Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

taa.-.O..... DaIlot.-So.'" DaIlo..-•••r....-B.;....-OIlI...o• •~'I'._ •••••dco-COlor.d..-.yo. . .V-. . . ... W••deo-Color.do-Wyo." Central Pipeline .. Brothers and Cameron lead La Junta RR By Darcy Cameron · LAJUNTA, CO , AUG . 3 The third race on the Mountain Roadracing Association schedule here proved to be an interesting day with newly-paved sections of the track creating some interesting races. Thomas Brothers and Tim McGuire came from Texas to seek national WERA points only to be given a run for their money by Team Conehead member Mike Cameron aboard his Yamaha 400. Brothers on his Yamaha took the lead in 0-550cc Production with McGuire and Cameron running very · closely on their Yamahas. Brothers ran off the track with McGuire taking over the lead and Cameron right behind him . Cameron came back on for the lead and win , though, followed by McGuire and Brothers. Brothers ran away with 851·0pen Production on his Suzuki 1100. Cameron and Terri Wischhoefer battled for second with Cameron pulling it out on his Yamaha 400 over Terri's 350 . Team Conehead member Hoogland proved his XR very fast in Open Superbilr.e with Mike Mangum on a Colorado Mine Co. -spo nsored Kaw second and Bob Brownell on his Yamaha 500 third. Formula 1 saw Hoogland aboard his XR500 jumping into the lead and holding it to the finish . Rob Flannery got second on his Kawasaki 1000 with Suzuki lOoo-mounted Dave Deschermaier third. Rhoten and Day share Abilene e- . $10,000 MX By John Rannikko CLYDE. TX ,JULY 26-27 Darren Rhoten of Dallas packed a pair of CSM Hondas and dueled the 125 and 250cc Experts at the second annual Spring . 50 Valley $10,000 MX to a pair of killings for $2000 of the purse money. A good share of the purse also went to Team Yamaha suppon ride "Bionic" John Day of Coweta, OK , who wrapped up second and first overalls in the 250 and Open Expen classes respectively. At the end of the second day and before payoff, the promoter. Kerry "Kerdog" Wallr.er. announced a special meeting for Experts only. He said he was reducing the $10,000 purse to 70% or $7000. After much discussion, Walker explained that he would go to the bank Monday. get a loan for the balance of the purse and have it in the mail before the following Monday. Wlalr.er's side of the story was that he didn't get enough money at the gate to cover the purse because the Novice and Intermediate turnout was relatively light. A local race at Lake Whitney as well as an AMA Qualifier in the Dallas area attracted many of these riders. A $10 ,000 purse is one of the biggest around Texas, but so is 70% of that, or $7000 . Walker thought the riderss might understand his side of the story while collecting a $7000 purse. No such luck . Putting aside the poli tics and badmouthing, the racing was as hot as the west Texas sun. At the Abilene two-day event. the first motos were run on Saturday and the final and deciding moto was run Sunday. Mark Rakestraw stole the holeshot show on a CSM Honda ahead of-fellow 125cc Experts Derek Wedding (Yam) and a cloud of others. When the dust settled, one rider, Scott Logston, remained in the first tum with his foot hopelessly entangled between the swingarm and wheel of his CR125. Several laps and a sawed swingarm later. Logston was freed from his bike and took a trip to the hospital. Thiny minutes plus two laps was a lot of time for making time and swapping positions. By the quartermoto mark. Mugen-mounred "Melon" Newman moved into second ahead of Wedding's Yamaha and Rhoten who had been tied up in traffic at the stan. Two laps later, Rhoten overtook Wedding and began a charge to close an eight-second gap between himself and second-place Newman. Rakestraw began to fade in the 105° temperatures just past the mid-mote mark, forming a tight trio of Newman , ' Rakestraw and Rhoten to argue over the first . With a half lap to the checkers, Rhoten made a daring move on Newman in a slight dropaway left hand berm and took the lead, riding it to the finish . Collapsed in his motorhome afterwards. Newman explained. "We went into the tum together and I took the berm while Rhoten took the slick inside and slid into me ." Rakestraw managed a third ahead of a steady Wedding and David Jones who had a great come-from-the-back ride. The 125cc Expert moto was only a warm up session for Rhoten in the 250cc Expert class. The 250s roared onto the starting straightaway, which was as long. wide and dry as the west Texas flatlands. Rhoten outdragged John Day (Yam), Mike Jones (C-A) and others off the stan, leaving a giant cloud of dust and a pile of 12 downed riders in the first tum. From the other side of the great dust cloud, spectators saw 12 bikes emerge into the light one at a time. Rhoten never relinquished the lead during the moto and had Mike Jones (C -A) at his back fender for two laps before he dropped far back and DNF. From the second lap on , "Bionic John" Day was the only rider within striking distance of Rhoten, but closed doors, dust . sand roosts and excellent riding by Rhoten kept "Bionic John" in second place to the finish. Other than Rhotenand Day, two of the fastest moving people on the track were Mark Rakestraw (CSM Hon) and Ricky Blackwell (Yam), who were involved in the first tum dust storm. The top finishers were Rhoten , Day , Spencer. Sean O'Brien (Suz). Rakestraw, David McClain (Hon) and Blackwell. Rhoten stuck a foot in a hole during the race, rupturing some blood vessels with resulting swelling. discoloration, and a lot of pain which the Texas Emergency Services personnel said wasn't dangerous but was very painful. An ace wrap and ice pack were the order ofthe day. John Day led the Open Experts down the straightaway, but shut off earlier than Jon Kolbensvik (Mai) and Nick Cordova (Yam). A first lap getoff earned Cordova a DNF while Day took over the lead ahead of Kirk Spencer, a Yamaha-mounted Open class powerhouse, Steve Stackable (Mai), Kolbensvik and Chris Hipp (Yam). "Bionic" continued to lead and eventually take the win while Stackable tailed Spencer till he had to drop back and eventually DNF with a flat front tire. At the checker it was Day . Spencer, Bobby Williams (C·A) , Mitch Milson (C-A), Mike Bradshaw (Hus), and Chris Hipp (Yam) , with Spencer being the only rider on the same lap with "Bionic". Rhoten's inj ured foot didn't affect his starting style as he beat 125cc Experts Randy Sullivan (Hon), Mark Rakestraw (Hon) , Mel Newman (Mug) and others out of the hole Sunday. Newman,"who finished second in the first moto, got off and back up in fourth from last place. Riding like a rocket to catch the leaders, he was moving through traffic when he stepped off hard once again . This time he injured himself and was forced to retire. Once Rakestraw got by Sullivan on the second lap, he began to move up on Rhoten and on lap seven, Rhoten came around in second place with banners decorating his rear wheel. During the moto, the CSM duo put 20 seconds plus on the rest of the riders as they fought for the lead. Rakestraw led for five more laps till they swapped the lead once again. Coming toward the finish with a half lap to go , Rhoten and Rakestraw tangled in the same spot where Rhoten took the lead from Newman Saturday. Rhoten went wide in the dip tum and Rakestraw tried to go under and they bumped as they exited the dip . Rhoten had the advantage and Rakestraw chased him to the 180 degree tum in th signal area just before the finish where he tried a last-ditch pass by diving under Rhoten and making a real tight tum. Still with a slight advantage, Rhoten exited the tum and closed the door on Rakestraw. who had nowhere to go but down. Rhoten rolled across the finish in front . Rakestraw picked up and restarted with plenty of time for second place while Derek Wedding (Yam). David Jones (Suz) , Randy Sullivan (Hon), and Dennis Brand (Yam) followed, Ricky Blackwell (Yam) stole the 250c c Expert holeshot ahead of Rhoten, Spencer, Rakestraw and Day . When they completed one lap , Spencer had the lead by four seconds over Rakestraw and Blackwell while Rhoten came around in seventh place. Day and Rhoten began to pass people in th e next few laps as Day took the lead at the quarter-mote mark and Rhoten moved up on Rakestraw in fourth . At midmoto, Day fell when his tires washed out in a tum . giving Rhoten the lead and put Spencer on Day's tail before he got going again. When they crossed the finish line , Rhoten led Day by two seconds as Spencer. Rakestraw, Wedding, Blackwell and Sean O'Brien followed. With this win Rhoten made a clean sweep of the 125 and 250cc Expert classes. Milr.e Bugess. Rhoten's mechanic, said, "There could have been only one thing better. the addi~~n of a clean sweep in the Open class. . John Day continued to dominate the Open Expert class as he won easily over Kirk Spencer and Steve Stackable (Mai) who were the only riders on the same lap with Day at the finish. Results MINI MINI: 1. B,ant Wodding (Suzl; 2. John Mizell (Suzl. MINI JR: 1. Michael McGary.lYam); 2. Heath Pennell ISud ; 3. Jim Bob Jacobo (Suzl. MINI SR: 1. ~k Landry IKaw); 2. Vaughn Johnaon ISuzl; 3. Mike Davis(Varni. • l 00cc: 1. ~ Fill... ~!; 2. BrothOl' Martinez IVam!; 3. Vaughn Johnoon IVam). 125 JR: 1. MorkFillor lYam!; 2. E.LaoHor,islYam); 3. MilteCook(Sull. . 250 JR: 1. Rick Penon lYaml; 2. Lonnie Halo lYam); 3. Tommy Bork... (CAl. OVER 30: 1. Tony SChertz (Mail ; 2. Danny Bambor (Hull; 3. Robert Stout (KTM). 125 INT 1. Scott Ashley IHen) 2, Mike L.awoon : ; (Honl; 3. BrothorMartinezlYarnI. 250 INT: 1. David Myra (HonJ; 2. Danny Suggs (SuzI; 3. Scott AshIoy IHonl. OPEN INT 1. Todd Elrod !KTM!; 2. J .T. Crawford : lYaml; 3. Dan lackay lYam!. 125 EX: 1. Darren Rhoten IHen!; 2. Mark Rakeatraw (Honl ; 3. Derek Wodding lYarnI. 250 EX: 1. Darren Rhotan IHon!; 2. John Day lYam) ; 3. Kirk Sponcor lYam). OPENEX: 1. John Day lYaml; 2. Kirk Sponcor 1Yam); 3. Chris Hipp1Yam). Mota-mania at muggy Marysville MX By.Mitch Rorabaugh MARYSVILLE , KS,JULY 28 With numerous clubs dropping races due to the recent heat and inherent dust problems, the folks at Marysville ran a non-scheduled motocross to give area riders something to do. Those unafraid of heat exhaustion were greeted with a dry, dusty track, a poor turnout and a lot of fun racing despite the conditions. Marty Kerns made short work of the largest class of the day with seven en tries , the Mini Juniors, by taking both moto holeshots and pacing himself to the wins. Kent Strand, after placing third in the first moto, ran second the whole way in the second for second overall ahead of David Exkstrom , who came alive in the second moto after a first moto sixth. Out of the first tum in 125cc Junior action , it was Kun Ross and Mike Winter on a pair of Suzukis just ahead of Danny Flynn of Abilene on his twoyear-old spare Yamaha. Ross gave up his lead briefly in the second tum to Winter, but inherited it a lap and a half later when Winter tossed it away in a silty right-hander, Flynn was right on Ross at this point and jammed into th e lead after a drop-off j um p . Flynn was looking good for the next couple of laps before his engine soured and he disappointedly retired for the day . Ross was again enjoying the lead until the white flag when John Gilliard kept it wired over the big jump to fly by and claim the win . Ross rolled in second over Tony Reynolds and Winter. Ross snared the holeshot in the second moto again over W inter and Gilliard . Gilliard wasted no time getting by Winter and set his sights on the leader and got him on the next lap, the third. The order remai ned the same to the end but for Reynolds slipping past Winter for third . Kevin Adams, lone Open Senior, was allowed to run with the 250cc Seniors and promptly put the big Maico's power to use to take the stan of moto one over Lyle Reidy , Fred Traskowsky and Jon Ungerer. Adams and Reidy pulled away from the rest by the second lap with Reidy and his Yamaha hunting for an opening. At the end of the lap , Reidy dived for the inside and ended up on the ground after the Maico took out the front end. Reidy was up in second still but Ungerer was right there and took the runner·up spot a half lap later. Then Reidy crashed in a back section and gave up another spot to Traskowsky. By the fourth lap , Ungerer was pres · suring Adams heavily and Adams spun the Maico out in a tight tum letting the Kawasaki of Ungerer by and on to the moto win . Adams led the second moto charge to the first turn again only to be displaced by Traskowsky on the first lap. As the moto progressed , Adams dropped back to an eventual fourth

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