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
00 0') ~ 00 Steve Eklund 18) end Jey SprInpteen jet off the aterting line in the NlItioneL Eklund led ... !Jut one Iep for his 13th NlItionel win. AMA Grand National Championshipl Winston Pro Series: Round two Eklund back on track By Dale Brown Photos by Charles Morey HOUSTON, TX, FEB. 8 Fonner AMA Grand National Champion (1979) Steve Eklund recovered from a year-long winless streak to lead laps 2-25 and win the Yamaha Gold Cup TT in the Houston Astrodome. · Ekl d' S F • 0 Uowmg un s torme ~mter·tu~ed TT~OO Yamaha mto the WInner s arcle was the winner of the previous night's shon track, Jay Springsteen. Eklund and Sprinp ran )-2 for most of the event, but Springsteen leads Eklund in the points chase, 36.31. Rookie Jim Filice ran a heads-up race to place third on his Roberts/ Lawwill Racing 500cc Yamaha. "It's the fint time I ever rode 25 laps," grinned the compact youngster, whose ear.to-ear smile completely ovetWhe1med the disappointment of his previous night'S DNF. Placing fourth after jumping into the early lead was Filice's teammate, Mike Kidd. Another California Rookie Expen, Rich Arnaiz, was next in the finishing order, followed by Alex Jorgensen, Mickey Fay, Buddy Robinson and Ronnie Jones' new Suzuki DR500-b d hi Rod S ded ase hmac )~e. pencer roun out t e top . 8 . DD\e~ _ _. Team Honda's Jeff Haney cut the fastest qualifying lap, and the 30.205second lap he turned in earned him $200 in R.C. Engineering fast q~li~er money. . Sp~een showed all the. 500cc sangle pdots that they ha~ thelr.wo~k CUt out for them as he qualified hiS Bill Werner·tuned f~etory ~R 750 Harley ~ond fast~t with a lI~e of 30.241. Kldd was JUst an ~yebhnk. slower at 30.242, and Honda s Freddie Spe.n~er took the fin~~ heat race pole pos~lIon ~t 30.446. Flhce and Eklund quahfied an the ~.6 .slots. . A Significant note was the hst of thos:e who didn't q.ualify. New Grand Nau~nal Ch.amplon Randy Go~ lowslded on hi~ fint attempt, and hiS second lap was I~ the 32·second range, out of .the 48-nder field. The 48th faste5tllme was 31.860. Heats Th fi I' h f h . h e nt ~een. !g t o t e m~ t produced a Jim Flhce holeshot. with Alex Jorgensen and Jeff Haney pursuing through..the..f1l'llJ .comer. They were still in that order at the end of a lap while Brad Hunt and Rod Spencer engaged in an argumem over fourth. Jorgy followed Jimbo for the better part of the next lap, then moved his Megacycle Cams/Hi Point Honda into the lead as they exited a tight left hander marking the end of the infield section. On the same lap, Spencer got by Hunt and used the next three laps to reel in Haney. At the midway point in the 10-lap race, Spencer put the move on Haney through the infield right hander. Rod kept his ND/Hap Jones/Dave 19uagua Honda in third through the remainder of the race and got a ticket to the National behind the secure fint and second place rides of Jorgensen and Filice. Haney and Hunt finished 4·5. The second heat was National· preview time with Springsteen and Eklund side by side on the inside of the front row. Both got excellent starts that saw Springer taking the lead and Eklund involved in a close battle with Rich Arnaiz for second. The battle for top northern Californian in this heat ended early on the second lap when Eklund slipped his Storme Winter/ Jim Morrison / Catrol·sponsored Yamaha around Arnaiz and set out after the fleeing Michigan Mafia representative. While EkJund was busy gaining on Springsteen through the infield. Springsteen was busy getting the ground back around the oval and Arnaiz watched both of them from third, Scott Pearson and. ,Bruce Hanlon discussed fourth. Hanlon t it on the fourth lap and followed t Macedo Construction/Gene Arnai sponsored Arnaiz home. Pea dropped to sixth at heat's end behi Lan Trulson. On their fint encounter of the aft noon, Eklund commented later. '1 had the good lines in the heat; goi really well. He was gassing it, and didn't figure I could get around him. By this time the track. rough practice and qualifying. w beginning to get rough again with t wont bumps appearing in the sha cornen where the coune entered a then left the infield sections. The drama in the third he happened pretty much behind Mi Kidd. Sporting the silver. blue a gold of Robens/Lawill Racing. Ki hit the holeshot and after some t' racing on the fint rap. started to p away from the pack, ultimat wheelieing across the finish line first. The second place position actively contested in the early laps Brett Barkman. Ronnie Jones and J Campbell. For seven laps, Barkm kept the runner-up spot out of Jon grasp, but then the Oklahoma ri poured the coals to the Spar Edmonston-crafted DR500 Suzuki passed Barkman in mid-air off the b jump. Barkman still looked set for transfer, only to come to a hea breaking halt on the last turn of t last lap as his bike rolled to a sto Mountain Spring Water/Lillie/Sim .son,sJll>naoretl Campbell. -a- Roo .