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o 00 0') ~ U") ~ M Q) ..c o .j,j u o Randy and Vicki Goss are overjoyed about winning 1980 title. while runner-up Hank Scott and Miss Winston. lynn Griffis. look on. AMA Grand National Championship/Winston Pro Series: Final round Labrie takes Ascot as Goss wins title by one point By Dale Brown Photos by Mark Kariya TIme trials GARDENA, CA, OCT. 4 Florida's Billy Labrie led the way across the finish line at the 20-lap National Half Mile at Ascot Park. Behind him came Number One plate holder Steve Eklund, Number One hopeful Hank Scott, former Number One Jay Springsteen and the new Number One H~If"V-David, • -J, 50n 5 Ra nd y GOS5. Goss four- 10 point lead coming into the J.C. Agajanian-promoted event held up to Scott's better finish and Goss won the championship by one point, 207-206. "I d'd 't even both ertlsweek h' In . h I h figunng out w at p ace I ad to get. I . h Just carne to do t e best I could. Hank knew; when we came around the comer he look.ed back and he knew 1 had gotten it. Then I knew," grinned a happy Goss as he celebrated with wife Vicki, mechanic Brent Thompson, friends and several bottles of champagne in the Ascot pit area. . d h . I b Thou~h he mlsse t e Ut e y a ~~nt pOint, Scott was ,:,ot despond~nt. 1m uckled to death WIth how I fimsh· ed. At least they k?ew I was ~here. ~hat was my ~wn bl~e. I rode .'t fiv,e urnes and fimshed In the winner s circle five times," said Hank after the race. His try for the title was a gallant one, as he broke the track's one lap record the night before, set fast qualifying time in the National, and then rode through the· pack, passing Springsteen for third late in the race and staning to catch Eklund. Behind Goss and Scott in the point standings, Ricky Graham had a secure third after San That ~as fort~nate, because RIcky broke hIS hand In a trail riding accident a few days before Ascot and did not compete. Mike Kidd was also unable to compete. Suffering from an infection since the Wednesday before the Nation· al. Mike tried to ride, but one lap of . pracltce was all he could endure. Ted BoodY took over K'dd' s b'ke an d' ma d e I I h N' I t e altona. Gary Scon barely made the National after his engine went in the last two comers of the heat he was leading. He coasted across the line in third, transferred, replaced the engine and then placed ninth, edging Kidd for fourth in the final points standing by two points. Labrie's win came at the expense of Scott Pearson, who rode nearly up to the haybales as he led the first 15 laps. But he suddenly slid down in turn two, and Labrie was there to take the lead . In the Ho~da. 500cc Invitational, T~am Hond~ s MIckey Fay came from thlr~ to first .In one corner and held on to Win, beaung teammate Jeff l.ianey and Yamaha-mounted Ted DaVidson. The final race of the 1980 season played to a standing-room-only crowd. Jose. Hank Scott, who had set a new track record the night before of 21. 95, led all qualifiers again, but the track was slower and Scott's clocking was a 22.27. Jay Springsteen was just a blink behind at 22.29, while Brad Hurst and Garth Brow were the other heat race polesitters. Goss turned in his slowest-ever qualifying run at Ascot, and the 2S.l9 he posted barely put him in the second row in the fourth heat. Heats KK Supply/Sisemore Travelandsponsored Gary Scott, who started right next to his brother Hank. jumped into the first heat lead. with Bill Labrie. Hank Scott and Wayne Rainey right with him. The race settled into that order with Gary Scott building a lead over Fletcher's H-D/Daytona International Speedway-sponsored Labrie and Branch/Barnes/KRW/Jack Sisemore/RPM/Team Jesus/Fass Gassbacked Hank Scott, while Rainey held fourth in front of Tom Berrv. It seemed that order would hold to the flag, but going through the final two corners of the race, Gary's engine apparently broke a piston and Labrie and Hank Scott made their way by while Gary made it to the line in third, good for a ticket to the National. Berry got by Rainey for fourth. While the rest of the heat races went by, Scott an~ friends pulled the engine and replaced it, bumping the bike to new life shortly before the Trophy Race. The second heat featured a beautiful holeshot by SCOtt Pearson; something he's been doing with increasing regularity this year. While Pearson was by himself in the first comer, Jay SprinK- steen and Scott Parker were bumping elbows for second. In the remaining nine laps, Circle Bell/Valvoline/Shoei/ JB Racing/Indiana H-D flag bearer Pearson used the high line around the oval in impressive fashion to fashion a secure lead by the checkered. Springsteen settled into a secure second on the Bill Werner-tuned factory XR750, but the banle for third was a changeplaces-just-about-every-Iap affair between Parker and Steve Morehead. Parker, sponsored by Klotz and Wiseco, grabbed hold for good a lap from the finish and made it to the National. Morehead led Mike Inderbitzen and others to the semi. Polesitter Brad Hurst had the early 'Iead in the third heat, while Steve Eklund got the Zanotti/Castrol/Interpart special humming, coming from third in the first corner to second, and then into the lead on the third lap. Hurst, backed by Messler, KRW, Castrol, Panther and Norris Cams, remained a comfortable second as Willie Crabbe held third at the completion of lap one and of lap 10, with no interruptions in between. Ted Boody was fourth in front of Steve Monger. The final heat was a wire-to-wire romp in the lead for JB Racing's Garth Brow, as the former one-lap record holder posted the fastest heat of the evening. Bel- Ray/Sisemore-sponsored Terry Poovey, riding one of Tex Peel's bikes, turned in a similar flag-to-flag performance for second. Ted Davidson ran in third for two laps before Goss came from the second row with his Brent Thompson-tuned machine to put a lock on third. The top thlft were then set, with Alex Jorgensen getting by Davidson to finish founh.