Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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OCT. 5 When the dust cleared at Lake Whimey Cycle Ranch, Lone Star state favorites Mel Newman and Dan Conway had won the 125 and 250cc Pro classes. while West Coaster Pete Snorteland took the overall nod in the Open class in a tie with Texan Kirk Spencer. The occasion was the first of three consecutive AMA Pro MX Regionals for the Central Region. and over 90 Pros trucked in from 17 states to go for valuable AMA advancement. grading and regional points, as well as for the $3,000 purse. Some of the non-locals plan to stay in Texas for next week's round at Austin and Ihe following week at Houston, which will no doubt see a continuance of the impromptu CalTex rivalry. A tip of the visor has to go 10 Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki for their support of the Regionals around the country this year. They put up the purses for all 26 of them 10 the tune of $78,000. plus helped with advertising promotion. As a result. it made it a little easier for local track owners 10 host these races. many of which have been run at a loss in the past. Race referee Janie Stanfield made her presence felt by fining five riders $25 a pop for taking practice starts before their motos. This action was classified as "just keeping things under control" by Stanfield, but the riders. including 125cc class winner Mel Newman. complained vehemently about Ihe "off the wall" move. ewman"s post-race irritation was well overshadowcd by his dominance of the 27-rider 125cc class aboard the LCS/Stoner Racing Mugen. He stayed in close company with the molO holeshots of Kirk Dillon (Yam) and Bryan Taylor (Yam). and quickly dispatched the first-year Pro riders. Neman went on to set an uncatchable pace and new the while rocket ship to the checkers in both motos. Taylor. one of Texas' hot graduates from the minibike ranks. showed his Sluff by beating everybody else with 4-2 marks. edging California's Jeff Maki (Yam. 2-4) for second overall. Honda-mounted Houston entries Mike Clement and Kyle Landrum ran strongly and were g'ood bets for top five placings. but Landrum's chain went away in the first molO. Clement held on for a 3·5 third overall and Landrum came back with a third in the final, good for an 0/ A seventh. Randy Tysor (Yam) of Riverton. Iowa was very impressive in the Regional here last March. but today could only manage 5-7 finishes to tally sixth behind Oklahoma's Clay Hoenshell (Yam, 6-6). The 250cc class remained undecided until the lasl few laps of the second moto . .Jim Tarantino (Hon) of Los Angeles had crossed the finish line first in the opener wilh Houston's Dan Conway (Hon) in his shadow, but Jim faded from first 10 ninth IOward the end of the second 30-minute-plus-twolap moto. and Conway's speed and persistence paid off. "Dynamite Dan" picked off Robbie Pannell (Bul). Jeff Ellens (Hon). Kirk Spencer (Yam). and finally Harvey Sorensen (Yam) to win the molO and take overall honors with 2- I finishes. followed by Spencer (3-3), Sorensen (8·2) and Tarantino (1.9). Kirk Spencer of Dallas led a tight, three·Yamaha formation in the first Open class race. with Californians Tim Locey and Pete Snoneland hooked onto him all the way. The trio left everybody behind and eventually lapped the fourth place rider, El Paso's Maby McIntyre.. They roared" cornered and bounced around the demanding sand course again and again, but Spencer refused to err or fade and they came in zip, zip, zip, the same way they started. By the time the Open final rolled around, Spencer had raced for one hour and 45 minutes, and Snorteland was pumped to better his third of the first moto. Pete put his 465 in overdrive, blasted to an early lead and never looked back. Meanwhile. Locey had a lock on second and Spencer came from behind to take third. A low point scoring system would have resulted in a three way tie for the overall. but AMA high point scoring gives 25,22 and 20 points for places 1·3 in each moto, and besides, AMA awards nothing for overall position anyway. All points and money are per moto only. The "honorary" first overall went to Snorteland (3-1) followed by Spencer (1-3), Locey (2-2) and McIntyre (4-.5)_ This year marks the first time ,\,e have seen the AMA run Amateurs alternately on the same day with. a Professional program. Something that makes a lot of sense on .a Regional basis has been a long time coming, but it gives Pros riding more than one class a breather in between motos, rather than the killer back-to-back races. Also, the promoter has a more aurative program to offer participants and spectators. Among the standouts in the Amateur ranks were 125cc class winner Chuck Dawson (Yam) and mini biker Carroll Richardson (Yam).