did and he retired, leaving third overall, first 250cc Expert, to Sixbery. Fourth overall was now in the hands of Mangold and that's how they finished . Kern Park moved from ninth through the pits to finish fifth . second 250cc Expert. First Vet Bill Saltzman followed Park, moving from 10th to sixth and took the flag in front of Verlin VanZee. Dave Chase advanced 10 spots on the second loop to finish eighth over all and take first Amateur laurels. Chuck Stearns finished ninth and Mike Ryan rounded out the top 10. Following his poor start, Ashcraft managed to finish II th , four spots ahead of the first 175cc Expert, Pete Postel. Finishing 17th was Scott Atchison, and he took first 175cc Amateur. George Zuber was the first Senior to finish, followed by Open Senior winner Earl Roeseler, Roeseler's SCORE racing partner, Don Ogilvie was a few bikes back. At 55th overall, Bill Mattox won the Trailbike Expert class. Surviving a fall on the second loop, in which he was barely able_to get out from underneath his bike, Hawkins took the Novice win , finishing 44th overall. The next Novice in was Sowma, who took first 250cc. Roger Eggers finished third - Novice , second in the Open class. Damon Clayton took first 175cc Novice. Mike Sorenson surprised all the oneloop finishers by pushing, tugging and scratching his 175cc Yamaha up the hills to finish first overall Beginner followed by Bill Conn (O pen), Mike Hawke (Open) , and Terry Bleyle (250cc). Andy Cossio also pushed, pulled, etc . , his 100cc Suzuki to finish first Novice Trailbike. Vipers host two days of racing Ten gals took over the Beginner/ Novice course for the next race of the day . It wasn't a surprise that Hi -Pointsponsored Trudy Beck led the way around all four laps . New Amateur Tricia Farmer was keeping up with the best of them , but late in the race she hit a bad section of rocks on the trail in the dust and crashed, breaking her wrist . Diane Holeman earned the number two honors followed by Tricia's sister , Lori Farmer, Lorni Vincent and Debbie Hopkins. Saturday Senior At the same time over 40 Seniors lined up on the Amateur/Expert side to battle the dust and the sand. Earl Roeseler, the eventual winner, had a constant battle going with Morris Norman during the entire race. Coming in third was Art Knapp, followed by Jim Peterson, Bob Doig, Gary Charters, Ron Wardlow, Phil Hendry, Charlie Morris and Lee Elias . Saturday "C" class _ The noon Amateur/Expert "C" bike race was dominated by two ex-Trailbike aces. Kevin Hopkins held the lead throughout the contest while Cliff Thomas never let him out of his sight. Rick Schumaker stayed in the third spot the whole way. Tom Elias took over the fourth overall spot after Ed . h II Wng t fe back, finishing sixth. Bill Postel earned the fifth slot . On the Beginner/Novice course Laird Schweikart dominated the entire race. P/ P 117 moved into the second spot while Jim McGarth earned the third slot followed by John Downey, Jerry Kerr and Richard Aldrich. Saturday 250cc All 250s, including the Vet 250s , moved off the start line together in the next race . On the Amateur/Expert side Ken Upp took over the lead and held it for two laps and then DNF. Chuck Stearns moved into the vacated position and finished with top honors. Mike Sixbery moved up from fifth on the first lap to the second spot. Number 547x finisehd third followed by Vet Bill Saltzman, Darin Cartwright, Fred Strong, 1594x and Jim Short. On the Beginner/Novice course Alex Long was in the lead the first lap, with Ted Hunnicutt, Jr. taking over the lead on the second lap and holding it past the checkered. Number 409x held onto the third spot followed by Charlie Inman, PIP 119 , and Vet IV125x. Saturday Open Final race of the first day of competition was held at 5 p.m. The Amateur/ Expert class was completely dominated LUCERNE VALLEY, CA,JUNE 7·8 by Vet Bill Saltzman, as he headed off The Desert Vipers hosted a new of one race and directly onto another. After Ken Upp had held the second innovation in desert racing as spot for two laps, he DNF and gave up they put on a "team" European his slot to Dan Smith, who had been Scrambles. The riders had an dogging him the whole time. Jeff option to ride the one hour race by Matthews earned the third overall themselves, or team up with another honors followed by Ed Whisenant, rider and ride onlv half the race each. Brett Howell , Tom Mattox, Vet Alan Saturday Trailblke Thomas: Dave Hanbeck and Vet Bob The Amateur/Expert race was dorni Torgerson. nated by Bill Mattox with Mark TorgeOver on the Beginner/Novice course _ s0.!1.f} ,!i.sl!i!lgJ!.e~9Jld. ~teJ: Q~y'i ng a_ ~e c -' , the action was led by Steve Kna pp with By Joyce May __ ~V _ _ " ' ' ' ' ' ' Vet R . Wheeler never letting the leader out of sight. Dave Holmes renaciously held onto the third overall slot. Behind him were Don Shepherd, PIP 112 , Ralph Durate, Vet Danny Drew , PIP 15 and Ken Bunting. Sunday Trailbike The second day of racing dawned enjoyably cool with a breeze blowing, making the first race of the day very comfortable. On the Amateur/Expert side , three hacks and four Trails took off on the first lap of the race. It was Bill Mattox leading it the whole way. Bobby Charters held onto the second spot through the th ird lap and then DNF. David Wilson took over the second spot with Mark Torgeson in third. Over on the Beginner/Novice course Robert Smith held the lead for two laps and then DNF as Chris Schmidt was second and Mike French third. Sunday Women One more time it was Trudy Beck overpowering the rest of the field for four laps . Lori Farmer held the second spot all the way while Diane Holeman was third followed by Debbie Hopkins. Sunday Senior Meanwhile over on the Senior course, as the temperatures began to rise, Gary Charters rode his second race of the day (he had teamed up with his son in the previous race) , leading the Seniors the first lap. Morris Norman took over on the second lap and never lost it again as Charters DNF. Ron Bebo moved up from sixth to finish second followed by Art Knapp, D.R. Deichman, Bob Doig , Paul Soresen, Phil Hendry, and Charlie Goodbar. Sunday "C" class It looked like a repeat of the day before as Kevin Hopkins and Cliff Thomas ran the Amateur/Expert course in the first and second positions. Pete Postel had the third spot on the first lap, but was overpowered by Tom Elias on the second. Elias lost out to Chris Crandall shortly before the finish. Postel finished fifth. The Beginner/Novice race was led by Mike Harris. Brian Smith held the second spot until the last lap when Jeff Barker moved up from the. third slot into second, forcing Smith back into third. David Schneider followed in fourth withJohn Downey in fifth . Sunday 250cc The Amateur/Expert race was led all the way by Chuck Stearns with Ken Upp close behind. Number 888x was third followed by Vet Bill Saltzman. Ted Hunnicutt, Jr. led the Beginner/ Novice group on the first lap , but dropped out as 1409x took over the lead which he held for two laps. Then he dropped out leaving the lead to Charlie Inman. Number 415x earned second followed by Vet Joe Penoncello , Carlos Mejia, and 1411x. Sunday Open Vet Expert Bill Saltzman once again rode two races in a row, and led the wild herd of Open machines for three laps as each rider took his tum flying higher and higher over the jump by the spectators. Tom Mattox held onto the second spot for two laps. Troy Hollis moved up from fourth place on the first lap to the first slot on the last lap. Saltzman finished in second with Ed Whisenant in third followed by Danny Smith, Dave Hanbeck, and Steve Krasch. Vet Bob Criske led the Beginner/ Novice crew followed by Steve Knapp who gave his spot away to Dave Holmes on the last lap. Tom Clark finished ~hi[g ,--- . _ . --,---_ __ _ •

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