Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126507
ICIockwIee from top ~ lMTy Roa..lar llhown) ~ with Bruce Ogilvie for the big win - bereIy. Rick Schumeker and Bob "'ndM aced C.... 21. Rm 1010 rider in and fourth overall was Jack Johnson. Bill Mattox and Darin cartwright kept It wicked for the C.... 20 wIn. Chuck Miller I.hownland Jim Flahback were the apparent w1nnara • the fInIah. but official ......Ita aald no by 30 aacondl. SCORE Parker 400 Roeseler, Ogilvie surprise t·bemselves in asqueaker By Merk Keriye Photos by Bert Herris end Keriye PARKER. AZ, FEB. 7 It took a couple of hours after finishing, but grimaces turned to grins for Larry Roeseler and Bruce Ogilvie on a factory Yamaha when the 12 official resul~ were posted showing that they were, in fact, winners (both overall and Class 22) of the SCORE Parker 400. Throughout the race, they had diced back and forth with the Premier Yamaha entry of Chuck Miller and Jim Fishback. When Fishback blasted aerOlS the Arizona fmish line a short time after Roese1er. the general consensus was that Miller and Fishback were the winnen by less than a minute. Even Roeseler and Ogilvie had conceded victory to tbetn. Officially, however, Roeseler and Ogilvie's 5:04:02.72 total elapsed time proved them the winners by !O.IO seconds. Ogilvie got off hard while pre· running the coune two days earlier, and while a hospital check showed nothing seriously damaged, O~vie lamented, "I never hurt so much In all my life." That changed the winning duo's game plan so Roese1er rode most of the race. Despite a flat front tire and nanowly missing two kids that darted onto the course. Roeseler finished strongly to save the win. "It was a close race the whole way," be said. Fishback rode to the finish on a flat. In addition, "I seized the bike on the California side in Thunder 'Alley." When he handed the bike over to Miller early in the race, Fishback reo called, "I knew he had to pass more guys (due to a later starting number for Miller/Fishback). I think that slowed him down." In addition, Fishback crashed a couple times due to a flat front tire "It cost me a place or two. The biggest thing was traffic holding me up." Third overall and in Class 2'2 was Team Husqvama's Scot Harden and Brent Wallingsford with their 5:07:04.52. In tbe hunt after the Cali· fornia loop, they slipped off the pace in Arizona except for one strong su~ early on the second and final loop. They were followed by two solo rid· 'ers - Jack Johnson and Kevin Welch, each Maico mounted. Johnson, fourth overall with a 5:09:56.64, beat the fmt four-wheeled vehicle (that was fifth overall) by 12 minutes in a strong first performance on the Vegas Cycles machine. In Class 21, Rick Schumalter and Bob Balentine built a good lead on the Hi·Point Racing KTM which proved to be their salvation. They ran out of gas in the last two or three miles and Schumaker crashed, bending the shift lever. Limping into the finish on a flat rear tire was another Premier Yamaha. this one ridden by brothen, Scott and Kent Pfeiffer to second in Class 21 less than two minutes off Schumaker/Balentine's time. A wobble at high speeds was a slight problem in their effort. Bill Mattox and Darin Cartwright led a water·cooled Yamaha sweep of the fint three places in Class 20. The Montclair Yamaha team was the fIrSt 125 acrou the finish line (official time of 5:57:59.65), moments before the fint car to reach the finsh line screamed in. "We just made it; I wouldn't want to fight with those guys," said Cart· wright.- Though be claimed to lose some power toward the end of the race, Cartwright was impressed with the bike, telling a friend: "It's faster than 25011" The Midas Muffier/Baltersfie1d Ya· maha entry of Scott Atehilon and Kevin Hopkins fmished second. "I had one flat; other than that, no problems. We motored right along. My parmer broltehis collarbone four weeks ago; I'm surprised he didn't lose time," said Hopkins at the finish. It was their second SCORE DIce. Solo rider Bob Maxwell completed the water-pumpers' sweep of the top three on his Dale's Cycle/4·M Co. machine after being plagued with three flat rear tires. One of the class favorites, Scott Coutts and Daryl Follts on the R.E. BuiIden/Sportsman Cycles Husky, finished fourth. They seemed to be beset with problems from the start in· cluding three trips over the ban on the California loop because the front brake cable kept hooking up and snagging. . Dick Allen's Yamaha-mounted Rick Shirey and John "Smoke Bomb" Gaetz